One of my acquaintances of recent years is Julie Bangerter Beck, who was a young girl in Brazil in the early 1960s when her father presided over a mission in São Paulo. The little girl who played in the mission office with her coloring book and Crayolas has become a great woman of faith.
Two years ago, Sister Beck became the President of the Relief Society of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
With more than 5.2 million members in more than 170 countries, the Relief Society is one of the oldest and largest women’s service organizations in the world. In her sacred calling, President Beck travels throughout the world as a minister of Jesus Christ.
We are blessed to be a church of ministers such as Sister Beck. Our members don’t just “attend church” — they speak in church, they lead music and play the organ, they teach classes, they visit members in homes, they serve and they minister.
“As Relief Society sisters,” President Beck said in a recent interview, “we are united first and foremost because of our faith in Jesus Christ. He is our leader and exemplar. I bear testimony of the reality of His Atonement. I testify that He lives and that His power is real.”
One way the members of Relief Society minister in the church is to visit each woman in her home each month. This is called visiting teaching.
“Good visiting teachers know the sisters they visit,” President Beck said. “They love them, serve them and help them learn the gospel by the Spirit. They focus on fortifying homes and lives.”
President Beck recounted the beginning of Relief Society in some small congregations of the Church in Brazil.
“When I was a young girl, my father served as president of the only mission in Brazil,” she said. “There were fewer then 4,000 members — most of whom were full of potential yet not prepared to lead. My mother was called to organize Relief Societies in the mission. She spoke no Portuguese and had no manuals. What she did have was a testimony of the gospel and of Relief Society. She and her counselors began by helping sisters learn how to be visiting teachers.
“They started their training in a small branch in São Paulo,” she continued. “Seven humble women attended the meeting. My mother’s counselor, a Brazilian, greeted the sisters. After the prayer, she stood with trembling hands and read a message explaining visiting teaching. Then my mother stood. She knew four sentences in Portuguese: ‘I know that God lives. I know that Jesus is the Christ. I know that we have a living prophet. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.’ ”
The meeting ended. She hugged the women and bade them goodbye.
“Eventually, the Relief Society was established in every branch in Brazil,” she said. “In part because the Relief Society sisters helped further the Lord’s work, the Church in Brazil now numbers over 1 million members.”
Everywhere the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is organized, visiting teachers follow the inspired pattern of ministering to sisters in their homes.
“Visiting teachers minister in behalf of the Savior,” President Beck explained. “Our hands are His hands, our love is His love, and our service is His service.”
On March 17, the Relief Society will commemorate 167 years of helping sisters and families come to Christ.
Learn more at Wikipedia.com, Relief Society or visit an LDS church where the women of Relief Society meet after Sunday worship services.
Everyone is always welcome at an LDS church.
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