Two Amazing WeekendsThe past two weekends were incredible! I really needed the boost that the General Relief Society Conference and General Conference gave me.
Part OneI was so excited to go over to the stake center for the R.S. broadcast (you can see the building from my front door--I know, I'm spoiled). They had a dinner before the broadcast, but I missed that trying to get dinner on for my family. (I know, I know, the idea was to make the hubby cook for the fam, but a well-fed husband is a happy husband!) So, anyway, I headed over to the church
without any children in tow (a small miracle), and as soon as I stopped worrying about them, I was able to ascend to a new realm. I felt like I had been transported to the Celestial Kingdom, the Spirit was so strong. The R.S. Presidency messages were so powerful, so inspired. If anyone wants to know where true feminine strength and power combined lies, it is in the Relief Society and in the motherhood that is inherent in each woman. Nowhere else on earth can be found a group of women so willing and able to change the world.
Sister Julie B. Beck reminded the sisters of the beginnings of Relief Society and that, just as the Savior invited Mary and Martha to participate in His work, we have been commissioned to do the same. She said, "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, we need to do three things:
1. Increase in faith and personal righteousness.
2. Strengthen families and homes.
3. Serve the Lord and His children.
The Relief Society is there to bless our lives and help us through all the challenges and new opportunities we face. We can lift and teach each other and give service to each other as the Spirit guides us. What a great comfort! And this is crucial: to do the work of the Lord, we must receive personal revelation. Sister Beck said, "Without personal revelation, we cannot succeed. If we heed personal revelation, we cannot fail." We need to remember that this comes when we are still enough to hear that Still Small Voice, and that we need to be striving to live in such a way to be worthy of it. As we hear and heed personal revelation, a power not yet fully exercised, as stated by President Spencer W. Kimball, will help us to ensure that "every meeting, every lesson, and every activity we undertake helps them increase in faith and personal righteousness, strengthen their families and their homes, and serve the Lord and His children." The real power lies within each woman. Working together, we can do the work of the Lord as never before!
A Costa Rican native, Sister Sylvia Allred spoke of the sacrifices made by the members of her ward in 1976 as they prepared to go to the temple in Mesa, Arizona, the closest temple at the time. The trip took five days each way, and crossed six borders. Most of the Saints who went sold almost everything they had in order to travel day and night in uncomfortable buses to visit the House of the Lord. Some people had no money left after paying for the trip and subsisted on crackers and margarine the whole way. Sister Allred then asked, "Why do members of the Church so willingly and happily make such great sacrifices to go to the temple?" She replied, "I have never forgotten the great outpouring of the Spirit we experienced during the three days we spent at the Mesa Temple. I was deeply touched as I watched family members embrace each other with tears streaming down their faces after being sealed for the eternities." Twenty-four years later, a temple in Costa Rica was dedicated, with many of those families present.
The Lord has always commanded his people to build temples, from the earliest days to now. We need temples so that we can make the sacred covenants that will enable us to return to the presence of the Father, and so that we can have the blessings that can be given to us now because of our sacred promises. Families can be sealed for time and for all eternity in the temple, and in no other place can this happen. We are also taught from on high every time we attend the temple. Our understanding of our sacred covenants increases every time we return. We also have the opportunity to serve those who did not have the opportunity to make sacred covenants before they died, covenants that are crucial for their exaltation.
We need to have "clean hands and a pure heart" to enter the temple, and should make sure that when we do go, our minds are free from thoughts that would detract from this sacred experience. Our clothing should reflect our reverence and respect for the temple. I thought of all the Saints who have sacrificed so much to even visit the temple once, when I can visit it anytime I make the time to drive 10 minutes away. We all need the great strength that comes from serving in the temple, and I really felt the power in Sister Allred's words as she encouraged us to be worthy and attend the temple as often as we can.
Sister Barbara Thompson reviewed the beginnings of Relief Society, attended by a group of women almost as diverse as Relief Society today: young and old, wealthy and poor, married/mothers/single, women who were formally educated and those who were not. But they were united in purpose--they loved each other and the Lord, and had a desire to serve. Sister Thompson said that by remembering Relief Society women have done in the past, we can better understand and be guided today.
In the early days of the Church, the Relief Society focused on helping the poor and needy, as well as going from house to house to fill needs or allow the women in the households to provide for someone else's needs. Sister Thompson likened this to our day: "Just as Emma described the boat stuck on the rapids and the people needing help, we can liken that to our day when we see such things as a neighbor who is ill, a child who needs instruction, a teen needing a friend, or a family who has lost their income and needs assistance to get back on their feet. We hear of calamities, storms, or personal tragedy in the lives of our sisters everywhere. We need not rush about trying to find things to do or causes to take up. Remember, most often the help needed is in our own homes, neighborhoods, and communities. A kind word of encouragement, a note of thanks, a phone call, a loving smile, a helpful deed, and a reminder that God loves us are often what is needed most. We can lift and bless others in so many ways. Relief Society is not just a class on Sunday. It isn’t just a place we go if we are not teaching in the Primary or Young Women organizations. It is the Lord’s organization for women. Participation in Relief Society is part of our glorious heritage and blessing as women in the Lord’s Church."
Just as Joseph Smith reminded that they were not just to help the poor, but to save souls, we are to do the same. As we study the gospel, the "good word of God," and listen to the Spirit, we will be given the ability to teach and contribute in a way that will edify and nourish all who are present.
Sister Thompson said, "Sisters, now more than ever, we need women to step up and be strong. We need women who declare the truth with strength, faith, and boldness. We need women to set an example of righteousness. We need women to be 'anxiously engaged in a good cause.' We need to live so that our lives bear witness that we love our Heavenly Father and the Savior Jesus Christ and that we will do what They have asked us to do. We need to rescue “all that is finest down deep inside of [us]' so that as daughters of God we can do our part to build the kingdom of God. We will have help to do this. As Joseph declared, 'If you live up to your privileges, the angels cannot be restrained from being your associates'. . .I know that, as Emma encouraged, we can do something extraordinary today. We can be a righteous army of women armed with love, compassion, kindness, service, and faith. We can be a mighty force for good in this world." We will be safe and protected, a place of refuge. What a privilege!
