“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).
The women who have led the auxiliaries since the organizations of the Relief Society in 1842, the Young Women in 1869, and the Primary in 1878, have given remarkable service — service not only to the general Church membership but also service to individuals and families.
As the Prophet Joseph’s wife and the first Relief Society president, Emma Hale Smith welcomed many visitors to their home — whether “home” was a log cabin, a small apartment, the Homestead, or the larger Mansion House. Lucy Mack Smith once said of her daughter-in-law’s hospitality:
How often I have parted every bed in the house for the accommodation of the brethren, and then laid a single blanket on the floor for my husband and my self, while Joseph and Emma slept upon the same floor, with nothing but their cloaks for both bed and bedding. 1
Particularly in Nauvoo, when a constant stream of Saints arrived from other parts of the United States and Europe, many were invited to lodge temporarily with Joseph and Emma. W. W. Phelps once remarked to Emma, as she struggled to feed the many visitors, that Joseph should have a smaller table in order to limit the number of guests, as did Napoleon. Her reply was, “Joseph is a bigger man than Napoleon; he could never eat without his friends.” 2
When swamp fever (malaria) struck many Saints, Joseph and Emma opened their home to the sick. And when there was no more room in the house, Joseph and Emma gave up their own bed and slept in a tent in the yard. Emma’s nursing skills and her kindness in sharing her store of herbs and medicines endeared her to the Saints.
Emma also mothered a number of children whose own mothers had died or who, for whatever reason, needed a home.
Ardeth Greene Kapp served as a counselor to Young Women general president Ruth Hardy Funk and then served as the general president from 1984 to 1992. During her administration, the Young Women Values and theme were introduced, along with a new personal progress book and new logo, “Stand for truth and righteousness.”
The first worldwide celebration of the Young Women was initiated in 1987, with the intent of “establishing a worldwide sisterhood,” said Ardeth. She also is credited with teaching the concept that in planning Young Women events rather than ask, “What are we going to do?”, the appropriate question is, “What do we want to have happen?”
Ardeth was never too busy for people and carried on what she termed “a ministry by mail” with young women who wrote to her, responding to every letter written to her by thousands of them. She also ministered one on one. Her counselor Janette Hales Beckham observed that 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 the 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 testimony of the girl’s divine potential. She described it as ‘being on the Lord’s errand.’ ”
Prior to her call as the ninth general president of the Primary, Patricia Peterson Pinegar served in many leadership positions, including twice as the ward Relief Society president, Young Women adviser and president, stake Young Women adviser and counselor, and ward and stake Primary president, on the Primary general board, and as a counselor to Young Women general president Janette Hales Beckham. Pat also contributed to PTA as a board member and then as president. In 1985, Pat’s husband, Ed, was called to preside over the England London South Mission. One of their daughters remembered, “There was no talk about hating to leave home, children, or grandchildren. There was only talk about the great opportunity to serve the Lord.”
“Any kind of service helps prepare us, said Pat. “We simply do the best we can, never give up, sacrifice and dedicate ourselves, and humble ourselves to receive inspiration. I have a testimony of the blessings that come from expressing gratitude to our Heavenly Father and from acknowledging His hand in our lives. He magnifies our abilities when we thank Him for answering our prayers and guiding us.”
Barbara Woodhead Winder served as the eleventh Relief Society general president, from 1984 to 1990.
During her administration, the Relief Society introduced the Personal Study Guide, with all lessons scripturally based, and flexible visiting teaching to meet the needs of the worldwide Church, and streamlined the organizations of ward and stake Relief Societies.
While she served as president — a full-time “job” in itself — Barbara often lamented to her family, “I wish I could have a day off every now and then so that I could give service.”
As the Winder children grew up, they observed that giving service was ingrained in their mother. One summer Barbara 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.
At the time of her call in 1984, Barbara was serving in San Diego, California, with her husband, Richard, who was mission president. A few months after her release in 1990, the Winders moved to Prague, Czechoslovakia, where Rich presided over his former mission, just reopened after decades of Communist-forced closure.
With the idea of service instilled in her as a child, thirteenth general Relief Society president Mary Ellen Wood Smoot wanted her administration to find new ways to expand the reach of Relief Society service. As co-sponsors of the BYU Women’s Conference, the presidency suggested organizing large-scale service projects during the 1999 two-day event.
In between attending sessions, more than 18,000 women assembled thousands of hygiene kits, school supplies, newborn kits, and made quilts and leper bandages. The result was, as BYU President Merrill J. Bateman described, “the largest humanitarian event the Church has ever been involved with in one setting.” These service projects have continued with succeeding conferences.
In July 1999, Presiding Bishop H. David Burton asked the Relief Society to provide 30,000 quilts for Kosovo refugees. Sisters around the world responded enthusiastically. Although the Relief Society quit counting after receiving 350,000 quilts, the outpouring has continued, providing quilts as needs arise. When given the assignment, Mary Ellen commented, “We are so happy that the Relief Society has been asked to help with this project. I have found that our sisters have a great desire to serve … This is the mission of Relief Society. That is what we are — a relief society.
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Mary Ellen had the privilege of personally delivering some of those quilts to needy people in Kosovo. Quilts were also sent to many other disaster areas, including Mexico, Turkey, Venezuela, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe.
Virginia Jensen, a counselor to Mary Ellen, noted that “service was Mary Ellen’s hallmark, particularly in mobilizing people in service.”
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 personal interviews.
1 Lucy Mack Smith, Biographical Sketches of Joseph Smith the Prophet and His Progenitors (Liverpool, England, 1853), 250.
2 HC 5: 107.
