OREM, Utah — Speaking to a chapel and overflow full of students and their friends at the Utah Valley Institute of Religion, Sister Kristin M. Yee, second counselor in the Relief Society general presidency, told her listeners they were meant to change the world through Jesus Christ.
“There is no greater cause in which you can be engaged,” she said.
Through the power of their baptismal and temple covenants with Jesus Christ and having His priesthood authority in their callings and assignments, they have power to do His will and change the world as He would have it changed, she said.
“There is no greater cause in which you can be engaged — to change the hearts of human beings, to help them feel their Savior’s love, to provide relief temporally and spiritually.”
Sister Yee’s Sunday, Sept. 20, devotional at the institute was part of an assignment given to the Relief Society general presidency and Presiding Bishopric, who sit together on the Welfare and Self-Reliance Executive Committee of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In upcoming devotionals, each of the other members of the general presidency and the bishopric will be speaking about one of the Church’s divinely appointed responsibilities to care for those in need.
Caring for those in need is doctrinal — while He was on the earth, Jesus Christ taught all to love God and love their neighbor, Sister Yee said.
She added: “You are His hands. … He showed us what to do. He healed, He blessed spiritually and temporally across the world, and we are His disciples.”
Meeting local and global needs
Members of the Church care for others locally and globally. To meet local needs, the Lord has established in His restored Church the organizations of elders quorum and Relief Society to bring about the salvation and exaltation of man. In those organizations, men and women are given ministering assignments to meet the needs of families and individuals.
“You have the opportunity to represent Him,” Sister Yee said. “You have been given priesthood authority through your assignments to minister, and you have His power through your covenants to go forth in faith.”
Church members can also help in their communities and care for those who are far away as well. Sister Yee showed the institute students how to find the Church’s Caring for Those in Need annual reports in Gospel Library and at caring.ChurchofJesusChrist.org. She invited the students to look at what the 2025 report says and use it to share what the Church is doing for and with others.
“All that you are offering has an impact,” she said.
She also spoke about the Church’s Caring for Women and Children global initiative that is led by the Relief Society, which emphasizes maternal and newborn care, child nutrition efforts, immunizations and education worldwide.
The Church has been able to bring together consortia of nongovernmental organizations that now work together to improve the lives of women and children in multiple countries.
“Now we are finding that those efforts are being multiplied in ways we never expected. … The Lord’s math is amazing.”
Tithing and fast offerings are another way that Church members are making a difference. These are Heavenly Father’s laws, not the laws of man, Sister Yee said. She invited the institute students to read Isaiah 58 and the blessings that come from fasting.
Offering and receiving relief
Sister Yee testified to the students that when they offer the Savior’s relief to others, they will receive it for themselves.
“As we talked tonight about these aspects — temporal caring and spiritual caring, ministering, tithing and fast offerings — I pray you will see that God is helping us to care for one another, to love each other greater,” she said.
After Sister Yee’s remarks, the students and their friends quickly stacked the chairs and then packaged 1,000 hygiene kits for the nonprofit organization Hearts Knit Together, which serves victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.
Peter Holland, from Littleton, Massachusetts, said it was amazing to see how many young adults came to the devotional and took part in the service project.
“We can accomplish so much good just by each doing one care package,” he said. “It shows what we can accomplish when we come together, which is what Sister Yee is talking about. When we come together, we really can be the Lord’s hands.”
Ella Webb, from Murrieta, California, agreed.
“One little drop in the bucket actually makes a difference, and I think something like this is a good experience because then you can apply it back to your own life every day,” she said. “There are little ways to serve every day and it might not seem like much, but it makes a huge difference.”
