Many believe that Mormon women are slighted. From my perspective, I have plenty of power and authority and responsibility. For me, as a Mormon woman, I am equal to my husband in the eyes of God. I am captain of my ship. I can choose a career, I can choose my path, the same as a man. I am called upon to pray in church meetings, teach lessons, give sermons (called talks in LDS lingo), hold positions of authority (called callings in LDS) and  receive all the blessings of the temple. Maybe for some this is not enough. Some do not like that a man is the prophet, an apostle, a bishop. However, women are by their side and often called with their spouse.  When a couple are called to serve over a mission, the husband and wife are called together. They work together. My sister works as hard as her husband as President over the Alabama mission. They are called as a team. The apostle called both of them. It had to be a team.
You may say that I don’t get ordained to the priesthood as my male counterpart. I can’t be the bishop or the prophet, or an apostle, or pass the sacrament. True, and they cannot birth children. (what was God thinking?) We do have some different responsibilities and capabilities.  But any of the blessings that come with priesthood fall upon male and female equally. That’s what is important — I get the same promises, the same blessings, the same opportunities to progress as men ordained in the priesthood. My husband gets to enjoy our five children, even though I carried them. He is their father and gets to enjoy their love and attention, without the barfing and discomfort of  5 x 40 weeks = 200 weeks of pregnancy. He misses out on the tender moments of breast feeding.
Women in the temple are given responsibility to officiate in the ordinances for women. These are high and holy anointings, given by women to other women. The sacred relationship of husband and wife is a joining of equals. I can receive guidance for myself and my family. My husband and I work together.
Joseph Smith restored not only the church of Jesus Christ, he restored women to a higher status. He organized the women in 1842 and called it The Relief Society.  He did not exclude them from the temple, but helped them to join in a society of women that exists to this day. This is the oldest and largest women’s organization in the world, with approximately 5.5 million women, ages 18 + up, from over 170 countries. We help each other, share common goals, and hold positions of leadership and responsibility.
I appreciate the guidance of a prophet, and to tell you the truth, many times I wish he would tell me more of what to do. So many times in my life, when I pray, I wish God would just tell me straight up how to solve my problems. But that is not the plan, we must make our own choices.
My point is, the Mormon church does not tell women how many children to have or whether to work or not. Some do not marry, some have no children, some make great contributions in the world through their careers. The church helps me when I am in need and has organizations that help me succeed and many wonderful people who pray for me. I belong. I may not understand why only men are ordained to the priesthood, but I do not let this stand in the way of my faith. We must often wait for answers. When Adam built an altar to the Lord, an angel came and asked him why he was doing it — his reply — “I know not save the Lord commanded me.”

**I  know that some women cannot bear children and it is a great heartache, I certainly do not mean to slight any of them. They are still great women and contribute in so many ways. We all have trials, and some seem harder than others. The featured image, those kids, I did birth those, but not the dog.