Please Stay

Gina Ashby
Colorado, USA

To those who are mourning over the excommunication of Kate Kelly, more specifically those who hoped the Church would grant priesthood ordination to women through her efforts, my heart has been deeply saddened and troubled. I feel strongly to say: PLEASE STAY! Please stay with us! My heart goes out to you. I love you dearly! We went to college together, served a mission together, you are my friends, my family. You will forever be my sisters in Christ.

Please stay! Although your hearts are troubled, I plead for you to look at the big picture, the eternal scope of things. You are so needed in building up the kingdom of God, preparing the world for the coming of our Savior. There is no other place that teaches the Plan of Salvation, that has restored priesthood keys, confers the Gift of the Holy Ghost, or that looks to Jesus Christ as the literal head of the Church. There is no other place that will keep your family members as safe, or that teaches more passionately to stay morally clean, to keep the Word of Wisdom, to live the Law of Chastity, to know and love God by knowing and keeping the commandments. There is no other place with power to seal families into the eternities, or prepare us more fully to stand before God after this life is over.

Leaving this Church would rob you and your loved ones of the safety and security only the fullness of the Gospel can bring. Please stay!

As you supported OW, you felt sisterhood, unity, and bonding over a common cause. The Lord knows your desires. His prophet knows your desires. You’ve opened your hearts, shared your wounds, you’ve nurtured one another, strengthened, uplifted, inspired, and rallied around each other. You’ve felt companionship, friendship, and loyalty. You have shared your voice, felt needed, valued, and understood. In gathering, you have enjoyed the rewards of leading, inspiring, edifying, discussing, and problem-solving. You have been aware of the needs of others. You have used talents, taken courage, and stretched yourselves. The reality is: All those things can be found when similarly united in the efforts of the Relief Society. Can we, as sisters, unite together in the cause of doing good and building up the kingdom of God in the way the Lord has established?

Dive into Relief Society with equal passion! Use your strengths, talents, gifts, and skills to bless the lives of people in your ward and community—men, women, & children. Put your passion into the organization that was created and patterned after the ancient institution “to help prepare daughters of God for the blessings of eternal life.” The Relief Society has been restored modernly for women to use their glorious qualities to grow and flourish in the way best suited for women.

Study the recently published and inspired book, Daughters in My Kingdom, and be reminded how valued the women of the Church are and have always been. “The world’s greatest champion of woman and womanhood is Jesus Christ.” The Relief Society is the same women’s organization that existed in the church anciently and is “divinely authorized, divinely instituted, divinely ordained of God to minister for the salvation of the souls of women and of men.” It truly is bigger and more wonderful than we may realize.

If you are hurting, doubting, or struggling, look to the many generations before you who faced things that were hard for them and caused them to question or wonder if it was worth it. Staying the course and choosing faith always brings the greatest blessings. It will for you, too. Feelings are tender now. Don’t be rash in the moment of lamentation. Let the gospel heal you and draw you closer to the Savior. Put your energy into building faith. Hearts can heal.

As your sister in the Gospel, I plead for you to stay. Choose faith. Choose patience. Choose to trust the Lord and His modern-day prophets. All will be well. We can get through, but let’s do it faithfully, together.