Tag Archives: Relief Society

Serving in the Relief Society: Compassionate Service Leader

Another calling in the Relief Society is compassionate service leader. The compassionate service leader is in charge of coordinating all the service that needs to be done. She helps to assign sisters to take in meals, find babysitting and coordinates volunteers for other activities. She will work closely with the Relief Society president to help the sisters in the ward. My mother served as compassionate service leader for several years while I was growing up. I remember that she was on the phone a lot more than usual. A compassionate service leader does spend a lot of time on the … Continue reading →

Serving in the Relief Society: Presidency Member

Another area you can serve in Relief Society is in the presidency. The presidency can be a difficult place to serve. There are four positions in the presidency: the president, the education counselor, the enrichment counselor and the secretary. Each of these women has a vital role in helping the Relief Society function in each ward. The Relief Society president is one of the busiest callings in the ward. She is in charge of the welfare of all the sisters. She helps with food orders and other welfare systems. She makes sure that the sisters needs in the wards are … Continue reading →

Relief Society Presidents: Mary Ellen Smoot

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Born on August 19, 1933 in Ogden, Utah, Mary Ellen Wood was the fifth of six daughters in her home. She was sealed to her husband, Stanley Smoot, in the Salt Lake Temple in 1952. Within the first eight years of their marriage, they had given birth to six of their seven children. Mary Ellen served as a ward Relief Society president, on the editorial board of The Friend magazine, and as a member of the Church Correlation Writing Committee. She also served in the Ohio Columbus and then the newly-created Ohio Akron missions with her husband while he was … Continue reading →

Serving in the Relief Society: Teacher

Another calling in the Relief Society is as a teacher. A teacher is responsible for giving the lessons on Sunday. One nice thing about Relief Society is that you generally are just assigned one week a month to teach. This allows a teacher ample time to prepare her lesson. The lessons for the second and third week are assigned from The Teachings of the Living Prophets manual (currently Spencer W Kimball) and the fourth week’s lessons are from past General Conference talks. While I have never actually served as a teacher in Relief Society, I have had the opportunity to … Continue reading →

Serving in the Relief Society: Enrichment Committee

One area that you may serve in the Relief Society organization is on the Enrichment Committee. The enrichment committee is in charge of planning all of the enrichment nights and activities. This calling can be a very busy one. It takes a lot of work to put on enrichment activities on a regular basis. The enrichment committee operates under an enrichment leader who defers to the enrichment counselor in the Relief Society presidency. The enrichment committee can operate a number of different ways. Each person on the committee could be put in charge of a certain thing (refreshments, setting up, … Continue reading →

Serving in the Relief Society: Visiting Teaching Coordinator and Supervisor

When you think of Relief Society and callings you may jump quickly to thinking of serving in the Relief Society presidency, but you would be missing several important callings. These callings may seem small on the surface, but actually do play an important role in helping the Relief Society presidency to complete their tasks. Two of these callings are visiting teaching coordinator and visiting teaching supervisor. The visiting teaching coordinator is responsible for overseeing the supervisor. She usually sits down with the Relief Society to assign routes. This can be tricky when you think of matching people who want a … Continue reading →

Relief Society: The Blessings of Diversity

One of the great things about Relief Society is the diversity of the sisters involved in the organization. It is rare that one single organization would have sisters from so many different walks of life. Not only do we have sisters all over the world from rich to poor, but the Relief Society also has sisters in every phase of life. Some sisters are single, some are newly married, some have young children, some have older children and others are grandmothers. This diversity allows us to grow and help each other in unique ways. It is important that we each … Continue reading →

Are You a Good Visiting Teachee?

The Relief Society has instituted the wonderful program of visiting teaching to help the sisters in the ward. Usually when you read about visiting teaching, you read about ways to become a better visiting teacher, but have you ever thought about how to become a better visiting teachee? There is one sister who I visit who I absolutely love to visit. She has a large family with children several years older than mine. Each time I visit I feel that she imparts knowledge to me about to help my children and how I can be a better mother. She does … Continue reading →

Relief Society: Accepting Service

This week in Relief Society our lesson was on the importance of accepting service. This lesson can be applied to each of us. At times it can be easier to reach out and provide service to someone rather than admit that you can use the help. I know that I often am guilty of this. At times it important to call and ask for help. Most people are going to be willing to help when you ask. It may be that their schedules or family circumstances do not allow them to help, but chances are they are not going to … Continue reading →

Relief Society Presidents: Zina D. H. Young

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Zina Diantha Huntington wondered in her youth why she could not have been born in mor exciting times. Ironically, only a year before her birth, Joseph Smith had received the First Vision, and while she was a child, the Book of Mormon was translated less than a hundred miles away. Born January 21, 1821 in Watertown, New York, Zina was the seventh of nine children born to William and Zina Baker Huntington. At one point, her father spent days studying the scriptures in an effort to choose sides in a controversy between the Presbyterians and the Congregationalists. He decided that … Continue reading →