Just think, Relief Society class will be held only two times each month. Is that a good thing, or a bad thing?

Hopefully, you have read enough on my website to see that this isn’t a good or bad thing, but in order to obey our prophet and help him gather Israel, Relief Society leaders will need to catch the vision and gather sisters in with more purpose.

Have you taken a look at Handbook 2 lately? You don’t have to be in a Relief Society presidency to read through it. Because it’s online, it’s easy for the church to update it with all the changes we’re going through. Read through it and find out where your gifts and talents might be useful to help move Relief Society to action.

There will be no more Council Sundays unless the president chooses to turn one of the two Sundays into a council meeting, which she might do. But in either of these meetings, this is what the handbook states we should be doing:

“During the meeting, sisters conduct business, study the gospel of Jesus Christ, counsel together, and organize to meet local needs.” (9.4.1)

The options listed can help us organize our purposes.

Conduct Business

What business might Relief Society have? If you read on in the Handbook, it gives several ideas. Your Relief Society will fall apart if you just stay with two hour-long meetings per month. You must consider additional Relief Society meetings to fill the needs of your sisters. The handbook suggests additional meetings such as service projects and education classes and other projects that will pull your sisters together. Interest in what projects and classes will serve your Relief Society best might be discussed, as well as announcements of when and where they will be held.

 

Study the Gospel of Jesus Christ

Again, two Sundays per month are not enough to make an impact on a person’s life. We are now home-centered, church-supported, and so, teaching will now be conducted at home. What better way to spend our Sunday class time sharing meaningful and spiritually uplifting reports and testimonies from the various groups that get together in those additional activities. Additional meetings, outside of class, can include discussion groups, groups reading the Book of Mormon together, church book groups, etc. Sisters will appreciate efforts when Relief Societies offer a place to feel the spirit during the week and throughout the month.

 

Counsel Together

I’m not sure the council meetings were terribly successful. But we can continue to practice in week-day gatherings together. It’s hard to get away from “teaching mode.” Come Follow Me suggests, “The leader introduces an issue for discussion and invites everyone to share thoughts and experiences, as guided by the Spirit.” The issue or topic might be what service project to do next, how are women depicted in the scriptures, when is Relief Society most fulfilling to us. We want the discussion to bring us together with commonality and spirit.

 

Organize to Meet Local Needs

It is impossible to fully organize in a forty-minute period of time, let alone twice a month. If Relief Societies really want to engage in a purpose to make change happen around them, they will need to allow ample time to organize, get together, throw around ideas, settle on a plan of action, and then act. Some ideas will be to help sisters manage their households better, some ideas will bring their Relief Societies together in an act of service.

Don’t let the two-times a month limit you and dissolve any feeling of unity between you and your sisters. Open up your options by meeting during the week. Not everyone will be able to attend, but that’s where social media can be used for good. And urge your sisters serving in the Primary and Young Women’s (including the young women) to join you.

Many hands make light work, so involve all the sisters, so everyone feels included. Use the gifts and talents of your sisters, find out what their interests and specialties are and use them to change the world. This is how we begin to see how we can gather Israel.