Sis. Barbara B. Smith mentioned 5 Points of Emphasis That Make Mormon Women Different From Other Women. I am fascinated to understand why she picked these five when she could have picked so many others. I don’t know any answers, but I would like to walk through this list of five to figure some things out.

1. The Importance of Visiting Teaching—this is not only on the list, but it is first on the list. Face it, many of us still struggle with understanding the importance of this calling…yes, calling. Do you realize that there are people in this world who have gone to church with one another for years, yet they don’t know one another? That includes people in and out of our Church. Visiting teaching, if nothing else, gives us a core of friends. Who likes to be alone, uncared for, and forgotten? Nobody! The sisters visited one another from the very beginnings of our organization. Later, it became more structured where sisters visited with the specific call to seek out welfare needs. Dues were collected from the sister being visited, so she could in turn feel she was helping others. And often, baskets of fresh bread were offered, exchanged, or shared together. Yes, I have to agree, visiting teaching belongs on this list, and maybe it even belongs first on the list, as an ensign of our goodwill, devotion, and love for one another, as sisters of the Relief Society, living our purpose and representation of this branch of the gospel.

2. No Tobacco, Tea, Coffee, or Alcohol—we recognize this as the Word of Wisdom, but the world recognizes it as “those kookie Mormons”. I’ve told people more than once, that we abstain from these four “party animals”, but every Mormon everywhere KNOWS how to party without them, especially when chocolate is involved. Have you been to a Church function? Food…always food. The Word of Wisdom is definitely a hallmark of our religion and we should really make a point of staying well away from the line, with the whole appearance thing, and all. Do you realize Mormons are the ONLY religion to abstain from ALL the above. That’s weird! But, right. And we will obey. We might want to take another look at this one and add the overeating aspect of the Word of Wisdom. But then, the chocolate parties would all be gone and I don’t know if I could deal with that. Let’s just leave it with this: Where other women groups might call their get togethers “Teas” or “Coffees”, we need to stick to what we’re comfortable with-Enrichment, Homemaking, Meetings. Yikes! What do we call our get togethers now?

3. A Year’s Supply of Food—this one definitely belongs here. There are very few people in the world that are so intent on having a grocery store in their basement as Mormons are. Just look at all the blogs of women experimenting for us on how to store, rotate, and use aged foods. Its well known among Mormon women (and some men) as an active hobby/concern, yet still, the majority of families do NOT have a functioning, long term storage system in place. I think the world is keyed into the idea of “the end of the world” and I also think everyone secretly hopes there is an obedient Mormon living on their street. Won’t they be surprised when paltry shelves are revealed and no one feels like sharing?

4. Family Home Evening—this is such a popular idea, Mormons no longer have the exclusive on it. With families running in all kinds of directions, parents are screaming for the secret to pull their children together at least once a week. There is really no excuse for a Mormon to not hold this family time one way or another. Even singles get together and enjoy one another’s company for one evening. The problem is, at this point, Mormons maintain this minimal effort of once a week when they really should be looking at spending more time together: Daily scripture reading for instance. Ward activities. Setting down the phone, turning off the TV, leaving work at work, kind of activities. Mormon families are still falling apart, and we have to ask ourselves WHY?

5. The Book of Mormon—I mentioned daily scripture reading already. Reading and studying together is still a struggle for most Mormon families. Parents, especially, don’t take the time for personal study, so how can the children be expected to? As we know, it’s not just reading the scriptures on a daily basis; it’s studying the Book of Mormon, in particular. This is the golden egg; the word of God that we need to feast upon. Right now, we are all consumed with the study of the Old Testament, which is good, but we have got to make time, additionally, in reading the Book of Mormon. Don’t you just want to shoot TIME in the face? I guess that wouldn’t be very Christian, though.

I find it very interesting that these five points are indeed important, because they are preached so consistently among our leadership. Mormons (Mormon Women) are most likely known for these very features of our religion. Yet, many of us have personal struggles with each and every one.

I challenge you to stand up and be different. Our motivation is a desire for perfection. Let’s make sure that Sis. Smith knows that we are happy to be different in THESE WAYS from other women.