The Relief Society

"If I could have one thing happen to the women of the church, it would be to feel the love of the Lord daily in their lives. That pure, sweet love, called charity, eases all transitions. Through living, loving prophets, we have been given an organization to build our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, to feel his love, and to extend that love to all. The Relief Society is that organization."

Bonnie Parkin

President Nelson's Challenge to the Sisters

Sisters’ Participation in the Gathering of Israel

By President Russell M. Nelson

No one can do what a righteous woman can do. No one can duplicate the influence of a mother....

Tonight I urge you, with all the hope of my heart, to pray to understand your spiritual gifts—to cultivate, use, and expand them, even more than you ever have. You will change the world as you do so....

So tonight I’m extending a prophetic plea to you, the women of the Church, to shape the future by helping to gather scattered Israel.

Where can you start?

May I offer four invitations:

First, I invite you to participate in a 10-day fast from social media and from any other media that bring negative and impure thoughts to your mind. Pray to know which influences to remove during your fast. The effect of your 10-day fast may surprise you. What do you notice after taking a break from perspectives of the world that have been wounding your spirit? Is there a change in where you now want to spend your time and energy? Have any of your priorities shifted—even just a little? I urge you to record and follow through with each impression.

Second, I invite you to read the Book of Mormon between now and the end of the year. As impossible as that may seem with all you are trying to manage in your life, if you will accept this invitation with full purpose of heart, the Lord will help you find a way to achieve it. And, as you prayerfully study, I promise that the heavens will open for you. The Lord will bless you with increased inspiration and revelation.

As you read, I would encourage you to mark each verse that speaks of or refers to the Savior. Then, be intentional about talking of Christ, rejoicing in Christ, and preaching of Christ with your families and friends.2 You and they will be drawn closer to the Savior through this process. And changes, even miracles, will begin to happen....

Please teach those whom you love what you are learning from the scriptures. Teach them how to turn to the Savior for His healing and cleansing power when they sin. And teach them how to draw upon His strengthening power every day of their lives.

Third, establish a pattern of regular temple attendance. This may require a little more sacrifice in your life. More regular time in the temple will allow the Lord to teach you how to draw upon His priesthood power with which you have been endowed in His temple. For those of you who don’t live near a temple, I invite you to study prayerfully about temples in the scriptures and in the words of living prophets. Seek to know more, to understand more, to feel more about temples than you ever have before....

My fourth invitation, for you who are of age, is to participate fully in Relief Society. I urge you to study the current Relief Society purpose statement. It is inspiring. It may guide you in developing your own purpose statement for your own life. I also entreat you to savor the truths in the Relief Society declaration published almost 20 years ago.3 A framed copy of this declaration hangs on the wall in the office of the First Presidency. I am thrilled every time I read it. It describes who you are and who the Lord needs you to be at this precise time as you do your part to help gather scattered Israel.

Sincerely Know and Love Each Sister

 “Throughout the years, Relief Society sisters and leaders have learned one step at a time and have improved in their ability to watch over others,” said Sister Beck. “There have been times when sisters have focused more on completing visits, teaching lessons, and leaving notices when they have stopped by their sisters’ homes. These practices have helped sisters learn patterns of watchcare. Just as people in the time of Moses concentrated on keeping long lists of rules, the sisters of Relief Society have at times imposed many written and unwritten rules upon themselves in their desire to understand how to strengthen one another.

“With so much need for relief and rescue in the lives of sisters and their families today, our Heavenly Father needs us to follow a higher path and demonstrate our discipleship by sincerely caring for His children. With this important purpose in mind, leaders are now taught to ask for reports about the spiritual and temporal well-being of sisters and their families and about service rendered. Now visiting teachers have the responsibility to ‘sincerely come to know and love each sister, help her strengthen her faith, and give service.’”

Julie B. Beck, “What I Hope My Granddaughters (and Grandsons) Will Understand about Relief Society,” Liahona andEnsign, Nov. 2011, 112.

Not Just Another Group of Women

“The Relief Society was not just another group of women trying to do good in the world. It was different. It was ‘something better’ because it was organized under priesthood authority. Its organization was a necessary step in the unfolding of God’s work on earth.”

Daughters in My Kingdom, 16.

Save Souls

At a June 9, 1842, meeting of the Relief Society, the Prophet Joseph Smith taught the sisters that their society was “not only to relieve the poor, but to save souls.”

Joseph Smith, History of the Church, 5:25.

We learned that the purpose of Relief Society as established by the Lord is to organize, teach, and inspire His daughters to prepare them for the blessings of eternal life.

To fulfill this purpose of Relief Society, the Lord has commissioned each sister and the organization as a whole to:

1. 1. 
   Increase in faith and personal righteousness.
2. 2. 
   Strengthen families and homes.
3. 3. 
   Provide relief by serving the Lord and His children.

We can do this work in the Lord’s way only when we seek, receive, and act on personal revelation. Without personal revelation, we cannot succeed.

• APRIL 2011
• THE PURPOSE OF RELIEF SOCIETY

• PREVIOUS
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VISITING TEACHING MESSAGE

The Purpose of Relief Society

Julie B. Beck

Relief Society General President

Deliberate and Consistent

And fortunately, our efforts as individuals and as Relief Societies need not be large and overwhelming, but they should be deliberate and consistent.

• PG 7DECEMBER 2011
• AN EXTENSIVE SPHERE OF ACTION

To the Women of the Church

To the Women of the Church

“You are destined for more than you can possibly imagine. Continue to increase in faith and personal righteousness. Accept the restored gospel of Jesus Christ as your way of life. Cherish the gift of activity in this great and true Church. Treasure the gift of service in the blessed organization of Relief Society. Continue to strengthen homes and families. Continue to seek out and help others who need your and the Lord’s help.”

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Second Counselor in the First Presidency, “Forget Me Not,” Liahona and Ensign,Nov. 2011, 123; emphasis added.

The Angels Cannot Be Restrained

On April 28, 1842, the Prophet Joseph Smith said to the sisters in Relief Society: “You are now placed in a situation in which you can act according to those sympathies which God has planted in [you]. . . . If you live up to your privileges, the angels cannot be restrained from being your associates.”

Joseph Smith, in History of the Church, 4:605.

Love, Watch Over, and Strengthen

How can we as visiting teachers love, watch over, and strengthen a sister? Following are nine suggestions found in chapter 7 of Daughters in My Kingdom: The History and Work of Relief Society to help visiting teachers minister to their sisters:

                -Pray daily for her and her family.

                -Seek inspiration to know her and her family.

                -Visit her regularly to learn how she is doing and to comfort and strengthen her.

-Stay in frequent contact through visits, phone calls, letters, e-mail, text messages, and simple acts of kindness.

                -Greet her at Church meetings.

                -Help her when she has an emergency, illness, or other urgent need.

                -Teach her the gospel from the scriptures and the Visiting Teaching Messages.

                -Inspire her by setting a good example.

-Report to a Relief Society leader about their service and the sister’s spiritual and temporal well-being.