This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
It's astounding that a few Mormon women mistakenly clamor for the priesthood ("Mormons launch online push to ordain women to the priesthood," Tribune, April 3). The priesthood is not a title of prideful honor.
Doctrine and Covenants 121:34-40 clearly teaches that someone seeking the priesthood, aspiring to the "honors of men," can't possess the rights of the priesthood. Honor in the priesthood only comes as the ordained person is selflessly serving others!
Selflessly serving others is already a description of most women. However, it does not describe most men. Maybe one of the essential attributes men can learn from properly exercising their priesthood is to gain what most women already have.
Picture an elders quorum in which men and women both hold the priesthood. The quorum president announces that the Jones family is moving next Saturday and seeks volunteers. How many men would sit on their hands while the women's hands rise?
Men are given the priesthood to learn to serve and become more Christ-like.
Regarding women exercising the priesthood to serve other women, there already is a time and place where this happens — in the Lord's temples.
Eric Johnsen
Grantsville