Their Women Were Incedible

This is an old talk I put together way back when.  It goes absolutely along with Section 124 of the Doctrine and Covenants that we are studying this week.  Pay attention to the last sentence, especially.

Excerpts from the minutes of the Female Relief Society of Nauvoo indicate that Joseph Smith and the sisters never lost sight of the principles in these revelations. Their words and actions showed that their homes and the homes of others were uppermost in their minds. For example, Emma Smith taught that “it was high time for mothers to watch over their daughters and exhort them to keep the path of virtue.”²⁹ The Prophet Joseph expressed special concern about the relationship between husband and wife. He counseled the sisters: “Let this society teach how to act towards husbands, to treat them with mildness and affection. When a man is borne down with trouble—when he is perplexed, if he can meet a smile, not an argument—if he can meet with mildness, it will calm down his soul and soothe his feelings. When the mind is going to despair, it needs a solace. … When you go home never give a cross word, but let kindness, charity and love, crown your works.”³⁰ In other settings, the Prophet gave similar counsel to men, saying that a husband’s duty is to “love, cherish, and nourish his wife” and “regard her feelings with tenderness.”³¹

When Relief Society sisters discussed ways to help people in their community, they often focused on families and homes. The minutes of their meetings are full of expressions such as the following: “Mrs. Hawkes spoke of the Drury family—still sick needing our prayers—if nothing more.”³² “Sister Joshua Smith … went and visited Sister McEwen and Sister Modley. Found them and their families in suffering want. They need attendance every day.”³³ “P. M. Wheeler … would recommend to the charity of this society Sister Francis Lew Law, who is sick and without a home, an aged widow lady at present destitute of money.”³⁴ “Sister Peck reported Mr. Guyes and family as sick and destitute. Administered to their relief. … Mrs. Kimball stated a Mr. Charleston and family were sick, his wife very low and in great need of a nurse. Said she had assisted them.”³⁵

The Saints’ united effort to build a temple in Nauvoo was influenced by their love for their families. The Prophet Joseph had taught them that they could be baptized in behalf of their family members who had died. They were permitted to perform these ordinances outside a temple for a time, but the Lord had commanded them:

“Build a house to my name, for the Most High to dwell therein.

“For there is not a place found on earth that he may come to and restore again that which was lost unto you, or which he hath taken away, even the fulness of the priesthood.

“For a baptismal font there is not upon the earth, that they, my saints, may be baptized for those who are dead—

“For this ordinance belongeth to my house.”³⁶

They also wanted to build a temple so they could receive the new and everlasting covenant of marriage, by which their families could be united eternally.³⁷

Church members in Nauvoo found great comfort in baptisms for the dead and the promise of eternal families. One of these members was a sister named Sally Randall. When her 14-year-old son George died, she sent the sad news to family members. Soon thereafter, she learned about baptism for the dead. Again she wrote to her relatives, this time with newfound peace and assurance:

“[George’s] father has been baptized for him and what a glorious thing it is that we believe and receive the fulness of the gospel as it is preached now and can be baptized for all of our dead friends and save them as far back as we can get any knowledge of them. I want you [to] write me the given names of all of our connections that are dead as far back as grandfather’s and grandmother’s at any rate. I intend to do what I can to save my friends. … I expect you will think this is strange doctrine but you will find it to be true.”

To her mother, who had also lost a child to death, Sally testified, “Oh, mother, if we are so happy as to have a part in the first resurrection, we shall have our children just as we laid them down in their graves.”³⁸

Preparing to Enter the Temple

Believe in Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost.

Cultivate a testimony of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the restored gospel.

Sustain and follow the living prophet.

Qualify for a temple recommend by being morally clean, keeping the Word of Wisdom, paying a full tithing, and living in harmony with the teachings of the Church.

Give time, talents, and means to help build the Lord’s kingdom.

Participate in family history work.

Be teachable and reverent.

Dress modestly and be well groomed.

Provide Relief by Seeking Out and Helping Those in Need

Since the organization of the Church in 1830, Latter-day Saint women have found countless ways to give service. They have been true to the words of the Savior: “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”³⁹

When the Prophet Joseph Smith led efforts to build a temple in Kirtland, Ohio, sisters saw many needs among the construction workers and their families. As Sarah M. Kimball recounted, “The women would churn and cheerfully send their butter to the workmen on the Temple and eat without any on their own tables.”⁴⁰ The sisters also saw a need to make carpets and draperies for the temple. Polly Angell recalled a comment by Joseph Smith as he saw them working. He said: “The sisters are always first and foremost in all good works. Mary [Magdalene] was first at the resurrection; and the sisters now are the first to work on the inside of the temple.”⁴¹

With the Relief Society organized under priesthood authority, the effort to help those building the Nauvoo Temple was even greater. In one Relief Society meeting, the women concentrated on practical ways they could serve the men who were working so diligently on the temple. “The sisters expressed their feelings one by one,” manifesting a unanimous “desire to assist in forwarding the temple and in aiding the cause of Zion.” The minutes record many donations offered by Relief Society members:

“Sis. Jones said she would be willing to go about and solicit material, if counseled so to do—she also offered to board one to work on the temple.

“Mrs. Durfee said if the heads of the society wished, she is willing to go abroad with a wagon and collect wool etc. for the purpose of forwarding the work.

“Mrs. Smith suggested that merchant’s wives donate material that others may be employed.

“Miss Wheeler said she is willing to give any portion, or all of her time—

“Mrs. Granger [is] willing to do anything, knit, sew, or wait on the sick, as might be most useful.

“Miss Ells said she had felt willing to go out and solicit donations etc.

“Mrs. Angell said she was willing to repair old clothes if necessary when new material cannot be obtained.

“Mrs. Smith proposed getting wool and furnish old ladies with yarn to knit socks to supply the workmen on the temple next winter.

“Sis. Stringham offered to make men’s clothes and take work on the temple.

“Sis. Felshaw proposes to give some soap. …

“Sis. Stanley proposed giving every tenth pound of flax, also one quart milk per day.

“Miss Beman will make clothes.

“Sis. Smith proposed getting muslin etc. from merchants not belonging to the Church, who were friendly. …

“Sis. Geen offered to donate thread of her own spinning.”⁴²

From the hearts of these sisters flowed a great desire to engage in good works. They did so with wool and wagons, soap and sewing, food and finery, time and talents. Through their new society, the women of the Church acted according to their natural sympathies to build up the Lord’s Church.

The Prophet Joseph Smith encouraged Relief Society sisters in their efforts to strengthen those in need. In one Relief Society meeting, after teaching them from 1 Corinthians 12 (see page 18), he began reading Paul’s discourse on charity in 1 Corinthians 13. Commenting on this chapter, he said: “Don’t be limited in your views with regard to your neighbors’ virtues. … You must enlarge your souls toward others if you’d do like Jesus. … As you increase in innocence and virtue, as you increase in goodness, let your hearts expand—let them be enlarged towards others—you must be longsuffering and bear with the faults and errors of mankind. How precious are the souls of men!”⁴³

In another Relief Society meeting, he taught: “Nothing is so much calculated to lead people to forsake sin as to take them by the hand and watch over them with tenderness. When persons manifest the least kindness and love to me, O what power it has over my mind, while the opposite course has a tendency to harrow up all the harsh feelings and depress the human mind.”⁴⁴

Relief Society sisters embraced charitable service as a foundational principle of their organization. Each week as the Female Relief Society of Nauvoo met, individual sisters reported on people in need. A treasurer accepted donations, and the donations were dispersed to relieve the needy. Donations included money, supplies, talents, and time. Women gave articles of clothing and bedding. They offered flax, wool, and yarn that could be made into clothing. They also donated food: apples, onions, flour, sugar, bread, and butter.

Sister Emma Smith, as president of the Relief Society, was a paramount example of charitable service. She opened her home to the hungry, homeless, and sick. “The Homestead,” as the Smiths’ log home was sometimes called, consisted of a gathering room and two bedrooms. At the time of the organization of Relief Society, the home accommodated 11 people in addition to Emma, Joseph, and their 4 children.

 

In Nauvoo, Illinois, Emma and Joseph Smith led efforts to help the hungry, homeless, and sick.

Emma, the Elect Lady of the Restoration, 1839, by Theodore S. Gorka. © 1996 IRI.

Early Relief Society sisters served those in need and occasionally received service themselves. For example, Ellen Douglas joined the Relief Society soon after she and her family arrived in Nauvoo in March 1842. Three months later, her husband, George, died. She and her family worked together to provide for themselves, but they struggled without their husband and father. Still, Ellen participated in the work of the Relief Society by actively relieving others’ suffering, sickness, and poverty. Then in April 1844, she and some of her children fell ill and found themselves in need of help. She wrote a letter to her family in England describing how the Relief Society came to her aid when she went to visit a friend named Ann:

“After I [had] begun to get well I went down into the city on a visit to where Ann lived, and I stayed two nights. … The woman where Ann lived would have me make application to the Female Relief Society for some clothing which I needed for myself and family. I refused to do so, but she said I needed something and that I had been so long sick and if I would not do it myself she would do it for me.” Sister Douglas eventually agreed to ask for help. “We went to one of the sisters,” she continued, “and she asked me what I needed most. I told her that I needed … many things. While I was sick my children [wore] out their clothes because I could not [mend] them, so she said she would do the best she could for me. Ann came over in a few days and they brought the wagon and fetched me such a present as I never received before.”⁴⁵

Joseph Smith

First President of the Church

 

“The [Relief] Society is not only to relieve the poor, but to save souls.”

Relief Society Minute Book, June 9, 1842, Church History Library, 63

Joseph Smith, by Kenneth Corbett. © Kenneth Corbett.

“That We May All Sit Down in Heaven Together”

Elder John A. Widtsoe of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles described the foundational work of the Relief Society: “Relief of poverty, relief of illness; relief of doubt, relief of ignorance—relief of all that hinders the joy and progress of woman. What a magnificent commission!”⁴⁶

Latter-day Saint women, strong in faith and testimony, have truly been given the “errand of angels.”⁴⁷ Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught: “Every sister in this Church who has made covenants with the Lord has a divine mandate to help save souls, to lead the women of the world, to strengthen the homes of Zion, and to build the kingdom of God.”⁴⁸

When Sarah M. Kimball and Margaret Cook decided to begin a sewing society, they wanted to help prepare a temple for the people. Under the inspiration and guidance of a prophet and other priesthood leaders, they and their sisters ultimately helped prepare a people for the temple.

This work continues today. Guided by the principles Joseph Smith taught, Relief Society sisters work together to prepare women and their families for God’s greatest blessings. They joyfully follow the counsel of Joseph Smith’s mother, Lucy Mack Smith: “We must cherish one another, watch over one another, comfort one another and gain instruction, that we may all sit down in heaven together.”⁴⁹

 

Like many Relief Society sisters, Sarah Rich was buoyed by temple blessings as she faced the challenges of the exodus. Prior to leaving Nauvoo, she received a calling from Brigham Young to work in the temple. She later said:

 

Sarah Rich

“Many were the blessings we had received in the house of the Lord, which has caused us joy and comfort in the midst of all our sorrows and enabled us to have faith in God, knowing He would guide us and sustain us in the unknown journey that lay before us. For if it had not been for the faith and knowledge that was bestowed upon us in that temple by the influence and help of the Spirit of the Lord, our journey would have been like one taking a leap in the dark. To start out … in the winter as it were and in our state of poverty, it would seem like walking into the jaws of death. But we had faith in our Heavenly Father, and we put our trust in Him feeling that we were His chosen people and had embraced His gospel, and instead of sorrow, we felt to rejoice that the day of our deliverance had come.”⁴

As Sister Rich implied, the exodus was not a “leap in the dark” for faithful Latter-day Saint women. They were sustained by their covenants. Like the children of Israel anciently, they followed a prophet into the wilderness in the hope of deliverance. In preparation for the exodus, President Brigham Young made the following declaration to the Saints: “This shall be our covenant—that we will walk in all the ordinances of the Lord.”⁵ Latter-day Saints walked into the wilderness bound by covenant to God, their families, and their fellow sojourners.

 In such trying circumstances, the sisters relied on the power of their covenants. Bathsheba W. Smith, the fourth Relief Society general president, later recalled those experiences:

“I will not try to describe how we traveled through storms of snow, wind, and rain; how roads had to be made, bridges built, and rafts constructed; how our poor animals had to drag on day after day with scanty feed; nor how our camps suffered from poverty, sickness, and death. We were consoled … by having our public and private meetings in peace, praying and singing the songs of Zion, and rejoicing that we were leaving our persecutors far behind. We were further consoled by seeing the power of God manifested through the laying on of the hands of the elders, causing the sick to be healed, and the lame to walk. The Lord was with us and his power was made manifest daily.”¹³

The women also found spiritual strength in each other’s love and compassion. Throughout the journey, as they suffered trials of illness and death, they prayed in faith for each other and comforted each other. “The love of God flowed from heart to heart,” wrote Helen Mar Whitney, “till the wicked one seemed powerless in his efforts to get between us and the Lord, and his cruel darts, in some instances, were shorn of their sting.”¹⁴

Remembering inspired instruction from the Prophet Joseph Smith, these faithful pioneer women had a vision of their power and potential for service. They helped establish homes and communities. Through deeds of faith and charity, they saved souls. Their sacrifices had a sanctifying effect on themselves and on those who received their offerings.

Even without the formal meetings of the Relief Society, pioneer women followed prophetic teachings and kept their temple covenants, and in so doing they contributed to an extraordinary chapter in the history of the Church and the American West. A prominent non–Latter-day Saint historian wrote: “That I do not accept the faith that possessed them does not mean I doubt their frequent devotion and heroism in its service. Especially their women. Their women were incredible.”¹⁵