Nurturing families, caring for each other and becoming instruments in the hands of God to bring about his work on Earth are hallmarks of what LDS Church leaders called the largest and most effective organization of its kind in the world.

Speaking live to hundreds of thousands of women gathered in the Conference Center and in chapels across the United States and many parts of the world, two members of the faith's First Presidency and its general Relief Society presidency lauded the work of millions of women worldwide.

Though seated on the dais Saturday, President Gordon B. Hinckley of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints addressed the assembly via a short video, extolling the virtues of the Relief Society. He said the organization was put in place a century and a half ago by God through the faith's founding prophet, Joseph Smith, as a society dedicated to boosting women's "natural instincts to promoting the common good."

Though small in number at its inception, it now numbers more than 5 million women around the world, "the largest and most effective organization of its kind in all the world," he said.

As its influence and reach continue to grow, "may light, understanding, knowledge and eternal truth grace the lives of generations of women yet to come because of this singular and divinely established institution."

President James E. Faust, second counselor in the First Presidency, opened his remarks by thanking, on behalf of the church, all who have assisted with humanitarian efforts for hurricane victims.

He said women in the Relief Society have always been "instruments in the hands of God. . . . More opportunities have come to women since the Prophet Joseph Smith turned the key in their behalf than from the beginning of humankind on the Earth."

He urged women to try to forgive past hurts, saying sometimes "we spend too much energy dwelling on things that have passed and cannot be changed," and urging them to "tap into the life-giving source of the Atonement (of Christ) and the sweet peace of forgiveness will be ours."

But he acknowledged that some injuries are "so hurtful . . . that healing comes only with help from a higher power and hope for perfect justice and restitution in the next life."

Sister Bonnie D. Parkin, general Relief Society president, said she has had "many sweet moments when I have felt the Lord using me as an instrument." Likewise, LDS women have also been guided and helped in comforting, teaching and encouraging each other.

Yet because they are dedicated to the Lord, many women "are pretty hard on ourselves. Believe me when I say, each of us is much better than we think."

She recounted stories of women, single and married, young and old, who serve their fellow men and women more fully when they come to realize that each is a person of worth and a daughter of God.

Confiding that to talk of charity, one needs to feel charitable, Sister Kathleen H. Hughes said she struggled as she prepared her remarks because she did not feel that way until, after tears, prayers, fasting, scripture study and temple attendance, she realized she needed to ask forgiveness of those who, "unbeknownst to them, were the cause of my uncharitable thoughts.

"And it was hard. But it was healing. And the Lord's spirit returned." Sister Hughes, first counselor in the general Relief Society presidency, said to be charitable is a life-long quest. She urged women to look beyond outward appearances and to make all welcome in Relief Society.

Second counselor Anne C. Pingree said each woman has a unique part to play in building God's kingdom, and each can learn what the Lord expects of her if she is willing to submit her will to him as "the only uniquely personal thing we have to place on God's altar."

She told of getting a blessing in her mid-30s that said she would be involved in missionary work. Married with young children, she admitted the blessing was disappointing and troubling because she didn't understand why it was focused on work she didn't think pertained to her personally.

But when she was called to a remote part of the world to serve with her husband, a new mission president, she learned a deep reliance on God in ways she had never experienced. As she submitted her will to the Lord's, "gradually my relationship with my Father in Heaven changed — in profound ways — that continue to bless me and my family."

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