A fervent testimony of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and of His Atonement is the common thread of the women who have served as the general Relief Society, Young Women, and Primary presidents of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Each of the auxiliary presidents has been “valiant in the testimony of Jesus” (D&C 76:79) and striven to serve with all her “might, mind and strength” to further His work and to strengthen the testimonies of others.
Elmina Shephard Taylor was called in 1880 as the first general president of the Young Ladies Mutual Improvement Association (forerunner of Young Women). She served for 24 years, until 1904.
Born in New York State, she converted to the Church as a young school teacher. During the four years that Elmina Shephard lived in Haverstraw, New York, she became friends with John Druce, a trustee of the school where she taught.
An elder in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he gave Elmina a copy of the Book of Mormon and other literature, with the admonition, “You know the Bible says ‘prove all things; and hold fast that which is good.’” As she studied, she came to believe, and in 1856 joined the Church.
John Druce also introduced Elmina to George Hamilton Taylor, another new Church member, whom she married that same year. The newlyweds then set out for Zion. Reflecting on her conversion later in her life, she said, “When I was confirmed by the laying on of hands I received the testimony of [the gospel’s] truth which I have never lost from that day to this.” 1
Although Emma Smith, the first Relief Society general president, no longer affiliated with the main body of the Saints after the death of Joseph Smith, she continued to testify that Joseph was a prophet and that the work he was instrumental in restoring was divine. A few years before her death, she was quoted by her son Alexander Hale Smith as declaring:
I know Mormonism to be the truth; and believe the church to have been established by divine direction. 2
In her last recorded testimony she said:
My belief is that the Book of Mormon is of divine authenticity. I have not the slightest doubt of it … Though I was an active participant in the scenes that transpired, and was present during the translation of the plates … and had cognizance of things as they transpired, it is marvelous to me, “a marvel and a wonder,” as much so as to anyone else. 3
Eliza Roxey Snow grew up in a religious family. The Snows regularly attended the Baptist church in Mantua, Ohio, where her father served as a deacon. Still, the Snows welcomed people of all religious persuasions into their home.
One evening Sidney Rigdon, then a follower of Alexander Campbell, preached to a gathering at the Snows’ home. At that time, the Snow family affiliated with the Campbellites, but when Sidney Rigdon left the Campbellites and joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Snows, too, learned of the restored gospel. Eliza wrote, “It was what my soul hungered for, but … I considered it a hoax — too good to be true.” 4
Eliza was not baptized until four years after her mother and sister were, but once converted, she was stalwart in the faith and a strong leader. She not only was one of the twenty founding members of the Relief Society in Nauvoo in 1842, but she also helped to organize the Young Ladies Retrenchment Association in 1869, and helped Aurelia S. Rogers to establish the Primary Association in 1878. She was lastingly known as “Zion’s poetess,” having written the lyrics for many LDS hymns.
“I will go forward,” wrote Eliza, second general president of the Relief Society, who served from 1866 until her death in 1887. “I will smile at the rage of the tempest, and ride fearlessly and triumphantly across the boisterous ocean of circumstance … and ‘the testimony of Jesus’ will light up a lamp that will guide my vision through the portals of immortality, and communicate to my understanding the glories of the Celestial kingdom.” 5
Zina D. H. Young served as the third general president of the Relief Society for thirteen years, from 1888-1901. When President Wilford Woodruff set her apart, he blessed her that she would continue to have her heart “drawn out towards … [the] sisters” and that she would “do much good and relieve the suffering of those who are sick and afflicted.” 6 As president she encouraged local Relief Societies to establish nursing classes and to improve medical care. Zina also campaigned for woman’s suffrage.
When Zina was a young girl, her family lived in Watertown, New York, about 100 miles from Palmyra. Rumors of a “new and golden Bible” circulated, and her father, who was searching for the church that had the same organization as the primitive Church, obtained a copy of the Book of Mormon.
Zina recorded that she knew of the divinity of the Book of Mormon even before she read it:
One day on my return from school I saw the Book of Mormon, that strange, new book, lying on the window sill of our sitting-room. I went up to the window, picked it up, and the sweet influence of the Holy Spirit accompanied it to such an extent that I pressed it to my bosom in a rapture of delight, murmuring as I did so, ‘This is the truth, truth, truth!’” 7
As Relief Society president, she testified:
From the day I received the sweet testimony of the Spirit, when grasping the precious Book of Mormon in my hands to my breast, I have never doubted nor faltered in my faith. I know this is the Church and Kingdom of God, and I rejoice in putting my testimony before the daughters of Zion, that their faith may be strengthened, and that the good work may roll on.
Seek for a testimony, as you would, my dear sisters, for a diamond concealed. If someone told you by digging long enough in a certain spot you would find a diamond of unmeasured wealth, do you think you would begrudge time or strength, or means spent to obtain that treasure? Then I will tell you that if you will dig in the depths of your own hearts you will find, with the aid of the Spirit of the Lord, the pearl of great price, the testimony of the truth of this work. 8
Bathsheba W. Smith, married to Elder George A. Smith, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, served in her later years as the fourth general Relief Society president (1901-1910.) At age 18, she was the youngest member of the original Relief, Society, organized on March 17, 1842. During her administration, the Relief Society initiated mothers’ classes and stressed self-reliance. Bathsheba served as matron of the Salt Lake Temple, which she felt was her most significant work.
Bathsheba enjoyed a refined Southern upbringing on her family’s 300-acre plantation in West Virginia. There her family converted to the Church and joined the Saints in Far West, Missouri. She related:
When I was in my sixteenth year, some Latter-day Saint Elders visited our neighborhood.
I heard them preach and believed what they taught. I believed the Book of Mormon to be a divine record, and that Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God. I knew by the spirit of the Lord which I received in answer to prayer that these things were true. On the 21st of August 1837, I was baptized into the church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints … The Spirit of the Lord rested upon me, and I knew that He accepted of me as a member in His kingdom. 9
Michaelene Packer Grassli served on the general level of the Primary for twenty years, as a general board member, as a counselor to Dwan J. Young, and then as president for six years, from 1988 to 1994. During her administration, the Primary published a new illustrated songbook, the Children’s Songbook, with all songs, new and old, teaching gospel principles.
Her presidency particularly emphasized focusing on children and their needs, rather than programs. In an August 1993 letter, the First Presidency outlined goals to help members focus on children: (1) Teach members to recognized the worth of children; (2) Identify and invite each child; (3) Give children high-quality gospel teaching; (4) Ensure that all children receive gospel ordinances. “Behold Your Little Ones,” a First Presidency satellite broadcast was conducted in January 1994. Part of this broadcast included segments of a new video, Teach the Child.
Michaelene’s association with the general authorities during those years of service strengthened her testimony of the gospel and the mission of the Church. “I have great trust in the prophets, seers, and revelators and other general authorities who lead our church,” she said. She continued:
Each brings his unique perspective into a rich mix of talents and experience. In my observation, they may have many different viewpoints and management styles, but they are united on doctrine and direction. I do admire and respect those brilliant and spiritually gifted men, and I am honored to associate with them. We have tried scrupulously as a presidency to follow their counsel and direction.
I know God lives, that Jesus Christ is our Savior, and the fulness of the gospel is on the earth today. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the kingdom of God on earth and is led by latter-day prophets. 10
The thirteenth general Relief Society president, Mary Ellen Wood Smoot (1997-2002), helped sisters throughout the world expand opportunities for service. In 1999, as a co-sponsor of the BYU Women’s Conference, the Relief Society organized service projects for women to participate in during the three-day event. More than 18,000 LDS women joined in the Church’s largest humanitarian effort conducted at one time.
Succeeding conferences have continued preparing quilts, hygiene kits, school bags, and leper bandages. When the Presiding Bishopric asked the Relief Society to send quilts to Kosovo refugees, sisters from many countries responded enthusiastically.
As a child, Mary Ellen knew that her parents, Melvin and Lavora Wood, were united in their desire to teach their children principles of the gospel. The most powerful teaching took place as she observed her parents’ example in living those principles.
Mary Ellen learned at an early age the importance of daily family prayer. Each morning while her mother prepared breakfast, her father gathered the children to the table for prayer. If one of them preferred sleeping a few extra minutes, he would tickle her and say they could not hold family prayer without her. She heard her parents pray for each of their daughters individually, other family members and grandparents, the missionaries and leaders of the Church. She said:
Prayer changes things, and I am a witness that it changes hearts and convinces you there is a Father listening and caring about you as a child because your parents exemplified this principle in their lives.” 11
Mary Ellen also recognized the value her parents placed on fasting as they observed not only fast day each month but also fasted when someone was ill or needed spiritual blessings. Mary Ellen recalled, “They believed in the spiritual and physical blessings that came from observing the fast and many answers to life’s challenges came through fasting and prayer.” Often Mary Ellen’s father Melvin would give his daughters blessings when they were faced with challenges or were ill. 12
Information for this article has been drawn from three books co-authored by Janet Peterson and LaRene Gaunt: Elect Ladies: Presidents of the Relief; Society Keepers of the Flame: Presidents of Young Women; The Children’s Friends: Primary Presidents and Their Lives of Service and from personal interviews.
Notes
1 “Our Picture Gallery,” Young Woman’s Journal 2 (October 1890), 3.
2 Alexander Hale Smith, sermon delivered July 1, 1903, at Bottineau, North Dakota, as reported by L.A. Gould, Zion’s Ensign, December 31, 1903, 76.
3 Joseph Smith III, “Last Testimony of Sister Emma,” February 1879, in possession of the archives of the Community of Christ Church, Independence, Missouri.
4 Eliza R. Snow: An Immortal, frontispiece; Salt Lake City: Nicolas G. Morgan, Sr. Foundation, 1957, 6.
5 Eliza R. Snow, Poems, Religious, Historical, and Political, 2 vols. (Liverpool, 1856 and Salt Lake City, 1877), 147-48.
6 Wilford Woodruff, “Blessing of Zina D. H. Young,” Salt Lake City, October 11, 1888.
7 Zina D. H. Young, “How I Gained My Testimony of the Truth,” Young Woman’s Journal 4 (April 1892): 318.
9 Bathsheba W. Smith, Autobiography, typescript, LDS Archives. (check page and date)
10 Written statement of Michaelene P. Grassli to Janet Peterson, 4 May 1994.
11 Relief Society Scrapbook (of Mary Ellen Smoot) , p. 5, endnote 7.
12 Mary Ellen Smoot Personal History, p. 4.
