The General Relief Society Presidency said Relief Society can help women accomplish extraordinary things in its BYU Women’s Conference session on Friday.
General Relief Society President Sister Jean B. Bingham encouraged women to remember Heavenly Father will provide them all they need to become extraordinary as daughters of God.
“Every single one of us can be spectacular because of our unique bundle of talents and abilities,” Sister Bingham said.
Sister Bingham said women have “incredible potential for good” and encouraged them to participate in the work of salvation by serving others.
“May we each determine to reach out in small and simple ways that bless our families and others in extraordinary ways,” Sister Bingham said.
Sisters Bingham and Sharon Eubank, second counselor in the General Relief Society Presidency, talked about some of the feelings they had as they were recently called to serve in the General Relief Society Presidency. Sister Bingham said she took comfort in knowing she would be able to fulfill this calling with the Lord’s help.
“Through Heavenly Father’s love and the Savior’s grace, we can accomplish all that is required for exaltation,” Sister Bingham said.
Sister Eubank said she was shocked when she found out she would continue in her role as director of LDS Charities while serving in the General Relief Society Presidency, but felt relieved when she knew she’d be serving with Sister Bingham.
Sister Eubank said she knew the call was inspired because within 48 hours of Sister Eubank’s call, she and Sister Bingham left together on an LDS Charities trip they had planned eight months earlier to visit a refugee camp in Uganda.
“If the Lord knew eight months prior that Jean Bingham and Sharon Eubank were going to travel together and be called into Relief Society together at the exact same time, it must not be a mistake,” Sister Eubank said. “Something about that fact gave me great courage and calmness.”
Although she felt privileged to serve with Sister Bingham and Sister Eubank, Sister Eubank said she still felt “a string of panic,” not knowing how she would be able to adjust to serving in her capacities at both LDS Charities and in the General Relief Society Presidency.
But she said one day in the midst of this feeling, she found a note in her drawer from former General Relief Society President Sister Julie B. Beck encouraging Sister Eubank to lift others, keep her own kingdom intact and sit still for divine help when she felt like she couldn’t give anymore. Sister Eubank said this counsel, which was from and about Relief Society, helped her.
“God wants us to help each other with our problems, and The Relief Society is the place where we are united to do it,” Sister Eubank said.
General Relief Society second counselor Sister Reyna I. Aburto focused her Women’s Conference address on the divine origin of Relief Society and what the organization means to her.
“(Relief Society) has meant a never-ending wealth of assistance from heaven and from earth that has helped me begin to prepare for the blessings of eternal life,” Sister Aburto said.
Relief Society can be a “safe haven” for women, according to Sister Aburto.
“The Relief Society was organized by the Prophet Joseph Smith through priesthood keys and after the pattern of the priesthood so women could do something extraordinary,” Sister Aburto said.
