The First Presidency has asked the Relief Society organization of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to take the lead in a global initiative for women and children. This initiative seeks to provide the Savior’s relief through maternal and newborn care, child nutrition efforts, immunizations and education.
Relief Society General President Camille N. Johnson and her counselors, Sister J. Anette Dennis and Sister Kristin M. Yee, join guest host Mary Richards, a Church News reporter, on this episode of the Church News podcast to talk about how Relief Society sisters around the world are part of this global initiative.
Listen to the Church News podcast on Apple Podcasts, Amazon, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you get podcasts.
Transcript:
President Camille N. Johnson: This is a really exciting time. With this significant contribution, we expect to bless 12 million children under the age of 5 and 2.7 million expectant and new mothers with access to adequate nutrition and health care in the next year. And we really see hearts knit together in unity and love, that Christlike example, coming together with a common objective: to bless our Heavenly Father’s children and those that are most in need. But we always say we know where the work gets done, and that’s one by one — Relief Society sisters and our member brothers and sisters around the world taking care of needs in the Savior’s way, one at a time. So, our greatest hope, then, is that in bringing relief to others as the Savior would, our sisters will feel His love and desire a deeper covenant relationship with Him and with their Father in Heaven.
1:11
Sarah Jane Weaver: This is Sarah Jane Weaver, executive editor of the Church News, welcoming you to the Church News podcast. We are taking you on a journey of connection as we discuss news and events of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The First Presidency has asked the Relief Society organization of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to take the lead on a new global initiative for women and children. This initiative seeks to provide the Savior’s relief through the areas of maternal and newborn care, child nutrition efforts, immunizations and education.
Relief Society General President Camille N. Johnson and her counselors, Sister J. Anette Dennis and Sister Kristin M. Yee, join guest host and Church News reporter Mary Richards. In an out-of-studio conversation, they talk about how Relief Society sisters around the world are participating in this important global initiative.
2:08
Mary Richards: So, if you could, President Johnson, help us understand the purpose and the vision of really focusing in on women and children.
President Camille N. Johnson: Yeah. Well, the Church’s global initiative for women and children is really another experience, an opportunity, for our sisters — the members of the Relief Society — to provide temporal relief in a global effort, really, that will 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. That’s our working and, we hope, inspired theory, that as our sisters have the opportunity to bring relief to those around them, to be the Savior’s kind-speaking lips and His eager hands and feet, they will desire a covenant relationship with Him.
Our objective, of course, is exaltation, an opportunity to return to our heavenly home and to live like our Father in Heaven. Covenants and ordinances are critical to that. A covenant relationship with God is central to our objective. This global initiative blesses our members. It also blesses those outside of the Church. But it’s important, I believe — and we all believe — that our sisters feel that they are a part of it. As they have the opportunity to provide the Savior’s relief, both temporal and spiritual, they will feel a connection to Him. And based upon that connection, we hope that their desire for a covenant relationship with Him will increase.
So, again, our ultimate objective is exaltation. We know we have to participate in covenants and ordinances to get there. Providing the Savior’s relief is a path to those covenants and ordinances that lead us to exaltation.
Sister Kristin M. Yee: And that is the purpose of Relief Society.
President Camille N. Johnson: It’s always been the purpose of Relief Society from the beginning, to bring the Savior’s relief, temporal and spiritual, to our brothers and sisters.
4:17
Sister Kristin M. Yee: And when we feel that relief, we feel of His love in a way that we want to have a relationship. You feel the Savior’s relief. And it comes through other people, it comes in other ways, and we also give that. And when we do those things and give that relief or receive it, we feel that love, as President Johnson said. And when we feel that love, things shift in our hearts, and our desires shift towards Him, then turn to Him to desire that relationship.
4:39
President Camille N. Johnson: Yeah. Acting as the Savior would, we feel His love, and we desire a deeper covenant relationship with Him. So, the global initiative for women and children really has four areas of focus: child nutrition, immunizations, maternal and newborn care, and education. And we see this as an integral part of the work of salvation and exaltation. As we increase the capacity, both intellectual and physical, of the rising generation, we’ll help them reach their spiritual potential.
The initiative fosters outreach to our friends and our neighbors. Many of them want to learn how they can bless the lives of their own children. But it also provides a gospel-centered cause that allows our sisters, our members, ministering opportunities, and this is especially impactful to our young, the young members of Relief Society. They want to be part of a global effort to change the world. We want them to see that they are, as members of the Relief Society, bringing the Savior’s relief to those around them. They’re part of the greatest cause on earth.
5:47
Mary Richards: Yes. I was just thinking about that, when you said that, about our young people, our rising generation, and we want them to also have a desire to prepare to covenant with the Savior in the house of the Lord. And so being a part of this initiative, you’re a part of the Relief Society when you turn 18, you’ve graduated high school. Sister Dennis, you’ve talked about this; you can be endowed with power. You can go to the temple.
6:11
Sister Kristin M. Yee: At age 18. If they’ve finished high school equivalent and if they’ve been a member of the Church and have the desire to make covenants with the Lord.
President Camille N. Johnson: Member of the Church for a year; confirmed a member of the Church for just a year.
Mary Richards: That’s right.
6:21
Sister Kristin M. Yee: And they have that opportunity. And so we have been encouraging it as per President [Russell M.] Nelson’s invitation to all to not wait to receive the blessings of God’s priesthood power, and not wait for marriage, I should say, or a mission if you’re a sister, but you have the opportunity to seek these blessings.
6:34
Mary Richards: You know, the young women could also, in their ministering companionships with Relief Society members, be a part of this initiative, don’t you think?
President Camille N. Johnson: Well, the global initiative isn’t just for members of the Relief Society. Of course, we’ve been tasked by the First Presidency with leading in this effort, but we hope that all members — men and women, young men and young women and children — will participate in this global initiative. And in fact, we’ve prepared a list of 25 ways that you can participate. And they’re simple things, like read with a child out loud, play with a child, mentor a woman on her path to self-reliance. There’s so many things that we can do to be part of this global initiative. And it doesn’t have to be limited to just members of the Relief Society. All are invited to participate. And again, we think it’s a path for all members of the Church who desire a deeper covenant relationship with God.
7:28
Sister J. Anette Dennis: And when you educate this younger generation, so when they’re a part of this, they’re a part, for instance, of a screening and the young women come in or the young single adult women come in, then they’re being educated in a way that when they have their own children, they already know this. And so it’s breaking that cycle of poverty and malnutrition because of the education as well. And so that’s what we hope, that they will understand these principles and then they will teach their children.
7:59
Mary Richards: Isn’t that a beautiful way to increase that resilience and self-reliance among our members, among anybody who wants to be a part of this, to learn those tools for yourself? So, there’s these prongs of helping others and then finding that help yourself.
8:14
President Camille N. Johnson: When you provide the Savior’s relief to others, you receive His relief in return.
Mary Richards: Yes, exactly.
President Camille N. Johnson: That’s the beautiful part of this. We know that the global progress starts with women and children. When you develop a child, when you strengthen a woman, you’ve blessed a home, a community and a nation. And so it’s been so gratifying for us to see the Church prioritizing the care and the needs of women and children in all of these areas, and the Church has really been — well, generous, I guess, is the right word, in putting the Church’s resources behind this very important effort. And so that $55.8 million contribution was announced just last week. It’s an exciting new opportunity to work with eight NGOs in a building consortium to address very specific needs.
And Sister Dennis had the opportunity to go to Accra, Ghana. While Kristin and I were on assignment in Central America and Mexico, she had the chance to meet with these NGOs and be part of that convening strategy, the first real substantial meeting of those groups.

9:26
Mary Richards: Yeah. Sister Dennis, you were in this room, and I saw some of these images and pictures of you, all of you, I mean, sleeves rolled up, you’re out there working. Tell me about what that was like to be there.
9:37
Sister J. Anette Dennis: It was amazing. Let me tell you which organizations they are. You’re going to recognize these: CARE, Catholic Relief Services, Helen Keller Intl, iDE (International Development Enterprises), Map International: Medicine for All [People], Save the Children, The Hunger Project and Vitamin Angels. These are humanitarian organizations that are working in their own right so successfully, but now this is a new model. The Church is bringing them together to work together, not competing for funds, they’re working together. And they were brought together a year ago with this model and asked, “Would you like to be a part of this?” And they are working together.
It was so wonderful to see them in this meeting, as they have been working remotely with each other for a year, but now they’re together again. This first time they were together in Atlanta, but now here in Accra, and these meetings, multiday meetings, where they’re together working within their four consortiums, but also interconsortium, I would say, in a bigger consortium. These consortiums are doing so many things.
One of them is called “Transforming Lives Through Nutrition,” and it’s accelerating the national policy shift from IFA, which is iron folic acid supplements for pregnant women, to MMS, multimicronutrient supplementation for women, because they have found that there are only two nutrients in this other one, which has been used for 57 years. And there are 15 in this other one, that include those that are in this one, and it helps so much. The incidence of stillbirth, the incidence of miscarriage, the incidence of maternal mortality and childbearing all goes down quite a lot if they receive this multiple-micronutrient supplement.
And so, a lot of the funding, that 55 million, a lot of it is going toward that, to be able to change policy to be able to get this to the women around the world. And there are other, you know, positive engagement in maternal newborn child health and nutrition, mother and child well-being. That second one is “HOPE MCH,” the acronym, the “Holistic Opportunities for Positive Engagement in Maternal and Child Health.” They are all very excited because they are passionate about helping women and children.
And they know that if they get these nutrients to the mother soon after conception — that’s when the brain is forming so fast — that if they can get these nutrients, not only is there better outcomes physically but better outcomes mentally that can affect their whole life. And so the research is there, we know it’s there, but now it’s powerful to bring these organizations together, to work together with the Church leading it. This is a different model. Before, the Church is giving funding to the different organizations for their projects. This time, the Church is bringing these together to lead in the efforts that they’re doing where the Church is directing this.
12:56
Mary Richards: Because that work together then grows it exponentially.
Sister J. Anette Dennis: Exponentially. There’s so much more reach.
Sister Kristin M. Yee: And we all have different expertise, different talents and gifts, and so it’s using wisely each of those various things to be able to put together a team. And the success is in the teamwork of that, when we move towards a common cause. But previously, it’s hard to get NGOs, all the different — usually you’re competing for resources and for funding. But here, this is a new approach, and I’d say Christlike approach: Are we together towards one cause and one way as we support one another versus compete.
13:27
Mary Richards: I love how you said a “Christlike approach,” because I think about how we really can understand that when we bind ourselves to Him, it’s just — our power is so much more increased, you know? And I think about that in this model, too, by that Christlike approach of: We are all with this united goal, really, for women and children.
And I was in South Africa in May for an assignment, where we visited a hospital where mothers and children were being blessed by Church funding to help them in their health and their well-being. And I was so struck by how the nurses and doctors kept saying how these are future leaders, these are future community members. These children, these tiny lives, are so precious because they’re the future.
President Camille N. Johnson: Global progress starts with women and children. You saw it, Mary. You saw it firsthand.
14:20
Mary Richards: And you did too when you were in different places in Ghana, in Central America, in Mexico, meeting with these women and children and looking into their eyes, hugging them, feeling of their spirits. I can’t imagine what that must have been like to be there and to feel that.
14:34
President Camille N. Johnson: This is a really exciting time. With this significant contribution, we expect to bless 12 million children under the age of 5 and 2.7 million expectant and new mothers with access to adequate nutrition and health care in the next year. That’s just the first year.

Sister J. Anette Dennis: In 12 high-need countries where we have, eight of those, we have significant member populations as well.
15:01
Mary Richards: Oh, yes. Well, and first, to follow up with Sister Dennis, this isn’t just a one-time meeting, you know? They are meeting again. This is a constant thing from here on out, isn’t it?
Sister Kristin M. Yee: And other consortiums will meet together, as well, with different focuses.
President Camille N. Johnson: I think it’s changing the landscape. It’s changing the way these NGOs think about the work that they do. And we really see hearts knit together in unity and love, that Christlike example, coming together with a common objective: to bless our Heavenly Father’s children and those that are most in need. So, we feel so privileged and blessed to be a part of this effort and to have a chance to review and assess needs on a global basis. But we always say we know where the work gets done, and that’s one by one — Relief Society sisters and our member brothers and sisters around the world taking care of needs in the Savior’s way, one at a time.
Mary Richards: That ministering, really.
15:59
Sister Kristin M. Yee: It does. As much as this is happening at a large scale, we’re announcing a big opportunity. If everybody does a part in their own sphere of influence, that’s what we hope for. That’s what we hope, that they see themselves a part of this work as they do a one-on-one ministering in their homes, in their neighborhoods, in their communities. I had a chance to see that when I was in Guadalajara, Mexico. I met with wonderful Relief Society sisters, and we sat and discussed, “What do we do within our own spheres, and how can we help within our own spheres, to bring the Savior’s relief to the families around us, to the people around us?”
And we had so many beautiful examples of sisters — whether it’s in their own homes, with their brothers and sisters, or within their own callings, or within their own communities — they see a need, and they’re gathering others to assist. I think the neat thing is that we have the opportunity, we have the agency to recognize a need as sisters and go by the Spirit and gather those who will assist, and together meet that need. That’s something within our influence, and that’s actually within our stewardship, to provide that relief in such a way, and we bring others with us to do that.
We have ministering in our Church, and these sisters talked about also local aid, which maybe I’ll share a little example about that. We had a chance to meet with Sister Pulido, who was a stake Relief Society president at the time her service project took place. And she gathered 120 sisters, as well as missionaries and those in the community, to meet at a local hospital where they have people that come from all around the areas to receive treatment, but they aren’t seen right away, so there’s lines. You have lines waiting outside, lines inside. Many people come and they travel, they don’t have a lot of resources. So they don’t have food or clothing, or they don’t have extra clothing they might want to change into, or they might need blankets and other things.
So, she took an assessment. They gathered 1,500 people to gather donations. And so that was quite the gathering of resources, and they were able to meet that need together. And what was really sweet at the end of the interview we had with her, she said, “Well, I know what it’s like to be there, because I was there in that line. My husband,” she said, “had cancer treatments.” And they went back and forth, and they were the ones in those lines, and they saw the needs. And so many times, we look at what we’ve all experienced and the compassion we have because of those experiences, and how the Lord uses that compassion to go meet others in that same circumstance with empathy and with love. And that’s exactly what Sister Pulido did; she acted on those sympathies in her heart.
And that’s what every sister has the opportunity to do within their own spheres. And we hope they see themselves as a part of this, that this is not just a humanitarian announcement, but rather this is part of the work of the Relief Society around the world, that each of us can do a part of this global initiative in our own homes, because your season might be as a mother, that you’re taking care of your little ones. Or maybe it is you taking care of your neighbor. Or maybe it is you taking care of a community need. Each of us can do something as we prayerfully ponder what that might be.
18:47
President Camille N. Johnson: I love the parallels between what’s happening in our local congregations and communities, and what’s happening Churchwide globally. We’ve convened these eight nongovernment organizations to work together to address specific needs, much the way a stake Relief Society president or a ward Relief Society president may convene the resources available to her in her congregations and communities to address the present needs that they have.
I just love that idea. It’s all about convening, and as we understand all of the resources that are available, including the people resources — people who are inspired, people who have committed to both sacrifice and consecrate — they will convene those people and will change the world. And that’s just what President Nelson invited the sisters to do at the Relief Society worldwide devotional in March. He said that with our divinely appointed attributes, we can change lives; in fact, we can change the world. What an extraordinary occasion it is now for us with that prophetic blessing to undertake the cause of changing the world one woman and one child at a time.

20:00
Mary Richards: He’s invited us, recently, to reach out to the one. And maybe from this list or from your own promptings, you can do that and be a part of this cause, you know, through his invitation.
Sister Kristin M. Yee: If every sister would prayerfully ponder what she could do or what she is doing making a connection back to this initiative, what blessings will come from the Savior’s relief.
20:21
Sister J. Anette Dennis: And it’s one by one. I saw that in Accra. Before these meetings, I was able to attend a stake council. And they had the stake nutrition specialist — a sister, a Relief Society sister — there leading that council of stake leaders, women, mostly, around the table. And I watched, I thought, “I wish I could transport this over to Utah.” It was one of the best stake meetings I had seen, council meetings. And they talked about these individuals who had the children that had tested either in the red or the black, and what would be done going forward to help the individual.
And then the next day, we were able to go out and visit three of those families with this stake nutrition specialist and with her ward Relief Society president. And so we went into these homes and taught to the mothers and gave them some educational materials on the things that they could do, and with the Relief Society president talked about next steps going forward. And of course, they had the therapeutic food. And then to reassure them, too, that they were not bad mothers, it was just a question of getting some more balanced nutrition in.
And that very soon — because I saw this when I was in Africa, in Sierra Leone, last November, went for a follow-up screening to a home where they had been screened four weeks before, and someone that had been in the red was now in the green. Four weeks. It doesn’t take that long, but it’s follow-up with the ministering sisters, with the local Relief Society presidencies.
22:05
Mary Richards: You’re talking about in the red and the black. These are the measurements for wasting and stunting?
President Camille N. Johnson: It’s the level of malnutrition.
Mary Richards: OK.
22:13
Sister J. Anette Dennis: Do you want to explain that MUAC tape and how they do that?
President Camille N. Johnson: I’ve had the opportunity to actually use the mid-upper arm circumference tape. So, you take a midpoint between the shoulder and the elbow; it’s there that you measure. And they’ve created a beautiful — it’s just a paper tape that’s very easy to use — but you wrap that around that child’s arm, and depending upon the color, that circumference tells you whether or not someone is in a critical state of malnourishment: severely malnourished, that would be red; the black is critically malnourished; red is severely malnourished; yellow, moderately malnourished; and then green means that they are not malnourished.
Sister Kristin M. Yee: They need that therapeutic food.
President Camille N. Johnson: Yeah, they need therapeutic foods, which actually our global partners, these NGOs, help us get those to the people that need them most.
23:06
Sister J. Anette Dennis: And they connect them with community resources, community health care centers, where they will go in and also get that care. And so it’s very important that these Relief Society leaders and the stake leaders and the ward leaders are partnered with the community health care.
23:24
President Camille N. Johnson: We don’t have to have all the answers as Relief Society leaders, but we have to be good conveners, right? We have to know how to convene, which resources to bring together to address needs. So it is in many cases an opportunity to reach out to the community resources, the community medical center, and to get their help and cooperation.
When I was in Guatemala this last time, I went to a follow-up screening in a stake. A very vigilant and excited stake nutrition specialist had organized this follow-up screening. And in that stake and with the help of community resources, they’d really connected closely with the community health care providers. They didn’t have any children in the red or the black. All of their children were either in the yellow or green state, which is really quite remarkable.
So what’s especially gratifying for us is that we’re seeing improvement with these follow-up efforts, both with local Relief Society leaders, ministering brothers and sisters, and then also these community resources, where necessary, therapeutic foods available for children that are severely malnourished. At times, bishops get involved in providing relief through fast-offering funds. And isn’t that marvelous when you step back and think about it, where our fast-offering contributions are going to bless those that are in greatest need?
So, it’s working, and it’s such an exciting time to see this progress. These children are going to be the future leaders in the Church. And as they have had a sufficient opportunity for brain development in those critical first five years, we see the future is so very bright as they lead the Church moving forward.
25:16
Mary Richards: Because we had mentioned that, that this really is zoning in on children, babies, infants to age 5, those critical growing years.
Sister Kristin M. Yee: Especially with the nutrition portion. I was going to say I love when we say we don’t have to have all the answers, but we can look for those strengths and those skill sets around us and bring those together. And we often do that in our own Relief Societies.
President Camille N. Johnson: Convene the best of the best.
25:37
Mary Richards: We do, don’t we? And for those who might be listening, thinking, “I still don’t know exactly what should I do?” You are a part of it, No. 1. We want them to know you are a part of it. As a Church member, you’re a part of this. You are a part of it through your fast offerings, through your other generous offerings, through your prayers, through all those things. But here are some ways additionally, or in your own sphere.
25:59
Sister Kristin M. Yee: They can go to the caring.ChurchofJesusChrist.org to find a little bit more information. We do have those 25 ways, but it’s not exhaustive. We hope that there’s many, many other ways.
Sister J. Anette Dennis: That it sparks their thinking of what they can do.
26:11
President Camille N. Johnson: And we want our sisters to know that when they’re just doing what women do — care for children, look after the neighbor — then you’re part of our global cause. That’s one less child, one less sister, that we have to reach out to through these broader efforts. If everyone would just take care of the people closest to them.
Sister J. Anette Dennis: Lift where you stand.
President Camille N. Johnson: Lift where you stand.
26:35
Sister Kristin M. Yee: Just to give an example, last night I got a text from a sister in my ward: “Hello, Sister so-and-so has fallen and broken part of her back. Would anybody be willing to come over and cheer her up and draw chalk art?” Well, I had a lot of chalk. I know that sounds simple, but —
President Camille N. Johnson: And Kristin is good at drawing.
Sister Kristin M. Yee: You saw about 20 people outside her house, drawing and providing things and providing meals as well. But just something simple like that, here we were all convened because a sister saw a need, sent the message out and said, “Spread the word.” And there we were, 4 o’clock in the afternoon on a Sunday, drawing, ministering, and we got to visit with the family. It was a beautiful thing. And that’s what we do all the time, and I hope they recognize this is what we do.
27:12
Mary Richards: This is what we do. You know, you made me think of the Church’s emotional resilience course. And in the very beginning of that course, it talks about “Serve.” There is so much evidence-based studies that say when you are serving others, your own life improves, which we’ve been talking about this whole time.
President Camille N. Johnson: Provide His relief, you get His relief back.
27:34
Mary Richards: You forget yourself and go to work — kind of, in a way, that President Gordon B. Hinckley’s father told him — but in that way of serving others, then it just lifts more than you think it would; you are lifted as well. Are you feeling, you know, that you need some help yourself? Go help somebody else too. And it changes you, also. And it builds that emotional resilience, which then you’re able to connect more with the Savior also, because you’re in a place where you can. What a beautiful example.
28:02
Sister J. Anette Dennis: One of these efforts under this umbrella is the maternal and newborn care. Well, let me tell you some of the history of Relief Society in that area. This is fascinating. Because of the high infant mortality rate way back in the 1800s, Relief Society sponsored women to attend medical school and become doctors, and they trained nurses and midwives and taught classes through Relief Society about hygiene and good care.
And then one of those doctors was Martha Hughes Cannon. In 1896, she was elected to the Utah State Senate, becoming Utah’s first woman senator and the first woman state senator in the U.S. And in 1898, her bill to create the Utah State Board of Health was voted into law. The Relief Society used their wheat money — that’s another story; you know, they bought wheat fields, they planted wheat, they sold wheat, they donated wheat after the war, the earthquake in San Francisco, they gave wheat, they donated wheat to the U.S. government — but they used that wheat money to finance maternity hospitals and substantially reduced the maternal and infant mortality rate in Utah.
It’s amazing that the U.S. was one of the highest in infant mortality rates and maternal mortality rates in the industrialized world. And so Utah became one of the lowest because the sisters of Relief Society, they began promoting nursing in rural communities. They published articles in the Relief Society magazine on things like nutrition, breastfeeding. They funded clinics for pregnant women and young children. They sponsored health care education classes for the public. They stockpiled clean bedding and supplies or maternity chests for giving birth at home that were sterile, because a lot of that mortality rate was because of that. They educated women to increase the number of breastfeeding mothers. They taught proper ways to clean bottles, hand-washing, proper infant care. They started birthing centers, houses that were converted into maternity homes, where women could give birth.
They started the Cottonwood Maternity Hospital, and it was run and maintained by the Cottonwood Relief Society. And they ended up starting a number of hospitals. They cooperated and received money from government agencies to approve maternal and infant care. And then the Relief Society was credited later with a decreased death rate among LDS children under the age of 5. Five hundred lives saved in one year because of the Relief Society. And then, by 1928, these efforts had reduced infant death rates by 19% and maternal death rates by 8%.
And historian Thomas G. Alexander stated that “cooperation between the Relief Society and public agencies produced in Utah the greatest reduction in the maternal death and infant mortality rates in the nation. By 1931, Utah ranked with five other states in the lowest group.” Relief Society. And that’s what we’re still doing.

31:16
Mary Richards: Yes, we’re part of that rich history.
President Camille N. Johnson: And this isn’t a short-term initiative. It’s been the initiative from the beginning.
Sister J. Anette Dennis: From the beginning.
President Camille N. Johnson: We’re just doing what we’ve always done and hoping to bring awareness to that, what our role is as members of the Relief Society.
31:33
Sister Kristin M. Yee: We hope they realize that this is — to what President Johnson spoke about earlier — that they belong to something great. What makes a difference is this is the Lord’s organization, divinely organized. There is no other women’s organization on this earth that is like this, with His authority, delegated priesthood authority, with His priesthood power. And with the Spirit, we are able to do this work in a way that we are guided by Him to bring His relief, spiritually and temporarily. So, we hope sisters see that they are part of something divine, that it was meant for them to act upon those things which are already in them, that compassion.
32:05
Mary Richards: We are a covenant people. We are a people with these responsibilities and also promptings, inspirations from the Holy Ghost, really. Anything else we haven’t talked about we should bring up?
32:18
Sister J. Anette Dennis: I spoke to that group of the eight organizations, that convening meeting, and when I was done — because I did talk about how what they are doing is blessing God’s children throughout the world; no matter their faith tradition, what we’re doing is blessing God’s children throughout the world, and I spoke about many different things. But it was interesting after, the man there from Helen Keller Intl — who is very well known, and he’s been doing this for decades — he came up and said, “I almost was in tears, because you understand this, that leaders of your Church understand what we are doing just is so heartwarming and is a blessing.”
And so it helped them to see that all of us are, you know, with the same vision, and we are looking at it with a gospel lens, that these are God’s children, and we’re trying to help them to progress and to be able to have the best life that they can. And that’s what these others are doing, too. They may have a little different lens, but as we all come together, we can bless the greatest number of God’s children.
Mary Richards: Exactly.
33:31
President Camille N. Johnson: Perhaps I can wrap up. Our greatest hope, then, is that in bringing relief to others as the Savior would, our sisters will feel His love and desire a deeper covenant relationship with Him and with their Father in Heaven. It really is a glorious season to be a covenant woman and members of a society which brings the Savior’s relief, temporal and spiritual, to our sisters and brothers around the world. And we, as a Relief Society general presidency, express our testimony that Jesus Christ is relief, and that the relief He offers to each of us is everlasting. In the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ, amen.
34:26
Sarah Jane Weaver: You have been listening to the Church News podcast. I’m your host, Church News executive editor Sarah Jane Weaver. I hope you have learned something today about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by peering with me through the Church News window. Please remember to subscribe, rate and review this podcast so it can be accessible to more people. And if you enjoyed the messages we shared today, please make sure you share the podcast with others. Thanks to our guests; my producer, KellieAnn Halvorsen; and others who make this podcast possible. Join us every week for a new episode. Find us on your favorite podcasting channels or with other news and updates on the Church on TheChurchNews.com.
