When I first set out to discover Relief Society, nothing was online. I remember the first time I walked into the Church History Library (which, at that time, was in the corner of the main floor of the Church Office Building), I didn’t know what I was going to find. I didn’t know what to search for.

I started walking up and down the shelves trying to figure things out. I noticed a periodical called The Relief Society Magazine–which I had never heard of before–and grabbed one to look through. There was an article written by President Joseph F. Smith talking about the great organization of the Relief Society. I loved reading it so much I photocopied it, so I could read it again at home.

Several trips later, I discovered the Woman’s Exponent–again something I didn’t know existed. These were much older, and the copies were difficult to read but I found a gold mine of information. As I read through them, I discovered all of the projects the sisters began working on during the 42-year period of this publication in the Salt Lake Valley. It took me a few years, but I read through every issue, taking notes and offering up the information on my blog where I knew many sisters were also discovering it for the first time.

We Now Have Availability

Today, everything is online. And it’s available to anyone who wants to take the time to read through this magnificent history we have.

Recently, I pulled off my own shelf a copy of At the Pulpit (which is also online). Our church historians have created this volume from talks given by women in the church from 1831 to the present. Yes, women have been speaking in church and at various meetings since the beginning of the Restoration. And they have said some amazing things that help us remember who we are, what our future holds, and what our organization is created to do.

Faithful women have spoken exciting truths that cannot be forgotten. While reading one of Eliza R. Snow’s talks (Chapter 10), I found delicious concepts so worth our time in discussing just in her talk alone.

“We are daughters of our Heavenly Father, and our position as Saints of the Most High is at the head of the world.”

“This organization is a portion of the holy priesthood.”

“We must learn to act from principle, not from feeling.”

Becoming Women of Faith

There is a lot of information available that can bring about an interesting discussion to a group of sisters. And the church historians continue working on additional books (First 50 years of Relief Society, Daughters in My Kingdom, and more) encouraging us to learn about our great sisterhood.

But when can it be done? How and when can sisters get together to council with one another, or be motivated by one another, and combine our good works?

Sisters, as Barbara Thompson, counselor to Julie B. Beck, once said,

“Relief Society is not just a class on Sunday. It isn’t just a place we go if we are not teaching in the Primary or Young Women organizations. It is the Lord’s organization for women” (“Now Let Us Rejoice,” Oct. 2008).

Boyd K. Packer reminded us, “You belong to it” (“The Relief Society,” April 1998).

What Can We Do Today?

Each Relief Society president must find ways to bring her sisters together, so they feel a part of this great organization. She will need to utilize the weekdays. She will need to allow for and consider her sisters’ interests, but also provide many spiritual opportunities that will stretch her sisters and help them bond—spiritually—with this sisterhood. A president holds the destiny of this organization in her hands.

Don’t think that a 2-hour block is simply for simplification purposes. It will demand more creativity, more devotion, more consistency, and more purpose in our lives.