Late last year, the First Presidency, the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and the General Relief Society counseled together regarding Relief Society, specifically the meetings formerly knows as "home, family and personal enrichment."
We thought our new Vegas Valley Ward Relief Society blog might be a good place to review those changes and to inform our sisters serving in the Primary and Young Women's organizations.
If meetings are no longer knows as "home, family and personal enrichment", what should we call them? We will refer to them simply as Relief Society meetings, or "weekday" Relief Society meetings.
What is the purpose of weekday Relief Society meetings? LDS.org describes the purpose this way: To help women progress toward eternal life; and to learn and accomplish the charitable and practical responsibilities of the Relief Society.
Sister Julie B. Beck, General Relief Society President, in her talk "Relief Society: A Sacred Work" says, "When sisters meet for Relief Society meetings during the week, they have the opportunity to learn and accomplish the charitable and practical responsibilities of the Relief Society. This is where they learn and practice skills that will help them increase their faith and personal righteousness, strengthen families and homes, and provide service to those in need. These meetings are meant to be instrumental in teaching the skills and responsibilities of womanhood and motherhood in the Lord's plan. It is here that women learn and apply principles of provident living and spiritual and temporal self-reliance, and they also increase in sisterhood and unity as they teach and serve together."
In an interview with Church News, Sister Beck matter-of-factly asks, if meetings "are not strengthening the faith of the sisters, if they are not helping them prepare for the blessings of eternal life, then why are they being held?"
Who will teach us how to "learn and accomplish charitable and practical responsibilities"? Or to "learn and practice skills that will help us increase our personal righteousness"? Or to "learn and apply principles of provident living"? We will teach each other. Sister Beck says, "Women don't need to go outside of their ward for ideas or teachers. The sisters in the ward grow from teaching and leading each other."
Who needs to attend weekday Relief Society meetings? All sisters of our ward, friends and neighbors are invited to attend weekday Relief Society meetings. However, in our fast-paced and hectic world, we all need to understand that everyone can't do everything. Sister Beck puts it this way, "The Lord is hastening His work. It seems we are all running faster. [Sisters] should not be made to feel that attendance at weekday Relief Society meetings is mandatory. Every woman needs to make the decision about what is essential for her family."
One useful resource for helping sisters determine which weekday meetings to attend is Elder Dallin H. Oaks talk "Good, Better, Best" from General Conference 2007.
What is the criterion for planning a weekday Relief Society Meeting? Our Relief Society will focus on our own "charitable and practical" responsibilities, in particular as it applies to the following areas of our lives:
• Homemaking
• Marriage and family
• Provident living and self-reliance
• Temples and family history
• Sharing the gospel
• Compassionate service
So far we've learned that we will be responsible for teaching each other... and also that attendance at weekday meetings isn't mandatory.
What if I am teaching a lesson and only one person shows up? That great! That means that not only did one much beloved sister from our Relief Society benefit from your knowledge and preparation... but so did her entire family, and also anyone that she in turn shares that information with. Success of our ward's weekday Relief Society meetings will not be determined by how many people show up.
This all sounds rather serious. Aren't we going to have any fun? In the article from Church News, Sister Beck says if the new objectives have a serious tone it is because this is a serious work. She says, "It is not a frivolous work. It is not a left over, made-up job for women... This is where the Lord organized His daughters to do His work. We have Sunday meetings to do that. We have visiting teaching that does that. And we have other meetings - if we need them - to help us teach one another and organize essential work. Then we expect that sisters will be friends and make friends and do many good things on their own outside of Relief Society... I have never been together with two LDS women who weren't having a good time... We feel the Spirit when we do the Lord's work and that is what we need more than anything."
Some helpful resources used in this post:
Sister Julie B. Beck's talk Relief Society: A Sacred Work can be found by clicking here.
Sister Beck's interview with Church News can be found by clicking here.
Elder Dallin H. Oaks talk Good, Better, Best can be found by clicking here.
LDS.org's pages on weekday Relief Society meetings can be found by clicking here.
