'Mighty force'
E-mail story
It's easy. Send a link to the story you were just reading to a friend. Just fill out the form on this page and we'll send it along.
Your name and e-mail address are transmitted to the recipient. Otherwise, it is considered private information; see Privacy policy.
Calling it a "great privilege" to address the women of the Church, President Thomas S. Monson used a well-known William R. Wallace quote: "The hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world."
"As I contemplate the Relief Society of today, humbled by my privilege to speak to you, I turn to our Heavenly Father for His divine guidance," President Monson, first counselor in the First Presidency, told the some 22,000 women gathered in the Conference Center and many more in meetinghouse congregations listening via satellite to proceedings of the General Relief Society General Meeting on Sept. 29.
"In this spirit, I have felt to provide each member of the Relief Society throughout the world three goals to meet:
• "Study diligently.
• "Pray earnestly.
• "Serve willingly."
President Monson was the main speaker for the annual fall meeting. President Gordon B. Hinckley presided over the meeting. Also seated on the stand were Elder Russell M. Nelson and Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve, and Elder Bruce C. Hafen of the Seventy. Also speaking were Relief Society General President Julie B. Beck, who conducted proceedings, and her counselors, Silvia H. Allred and Barbara Thompson.
In his address, President Monson offered counsel on each of his goals for members of the Relief Society.
• "Study diligently.... A study of the scriptures will help our testimonies and the testimonies of our family members. Our children today are growing up surrounded by voices urging them to abandon that which is right and to pursue, instead, the pleasures of the world. Unless they have a firm foundation in the gospel of Jesus Christ, a testimony of the truth and a determination to live righteously, they are susceptible to these influences. It is our responsibility to fortify and protect them."
President Monson stated that children today, to an alarming extent, are being educated by the media, including the Internet. The average child in the United States, he added, watches approximately four hours of television daily, "much of the programming being filled with violence, alcohol and drug use and sexual content.... The messages portrayed on television, in movies and in other media are very often in direct opposition to that which we want our children to embrace and hold dear. It is our responsibility not only to teach them to be sound in spirit and doctrine, but also to help them stay that way, regardless of the outside forces they may encounter. This will require much time and effort on our part — and in order to help others, we, ourselves, need the spiritual and moral courage to withstand the evil we see on every side."
Secular learning is also essential, he continued. "Statistics reveal that at some time, because of the illness or death of a husband or because of economic necessity, you may find yourself in the role of financial provider. Some of you already occupy that role. I urge you to pursue your education — if you are not already doing so or have not done so — that you might be prepared to provide if circumstances necessitate such."
• "Pray earnestly. The Lord directed: 'Pray always, and I will pour out my Spirit upon you, and great shall be your blessing.'
"Perhaps there has never been a time when we had greater need to pray and to teach our family members to pray. Prayer is a defense against temptation. It is through earnest and heartfelt prayer that we can receive the needed blessings and the support required to make our way in this sometimes difficult and challenging journey we call mortality."
To illustrate the power of prayer, President Monson related how, some years ago, he attended the annual meetings of the Boy Scouts of America in Atlanta, Ga. Before leaving Salt Lake City, he had asked his secretary to prepare for him copies of the New Era to share with Scouting officials. When he arrived at the hotel in Atlanta, he discovered she had sent with him two extra copies of an issue on temple marriage.
On the final day of meetings, he was asked by a local member if he would provide a blessing for the member's 10-year-old daughter who had lost her left leg to cancer. While waiting for the choice family to arrive at his hotel, he prayed for guidance. The family arrived, and President Monson and the girl's father laid their hands on the girl for a blessing while the mother and son knelt. "We were directed by the Spirit of God. We were humbled by its power. I felt the tears course down my cheeks and tumble upon my hands as they rested on the head of that beautiful child of God."
Afterward, President Monson learned the family was soon to enter the temple together. "Questions pertaining to the temple were asked.... There came clearly into my mind the words, 'Refer to the New Era.' I looked toward the dresser, and there were the two extra copies of the temple issue of the New Era. One copy was given to the daughter and the other to her parents. We reviewed them together.
"The family said farewell, and once again the room was still. A prayer of gratitude came easily, and, once more, the resolve to ever provide a place of prayer."
• "Serve willingly. You are a mighty force for good, one of the most powerful in the entire world. Your influence ranges far beyond yourself and your home and touches others all around the globe. You have reached out to your brothers and sisters across streets, across cities, across nations, across continents, across oceans. You personify the Relief Society motto: 'Charity never faileth."'
President Monson related the tender account from the "vast army of Relief Society visiting teachers" in which a woman, Angela, lost her husband in a snowmobile accident. At the funeral, the woman's bishop reported that soon after he arrived at her home, the doorbell rang and there stood the visiting teachers. "The three women cried together, and it was apparent that these two fine visiting teachers cared deeply about Angela. As perhaps only women can, they gently indicated — without being asked — exactly what help they would be providing....
"Such acts of love and compassion are repeated again and again by the wonderful visiting teachers of this Church — not always in such dramatic situations, but just as genuinely, nevertheless."
A choir of Relief Society sisters from stakes in South Jordan, Utah, directed by Merrilee Webb and accompanied by Bonnie Goodliffe, performed during the meeting. The invocation was offered by Jennifer B. Castle of the Alpine 5th Ward, Alpine Utah Stake; the benediction was given by Claire Owen of the Edgemont 9th Ward, Provo Utah Edgemont North Stake.
E-mail to: julied@desnews.com
