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What a wonderful sight!
What a marvelous feeling! The warmth and love that
emanate from this exceptional body of faithful sisters
is so inspiring, that I am confident the angels
themselves would rejoice to be in this hall amidst this
company. I wonder if you have any idea how your
strength, your enthusiasm, and your spirit strengthen
and encourage those who serve on the general board.
Thank you for being here today. Thank you for your
untiring efforts. Thank you for your faithfulness, your
loyalty, and your determination in assisting to build
the kingdom of God on earth.
In the spring of 1842 the Prophet Joseph Smith announced
it was time to "organize the sisters under the
priesthood. "Not long after, on March 17 of that
year, 20 sisters assembled in a red brick store in
Nauvoo to hear the words of a prophet of God.
At that meeting, Joseph Smith proposed a new society--a
Relief Society. He revealed that the purpose of
this female Relief Society of Nauvoo was to help
"provoke the brethren to good works in looking to the
wants of the poor--searching after objects of charity,
and in administering to their wants; [and] to assist by
correcting the morals and strengthening the virtues of
the community." "This Society shall rejoice," he
told them, "and knowledge and intelligence shall flow
down from this time henceforth."
Emma, the Prophet's wife, also spoke in that meeting and
encouraged each member to do good. "We are going
to do something extraordinary," she told them.
What a remarkable and prophetic statement! Truly,
during this last year the sisters of the Relief Society
of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have
done something extraordinary!
We are overjoyed at the response we have received to the
Relief Society Declaration. We are thrilled at how
sisters throughout the world have embraced the message
that "we are beloved spirit daughters of God, and our
lives have meaning, purpose, and direction.
"However, President Boyd K. Packer has warned that just
to have prepared the Declaration and just to have
announced it will not give assurance that it will have a
lasting influence. He cautioned that the
fundamentals underlying the Declaration must be
emphasized and taught. The board and leaders
should spend the more part of their time and attention
teaching the fundamentals that are set forth in the
revelations, upon which the Declaration is based.
This will help fulfill the purpose for which we women
leaders have been called.
Will we take upon ourselves President Packer's
challenge? I believe we will. As you return
to your stakes, will you discuss with your ward
presidencies how they can incorporate the Relief Society
Declaration into their meetings, activities, and lives
so that it becomes more than words on a page--so that
its principles are applied in the daily lives of the
sisters of the Church and it thereby has a lasting
influence?
We all share a similar vision of what the Relief Society
can become. We see a vibrant sisterhood--millions
strong. We see women who love light and goodness
and whose hearts swell with love for their husbands,
families, and communities and for every human soul
throughout the world. We see a sisterhood bound
together by the pure love of Christ, strong in the
faith, pure of heart, embracing the best this life has
to offer, lifting others from misery and suffering, and
showing by example a better way. We see a
sisterhood identified by Christ-like compassion for all
of God's children.
Of all people, we should be the most joyful! We
envision a sisterhood that has the defining
characteristic of a fullness of joy. We envision a
sisterhood filled with a faith so strong that the very
veil separating this world from heavenly realms becomes
rarefied. We envision a sisterhood whose every step is
filled with meaning and purpose.
Sisters, it is not enough for us simply to attend our
meetings and fulfill Church callings. It is not
enough to just "get by". Of all people, we should
approach this mortality as a great and grand adventure
and fill it with all the wonder, mystery, love, and
meaning that we anticipated before we came here.
Imagine someone whose great dream in life was to travel
to a foreign country, but when she arrived, all she did
was sit listlessly in her hotel room, filled with worry,
fear, desperation, and sadness about the opportunities
awaiting her. We would call such a person unwise.
But we are all here in this most marvelous and wonderful
of worlds, living this magnificent adventure called
mortality. Can we afford to spend our lives
brooding, being bored, or being bothered?
We are not unwise, and therefore we will rise to the
purpose for which we have been called, which purpose is
to live to the full measure of our abilities, to bless
our husbands, our families, and those around us, to
experience a full measure of joy, to live valiantly, and
to return to the loving arms of our Heavenly Father,
with as many of our loved ones and brothers and sisters
that we can bring with us. That is our opportunity
and responsibility as leaders in this great movement to
help the sisters in our wards and stakes understand and
embrace this vision and follow up.
You have heard and will yet hear many things during the
course of this conference. Perhaps you are feeling
a little overwhelmed by all that must be done. May
I suggest that there is only one thing in your capacity
as a leader you must do this year? That thing is
this: You must call upon the powers of heaven and,
through the inspiration that surely will flow down upon
your heads, help the sisters in your stakes capture and
internalize this vision we have discussed. That is
what a leader does.
Those who want or need a list of marching orders might
be frustrated by this approach. Yet I know of no
checklist that has the power to infuse the ennobling
Spirit of God in the hearts of sisters of your wards.
I know of no checklist that will inspire or empower the
sisters in your wards to create excellence. A
checklist won't work.
Creating a vision--that is our work. It is a work
we cannot delegate. This is why we have been
called of the Lord. It is our great responsibility
and wondrous opportunity to work in conjunction with the
priesthood leaders to discover and create ways to
inspire and elevate those whom we have been called to
serve.
In the last general conference I urged the members of
the Church to be about our Father's business and become
creators. Creation is one of the great joys of life.
It will enrich our lives and infuse our souls with
feelings of satisfaction and accomplishment.
As creators, we will turn chaos and confusion into order
and peace.
I promise you today that as you lead in righteousness
and put your trust in Heavenly Father and in His Son,
the power of the Spirit will accompany you, prosper you,
and go before you to prepare the way. I challenge
each of you to create in your stakes ways to inspire and
ennoble the sisters. I challenge you to create
this vision. I challenge you to lift the lives and
hearts of the sisters with whom you work in an
exceptional and memorable way.
You will want to listen carefully to the suggestions
offered here by members of the general board as well as
the ideas you glean from each other. But know now
that the burden of the direction you choose to take is
placed squarely upon your shoulders. Go and create
something exceptional this coming year!
Below are five important ideas that will help bring our
women to Christ. They could be taught by Relief
Society presidents on the first Sunday or during a class
at Home, Family and Personal Enrichment meeting.
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Increase spirituality.
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Encourage sisters to
teach their families reverence, virtue, modesty, and
self-reliance.
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Teach literacy.
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Promote service.
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Emphasize conversion,
retention, and activation.
Increase Spirituality
I encourage you to help your sisters reach a new level
of spirituality. In August, Elder Jeffrey R.
Holland spoke to the seminary and institute teachers at
Brigham Young University, "Don't count on laws or
legislatures or courts or civil authorities to provide
our defense," he told them. "Our defense is a
burning conviction of the gospel of Jesus Christ and a
fervent desire to keep those commandments. Our
defense is in prayer and faith, in studying the
scriptures and fasting, in the gifts of the Spirit, the
ministration of angels, the power of the priesthood."
Elder Holland then asked: "What is your arsenal in this
battle? With what will you conquer?" We must
realize that we are on a battlefield and that our
families will either conquer or be conquered. This
choice is up to each family.
Please keep in mind this fundamental question as we plan
any Relief Society activity or meeting. How will
this activity or meeting strengthen our sisters and
their families spiritually? If our meetings or
activities do not strengthen spirituality, then either
forget the activity or go back and find a way to
incorporate that overarching goal.
Pray, study and ponder the scriptures, and write the
inspiration that comes to our minds. Our families
are in peril, and we must teach our mothers the skills
necessary to save their family.
Last month during a meeting of the Relief Society
general board, we were honored to have President Body K.
Packer present. He gave us a promise that whatever
contribution we make to the Relief Society organization
will be answered with blessings upon our heads and, of
more concern to each of us, blessings upon those we
serve, our companions, and our families.
In every dispensation of the world since the beginning
of time, righteous and compassionate women have done the
work we are doing today. Think of it, sisters.
The work we are doing today is similar to the work done
by Mother Eve, Sarah, Ruth, Sariah, Rachel, Mary, and
Emma. We form a link in a chain that transcends
the centuries and binds us together with those who have
lived before us. It will bind us to those who live
after us. It will be a guiding and healing force
throughout all eternity. There is a holiness that
comes with this work. It sanctifies and ennobles.
The Prophet Joseph explained: "Who better is qualified
to administer than our faithful and zealous sisters,
whose hearts are full of faith, tenderness, sympathy,
and compassion? No one!"
Encourage Sisters to
Teach Their Families Reverence, Virtue, Modesty, and
Self-Reliance
In the world today the families that stand up to be
counted are the families with values--those who are
taught to work together, learn together, pray together,
and worship together. In morning prayer we can
express and teach reverence and love for a kind and
loving Father in Heaven. We can teach our family
members to read the scriptures daily so they will become
sensitive to the promptings of the Holy Ghost.
Parents can continually teach
their children that the purpose of the sacrament is to
reverently partake and express our love for our Savior.
It is a time to examine our lives over the past week,
ask for forgiveness, and commit to live the next week
closer to our Father in Heaven. It is not a time
for back rubs or for discussions of the Friday or
Saturday night party or game or who has a date to the
next dance. We are slipping in our reverence to
our Father in Heaven and His beloved Son, Jesus Christ.
Wise are the parents who
teach their children self-reliance and obedience.
I know a young couple who were married recently.
They received their first credit card and saw an
opportunity to meet all their wants immediately.
They were both working and bringing in a paycheck.
However, they soon learned they had more charges and
bills than they had income. The parents of the
bride were contacted because they could not pay their
rent. The couple humbly expressed their concerns
to her father. He told them he would show them
what they could do to get out of debt and stay out of
debt forever if they would promise him they would do
what he asked them to do. This wise father was
able to guide these precious children to the art of
self-reliance. Obedience to their father helped
them resolve their concerns.
Something that has been on my mind
of late has been a disturbing trend. President
David Bednar of BYU-Idaho said recently about this
trend, "Brothers and sisters, we must be particularly
careful as the fads and fashions of the world entice us
to mark or to pierce or to otherwise deface or disfigure
our personal temples." Our bodies are temples to
house our spirits. We should treat them as a
temple and return them to our Father in Heaven as
perfect and undefiled as when we received them.
President Bednar asks this question, "Will our body rule
over our spirit, or will our spirit rule over our body"?
President Spencer W. Kimball asked: "How far, we wonder,
will men and women go to pay ovations to the god of
style? Will men wear rings in their noses when
style dictates? Will young people still fall prey
to their god of style, which they worship?"
(Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, [1982], 380)
At the General Relief
Society Meeting in September 2000, President Hinckley
stated: "The practice is growing among young people of
tattooing and piercing their bodies. The time will come
when they will regret it, but it will then be too late."
He reiterated what he said has been the Church's
position of "discouraging tattoos" and "piercing of the
body for other than medical purposes, although (the
church) takes no position on the minimal piercing of the
ears by women for one pair of earrings." I ask you
to encourage your mothers, sisters, and aunts to talk to
the youth about piercing and tattooing.
Heather Hansen currently holds the prestigious title of
Mrs. Utah America 2000 and is the youngest recipient of
this honor in the history of the state. Rather
than compromise her standards, she chose a modest gown
for the competition. She won despite her refusal
to wear the trendy, immodest gowns that were popular at
the pageant and that some contestants felt they had to
wear to win. Also, one of our local high schools
chose a homecoming queen and attendants who all
determined to set a righteous standard in dress.
They were outstanding and beautiful in the modest gowns
they selected.
President Harold B. Lee said: "Do not
underestimate the important symbolic and actual effect
of appearance. Persons who are well groomed and
modestly dressed invite the companionship of the Spirit
of our Father in Heaven and are able to exercise a
wholesome influence upon those around them.
Persons who are unkept and careless about their
appearance, or adopt the visual symbols of those who
often oppose our ideals expose themselves and persons
around them to influences that are degrading and
dissonant. Outward appearance is often a
reflection of inward tendencies."
We may ask ourselves these questions: If we met
the Savior today, would we feel comfortable in His
presence? Does the way we dress encourage others
to think good, righteous thoughts or base, ignoble
thoughts?
As mothers, one of the most
thrilling occasions we look forward to is the day we
take our daughters, pure and clean, to the temple.
Therefore, temple preparation needs to be carefully
taught to both mothers and daughters so that the temple
matrons do not have to correct inappropriate dress
standards before the bride is married. We would
encourage you to use family home evening to teach proper
dress standards for brides married in the temple.
Also ward Relief Society presidents could give a lesson
on the first Sunday about this topic. Every bride
to be married in the temple, receives instructions of
the appropriate style to be worn during the temple
wedding. The temple dress standards for the bride,
groom, and guests are as follows:
"Brides' Dresses. All dresses that are worn in the
temple should be white, long-sleeved, modest in design
and fabric, and free of elaborate ornamentation.
Sheer fabric should be lined. Women's pants are
not permitted in the temple. Brides' dresses
should not have a train unless the train can be removed
for the temple ceremony.
"Formal Wear and Flowers. Tuxedos, dinner jackets,
cummerbunds, formal head wear, and boutonnières and
other flowers are not appropriate in a sealing room or
during a sealing ceremony. This applies not only to
those who are being sealed, but also to their guests.
If desired, formal wear and flowers may be worn outside
for photographs after the ceremony.
"Wedding Guests. Couples should not ask their
wedding guests to dress in white unless the sealing room
must be entered through the celestial room.
Members who come to a wedding directly from an endowment
session may wear ordinance clothing."
As Relief Society leaders, you should
also encourage sisters to set family goals to never
watch R-rated or PG13 movies and television shows with
sexual innuendoes, foul language, or excessive violence.
It takes many years to completely forget a sexually
explicit scene. We need to find real joy in this
life. We need to challenge each other to learn
daily something uplifting and new that will build us
intellectually and spiritually. Elder and Sister
Marvin J. Ashton said that at the conclusion of each day
they would share with each other the most inspiring
thought they read or heard that day.
Also encourage your ward Relief
Society presidents to teach the sisters to support their
husbands in their callings. I always felt that
when my husband received an important calling it was my
calling as well. I wanted to do whatever I could
to help him to be successful. For instance, I
would make sure he received his phone calls, and we
would discuss his meeting schedule in family home
evening so that we would know of the activities of each
member of the family and could support one another.
It is important that we work together with our spouses
and support each other. When my husband served as
stake president, he interview the wife of a man the
stake presidency were calling to be bishop. The
prospective bishop had a large family, and my husband
was aware of the time this assignment would take.
He asked this sister about her feelings and the
challenges in their home. He then asked if she
would support her husband. Her answer to him is an
example to all of us. She expressed gratitude that
her husband was worthy to serve the Lord and said she
always wanted to do her part in building the kingdom.
She vowed to try to support him in every way and create
an environment in the home that would make him feel
welcomed and loved when he returned to his family.
In everyone's marriage there will be times when we have
to tie a knot and hang on. Throwing away a
marriage in stressful times is like throwing away a
diamond just before it has been polished.
Teach Literacy
Our literacy efforts have touched many lives this past
year. For example, in one stake, sisters of the
Relief Society rallied in support of a newly arrived
immigrant family. The mother and father didn't
speak English, so the Relief Society sisters tutored
them in English. One night a week a sister helped
the mother prepare dinner all the while teaching her
cooking terms, and measurements in English. The
sisters arranged for returned missionaries to accompany
the children to Primary and translate for them.
Ward children were assigned to assist the children in
learning words and children's games during school
recess.
One stake has taken the literacy challenge seriously and
is seeking to prevent future literacy problems by
striking at the root of the problem. Their
objective is to help first-grade and second-grade
children living within their stake or neighborhood who
need help with beginning reading. While this is an
effort to help children, it is also an effort to
strengthen families. The early intervention
decreases future reading problems. The aim is for
a parent to provide 30-minute daily tutoring sessions
with each child.
Another stake is participating in a remarkable service
project that includes literacy. They started
English-Spanish/Spanish-English classes 18 months ago
and are completing their fifth 12-week session.
Over 50 women have participated, and more than half of
them are members of other faiths. Many women have
repeated the course several times. In fact, some of the
Spanish-speaking women have advanced beyond the
beginning classes and moved on to community programs
that teach English as a second language. They want
to learn more than language; they want to learn
homemaking and parenting skills. Great
fellowshipping has taken place as local leaders have
reached out in love and inclusion.
Encourage Service
We can invite those not of our faith to join in our
humanitarian efforts such as assembling hygiene kits or
teaching literacy. The sisters of the Relief
Society during this past year sewed and tied 150,000
quilts--quilts that have given comfort and warmth to
people in need all over the world. At the women's
conference in April of this year, our sisters donated
1,502 pints of blood, assembled 42,140 hygiene kits,
2,492 newborn kits, and 5,460 educational kits, and
knitted 2,000 leper bandages, and tied and completed 900
quilts, with an additional 1,500 quilts handed out to be
completed and returned later.
In every stake of the Church our sisters have reached
out to those who are suffering or in need. Members
of one stake decided they would perform 2,000 hours of
community service during the year 2000. They
visited the mayor, who responded with a list of
projects. They contacted the schools, hospitals,
Salvation Army, and women's shelters asking if thee was
anything they could do to help. The requests drawn
from these projects inspired a project that the Relief
Society in this stake calls, "Sisters in Service: On the
errand of Angels." Some sisters have sewn
pillowcases and tied quilts to be given to a home for
troubled children. One ward is going to a
retirement center and recording the patients' life
histories so the stories can be given as gifts to the
patients' posterity. Another ward is collecting
person items for a group home. And the whole stake is
involved in making memory books for foster children.
We hear hundreds of examples--from California to Canada,
from Indiana to Indonesia, from Logan to London--of
sisters who are shining beacons of Christ-like
compassion and service, who are flames that burn
brightly through the fog and confusion of modern life.
Each day as we ask for the guidance of the Holy Ghost in
our every day lives, and act on the promptings we
receive, we are rendering the love and support that is
needed to bring one another to Christ.
Encourage Conversion,
Retention, and Activation
In a recent meeting, President Hinckley challenged those
present to move forward the missionary work of the
Church. During the course of the meeting, it was
indicated that with 11 million members, we should be
baptizing many more than the 350,000 who come into the
Church each year. And then it was suggested if
missionary work is ever going to accelerate, the sisters
need to come aboard because they get things done.
We can make a difference in missionary work. When
we ask the sisters to do something, they do it. We
asked for 30,000 quilts, and we received 150,000.
What would happen if we asked them to reach out to those
not of our faith who are family or friends? What
would happen if we individually fasted and prayed for a
missionary experience? If we were to accept this
challenge, the Relief Society could be responsible this
coming year for as many or more new baptisms as we have
quilts.
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We do not need a special
program to become successful. In fact, everything is
already in place to help bring this about. The prophet
Nephi wrote, "I know that the Lord giveth no
commandments unto the children of men, save he shall
prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the
thing which he commandeth them."
(1
Nephi 3:7)
Sisters, I ask you to accept this assignment that
comes to us from the prophet and the Lord. Let
us open our mouths and share the truths of this gospel
with those who will listen. There are hundreds
of ways to accomplish this. You can: Pray for a
missionary experience.
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Invite those not of our
faith to participate in Relief Society service
projects.
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Encourage family members
to include new members, less-active members, or
friends not of our faith and their parents in a family
home evening.
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Hand out copies of the
Relief Society Declaration.
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Invite friends and
acquaintances to Church meetings.
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Not long ago I received
a letter from a member in Oregon who had just been
called as the counselor over the home, family, and
personal enrichment meeting. As she was talking
to a good friend of hers who was not a Church member,
the topic of her new calling came up. This
sister wondered if she should just use the old name of
"homemaking," or run this new, long name by her
friend, who wasn't really familiar with any of the
Church vernacular. She decided to use the new
name and told her friend that her new responsibility
consisted of planning a monthly home, family, and
personal enrichment meeting for the women in her area.
Her friend said that was wonderful and asked if she
could come sometime.
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Invite members not of
our faith to classes on researching family history.
Conclusion
Joseph Smith, after the eventful meeting in 1842 from
which the Relief Society was organized, described the
sisters who were in the congregation as, "some of the
most intelligent, humane, philanthropic and respectable
ladies of Nauvoo." If he were with us today, I am
confident he would look over this congregation and feel
inspired to echo the same sentiment.
Do not be discouraged by what you have not done or by
what you feel you cannot do. Rejoice that as
children of our Heavenly Father we have an infinite
promise. Do not worry so much about failures.
Learn from them and roll up your sleeves and thrust your
hands into the clay of your lives. Let us create
something extraordinary this year.
May our Father in Heaven bless you for your untiring
efforts. May He bless you for the good you
represent. May He bless you for your prayers and
for your tears. May He bless you for your weary
feet, your worn hands, and your tired eyes. May He
bless you with the unspoken but cherished and righteous
secret desires of your hearts.
Individually we may be weak, but together, and with the
help of the heavenly powers that stand ready to assist
us, there is nothing on earth that can defray or hinder
our cause. We are backed by the truth, buoyed by
our faith, and guided by the holy priesthood of the
Almighty God. I pray the Lord's choicest blessings
will accompany you as you create in your stakes the
transcendent possibilities which Emma Smith proclaimed.
In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
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