While ministering in Indonesia, Relief Society General President Camille N. Johnson met with government and religious leaders, spoke to women during a district conference and visited families.
Indonesia is one of the four Asian countries where President Johnson is ministering in May and June, reported ChurchofJesusChrist.org. President Johnson was accompanied by her husband, Brother Doug Johnson, and Elder Michael John U. Teh, General Authority Seventy and second counselor in the Church’s Asia Area presidency, and his wife, Sister Grace Teh.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ global initiative to help women and children was one of the things she discussed with Anggia Ermarini of Indonesia’s House of Representatives on May 26.
“The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has embarked upon a global initiative to improve the well-being of women and children,” President Johnson said. “It includes maternal and newborn care, education and immunizations. And then we’re working really heavily on nutrition — that’s an important focus for us here in Indonesia — to make sure that those children, especially those under the age of 5, receive appropriate nutrition so that they have healthy brain development.”
Ermarini said: “In my faith, mother is the first educator in a family.” She added, “So it is important that we work with women for these children.”
President Johnson also met with H. Nasaruddin Umar, minister for Religious Affairs and the grand imam of the Istiqlal Mosque in Jakarta, on May 23 and Adhy Karyono, provincial secretary of East Java, on May 27.
With Dr. Umar, she discussed what the faiths had in common, including love.
“We know that love is at the heart of really all we do, what we seek to do,” President Johnson said. “I told him a little bit about what motivates us — love of God, love of neighbor — and he shared that same sentiment, that love is what motivates his Muslim community as well.”
Women’s conference in Jakarta, Indonesia
President Johnson spoke on May 24 at the first women’s conference held in Jakarta. It was one of three held across Indonesia, reported a news release on ChurchofJesusChrist.org. The conference included a service project of putting together hygiene kits and delivering the kits and food to a nearby location for fire and flood victims.
When President Johnson spoke to the women in an afternoon devotional that was broadcast through the country, she told them, “You are beautiful examples of disciples of Jesus Christ.”
President Johnson emphasized the influence and divine potential of women and reminded them of Church President Russell M. Nelson’s teachings in the 2024 Relief Society devotional about the influence of women and invitations about accessing God’s power.
She echoed President Nelson’s invitations to the women to make the scriptures a “personal Liahona” for guidance, referring to the compass Lehi’s family used in the Book of Mormon; to use the temple as a “place of refuge and recalibration”; and to transform personal prayers to better discern the Lord’s will.
Through making and keeping covenants, women gain “capacity-enhancing strength,” and spiritual gifts are amplified to fulfill their responsibilities, she said.
“[God] is aware of all of His children,” President Johnson said. “He is aware of those on the isles of the sea here in Indonesia. He will never forget you, and you will never exhaust His patience. I testify that He loved us so much He sent His Only Begotten Son, our Savior, to fulfill the Atonement, which is infinite for everyone.”
President Johnson also invited women to prepare to go to the temple. A future temple in Jakarta was announced in April 2023.
“Don’t wait until the temple is dedicated in Jakarta,” she said. “Prepare and go now so that you can learn and experience what it means to be blessed with priesthood power.”
In Indonesia, there are more than 7,700 Church members in 24 congregations, according to the Church’s statistics.
District conference in Sri Lanka
President Johnson ministered to Church members during a district conference in Colombo, Sri Lanka — an island off the southeast coast of India in the Indian Ocean.
“They are distinct and different in happy ways, because of their faith in and discipleship of Jesus Christ,” President Johnson wrote in a social media post shared on May 22.
Many of the women traveled more than eight hours to come to the conference, she said.
“They are a beautiful example to me of consistency in discipleship of Jesus Christ.”
In Sri Lanka, there are more than 1,700 Church members in four congregations, according to the Church’s statistics.
President Johnson’s ministry in Asia continues in Thailand and Nepal.
