My thoughts for RS Leadership Training

Relief Society is the worldwide woman’s organization of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
The Relief Society Motto is “Charity Never Faileth” Charity is the pure love of Christ.
“The overwhelming message of the Atonement is the perfect love the Savior has for each and all of us. It is a love which is full of mercy, patience, grace, equity, long-suffering, and above all, forgiving.” President James E. Faust

As woman of God, by our divine nature, we are nurturers!

As daughters of God our greatest responsibility is to HAVE the desire for the ABILITY to LOVE UNCONDITIONALLY!
We must always remember that we are not the judge we are the guardian, the protector, the hands, voice and actions of HEAVENLY ANGEL.
“… when we speak of those who are instruments in the hand of God, we are reminded that not all angels are from the other side of the veil. Some of them we walk with and talk with—here, now, every day. ..Indeed heaven never seems closer than when we see the love of God manifested in the kindness and devotion of people so good and so pure that angelic is the only word that comes to mind.”
(The Ministry of Angels; Elder Jeffrey R. Holland).

We must always remember as taught in Moroni 7:48 “Pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ.”
Our prayers will be answered and we will receive guidance from the Spirit to be able to minister to those we have a watch care over; our love for them will only mangnify as we serve and teach. We will have the divine gift of seeing them as the Saviour does. We will be blessed with the ability of knowing them and understanding their needs. We will be blessed with all we need to strengthen, teach, comfort, encourage and assist in helping them to qualify for exaltation.

In all that we do our ULTAMATE GOAL is to become one with the Savior, not only spiritually but temporally as well. We must strive to become one with Him as we minister to those He has intrusted us with.

Everything that we Do, every ounce of energy that we USE needs to be in the direction of the Temple which will ultimately lead us to our Savior Jesus Christ and the blessing of exaltation.

We need to pray to BECOME a ZIONS PEOPLE
Moses 7:18
And the Lord called his people Zion because they were of one heart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness; and there was no poor among them.

We as a Relief Society Presidency not only need to know and understand these things but we also need to help our Visiting Teachers know and understand them. The Visiting Teaching program is the key, or as I often say, the heart and soul of Relief Society. IF the VT program is functioning properly we will always be aware of the need of the sister in our care. As the VT COMMUNICATES OFTEN, as she BECOMES a friend, as she ENTERS into the home with a prayer and ability to receive guidance from the Spirit, always with an open heart, she will know the needs of HER sisters. The VT will have a desire, because of her love for this sister, to assists, help,and comfort her friend; then reports to the RS President who in return takes the information that needs more extensive help and reports to the Bishop.

As a RS President we must pray for guidance, and insights into the needs of our sisters. LISTEN to the SPIRIT. These promptings most often come when it is quiet. It is usually most quiet, in the wee hours of the morning. Have a notebook and pencil by the side of your bed so you can write down what you hear. Believe me if you don’t you may and probably will forget.

Take the concerns that can be shared with your counselors to your Presidency meetings. Pray about them, talk about them and come up with a plan. The things that are shared in this meeting are confidential, they should never be share with others. The sacred trust that you have been given is to help this sister not cause more pain. Then and only then are you ready to meet with the Bishop. Listen to him, share with him you thoughts and concerns. Then through the guidance of the Spirit the needed action and assistence can be taken.

The effort of lifting another brings an increase of charity in our own lives. As each sister in our RS opens up her heart in serving and teaching one another charity will grow we will become a Zion’s people united in all things, we will be of one heart, one mind and there will be no poor among us.