Julie Bangerter was born on September 29, 1954, in the Salt Lake Valley, but her early years would be spent in Sao Paulo, Brazil, where her father served as the Mission President for the entire country. Her father, Elder W. Grant Bangerter, and his second wife would raise eleven children together, Julie being the oldest of that second family. Her mother served as the district Relief Society president. Unable to speak Portuguese at the time, she was able to communicate through the Spirit by bearing testimony in a few memorized phrases. Little by little, more sisters came, learned, and testified among each other.

Maybe you can imagine what it might have been like to be a member of a large family everyone looked to for example and direction. Julie says they all learned to work, behave well, and stay out of trouble. They didn’t have a farm to instill work ethic, but they had music, which played an important part in their home, where they were kept busy, and focused.

Sis. Beck graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in family science. In between semesters, on December 28, 1973, she married Ramon P. Beck in the Salt Lake Temple. They have three children.

She has held several callings in the Relief Society and Young Women organizations. In 2002, she was called as Susan W. Tanner’s first counselor in the General Young Women’s Presidency. From that position, she was called as the General Relief Society President in March 2007.

When Sis. Beck was called, taking over where Sis. Parkin left off, she immediately stated her objectives in her first two addresses: What Latter-day Saint Women Do Best: Stand Strong and Immovable and Mothers Who Know. She was blasted by feminist groups in stating clearly that mothers need to stay home with their children, and all women need to be more spiritual in nature. It was a tough way to start, but she held firm with her consistent effort to pull the sisters together in a strong and immovable surge of womanhood.

From the beginning, she focused her presidency with these purposes in mind:

• Gaining an increase in faith and personal righteousness,
• Strengthening families and homes, and
• Serving the Lord and His children.

Seeking after personal revelation has been her cry to the women of this Church. If we can have a personal relationship with the Lord, we will know how to be strong, immovable, and how to direct our families along the sure path, serving our fellow man along the way.

The history of the Relief Society has been discussed more than in recent years. Under her presidency, the book Daughters in My Kingdom was published. This book was mostly written by Susan W. Tanner, the president she had earlier served with.

Knowledge and discussion of the Relief Society history, as well as many early documents, became available online under her leadership. Learning about our early sisters in the gospel raises our awareness, strengthens us, and gives us momentum during our years on the front lines of the battlefield.

Sis. Beck’s vision was to unify our sisterhood so we can become powerful.

“The only place Latter-day Saint women will learn the whole and complete truth about their indispensable role in the plan of happiness is in this Church and its doctrine” (“What Latter-day Saint Women Do Best: Stand Strong and Immovable,” Oct. 2007).

Her statements have been bold and enlightening:

Sunday lessons: “We call upon our teachers to ask insightful questions…The Spirit is the teacher, and we must prepare in such a way that He will be in attendance.”

Relief Society meetings and activities: “When planning activities, we need to assess our precious resources of time, energy, and consecrated funds. Use them only for activities that will help us live the gospel in our homes.”

Visiting Teaching: “Good visiting teachers know the sisters they visit. They love them, serve them, and help them learn the gospel by the Spirit. They focus on fortifying homes and lives. There is no greater privilege than to watch over and strengthen another person.”

She suggests that the place to begin gathering our sisters is to Organize, Teach, and Inspire them. If we look at patterns, in the scriptures, and in our history, we will know how to conduct ourselves, work more efficiently, and move forward in our progress.

By simplifying titles, she invites us to get back to basics. “Because this work is based on faith, Relief Society lessons are most effective when inspired teaching takes place [using] topics that will strengthen sisters and their families and about the best ways to teach those topics.”

Sis. Beck’s presidency was strong as she set out to begin moving the great ship of Relief Society into a new direction of refocusing on our purpose and responsibility in gathering Israel.