Women leaders discuss discipleship and service at annual luncheon

The meeting included past and present general presidencies, advisory councils from Primary, Young Women and Relief Society

12 May 2026, 12:18 p.m. MDT

Sister Helen Thiriot and Sister Annette Burgess talk while at the annual emeritus luncheon for past and present Primary, Young Women and Relief Society general presidencies and general advisory councils at the Church Office building in Salt Lake City on Monday, May 11, 2026. Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

Mary Richards is a reporter for the Church News

As current and former members of general presidencies and general advisory councils of the Primary, Young Women and Relief Society organizations of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints met in the Church Office Building in Salt Lake City for an annual gathering, they discussed the arc of discipleship.

In her welcome to about 200 women in attendance at the emeritus lunch on Monday, May 11, current Young Women General President Emily Belle Freeman spoke about this arc, or cycle.

Children learn at home and in Primary how to become lifelong disciples of Jesus Christ, she said. When girls join Young Women, they move through the age groups of “Builders of Faith,” “Messengers of Hope” and “Gatherers of Light,” which all point to Jesus Christ. This prepares them to join the Relief Society, where women provide the Savior’s relief.

President Freeman also thanked the women for their service, sacrifice and contributions over many years, pointing out not only the “great work done by these organizations, but also the individual work the Savior does in each life.”

Young Women General President Emily Belle Freeman speaks at the annual Primary, Young Women and Relief Society emeritus luncheon in the Church Office Building in Salt Lake City on Monday, May 11, 2026. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

Young disciples and gratitude

A new Primary general presidency was sustained in April 2026 general conference and will begin serving Aug. 1. The current Primary general presidency — President Susan H. Porter and her counselors, Sister Amy A. Wright and Sister Tracy Y. Browning — told the luncheon participants about the sacred times they have had while meeting.

As a release date comes nearer, “we are now completing each other’s sentences,” President Porter said.

President Susan H. Porter, Sister Amy A. Wright and Sister Tracy Y. Browning, speak at a luncheon for emeritus women leaders at the Church Office Building in Salt Lake City on Monday, May 11, 2026. — Primary General President Susan H. Porter, center, and her counselors, Sister Amy A. Wright, left, and Sister Tracy Y. Browning, right, speak at the annual Primary, Young Women and Relief Society emeritus luncheon in the Church Office Building in Salt Lake City on Monday, May 11, 2026. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

Their presidency constantly studied the Savior’s visit to the Nephites and Lamanites after His Resurrection.

“He said to every single person present, ‘Arise and come forth unto me’ (3 Nephi 11:14). That’s the experience we want for our children, our youth and our adults in every meeting they are invited to,” President Porter said.

The presidency members gave examples of times they have seen and heard children testify of Jesus Christ, exemplifying the role even the youngest disciples play in the Savior’s Restored Church.

President Porter concluded with “a witness of the love of Heavenly Father, who sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to offer salvation and exaltation to all His children.”

The Savior’s relief and finding belonging

Relief Society General President Camille N. Johnson updated the women on the Church’s Caring for Women and Children initiative, which is now in its second year managing a consortia of eight global nongovernmental organizations in 12 countries.

The progress “has been remarkable to see,” she said.

Relief Society General President Camille N. Johnson speaks at the annual Primary, Young Women and Relief Society emeritus luncheon in the Church Office Building in Salt Lake City on Monday, May 11, 2026. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

The global effort focuses on meeting the needs of women and of children up to 5 years old through child nutrition, immunizations, maternal and newborn care, and education.

The Relief Society also leads member-focused child-nutrition screenings in several countries.

Meeting every week as Relief Societies starting in September will build belonging, President Johnson said, and new discussion videos bring more women’s voices to Gospel Library.

“We want all, as disciples of Jesus Christ, to recognize their divine potential,” President Johnson said. “I’m grateful, sisters, to call you my sisters — to know that we are united in the cause of building the kingdom and preparing the world for the Second Coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ."

Age-group names

President Freeman told the women in her remarks about the age-group names, their meanings and why they were chosen by the current general presidency.

“What we would leave our testimony of today is that these names have revealed themselves over time to us,” she said.

She continued, “I have hanging in my kitchen a page out of Doctrine and Covenants 25 because I love the reminder that God speaks to His daughters, that He has a work for them to do and how important it is to remember that about our young women.”

The Young Women general presidency and members of the Young Women general advisory council sing a song at the annual women's emeritus luncheon with past and present Primary, Young Women and Relief Society general presidencies and general advisory councils at the Church Office building in Salt Lake City on Monday, May 11, 2026. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

Sister Elaine S. Dalton, who served in the Young Women general presidency from 2002 to 2013 as a counselor and then as president, spoke with Church News during the luncheon’s gathering portion.

“When I first heard these new names, I cheered,” she said, “because more than anything young women need an identity.”

For girls turning 12 to be able to say, “I am a Builder of Faith,” allows them to identify with Jesus Christ.

Then, as they turn 14, they are Messengers of Hope. “And what is our hope? It’s Jesus Christ,” Sister Dalton said.

The oldest group, Gatherers of Light, hearkens to Jesus Christ, who is the Light and the Life of the World. “And their light will shine to all the world. I can promise you that. And that light is what will attract others to the Church,” Sister Dalton said.

Sisterhood

During the gathering, women caught up on each others’ lives. They spoke about the associations they had in their previous callings and how that sisterhood never ends.

Joy Sansom, 93, served on what was then called the Young Women general board under Florence Smith Jacobsen, the sixth Young Women general president, from 1961 to 1972.

Sansom was the youngest on that board; most were older than her mother, she explained.

“I think it’s wonderful that the Church does something like this,” she said. “I think that probably, being the youngest one when I was put on — I was 35 — that if you use your mathematics, you’ll figure that probably no one that I was on with is still around. They’ve gone to one of the kingdoms."

She admitted to being outspoken and straightforward in her time, but, “With a name like Joy, I’m always happy, and I’m blessed by that.”

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