Why is relief society important

We learn what He would have us learn, we do what He would have us do, and we become what He would have us become. When we gather with this focus, the work of Relief Society is relevant whatever your circumstance—whether you are 18 or 88, single or married, have children or not, or whether you live in Bountiful, Utah, or Bangalore, India.

So to you, dear sisters, I say: Come to Relief Society! It will fill your homes with love and charity; it will nurture and strengthen you and your families. Your home needs your righteous heart. Bonnie D. Our burdens can be lightened, our loads lessened. But we can work on it; we can perfect it together as we take our own steps forward.

By just changing our attitudes: How we talk about Relief Society affects how others feel about Relief Society—especially young women. Relief Society sisters will put their arms around the new members and make everyone feel needed and nurtured, no matter what their status of life is at this time. They will welcome the new young women as they arrive and make them an integral part of every activity. Use them. We cannot afford to lose them. Everyone will be lifted and loved. Through Relief Society lessons, activities, and shared experiences, you can gain a testimony or you can strengthen the testimony you already have.

When it comes right down to it, that may be the single most important thing we do in Relief Society, for the spiritual strength and secure testimonies of the women of the Church are absolutely vital—to themselves, to their families, to their branches and wards, and to the world itself.

Virginia U. We follow the path of spiritual preparedness as it is set forth in scripture and by our living prophets. We take full fellowship in the Relief Society organization.

This society, established and directed by our prophets through divine inspiration, is not just a Sunday meeting. It is an organization to bring sisters and their families unto Christ.

We understand the power and strength of the fruits of the Spirit described in Galatians: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith. We can bring reassurance and support, kindness, and calm. Elaine L. This means bringing the influence of Jesus Christ into our homes. Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith, chapter Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Brigham Young, chapter Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Lorenzo Snow, chapter Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph F.

Smith, chapter 4. Smith, chapter Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Harold B. Lee, chapter Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Spencer W. Kimball, chapter Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Gordon B. Hinckley, chapter 5.

Gospel Topics. Doctrinal Study Abrahamic Covenant. Doctrinal Study Adversity. Doctrinal Study Agency and Accountability. Doctrinal Study Answering Gospel Questions. Doctrinal Study Atonement of Jesus Christ. Doctrinal Study Book of Mormon. Doctrinal Study Covenant. Doctrinal Study Dispensations. Doctrinal Study Eternal Life.

Kimball in Nauvoo to organize a sewing society to aid Nauvoo Temple workmen. When they sought the Prophet's endorsement for their proposed Constitution, he praised their efforts but proffered an alternative: he would "organize the sisters under the priesthood after a pattern of the priesthood" "Story of the Organization of the Relief Society," p. The women elected Emma Smith president, and like presidents of priesthood quorums, she selected two counselors.

The three presiding officers were set apart for their callings by the laying on of hands by priesthood leaders. Joseph Smith explained that the decisions of this presidency, together with minutes of society proceedings, would serve as the group's Constitution. A secretary and treasurer were appointed, and the presidency could appoint other officers as necessary. New members were admitted individually when standing members voted to give them full fellowship.

By , there were 1, members. The Female Relief Society of Nauvoo brought women into the formal structure of the Church and gave them significant responsibility and authority. They contributed to the Nauvoo Temple, supported moral reform, and petitioned the governor of Illinois on behalf of Joseph Smith. Primarily occupied with "looking to the wants of the poor," society members donated cash, commodities, housing, and labor. In July a visiting committee of four was appointed in each ward to assess needs, solicit contributions from Church members, and distribute necessities.

Visiting teachers have remained part of the Relief Society's basic organizational structure ever since see Visiting Teaching. Joseph Smith further charged members with the responsibility to "save souls. He also introduced them to sacred doctrines related to temple worship.

This instruction set the precedent for meetings in which women could discuss religious principles and testify of their faith in the restored gospel, a continuing aspect of the Relief Society. The Nauvoo society held its last recorded meeting on March 16, , apparently unable to maintain unity of purpose during the factious events preceding the June martyrdom of Joseph Smith.

Brigham Young, the next President of the Church, did not initially encourage women to resume formal meetings, nor did the organization function during the Saints' westward trek and early settlement of Utah, though women continued their charitable works and gathered as friends to support and minister to one another through prayer, testimony, and the exercise of the gifts of the spirit.

The Female Council of Health, organized in Salt Lake City in for midwives and others interested in healing by faith and herbs, preceded the renewal of collective effort. In early February , sixteen women in Salt Lake City responded to President Young's exhortation to befriend and aid the Indians by organizing "a society of females for the purpose of making clothing for Indian women and children.

Members of the initial group later disbanded to join their respective ward organizations. During , some twenty-two Indian Relief Societies were organized in Salt Lake City and outlying LDS settlements, and their members contributed enough bedding and clothing to meet the demand for such goods.

Many of these societies remained organized for the long-range goal of assisting the poor within their wards, as well as for short-range projects such as meetinghouse carpets and clothing and bedding for destitute handcart companies. The Utah expedition resulted in a widespread disorganization of wards that greatly diminished Relief Society operations for several years. There had been strong local leadership in a number of the wards, but the guiding central organization that would become a permanent and stabilizing feature of Relief Society was lacking.

Snow to assist bishops in establishing the organization in each ward. The minutes that she had recorded in Nauvoo became the common "Constitution" for all local units, providing continuity of name, purpose, and organizational pattern. Though not formally called and set apart as general president until , Eliza R.

Snow directed Relief Society work from until her death in She was aided by her counselors Zina D. Young and Elizabeth Ann Whitney and by the retrenchment society, which served informally as a central board. By , the Relief Society had local units, and each one cared for the suffering and needy within its ward boundaries, using an expanded corps of visiting teachers to collect and distribute donations.

Ward Relief Societies managed their own financial resources, and many of them built their own meeting halls. The Relief Society engaged in a number of bold and innovative economic activities spurred by the Church's movement for economic self-sufficiency. Ward societies initiated cooperative enterprises for making and marketing homemade goods, raised silk see Silk Culture , established a grain storage program with local granaries, and helped finance the medical training of midwives and female doctors.

With the support of ward units, the central board established the Deseret hospital Assuming a new political role, the Relief Society sponsored a series of "indignation meetings" to voice women's opposition to proposed antipolygamy legislation. After Utah women were enfranchised in , the Relief Society encouraged women to vote. Then they actively campaigned for woman suffrage after they were disfranchised by the federal government in The Relief Society helped to organize and nurture the Young Ladies' Retrenchment Association later young women and the primary.

Though separate general presidencies were appointed for these groups in , President Eliza R. Snow served as their general head, and she and her board visited local congregations in Utah and Idaho to instruct all three groups.

Local visits and conferences, the appointment of stake Relief Society presidents and boards beginning in , and publication of the semimonthly Woman's Exponent strengthened women's sense of sisterhood.

In assuming new responsibilities at ward, stake, and general levels, hundreds of LDS women entered the public sphere, simultaneously strengthening the community and developing their individual talents. Economic and political activity continued during the administration of Zina D. Young During the debate over the proposed Constitution for the new state of Utah, Relief Society members successfully campaigned for a provision assuring women's right to vote and hold public office.

Committed to cooperating with non-Mormons for the advance of women and later for international peace, the Relief Society affiliated with the National Woman Suffrage Association and the International Council of Women It was a charter member of the National Council of Women and, as such, became incorporated in October as the National Woman's Relief Society, establishing a twenty-three-member board of directors or general board composed of its general presidency and stake Relief Society presidents.

Many ward units were also incorporated to facilitate management of property. The Relief Society's political and economic involvement in the western United States did not displace its primary concern of spiritually nurturing its members and caring for the poor.

These purposes united women across cultures, as members attested at their Relief Society Jubilee celebration. The increase in Relief Society membership and geographical spread that accompanied Church growth prompted greater centralization to assure continuity and unity. Annual dues for members, introduced in , helped to defray the general board's traveling and operating expenses.