I know that I already wrote about Daughter's in My Kingdom a couple of weeks ago, but while I was preparing for my lesson last week in Relief Society, I came across an interview with Susan W. Tanner about her experience in writing the book. I thought it was so wonderful that I had to share a bit of what she says.
Sister Tanner was given the calling, in June of 2009, to write a book on the history of Relief Society by Elders Russels M. Nelson and Neil W. Anderson. She wasn't to write a new history, but she was to compile and abridge what had already been written into a new book for the women of the church. They told her that, " this book needs to get the women of the world and the women of the church from where they are to where they need to be." Sister Tanner said she kept this in mind as she sorted through thousands of pages of written history and was deciding what she should include in the book.
While she was reading and taking notes she also asked herself theses questions:
Is this important to inspire women? To lift women? To help them know who they are and what their purposes are?
She said in her interview, that she came to a point in her writing where she was really stuck and she didn't know how to proceed. Then one night she had a very vivid dream. In her dream she was following a guide on a hike. As her guide rounded a corner, she lost sight of him and found that she was lost. Next, she found herself in an amusement park. She was in a room with 4 walls and no way out. She could see the amusement park over the walls of the room she was in, and she could see the place she needed to be, but she couldn't figure out how to get there. Then she woke up. She said that she realized that this was an alligory of her life right then. She felt that she was stuck because she had let too many things of the world encroach upon her spirit, she had let the amusements of the world encroach upon her. She said she felt that she needed to have a better spirit, more dedication, and she needed to lay aside the things of the world so she could get the spirit of the project back again.
Her next thought was that maybe this dream wasn't just an allegory for her but that it is an allegory for the women and sisters of the world and in the church. "They have allowed the amusements of the world to encroach upon them, too, and they are lost in an amusement park," she said. "They need to lay aside the things of this world and seek for the things of a better world." She was reminded again that this book needed to get women from where they are, to where they need to be.
As she was able to continue on with her writing, it was impressed upon her that the chapters on the priesthood (chapter 8) and the on families (chapter 9) were the two most important chapters in the book and they had to be right. She said that she and sister Beck worked on these two chapters up until the book was printed in early 2011.
Sister Tanner said that she felt Heavenly Father guiding her each stop of the process, and that Heavenly Father loves us and needs us. Women have always been important to him.
The messages, that Sister Tanner hopes women will take away from the book are:
*the knowledge that we are daughters of Heavenly Father.
*that we have an important place in his plan.
*we have responsibilities.
*we have a mission we need to do.
*God loves us, cares about us, and He needs our help in this great work.
*He will bless us to be able to fulfill our responsibilities.
*we need to understand our place in his plan.
*we are here to bless the lives of other people.
She ended her interview by saying that she felt so excited about the message of the final chapter. "This is our chapter to write on the history of Relief Society, this is our challenge. We can do it. Now is our chance."
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