At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I accepted this call with reluctance and trepidation because of feelings of inadequacy. Between my being called and being sustained, I read the Handbook of instructions many times over. I read talks pertaining to the calling to gain insights as to the duties and responsibilities of this call. I watched videos on the Worldwide Leadership Training series. I prayed for inspiration. It finally came. And when it did, it was humbling.
It dawned on me that my focus was completely wrong. I was focusing on me – what I was going to do, how I was going to do it, and whether I will be able to do it. The epiphany was that I am nothing but an instrument in the Lord’s hand to do His will. He will direct traffic the way He sees fit. He will do the heavy lifting, and He’ll qualify those He called. It was cathartic – and reassuring. I now look forward to serving this calling with confidence that He will provide.
Now, a little bit about me. My family lived in China for more than 16 years. Our Church experience in China has been phenomenal. We’ve been part of a Branch that has produced two General Authorities and an Area Authority. However, it’s the larger membership whose conduct has been most inspiring and exemplary.
We’ve been in Branches where fellowship is not preached but practiced, where service is not a talking point but a way of life. We’ve been in Branches that seemed like mini United Nations, where members hail from many different counties, where diversity is not divisive but a source of strength, held together by a common belief in the divinity of our Savior, Jesus the Christ.
We did not choose our ethnicity or our nationality, but we did choose to be His disciples. In so choosing, we become brothers and sisters in His family. And for us sisters, we automatically become members of a noble organization called the Relief Society. Together we form a worldwide sisterhood, and with it the responsibility and “willing[ness] to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light.” (Mosiah 8:8)
I am proud to be part of the Relief Society. I have seen the power of the Relief Society in action, and how it can be a force for good. When like-minded individuals get together for a common and noble cause, great and mighty things do happen.
Elder Ballard in his conference talk used the analogy of a bee colony to illustrate a powerful principle. He said that the contribution of a bee in its very brief lifespan is miniscule, even negligible. But when combined with all the other bees, they produced honey that contains all the substances necessary to sustain human life. He said, “Great things are brought about and burdens are lightened through the efforts of many hands ‘anxiously engaged in a good cause’.”
Great things are brought about and burdens are lightened through the efforts of many hands ‘anxiously engaged in a good cause’.”I am grateful for the privilege to serve in such an organization, for I truly believe in the three-fold mission of the Relief Society, which is: First, increasing faith and personal righteousness, second, strengthening families and finally, seeking out those in need.
Sisters Weldon, Lopez, Lee and I looked forward to serving you and supporting you to
realize the mission of the Relief Society. Individually and collectively, we all can make a difference if we choose to. And we shall.
I know that God lives, and this The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is His Church, and that He sent His only Begotten Son to be our Redeemer and Savior. Of this I bear witness in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.