Mary Margaret Thompson was raised in Salt Lake City by two California natives and converts to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Mary served a mission in upper New England. Upon her return, she met and married Spencer Thompson. She earned her masters degree in Early Childhood Education at the University of Utah and taught kindergarten for three years. She is now raising four precious children. Mary has served in various callings, both in ward and stake Young Women presidencies, as well as a Primary presidency and as Primary chorister. She is currently a Relief Society teacher. She has also been the supporting role for her husband who served as the president of NorthStar International for several years. Mary has a great passion to write inspirational thoughts, and has written a personal blog for the past seven years, since President Nelson encouraged us to receive personal revelation.
Enter Mary…
Mother’s Day is often filled with a whirlwind of emotions. As women, we are gifted with deep feeling, and in moments of anguish or joy, heaven often reaches out in sacred, personal ways. I’d like to share one such experience, and how it connected me more deeply with the divine feminine—our Heavenly Mother.
Years ago, I became captivated by a biography of my husband’s great-grandfather, Stayner Richards, a descendant of Willard Richards, who was with the Prophet Joseph Smith during the martyrdom at Carthage. Stayner had served as a Mission President in Great Britain and an assistant to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. One letter from President David O. McKay in the biography especially moved me. He recounted a sermon by Stayner Richards, delivered in Cardiff, Wales, which brought a congregation of missionaries to tears—a tribute to mothers.
That detail overwhelmed me because at age 14, I was in Cardiff when I received the devastating phone call that my mother and sister had died in a car accident. The fact that Spencer’s great-grandfather had spoken of mothers in that very city decades earlier felt like a whisper from heaven—a divine alignment reminding me of eternal bonds. While my mother has passed on, I’ve come to reflect on another sacred truth: we all have a Mother in Heaven.
Our Mother in Heaven
Our theology is unique and beautiful in its acknowledgment of heavenly parents. As Elder Oaks declared,
“Our theology begins with heavenly parents. Our highest aspiration is to be like them.”
This is echoed in The Family: A Proclamation to the World, which proclaims:
“Each person is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents.”
Although we speak of Her less frequently, the Church affirms Her existence in the Gospel Topics essay “Mother in Heaven,” which Elder Renlund referred to in his April 2022 talk, Your Divine Nature and Eternal Destiny. It reminds us:
“The doctrine of a Heavenly Mother is a cherished and distinctive belief among Latter-day Saints.”
We are daughters and sons of both a Father and a Mother Divine.
When I studied Eliza R. Snow’s hymn, Oh My Father, I felt a resonance that only the Spirit can provide. Her inspired words echo Joseph Smith’s teachings and capture eternal truth:
“In the heav’ns are parents single? No, the thought makes reason stare! Truth is reason; truth eternal Tells me I’ve a mother there.”
That truth has been healing for me. As I’ve sought to understand God—and myself—more deeply, I have turned to both of my heavenly parents. In times of grief and longing, I’ve prayed to comprehend Her better. While Church leaders have directed us to pray to the Father in the name of Christ, I believe She too listens, nurtures, and ministers.
A Personal Prayer
As part of my own spiritual journey, I wrote a heartfelt poem—a prayer, really—expressing my yearning to know Her. Though it is personal revelation for me, it afforded me the opportunity connect to Her through personal poetry.
The Divine in Us
Traveling recently through Europe, I reflected deeply on how our churches are places of remembrance. Each week, we partake of the Sacrament to “remember Him.” I believe remembering our Mothers—both mortal and eternal—is part of that sacred remembering. Christ, even in His agony on the cross, honored His own mother: “Behold thy mother” (John 19:27).
Mary, the mother of Jesus, exemplifies divine motherhood. She was there from His first breath to His last. Her obedience, sacrifice, and nurturing prepared the Savior for His earthly ministry. Her actions mirror those of our Heavenly Mother, whose influence surely helped shape the Redeemer of the world.
One powerful moment for me was witnessing Michelangelo’s Pietà in Rome. It depicts Mary holding the crucified body of her Son with both sorrow and serenity. Her expression, youthful and peaceful, seemed to whisper of eternal perspective—perhaps the same love and foresight our Heavenly Mother has as she sends us to earth.
Just as Mary offered her Son, our Eternal Mother offers each of us to mortality, fully aware of the trials we will face, but trusting in the plan of redemption through Her Son, our Brother and Savior.
What Our Faith Teaches
As women, and as Latter-day Saints, we are heirs to a profound spiritual identity. This truth is echoed in the revised Young Women’s theme:
“I am a beloved daughter of heavenly parents, with a divine nature and eternal destiny.”
All women, regardless of life circumstances, embody divinity. As Elder Ballard taught: “All women have within their divine nature both the inherent talent and the stewardship to mother.” And Sister Patricia Holland added:
Mother is… a statement about our nature, not a headcount of our children.
We learn from Daughters in My Kingdom that the Savior was the greatest advocate of women in His time—and remains so today. “Certain women” in His ministry were disciples, teachers, and caregivers. Their strength reflects our own eternal potential. Charity—“the pure love of Christ”—is described with feminine pronouns in scripture. It is nurturing, healing, and divine.
A Healing Invitation
I lost my mother at 14. One of the only things she left behind was a letter—a matriarchal blessing, in a way. She wrote about who I was and who I was becoming. It ends with, “We all love you. Love, Mother.” That letter has become one of my most sacred possessions.
If you feel the absence of your mother—mortal or Eternal—I invite you to do something healing: write yourself a letter, imagining what She would say. Let the Spirit guide you. Sign it: Love, Mother.
As we lead by example in our homes and strive to better understand our Heavenly Mother, I believe She leads us back to the Savior. He is the bridge between us and our heavenly parents. He embodies the perfect balance of divine masculine and feminine love.
Elder Glenn L. Pace once testified:
“Sisters, I testify that when you stand in front of your heavenly parents in those royal courts on high… any questions you ever had about the role of women in the kingdom will evaporate into the richest celestial air, because at that moment you will see standing in front of you, your divine nature and destiny.”
Until that sacred day, may we live worthy of our eternal heritage and prepare for the glorious return of the One who makes our return possible.
And remember Her.
