Your sisters can’t wait to get to know you!

So, it’s finally time to join the grownups, huh? Welcome to one of the largest women’s service organizations in the world! And the only one led by the Lord.

Here are a few pro tips for a smooth transition:

1. Move when the time is right. You don’t have to go to Relief Society right on your 18th birthday. You can wait until you graduate high school, for example, or some other time that is best before your next birthday.
2. Consider a YSA ward. Some areas have wards specifically for young single adults, where you can be around Relief Society sisters your age. (Although, honestly, it’s great having the perspective of older sisters!)
3. Volunteer. Ask for a ministering assignment if you don’t already have one, or find someone to help even without an official assignment.
4. Speak up. Participate in the lessons. They need your point of view! As a former Relief Society president taught, ”Each woman brings her own separate, unique strengths to the family and the Church.”¹
5. Connect. Try to get to know the women outside of class. Sometimes old ladies make the best buddies! For real.
6. Learn the origin story. For history buffs out there, we recommend “Daughters in My Kingdom,” which will give you a glimpse into the beginning of this amazing, empowering, global organization.
7. Focus on Christlike love. You don’t have to dress in pearls and quote the handbook to be a good Relief Society sister. Instead, your job is “simply to lift and build others.”²

That last one is the most important, really. Relief Society is all about love. So be brave! Dive in. They are going to love you. And your love will make the world a better place, one sister at a time.

Notes

1. From President Jean B. Bingham’s ”How Vast is Our Purpose,” BYU Women’s Conference, May 2017.
2. From Sharon Eubank, ”From Young Women to Relief Society,” Mar. 2009 Ensign.