A new mother with little experience with children, my mother often credited a calling to serve as the “Mother Education” teacher in Relief Society as a gift to her and our family. She learned as she taught. My earliest memories of Relief Society were playing on the gym floor of the church building under the quilts my mother and the Relief Society sisters were tying, a lovely bit of chaos. No one seemed to mind the mix of serving, talking, loving and children playing.
Relief Society sisters have nurtured me throughout my life. They were my Primary teachers and my Young Women’s leaders and surrounded my life with their faith and care. I still live in the area I grew up in and the same women who taught me as a child have valued me as an adult and continue to nurture me and my family, teaching and
encouraging my children as they did me. Their faith, words, examples and even their weakness have sometimes been the answers to the prayers my heart has been praying. They have extended their friendship, their laughter and when my need has required, they have fed us.
As a Relief Society president, I saw needs I could not meet and then came the sweeping realization that I stood at the head of an army of angels who possessed great strength and were ready to do the “errand of angels,” to “feed His sheep” and with their presence bear witness of the strength and power that comes from drawing near to Jesus Christ. A wise mother counseled, “…tie yourself to Relief Society, Relief Society will be your mother.” (Sister Julie Beck, October 2008) Relief Society will be your mother. Relief Society will be my mother. “Charity never faileth” because charity is the pure love of Jesus Christ.
On the road to Emmaus, as Jesus “sat at meat with them…their eyes were opened, and they knew Him…” (Luke 24:27,30). His presence can often go unrecognized. We may not always see Him as we seek to serve, but there is virtue, there is power in womanhood and as we walk with Him organized by His power, “we will do something extraordinary.” Together we can “mother” every child of God.