July 2011

COME TO THE TEMPLE AND CLAIM YOUR BLESSINGS

Study this material and, as appropriate, discuss it with the sisters you visit. Use the questions to help you strengthen your sisters and to make Relief Society an active part of your own life.

Come to the Temple and Claim Your Blessings

Faith • Family • Relief

Sisters, we are most blessed. The Savior stands at the head of this Church. We are led by living prophets. We have the holy scriptures. And we have many holy temples throughout the world where we can obtain the ordinances necessary to help us return to our Heavenly Father.

We go first to the temple for ourselves. “The primary purpose of the temple,” explained Elder Robert D. Hales of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, “is to provide the ordinances necessary for our exaltation in the celestial kingdom. Temple ordinances guide us to our Savior and give us the blessings that come to us through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Temples are the greatest university of learning known to man, giving us knowledge and wisdom about the Creation of the world. Endowment instructions give guidance as to how we should conduct our lives here in mortality. … The ordinance consists of a series of instructions on how we should live and covenants we make to live righteously by following our Savior.” ¹

But our temple service does not end there. President Boyd K. Packer, President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, taught: “Acting as proxy for someone who has gone beyond the veil, you will have reviewed before you the covenants that you have made. You will have reinforced in your mind the great spiritual blessings that are associated with the house of the Lord. … In the covenants and ordinances center the blessings that you may claim in the holy temple.” ²

Come to the temple and then come again. Making and keeping temple covenants will keep us on course to the greatest of all blessings—eternal life.

Barbara Thompson, second counselor in the Relief Society general presidency.

From the Scriptures

Isaiah 2:3; 1 Corinthians 11:11; Revelation 7:13–15; Doctrine and Covenants 109

From Our History

The Prophet Joseph often spoke to Relief Society sisters at their meetings. With the Nauvoo Temple under construction, the Prophet instructed the sisters in doctrine, preparing them to receive more knowledge through temple ordinances. In 1842 he said to Mercy Fielding Thompson that the endowment “will bring you out of darkness into marvelous light.” ³

An estimated 6,000 Latter-day Saints received temple ordinances before the exodus from Nauvoo. President Brigham Young (1801–77) said, “Such has been the anxiety manifested by the saints to receive the ordinances [of the temple], and such the anxiety on our part to administer to them, that I have given myself up entirely to the work of the Lord in the Temple night and day, not taking more than four hours sleep, upon an average, per day, and going home but once a week.” ⁴ The strength and power of temple covenants fortified the Saints as they left their city and temple for a journey into the unknown.

What Can I Do?

1. 1.

   What experience will I share to strengthen those I visit in their determination to “come to the temple”?

2. 2.

   How can I personally claim the blessings of the temple?

For more information, go to www.reliefsociety.lds.org.

June 2011

Strengthening Families through Temporal Self-Reliance

Study this material and, as appropriate, discuss it with the sisters you visit. Use the questions to help you strengthen your sisters and to make Relief Society an active part of your own life.

Developing self-reliance—the ability to care for ourselves and our families—is the responsibility of every sister. We become self-reliant as we learn to love work, as we seek inspiration to find the best ways to provide for ourselves, and as we work with family members to meet basic needs.

When we are self-reliant, we use our blessings and resources to prepare for and avoid problems. Self-reliance, however, is enhanced as we pray for the courage to meet with faith the challenges that will surely come. Self-reliance also enables us to keep our covenant to care for others.

In Relief Society, we are taught self-reliance principles and skills. Sisters can learn about budgeting, debt relief, employment qualifications, the scriptures and the gospel, teaching others to read and learn, technology, physical health, fitness, addiction prevention and recovery, social and emotional health, preventing illness, gardening, food production and storage, emergency preparedness, and many other things that will help us become self-reliant. ¹

Julie B. Beck, Relief Society general president, explains that “providing for ourselves and others is evidence that we are disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. … When [my mother-in-law] passed away suddenly last year, she left evidence of her self-reliant life. She had a current temple recommend and well-used scriptures and gospel study manuals. We lovingly divided up the pots, pans, and dishes with which she had prepared thousands of meals. She left us quilts she had made from old clothing. She believed in the old adage ‘Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.’ We saw the supply of food she had grown, preserved, and stored. Particularly touching were her little account books in which she faithfully recorded her expenditures over many years. Because she lived providently, she left some money she had saved for emergencies, and she left no debts! Most importantly, she had taught and inspired many others with the skills she had acquired during her faithful life.” ²

From the Scriptures

John 13:34–35; James 1:27; Mosiah 4:26; Doctrine and Covenants 29:34–35; 38:30; 44:6

From Our History

Relief Society sisters have always participated in the work of saving souls temporally and spiritually. Each week as the Female Relief Society of Nauvoo met, sisters reported on people in need. Donations of money, goods, talents, and time were dispersed to relieve the needy. This foundational work of relieving suffering has continued to be the work of Relief Society through the generations.

When the Saints arrived in the Salt Lake Valley, President Brigham Young (1801–77) counseled sisters to assist those in need and to learn skills that would allow them to take care of themselves. He said, “Learn to sustain yourselves; lay up grain and flour, and save it against a day of scarcity.” ³ Under the direction of the priesthood, Relief Society continues to teach self-reliance, to safeguard the family, and to encourage personal righteousness and acts of charity, the pure love of Christ.

What Can I Do?

1. 1.

   How can I help my sisters and their families improve in temporal self-reliance?

2. 2.

   How can I improve my own temporal self-reliance?

April 2011

The Purpose of Relief Society
Ensign, April 2011

Prayerfully study this material and, as appropriate, discuss it with the sisters you visit. Use the questions to help you strengthen your sisters and to make Relief Society an active part of your own life.

When our presidency was first called, we were given some resources about the history of Relief Society. We studied them prayerfully, wanting to know the purpose of Relief Society and what the Lord would have us do. 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. Increase in faith and personal righteousness.
2. Strengthen families and homes.
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. If we heed personal revelation, we cannot fail. The prophet Nephi instructs us that the Holy Ghost will show us "all things what [we] should do" (2 Nephi 32:5). We must allow ourselves to be still enough and quiet enough to listen to the voice of the Spirit.

Sisters, we have a vital role to play in helping build the kingdom of God and preparing for the Lord's coming. In fact, the Lord's work cannot be accomplished without the help of His daughters. Because of that, the Lord expects us to increase our offering. He expects us to fulfill the purpose of Relief Society as never before.

Julie B. Beck, Relief Society general president.

From the Scriptures
Deuteronomy 6:5–7; Luke 10:30–37; James 1:27; 2 Nephi 25:26; Mosiah 3:12–13

From Our History
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."¹ This statement of a spiritual as well as a temporal purpose has characterized Relief Society throughout its history. In 1906 President Joseph F. Smith (1838–1918) taught: "[Relief Society] has not only to deal with the necessities of the poor, the sick and the needy, but a part of its duty—and the larger part, too—is to look after the spiritual welfare and salvation of the mothers and daughters of Zion; to see that none is neglected, but that all are guarded against misfortune, calamity, the powers of darkness, and the evils that threaten them in the world."² In 2001 Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles reiterated, "Every sister in this Church who has made covenants with the Lord has a divine mandate to help save souls, to lead the women of the world, to strengthen the homes of Zion, and to build the kingdom of God."³

Notes
1. Joseph Smith, History of the Church, 5:25.
2. Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph F. Smith (1998), 185.
3. M. Russell Ballard, "Women of Righteousness," Liahona, Dec. 2002, 39; Ensign, Apr. 2002, 70.

What Can I Do?

1. What inspiration have I received to help my sisters increase in faith and personal righteousness and strengthen their families and homes? What relief can I provide?
2. How will I use this message to strengthen my faith and increase my own commitment to personal righteousness?

March 2011

Visiting Teaching Message

Under the Priesthood and after the Pattern of the Priesthood
Ensign, March 2011

Study this material and, as appropriate, discuss it with the sisters you visit. Use the questions to help you strengthen your sisters and to make Relief Society an active part of your own life.

My dear sisters, how blessed we are! Not only are we members of the Church, but we are also members of Relief Society—"the Lord's organization for women."¹ Relief Society is evidence of God's love for His daughters.

Doesn't your heart thrill as you recall the exciting beginnings of this society? On March 17, 1842, the Prophet Joseph Smith organized the sisters "under the priesthood after the pattern of the priesthood."²

To be organized "under the priesthood" gave sisters authority and direction. Eliza R. Snow, second Relief Society general president, taught that Relief Society "cannot exist without the Priesthood, from the fact that it derives all its authority and influence from that source."³ Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles explained, "The authority to be exercised by the officers and teachers of the Relief Society . . . was the authority that would flow to them through their organizational connection with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and through their individual setting apart under the hands of the priesthood leaders by whom they were called."⁴

To be organized "after the pattern of the priesthood" gave sisters sacred responsibilities. Julie B. Beck, Relief Society general president, explained: "We operate in the manner of the priesthood—which means that we seek, receive, and act on revelation; make decisions in councils; and concern ourselves with caring for individuals one by one. Ours is the priesthood purpose to prepare ourselves for the blessings of eternal life by making and keeping covenants. Therefore, like our brethren who hold the priesthood, ours is a work of salvation, service, and becoming a holy people."⁵

Barbara Thompson, second counselor in the Relief Society general presidency.

From the Scriptures
1 Corinthians 11:11; Doctrine and Covenants 25:3; 121:36–46

From Our History
During the construction of the Nauvoo Temple, a group of sisters desired to organize to support the building effort. Eliza R. Snow drafted bylaws for this new group. When she showed them to the Prophet Joseph, he responded: "Tell the sisters their offering is accepted of the Lord, and he has something better for them. . . . I will organize the women under the priesthood after the pattern of the priesthood."⁶ A short time later, the Prophet told the newly organized Relief Society: "I now turn the key to you in the name of God, and this Society shall rejoice, and knowledge and intelligence shall flow down from this time."⁷ The sisters were expected to rise to a new level of holiness and to prepare for the priesthood ordinances soon to be administered in the temple.

What Can I Do?

1. How can I help the sisters I visit enjoy the blessings of Relief Society's sacred work?
2. What will I do this month to increase my ability to receive personal revelation?

For more information, go to www.reliefsociety.lds.org.

Notes
1. Spencer W. Kimball, "Relief Society—Its Promise and Potential," Ensign, Mar. 1976, 4.
2. Joseph Smith, quoted in Sarah Granger Kimball, "Auto-biography," Woman's Exponent,Sept. 1, 1883, 51.
3. Eliza R. Snow, "Female Relief Society," Deseret News, Apr. 22, 1868, 81.
4. Dallin H. Oaks, "The Relief Society and the Church," Ensign, May 1992, 36.
5. Julie B. Beck, "Relief Society: A Sacred Work," Liahona and Ensign, Nov. 2009, 111.
6. Joseph Smith, quoted in Kimball, "Auto-biography," 51.
7. Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith (2007), 451.

February 2011

A Restoration of All Things

The Prophet Joseph Smith organized Relief Society as an essential part of the Church. As a presidency, we hope we can help you understand why Relief Society is essential in your life.

We know that New Testament women showed faith in Jesus Christ and participated in His work. Luke 10:39 tells of Mary, who “sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word.” In John 11:27 Martha bears witness of Christ: “She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.” Acts 9:36, 39 speaks of “a certain disciple named Tabitha, … full of good works. … And all the widows stood by … shewing the coats and garments which [she] made.” Phebe, in Romans 16:1–2, was “a servant of the church” and “a succourer of many.”

These patterns of faith, testimony, and service continued in the latter-day Church and were formalized with the organization of Relief Society. Julie B. Beck, Relief Society general president, taught: “Just as the Savior invited Mary and Martha of New Testament times to participate in His work, women of this dispensation have an official commission to participate in the Lord’s work. … The organization of Relief Society in 1842 mobilized the collective power of the women and their specific assignments to build the Lord’s kingdom.” ¹

We accomplish our work as we focus on Relief Society’s purposes: to increase faith and personal righteousness, strengthen families and homes, and seek out and help those in need.

I testify that Relief Society was divinely organized to assist in the work of salvation. Each Relief Society sister has an essential role to play in accomplishing this sacred work.

Silvia H. Allred, first counselor in the Relief Society general presidency.

From the Scriptures

Joel 2:28–29; Luke 10:38–42; Ephesians 1:10

From Our History

Sister Julie B. Beck has taught that “we know through the Prophet Joseph Smith that Relief Society was a formal part of the Restoration.” ² The process of restoration began with the First Vision in 1820 and continued “line upon line, precept upon precept” (D&C 98:12). When the Relief Society was formally organized on March 17, 1842, the Prophet taught the women about their essential place in the restored Church. He said, “The Church was never perfectly organized until the women were thus organized.” ³

What Can I Do?

1. 1.

   What help will I provide my sisters this month that exemplifies the faith of female disciples of Jesus Christ?

2. 2.

   What teaching of the restored gospel will I study to strengthen my testimony this month?

For more information, go to www.reliefsociety.lds.org.