Jesus Christ is Relief

On March 17, 1842, the day the Relief Society was organized, Emma Smith’s counselors moved the Society be called “The Nauvoo Female Relief Society.” Elder John Taylor offered an amendment that it be called The Nauvoo Female Benevolent Society. The minutes from that meeting tell us that Emma Smith “suggested that she would like an argument with Elder Taylor on the words Relief and Benevolence.” Emma and Eliza R. Snow explained that “benevolent” was a popular word - popular with the institutions of the day - but that popular should not be our guide.

Emma expounded that the word relief better described their mission – “we are going to do something extraordinary…we expect extraordinary occasions and pressing calls.”

The sisters’ explanation was compelling, and so they were organized as the Relief Society. We remain the Relief Society. As President Oaks has taught, “Relief Society is not just a class for women but something they belong to – a divinely established appendage to the Priesthood.”

And so, as members of the Relief Society, we stand ready, “we expect extraordinary occasions and pressing calls.”

One of those pressing calls is President Russell M. Nelson’s commitment to making temple ordinances and covenants available to our brothers and sisters in every part of the world. More than 300 temples announced, under construction or operating! And yet, President Nelson has said, “in some respects it is easier to build a temple than it is to build a people prepared for a temple.”

The Relief Society was organized during the construction of the Nauvoo temple and in anticipation of the ordinances and covenants to be offered there. The sisters were engaged in physical preparations for the temple and were prepared spiritually by the prophet himself.

Likewise, in this day, the Relief Society and its members bring the Savior’s relief to all of God’s children to prepare a people temporally and spiritually for the blessings of the House of the Lord.

Our purpose and objective in Relief Society have never changed.

And so, we have asked ourselves, “How can Relief Society help prepare a people for temple ordinances and covenants?”

The Purpose of Relief Society is to help all of God’s children desire and qualify for exaltation in the celestial kingdom.

Our Vision, then, is that Relief Society helps sisters desire and develop a covenant relationship with their Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ – an essential part of our journey back home to live in God’s presence, in an exalted state.

Many of our Relief Society sisters do not have access to all the blessings of a covenant relationship with God, including the power of God - priesthood power - available to those who make and keep covenants and worship in the house of the Lord.

As President Russell M. Nelson has taught, “[In the house of the Lord] essential ordinances bind us to [Jesus Christ] through sacred priesthood covenants. Then as we keep our covenants, He endows us with His healing, strengthening power. And oh, how we will need His power in the days ahead.”

Friends, the blessing of experiencing God’s priesthood power is dependent on us making covenants with God by participating in priesthood ordinances which yoke us with Him.

The Savior’s yoke is easy and His burden is light.

Let us not fall prey to the deceptions of Satan on this point.

The story of Korihor, in the Book of Mormon, is instructive.

Korihor, the Anti-Christ, preached against the prophecies which had been given by the prophets. He mocked the people for believing the traditions of their fathers and mothers – calling them “foolish.” He belittled their hope, calling it “vain.” He preached that we are all on our own – that there is no need for a Savior because we prosper according to our own genius and conquer according to our own strength. He called the believers frenzied and deranged. He taught that you must see in order to know. He preached that death was the end – so do whatever makes you feel good. He called ordinances “foolish … performances which are laid down by ancient priests, to usurp power and authority over [the people] to keep them in ignorance, that they may not lift up their heads, but be brought down.” He described the ordinances as “bondage.” A bond which is restrictive and limiting.

Korihor’s Anti-Christ rhetoric must have been particularly persuasive to the women as the scripture reads, “And thus he did preach unto them, leading away the hearts of many, causing them to lift up their heads in their wickedness; yea, leading away many women ….”

Sisters we ought to be particularly keen on understanding Korihor’s deception as we know that the Book of Mormon was written by ancient prophets for our day.

Are we similarly mocked and called foolish for believing in the Savior by the Korihors of our day? Are we told our minds must be frenzied to believe in something we haven’t seen? Have we heard the clamor of the Anti-Christs that being bound to God through ordinances and covenants is restrictive?

Let us not be naïve to Satan’s tactics – particularly with us. The same tactics Korihor used to lead away many women are being employed against us now. We must discover for ourselves that a covenant relationship with God is liberating not limiting!

When we enter into a covenant with God, we receive an extra measure of His love and mercy. He will do everything He can, without infringing on our agency, to help us return to Him. President Nelson has taught that “the reward for keeping covenants with God is heavenly power – power that strengthens us to withstand our trials, temptations, and heartaches better. This power eases our way. Those who live the higher laws of Jesus Christ have access to His higher power. Thus, covenant keepers are entitled to a special kind of rest that comes to them through their covenantal relationship with God.”

I know that is true.

My efforts to keep my covenants – though not perfect – have been rewarded with an increased capacity to do what has been asked of me. It is God’s power which eases my way – albeit a way which is uphill!

When we say that we are bound or yoked with the Savior – who is the guarantor of the covenants we make – we don’t mean “bound down” or “bound up,” incapable of movement or progression as Korihor suggests. Instead, it means we are “connected” as with oxen and a yoke. Two oxen, yoked and working on the same objective, can always carry more weight than a single ox. That is what it means to be bound to the Savior through covenants. It means He will share our burdens with us and help us lift our load on the uphill ascent toward exaltation.

And so, as a Relief Society presidency, we are staying true to the original purpose of our organization. We seek to help sisters desire and develop a covenant relationship with their Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. It is our greatest hope that they will be blessed by the liberating power available to covenant keepers.

Our Relief Society vision and purpose are consistent with the prophetic teaching of President Nelson who has taught us:

“The temple is the gateway to the greatest blessings God has for each of His children.”

The temple is spiritually empowering.

“Understanding the spiritual privileges made possible in the temple is vital to each of us today.”

So, it is our vision, our purpose, our desire to see our sisters endowed in the house of the Lord, opening the door to spiritual privileges and exaltation, bound to the Savior through ordinances and covenants.

The result we desire – reflected in this “Experiences Pyramid,” is that every sister be endowed and hold a current temple recommend.

To reach that objective, we need to give our sisters experiences that connect them to Jesus Christ. We tend to jump right to beliefs and actions. We tell our members what they should believe and what they should do. We teach of the importance of the temple; we bear testimony of the blessings we receive through temple service (which is sharing our beliefs), and we exhort our members to obtain a temple recommend and attend the temple frequently (telling them what actions we think they should take).

For some, the testimony of others is enough to motivate action, but for most, those actions are only sustainable over the long term if they are fueled by deeply held personal beliefs. We all need experiences – both temporal and spiritual - that connect us to Jesus Christ. Having positive personal experiences will influence our beliefs, which will motivate us to choose to act in ways that will lead to the desired result – in this case our sisters choosing an everlasting relationship with God by making and keeping temple covenants.

President Nelson has counseled, “Understand that in the absence of experiences with God, one can doubt the existence of God. So put yourself in a position to begin having experiences with Him. Humble yourself. Pray to have eyes to see God’s hand in your life and in the world around you. Ask Him to tell you if He is really there – if He knows you. Ask Him how He feels about you. And then listen.”

Friends, I know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love you and are aware of you. Experiencing Their love, knowing They know of you, and how They feel about you is vital.

So, let’s have an experience together.

Exercise with neighbor. Tell the person sitting next to you how God has expressed His love for you this week.

I know that when I am deliberate in looking for His love, I recognize it. I feel it. And it increases my desire to have a covenant relationship with Him.

The Relief Society fulfills its vision and purpose by supporting the experiences of sisters to provide and receive temporal and spiritual relief. Because whenever we bring relief to others – temporal or spiritual – we are bringing them the love and relief of Jesus Christ and will be blessed to find our own relief in Him.

One of those experiences is “Ministering as the Savior would.”

“The early practice of ministering visits started not long after the Relief Society was established in 1842. Although the details of the process have changed since those early days, the principles remain the same—to minister as the Savior would minister.”

Ministering is not about checklists; it is about relationships—our relationship with others and our relationship with God.

In section 21 of the General Handbook we read, “Ministering is an important way we keep the commandments to love God and to love our neighbors.

“Ministering means serving others as the Savior did. He loved, taught, prayed for, comforted, and blessed those around Him. As disciples of Jesus Christ, we seek to minister to God’s children. The Lord wants all members of His Church to receive such care.”

The First Presidency has said, “Ministering is Christlike caring for others and helping meet their spiritual and temporal needs.”

In his April 2024 general conference talk, Elder Gerrit W. Gong said, “When trials come, often what we most want is for someone to listen and be with us. Sometimes we yearn for someone who will grieve, ache, and weep with us; let us express pain, frustration, and sometimes even anger; and acknowledge with us there are things we do not know.”

He went on to say, “A father assigned with his teacher-age son as ministering companions explained,

‘Ministering is when we go from being neighbors who bring cookies to trusted friends [and] spiritual first responders’. Covenant belonging in Jesus Christ comforts, connects, [and] consecrates.”

I love the thought of ministering brothers and sisters being trusted friends and spiritual first responders! I’d like to share an example of a ministering sister in the Penrose Stake in New Zealand and a unique way she was led to help a sister she was assigned to:

“This sister had just recently gone through a separation from her husband. One of her ministering sisters who was up late with her baby said she noticed that this sister seemed active online in the late hours of the night, so she decided to message her. After praying about how she could help her, the ministering sister made sure she took some time to sleep during the day and then she set her alarm to wake up late at night to keep this sister company by messaging with her online because this was the time of the day that she felt sad and lonely, and especially missed her husband.

With regular interactions and invitations from both ministering sisters, over time this sister started coming back to church. Her ministering sisters would pick her up and accompany her to meetings and activities. She then had the desire to talk to her bishop and stake president about renewing her temple recommend.

The week after receiving her recommend, she and her ministering sisters attended the temple together. Through this time of watch care, she no longer felt the need to be online late at night.

These ministering sisters truly became trusted friends and spiritual first responders for this dear sister going through a challenging time in her life. They provided temporal and spiritual relief. But it took time, patience, loving kindness and gentle invitations.

By seeking the Lord’s inspiration, this ministering sister was led to a unique way she could help and ultimately that inspired ministering led this sister back to the temple and the blessings of a covenant relationship with God.

For their efforts to be sustainable, however, it took their love of God and the love they had for this sister. We can pray to have that love if we don’t feel it at first. Ministering to others only out of a sense of duty won’t be sustainable over the long term, especially if those we are assigned to are resistant at first.

Elder Dale G. Renlund said this in his conference talk in April: “As we minister, we encourage others frequently and offer help. Even if someone is not receptive, we continue to minister as they allow. The Savior taught that ‘unto such shall ye continue to minister, for ye know not but what they will return and repent, and come unto me with full purpose of heart, and I shall heal them; and ye shall be the means of bringing salvation unto them’. The Savior’s job is to heal. Our job is to love—to love and minister in such a way that others are drawn to Jesus Christ.”

That is one of the keys to higher and holier ministering—to help others draw closer to the Savior and help strengthen their faith in Him. To do that, we need to develop relationships of trust with the individuals and families we are assigned to. That type of relationship will develop over time. It will take more than just sending an occasional text or connecting in the hall at church.

If we can think about how the Savior ministered and pray to know how to minister to our sisters and brothers as we imagine He would, we’ll know what to do. We have the privilege of representing the Savior in our ministering efforts. Think about a person in your life that you have now or have had in the past, or wish you had, that makes you feel loved and needed and motivates you to be a better person just by being with him or her; who motivates you to want to follow the Savior.

That’s what higher and holier ministering is all about; it’s not complicated; it’s simple, but it takes a desire to be that kind of person for others, the type of person the Savior was for those who came into contact with Him. Ministering is like an apprenticeship with the Savior because we are practicing becoming like Him and learning to love and care for others in the way He would.

Because each individual is unique, each will need something different, just as the sister from New Zealand did. As we pray for, spend time with, and sincerely listen to others, we will discover their needs and can receive inspiration to know how to serve them, both temporally and spiritually. Those needs will be different for each individual and family, and those needs will change over time, but as we seek Heaven’s help, we will know how to minister to each one.

As we develop those relationships of trust, we will be able to help strengthen others’ faith in the Savior through our service and through the individual messages we feel inspired to share. I have been blessed over the years with inspired ministering sisters who became some of my closest friends. Those relationships of trust strengthened me in many ways and helped me to feel the Savior’s love and care for me.

It is so important that those we minister to also feel the Savior’s love and care for them. This is how we bring the Savior’s relief to others and in the process, find our own relief in Him.

The Savior’s example is one of individual ministering and love. As we practice ministering as the Savior would, we will be transformed to become more like Him. Ministering will become who we are, not just what we do. Over time, ministering will become a part of us, and we will go about doing good, as the Savior did, with or without an assignment.

Elder Holland invited us to be “more deeply committed to heartfelt care for one another, motivated only by the pure love of Christ to do so.” He said, “In the spirit of what we all feel are our limitations and inadequacies—and we all have challenges—nevertheless, may we labor side by side with the Lord of the vineyard, giving the God and Father of us all a helping hand with His staggering task of answering prayers, providing comfort, drying tears, and strengthening feeble knees. If we will do that, we will become more like the true disciples of Christ we were meant to be. Let us love one another as He has loved us.”

In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

The Church’s Global Initiative for Women and Children is another experience, an opportunity for our sisters to provide temporal relief, in a global effort to improve the health and well-being of women and children, both in and outside the Church.

Providing temporal relief leads to a desire for the blessings of a covenant relationship with God.

In acting as the Savior would, our sisters will come to know Him, feel His love and desire a deeper covenant relationship with Him.

The global initiative for women and children has four areas of focus:

• Child nutrition,

• Immunizations,

• Maternal and newborn care, and

• Education.

We see this global initiative as part of the work of salvation and exaltation.

In addition to fulfilling the divine responsibility to care for those in need, efforts to improve the health and well-being of women and children:

• Increases the intellectual and physical capacity of the rising generation, helping them to reach their spiritual potential.

• Fosters outreach to our neighbors and friends, many of whom also want to learn how to help their own children.

• And provides a gospel-centered cause that promotes meaningful service and ministering opportunities for women, especially young adult women.
  This generation of young adults want to be a part of an important cause, a cause that makes a real impact and difference in the world. We hope this global initiative will help our sisters see that they already belong to one of the greatest causes on earth, the Lord’s divine organization for women in His restored church, the Relief Society. We bring His relief to all of God’s children, and we do so by His Spirit, His delegated priesthood authority, and His priesthood power, which we receive through keeping our covenants.

As part of this global initiative for women and children, the First Presidency approved a 55.8-million-dollar Church-led initiative to accelerate nutrition and healthcare improvement in 12 high-need countries.

The Relief Society General Presidency recently announced the global initiative for women and children on a broad scale in June following a convening meeting in Ghana with eight key non-government organizations, who will work with the Church in providing temporal relief to more than 14 million children and new and expectant mothers, this year.

President Johnson and I announced the initiative while on existing assignments in Central America and Mexico. And Sister Dennis announced from Ghana, while meeting with the NGOs in a meeting convened by the Church.

This is just the beginning of “something extraordinary” that will bless the lives of so many who will give and receive the Savior’s relief today, and in the years to come, as this global initiative continues to progress.

On a global scale, the worldwide church represents each of us as members in bringing together organizations who are experts in addressing big issues in faraway places. Still, perhaps the best humanitarian outreach is done close to home, as you reach across the fence or across the street.

As women and members of the Relief Society, when we see a need, we step in, and gather the right people and resources together to help address the challenges and needs within our own spheres of influence. And we do so by the Spirit. We bring the love and relief of Jesus Christ to all of God’s children.

Speaking to the newly organized Relief Society, the Prophet Joseph Smith said to the sisters, “You are now placed in a situation in which you can act according to those sympathies which God has placed in your bosoms.”

While in Guadalajara Mexico, I learned about and saw so many incredible examples of sisters acting according to those sympathies as they sought to meet a local need. This is Sister Pulido. While serving as a stake Relief Society president, Sister Pulido took notice of a need at a public hospital. Many people travel to Guadalajara from outlying areas to receive treatment and they are often in lines outside the hospital for long periods of time waiting to see a doctor. Many have little food, clothing, water, and other basic accommodations. The same needs exist for patients and their relatives staying at the hospital.

Sister Pulido conducted a needs survey, and then gathered 120 Relief Society sisters, several missionaries, and others in the community to find donations for food, water, blankets and clothing. 1500 people donated goods. And the sisters and others prepared lunches and food for nearly 1200 people. Sister Pulido shared with me that she had compassion for these people. And with tears in her eyes, she humbly explained that she had been one of those individuals staying and waiting in the hospital as her husband came and went for cancer treatments. She said her greatest blessing and desire is to minister as the Savior would. As sisters like Sister Pulido act upon the Christlike compassion in their hearts and lovingly care for their own families, neighbors, and people in their communities, they are a part of our global cause. We have developed a list of “25 Ways to Participate in the Global Initiative for Women and Children” to help sisters start thinking and praying about the kinds of things they can do in their own spheres of influence. You can find this list and learn more about how to participate at Caring.ChurchofJesusChrist.org.

At the Worldwide Relief Society Devotional in March 2024, President Johnson addressed how our sisters in the Relief Society are part of the global initiative for women and children.

We have created this video – using the words of President Johnson, to help our sisters visualize how they are a part of this global effort.

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We believe that women in the Church will feel a belonging to the Relief Society and empowered to provide relief to God’s children in their homes and communities through this global initiative.

Members and friends will see the Church prioritizing issues that impact women and children and dedicating resources to improve their health and well-being.

They will recognize the Church and its Relief Society as global leaders in addressing humanitarian issues.

They will see that the Relief Society is led by, and comprised of women who are improving the lives of individuals, families, and communities.

We believe the global initiative will inspire members and friends to serve their communities.

And our members and friends will trust the Church’s use of sacred resources and its commitment and ability to help those in need.

Sisters, we have been entrusted with a sacred work of bringing the Savior’s relief – temporally and spiritually – to all the world. And we can do so by tending to those within our own spheres of influence. What a gift and blessing this is.

I know this is the work of our Savior, Jesus Christ. He lives, and He loves you. And I testify of these things in His name, Jesus Christ, amen.

Participating in the Global Initiative for Women and Children and ministering are two of many experiences which draw us closer to the Savior. Acting as He would, we feel His love; and our desire for, and commitment to, a covenant relationship with Him grows.

Thank you for helping us bring the love and relief of Jesus Christ to our brothers and sisters everywhere.

In trying to emulate Jesus Christ, the most important requirement for us as His disciples is to recognize immediate individual needs around us and respond with patience and love.

President Nelson said to us in the Worldwide Relief Society Devotional, “I bless you to realize that your divine gifts as a daughter of God give you the power not only to change lives but to change the world.”

That is our extraordinary charge!

The ultimate goal in providing for temporal and spiritual relief and self-reliance is to prepare the way for our sisters and brothers everywhere to desire and receive His spiritual relief, the love and mercy available to those who make and keep covenants with God.

It is a glorious season to be covenant women, and members of a Society which brings the Savior’s relief – temporal and spiritual – to our sisters and brothers around the world.

We express our testimony that Jesus Christ is relief and that the relief He offers is everlasting, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.