Prophets on the Relief Society: Julie B. Beck

Brigham Young, the second President of the Church, instructed his counselors and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles to direct bishops to “let [the sisters] organize Female Relief Societies in the various wards.” He added, “Some may think this is a trifling thing, but it is not.”⁷

Later, President Joseph F. Smith said that in contrast to worldly organizations, which “are men-made, or women-made,” the Relief Society “is divinely made, divinely authorized, divinely instituted, divinely ordained of God.”⁸ President Joseph Fielding Smith told the sisters that they had “been given power and authority to do a great many things.”⁹ He said, “You are members of the greatest women’s organization in the world, an organization which is a vital part of the kingdom of God on [the] earth and which is so designed and operated that it helps its faithful members to gain eternal life in our Father’s kingdom.”¹⁰