November 27, 2025 Rose

Today on Thanksgiving, I am grateful for the following things (and many more):

 All Exponent II writers, readers, and volunteers for creating a safe place where we can speak about women’s issues. We need a place to share their ideas and concerns since they are too often silenced at church. I honor all who sacrificed much of their time and energy to create the magazine and blog.





All who recognize the innate value of others, including women, LGBTQAI folks, refugees, and every marginalized group in the world. When all churches, institutions, government leaders, and people throughout the world see the true worth of others, wars will cease, strife will end, and our hearts and communities will begin to heal.



Every person who “forged the way for women to vote, own property, and receive equal pay for equal work.” LDS national leader Esther Peterson worked hard to advocate for working women nationally, and we celebrate her and all others who have helped in this cause. Esther said, “Women’s place is where they can do the most good.”
Relief Society when it was an autonomous organization with its own budget, curriculum, magazine, and control over the humanitarian donations and giving of the Church. Emma Smith, its first president said, “On the day Relief Society was organized, Emma Smith, declared: “We are going to do something extraordinary. … We expect extraordinary occasions and pressing calls.” May the Church restore Relief Society to the independence it once had.







All feminists who speak up for truth, justice, and love, who ask for collaboration—not authority over, and who ask for respect and equal voices where decisions are made. Sojourner Truth wrote, “I raise up my voice—not so that I can shout, but so that those without a voice can be heard… We cannot all succeed when half of us are held back.”



All who reach out with love to help the hungry, unhoused, refugees, sick, suffering, and lonely, and for all who share the gifts of life, love, learning, and listening, who speak with kindness and who listen with empathy. Former General Relief Society president, Linda Burton, speaking about serving those in need– especially refugees–said, “As we consider the ‘pressing calls’ of those who need our help, let’s ask ourselves, ‘What if their story were my story?'” Empathy matters. Kindness matters. 
My foremothers who served as ward clerks, gave healing blessings, and ran ward Relief Societies with autonomy and grace. May the LDS Church allow women to reclaim their innate authority. Outstanding LDS feminist writer and professor, Dr. Joanna Brooks writes,  “Many, many administrative responsibilities within the institutional culture of the LDS Church that have nothing to do with priesthood at all have been customarily restricted by gender, and this sends a powerful message about the value of women’s experience and authority within the Mormon world.”
My faithful feminist mother who taught me to follow my heart, finish my education, live my authentic life, and speak truth to power. I didn’t fully understand what she was teaching me until after she died, but I do now.
Beautiful Mother Earth with her glory, wonder, and majesty. May we treat Her with the care and respect that She deserves. May we find ways to protect Her air, water, soil, and vegetation with wisdom and healing work. Wangari Kuria is doing that in Kenya, where she is devoted to social justice, environmentalism, and empowering female farmers. She said, “ In our local language, Kiswahili, global warming literally translates to: ‘Alarm, alarm! The world is on fire.’ This is something the whole world needs to hear.” 
Prophesses in the Bible, including Anna, Miriam, Deborah, Huldah,  and apostles, including Mary Magdelene and Junia, who exemplify the power of female religious leaders. A writer, perhaps Hippolytus, a Christian leader in Rome around 200 CE. wrote “that Jesus first appeared to the women at the tomb and instructed them to tell the disciples that he had been raised.  He then appeared to the male disciples, upbraiding them for not believing the women’s report.”  Hippolytus wrote: “Christ showed himself to the (male) apostles and said to them, ‘It is I who appeared to these women and I who wanted to send them to you as apostles.'”

On this day of thanksgiving, may we celebrate the strength, courage, and resilience of women past and present. May we honor the trailblazers who challenged norms and fought for equality. Let us be grateful for the sisters who lift each other up, creating a world where every voice is heard and valued. On this day of gratitude, may we also commit to justice, respect, and empowerment for all genders. Together, may we nurture compassion and stand united against oppression. Here’s to progress, persistence, and the power of community—today and every day.

Melody Beattie wrote, “Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.” 

Happy Thanksgiving, friends.

Thanks to Unsplash and Pexels for the photos.