“And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings, ye are only in the service of your God” (Mosiah 2:17).
Bonnie D. Parkin, released last April as the fourteenth general Relief Society president, spoke to millions of Saints via general conferences and general women’s meetings, traveled throughout the world visiting Relief Societies on almost every continent, and administered the affairs of Relief Society, whose membership numbered over five million during her tenure (2002-2007).
Still, she found time for her “personal ministry,” for she felt that “serving the one” was as important as “serving the many.” Her personal ministry was another way she could follow the Savior’s instructions to “feed his lambs … feed his sheep.”
Included here are a few examples of other auxiliary leaders who also strived to serve the Lord by “serving the one,” heeding the Lord’s admonition: “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me” (Matthew 25:40).
LaVern W. Parmley’s many responsibilities as fifth general Primary president (1951-1974) included administrator of Primary Children’s Hospital. The hospital had initially opened in 1913, when Louie Bouton Felt, the first Primary president, and her counselor, May Anderson, felt that the Primary should do something to help sick children. They approached the First Presidency, who approved establishing a children’s unit at the LDS Hospital.
When larger facilities were needed, the LDS Children’s Convalescent Home and Day Nursery was built in 1922. The Primary later initiated the Penny Parade to help raise funds for a full-service medical center, which was dedicated in 1952. Until 1974, when the Church divested the hospital to a nonprofit organization, the Primary oversaw hospital operations, including expanding and building new facilities.
Not only was LaVern chairman of the board and spent considerable time with the children, but she also thought of little details to make their stay in the hospital more pleasant. She asked a seamstress to make hospital gowns of brightly colored materials so that children could choose what they wanted to wear each morning and not have to wear the same drab gowns every day. Occasionally, she asked the Primary general board members to fast for a particular patient. She also worked with priesthood leaders in providing sacrament services in the hospital for patients to attend each Sunday.
An accomplished pianist and choral director, Ruth Hardy Funk began her service on the YWMIA board in 1947 on the music committee and the Junior Girls committee. She accompanied the June Conference music and dance festivals as well as writing music for many productions. After serving in music under two YWMIA general presidents, Ruth was then called to the correlation committee, which had just been formed under direction of President Harold B. Lee. In 1972, Ruth received a call from President Lee as the general president of Aaronic Priesthood, Young Women. Later, the name was simplified to Young Women. Ruth was released in 1978.
Ruth had returned to teaching school when her own children were in school. Each day Ruth taught music to five hundred high school students, most of whom wanted to be involved in music activities. But she also saw a group of problem students hanging out in the halls.
When she invited their leader to play his guitar for her and to bring his friends along with him, she decided to give up her free period to work with them. The boys played their guitars well, so she had them play for her choral groups and in assembly programs, providing for most of them their first success in high school.
She maintained contact with many of the boys after they graduated. She recalled, “It was a privilege to work with those kids and see the unfailing spark of divinity that’s in every human being, if you just reach far enough and accept them on their terms until they finally trust you and know you really do like them.” 1
Barbara W. Winder became aware of some children in the neighborhood whose parents were divorced and who, with their mother working, needed extra attention. Even though her own children were teenagers or had left home and gone out on their own, she organized a weekly summer school class in her home for those children and taught them grooming, cleanliness, and basic cooking and sewing skills.
During Barbara’s six-year administration (1984-1990), the Relief Society initiated a new format for Relief Society lessons, the Personal Study Guide. A major organizational change took place on the stake and ward levels of Relief Society, with the elimination of stake boards and greater flexibility in ward programs. Visiting teaching was also simplified to meet the needs of the worldwide church.
Closer cooperation of the Relief Society, Young Women, and Primary was made possible when they were all housed together in the Relief Society Building. A new General Women’s Executive Committee began meeting weekly to discuss the needs of children, young women, women, and families.
Ardeth G. Kapp served the young women of the Church in numerous capacities — as ward president and adviser, on the Church’s youth correlation committee, and as a counselor to general president Ruth Hardy Funk — prior to her call as Young Women general president in 1984. When President Gordon B. Hinckley extended this call and told her this was “a significant time,” she bought a new set of scriptures and read and marked them with young women in mind.
With her counselors and board, Ardeth pondered how young women needed “identity, direction, and purpose.” The Young Women Values were thus introduced in 1985, along with a new personal progress book, mission statements and symbols for the three age-groups, a new logo — a torch with the motto, “Stand for truth and righteousness.”
Carolyn J. Rasmus, Ardeth’s administrative assistant, recalled that once after a BYU football game, when Ardeth was in a hurry to get to another event, “People seeing her called out, ‘Sister Kapp, Sister Kapp.’ She stopped to talk with them as if she had all the time in the world. I have never seen her annoyed or impatient. Over and over again I have seen her be nothing but generous and lifting and building people.” 2
Ardeth also carried on what she termed “a ministry by mail” with young women who wrote to her, and she responded to every letter written to her by thousands of them. Janette Hales Beckham, who served as her counselor, observed, “Ardeth often asked local leaders to identify a young woman who had a special need and then went with the local leader and often a youth leader to visit that individual. I think that was one of the most tender and gentle things she did. She inspired people with problems to see their potential,” Janette said. “In some cases, I don’t think they knew who she was, but they felt her spirit. Sister Kapp always asked if she could pray with the young woman in her home, then bore a strong testimony of the girl’s divine potential. She described it as ‘being on the Lord’s errand.’” 3
Clarissa S. Williams presided over the Relief Society for seven years, from 1921 to 1928.
One of her major contributions came in her emphasis on social services. Concerned about infant and maternal mortality rates, the high number of child and adolescent deaths, lack of opportunities for the handicapped, and the low standard of living for many women, she expanded the Social Service Department of the Relief Society. She was the first Relief Society president to travel extensively in the United States and abroad, visiting the ever-growing number of stakes.
Clarissa’s granddaughter, Evalyn D. Bennett, said that with Clarissa’s remarkable memory, “she could recall the face and name of just about everyone she ever met. She could come up with the circumstance of the meeting and incidentals about the events that would astound people. And she enjoyed laughing and had a wonderful sense of humor.” 4
Clarissa, a wonderful cook and a gracious hostess, entertained frequently in her spacious home that even had a ballroom in the basement. Her hospitality extended beyond setting a beautiful table and serving a delicious meal. She made her guests feel genuinely welcome in her home.
Too, she often served meals also to uninvited guests. Her daughter Eva Williams Darger recalled, “As a little girl I remember the many hobos, vagrants or tramps who would knock at the back door for a ‘handout.’ One summer day when three or four men had come to the door for food, Mama asked, ‘Where are these men coming from?’ The hungry hobo said, ‘Ma’am, there is a mark on the tree in your front yard that tells us that you are generous with your food. We have marks that let our friends know about mad dogs, gun crazy men and good victuals. You ought to be proud, Ma’am, of your generous reputation.’” 5
Information for this article has been drawn from personal interviews and books co-authored by Janet Peterson and LaRene Gaunt: Faith, Hope, and Charity: Inspiration from the Lives of General Relief Society Presidents; Keepers of the Flame: Presidents of Young Women; The Children’s Friends: Primary Presidents and Their Lives of Service.
1 Interview with Ruth Hardy Funk, May 15, 1991.
2 Interview with Carolyn J. Rasmus, September 26, 1990.
3 Interview with Janette C. Hales [Beckham]. April 18, 1991.
4 Evalyn D. Bennett, Relief Society Legacy Lecture, March 1982.
