The Enduring Legacy of Relief Society

The part of the foundation they laid for you which seems to me most important and persistent is that charity is at the heart of the society and is to come into the heart, to be part of the very nature, of every member. . . Charity is born of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and is an effect of His Atonement working in the hearts of the members.

This society is composed of women whose feelings of charity spring from hearts changed by qualifying for and by keeping covenants offered only in the Lord’s true Church.

Their determination born of faith to serve the Lord and others seemed to take them not around the storms of life but directly into them.

Because of hard circumstances, for nearly four decades the Relief Society ceased to function as a Churchwide organization. . . For those who stayed faithful to their covenants, the gift of charity, the pure love of Christ, had endured. It was still theirs{by the time the Relief Society was officially implemented again}.

The only system which could provide succor and comfort across a church so large in a world so varied would be through individual servants near the people in need. The Lord had seen that coming from the beginning of Relief Society.

He set a pattern in place. Two Relief Society sisters accept their assignment to visit another as a call from the Lord. That was true from the start. . . The members of Relief Society have always been trusted by local priesthood shepherds. Every bishop and every branch president has a Relief Society president to depend upon.

My family’s bishop said to me years ago, with a smile, “Why is it that when I go to someone in the ward in need, your wife always seems to have been there ahead of me?” Every bishop and branch president with any experience at all has felt the gentle prod of inspired example from the sisters of the Relief Society.

Just remember that the legacy is passed from heart to heart. Charity, the pure love of Christ, is part of the mighty change of heart which the Lord promises to His faithful disciples.

For instance, each time you and your companion prepare to go visiting teaching (or home teaching), you just need to remember what success will be. It will be more than getting in the door. It will be more than giving a message. It will be more than asking how you can help. Success will come perhaps only after many visits. And you may not in this world see the evidence that you have succeeded. But you can feel by the Spirit if you are on the way.

I testify that charity is the pure love of Christ. He lives. As we serve others with Him, we feel His joy. By His Atonement He made it possible for us to plead for and receive the gift of charity.