Relief Society: A Covenant Community
Worldwide Relief Society Devotional and Testimony Meeting
Sunday, March 16, 2025
President Camille N. Johnson
My beloved sisters, we are humbled and happy to welcome you here to the upper floor of the Red Brick Store in historic Nauvoo, Illinois. This is a sacred space where, in 1842, the Prophet Joseph Smith organized the Relief Society after the pattern of the priesthood and in complete restoration of all things as part of an ongoing Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
It was here in Nauvoo that the sisters of Relief Society prepared for the blessings of the house of the Lord. They prepared the sisters temporally, and they assisted in the building of the temple by managing farms and sewing shirts and doing whatever they could do to help in preparation for the blessings of the house of the Lord. But they also prepared spiritually, and it was here, and in groves all around Nauvoo, that they had the opportunity to hear directly from our Prophet Joseph Smith. It was here that he instructed them in preparation for the blessings that would come as they participated in the ordinances of the house of the Lord.
We know and express our testimony that it was the strength and power that was derived from covenant making and covenant keeping that blessed the lives of those sisters and brothers and all of the Saints that moved forward into the wilderness after their experience in Nauvoo. We’re so happy to have this opportunity to share this sacred space with you. Wherever you live around the world, I hope you know that your lineage starts here in Nauvoo. As members of the Relief Society, our roots were put down here. And now, moving forward, as the tree grows and expands and the branches are all over the world, I hope you feel connected to this sacred space where women set aside the cares of the world and focused exclusively on our Savior, Jesus Christ, and on making covenants with Him.
How do you feel being here?
Sister J. Anette Dennis
It’s been a beautiful experience to be in this space where those 20 women were first organized and then to think about all of you all over the world. As Relief Society sisters, you all have that legacy because of what began here.
President Johnson
They created a covenant community here in Nauvoo, didn’t they?
Sister Kristin M. Yee
They took care of each other.
President Johnson
They sure did. And we’ve created a covenant community all around the world now as sisters who participate in priesthood ordinances and make and keep covenants. We’ve created a global community to bless the lives of our brothers and sisters.
Sister Yee
Where they care for each other, where they take care of each other. As I’ve been reading about the stories here in Nauvoo, that’s what impressed me the most, was there was always somebody bringing something to someone in need or caring for somebody. And it was just naturally part of what they did. And it’s naturally what we do as Relief Society sisters. The Lord provided an organization through which the sisters could act on those natural feelings which they had, which were compassion and a place to do this so they could feel of His relief and offer His relief so readily.
And this morning as I was thinking and pondering about Sister Emma and her mission and her companionship to the Prophet, the thought came to me, “They prayed the same prayers that we’ve prayed.” They prayed for their children. They prayed for their husbands and their wives. They prayed for each other. The same needs that we have, they had also. We’re more similar than not. They trusted in the Lord. And there was so much instability in that time, wasn’t there? There was death and there was deprivation. And yet they trusted in Him. And we have deprivation in each of us, in our own way, where we need God, where we need our covenants, where we need to trust in Him. And we have to let go many times and trust Him—that He will guide us through those spaces—that we can trust Him with our families, that we can trust Him that these covenants and these promises are more real than anything that we can see and are more real than anything we can feel.
President Johnson
In Doctrine and Covenants section 25, the revelation given to Emma Smith, says, “Cleave unto [your] covenants.” And I think that’s exactly what you’re describing. It’s another way of saying, “Trust me. Trust in the promises that I’ve made to you because my promises are sure.” And those same promises that we make in the house of the Lord, and of course at baptism, a promise comes back to us that He’ll always be with us—that we’ll have His Spirit to attend us, that we’ll have angels round about us to minister to us and attend to our needs. I know those are still real. And those promises that He makes, He made to those dear Saints here in Nauvoo; He makes those same promises to us when we participate in the ordinances of the gospel of Jesus Christ that are available to us through priesthood keys.
Sister Dennis
I think about Emma—how many children she lost, how she had to move from place to place, how they didn’t have much. But they had their covenants, beginning with baptism. They had that covenant relationship with God that sustained them. It sustained Emma through all of that. I don’t think she could have done what she did without that covenant relationship with God that she knew she had and those promises that were there.
Sister Yee
That’s true—that stability comes in Jesus Christ is what you’re describing, isn’t it? Everything else will move and change in our lives. People will come and go. But that relationship with Him is where our true stability lies, isn’t it?
President Johnson
I feel like it’s what propelled them forward—building that temple, preparing for those additional covenants. And then that’s what gave them the strength to move forward into the unknown at a time that must have felt very uncertain to them. Their covenant confidence is really quite—well, it shouldn’t be remarkable because we all should have it—but what a beautiful example it is to all of us, to put our covenant confidence in the Lord and in the Lord’s designated representative, a prophet on the earth today.
Sister Dennis
I love the story of when Brigham Young was in the temple; he was there administering the ordinances. Many, many people were there, and he was there until late in the night so people could receive their endowment. And he said, “OK, we’re done.” It was getting very dangerous because of the mobs around them. It was time, he said, to get things ready to move out, to ferry across the Mississippi. But the next morning when he got up, the temple grounds and the temple itself were filled with people that would not leave until they received their endowments. They knew they were going to need those blessings and it might be many, many, many years before they would have another temple. Our covenants are what help us to be connected more deeply to our Father in Heaven and Jesus Christ and give us the strength that we need to move forward, just like those early Saints did, wherever we are in the world.
President Johnson
Some of my ancestors were amongst those that in those final days here in Nauvoo had the blessing and opportunity to be endowed. And I stand on their shoulders as we all stand on the shoulders of these dear sisters who, with faith, moved forward with covenant confidence.
Sister Dennis
Tell us about your ancestors.
President Johnson
Well, Fanny Dack Parish and her daughter Jane, of course, and my fourth great-grandfather Samuel Parish were all endowed here in February of 1846—part of that group of five thousand that you discussed. And I love the words that Jane used to describe that time. She said, “We have the gospel of Jesus Christ, we have the Church, and we have a temple.” And she said, “Oh, what joy filled our souls because we have the temple.”
I just reflect on that and think this was such a time of uncertainty for them. They were preparing to leave this beautiful community that they had established and go into the wilderness. And yet it was a time of great joy. What else could explain the joy that she felt, the peace that she felt?
Sister Yee
Amidst all of the challenges that they had, they had peace and joy.
President Johnson
They did. And it was because of their covenant making. And Kristin’s ancestors were here at the same time. And we’re quite sure because they were close in age that they were friends, just like we’re friends now.
Sister Yee
And if they weren’t then, they are now.
President Johnson
They are now. Yes, absolutely.
Sister Yee
Nancy Sabin, on my mother’s side, was about 17 when she joined the Church. And about that time she was also endowed in the house of the Lord. And your Jane was just 20.
President Johnson and Sister Yee
And we think they lived very near one another.
Sister Yee
Surely, they had a conversation or two. But how sweet to think too that now their posterity is sitting here, and that there’s a friendship here that would take place. And that we, too, cleave to our covenants as they did—that we have the same faith, that we trust in the Lord with all our hearts. And that’s not lost on us. We carry that from generation to generation.
Whether or not we have ancestry here, whether or not we have ancestors across the world, we began here with our covenants, and that perpetuates forever. All the choices we make today matter. They matter not just for you, but for those who will come after and those who came before—on this side of the veil and on the other side of the veil—as we keep our covenants. And I think there are many sisters perhaps in our Relief Society today—maybe they feel like they’re too young or they’re too old. Or maybe they’re not educated, or they’re not whatever—you fill in the blank. You might feel that maybe you’re not prepared to do this work. But we want to share with you that you are, and we need you today. The Lord needs you today to be a part of this. You have gifts and talents which are needed now in the world.
President Johnson
We’ve received prophetic direction that as sisters we can and should change the world. We need to prepare the world for the Second Coming of the Savior, Jesus Christ. And how will we do that? Well, we will do that by creating a covenant community. And sometimes my covenant community is a covenant community of one—really two, as I have a covenant relationship with Him.
Sister Yee
That’s true.
President Johnson
But then your covenant community can expand and grow. I’m reminded of an experience I had recently that was really beautiful. It was a group of Relief Society sisters. We were all sitting in a circle knee to knee. I was in a district, and I was meeting with the district Relief Society president, the district Primary president, and the district Young Women president who had been a baptized member of the Church for just one month. And she felt a little overwhelmed and was expressing some concern to all of us about how she was going to accomplish her new assignment. My favorite part of that meeting is when the Relief Society president turned to her and just with all sincerity said, “Don’t worry, we will help you.” That’s the idea. Wherever we are, we create that covenant community focused on Jesus Christ. And with those innate gifts that are given to us, we take care of each other. That’s exactly what was going to happen there. She need not worry. She could trust in the Lord. She had her Relief Society sisters.
Sister Dennis
Because we’re all members of Relief Society, no matter where we’re serving.
President Johnson
Right. So for a season, she’ll serve in the Young Women with the young women. But she’ll always be a part of the Relief Society. And those Relief Society sisters were wrapping their arms around her, and they were going to take care of her.
Sister Yee
I love that. It’s all intertwined, isn’t it?
President Johnson
Yes, absolutely.
Sister Yee
Because if we bless a child, we bless a family. We bless a mother, we bless a family. Or a father. It’s all interconnected in that way, which is so lovely. We have a great partnership with Jesus Christ. He is our greatest partner who can help us in all things. And sometimes I think, especially as women, we like to do things on our own. And that’s not a bad thing. That’s a gift that He’s given us to take initiative and to do things. But I think sometimes, at least for me, I know sometimes He puts me in a situation where I’m sufficiently overwhelmed so that I sufficiently have to rely on Him. And so that we can build that relationship with Him, so we know why we do what we do. And don’t you think these sisters here in Nauvoo knew why they did what they did? Because they loved the Lord, and they wanted to keep His covenants with Him, and so do we.
Sister Dennis
And as they helped others feel His love, they felt it themselves. I think we all have to remember, that there are some among us that have trouble feeling the Lord’s love, for whatever reason it might be. But as we go out and genuinely put our arms around others and let them feel our love, then they often start to feel the Savior’s love as well.
Sister Yee
He knows that we need to feel His love often, so He puts those compassionate feelings in us to serve others so that we and they can feel love.
President Johnson
I think that all of our sisters have an opportunity to be part of the global initiative for the well-being of women and children as they participate, doing simple things in their own homes, in their own neighborhoods and communities. And we do that one mother, one woman, one child at a time, just as the Savior would.
Sister Yee
That’s a beautiful invitation, isn’t it? That both temporally and spiritually, we can come to Him. We need the temporal as we do the spiritual, don’t we? It’s interesting how it seems to be that the circumstances are less important than our connection with our Heavenly Father and Savior—that just came to mind.
And sometimes I think we can sit down in a Relief Society and feel like we’re all alone—or sit down wherever you are—but realize everyone sitting next to you also has challenges and also desires to be loved, and also is loved, and is valued and has a place. And I think when we share in our Relief Societies, and we have the opportunity to share, there’s an opportunity to realize we are more the same than we are different.
But I know and I can testify, that we are never alone—that our Heavenly Father and Savior know you. That They’re aware of your needs, that They are concerned about what you’re concerned about and desire to bless you, and that those sisters next to you have those same desires to be loved and have the opportunity to contribute and to feel valued. I know that He is aware—that He is right beside us in our decisions and our challenges and our joys. That He’s beside us. We can counsel with Him. That is a beautiful and blessed opportunity to know that because He walked the path alone that we will not have to, ever.
Sister Dennis
Do you know, I’m imagining groups of sisters all over the world watching this right now. Soon we’re going to have the opportunity to listen to an Apostle, Elder Dale G. Renlund of the Quorum of the Twelve. We are so privileged to be able to hear from him. And after that, you’ll have the opportunity to bear witness to each other of the things you have felt in your heart that the Spirit has witnessed to you—of the blessing that Relief Society is, and of the covenant that you have with the Savior and what He means to you in your life. It is such a special feeling to think about all the groups of sisters around the world and to feel that we are a global covenant sisterhood, no matter where we are. We love you, Sisters!
President Johnson
What a blessing it is to be covenant women in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Sisters, it’s a glorious time, and we collectively bear testimony that we are engaged in the work of our Savior, Jesus Christ. We know He lives. We know He loves us. We know that He desires for us to have a covenant relationship with Him. And we know that He wants us to extend His relief to our sisters and brothers all around the world. And as we do—as we are the vehicle by which He provides His relief to others—we will find His relief for ourselves.
It’s our testimony that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is led by a living prophet. We love him. We honor and sustain him.
It is our testimony that Joseph Smith—wow—was the prophet of the Restoration, that he restored all things, including the ancient order of women, collectively bringing the relief of Jesus Christ to others. Our objective from the beginning, since 1842, is meant to bring all of our Heavenly Father’s children back home. We know that that’s possible through our Savior Jesus Christ. Because of His Atonement, we can be clean and whole and sanctified and return home—home to our heavenly home, and be exalted and live in the presence of our Heavenly Father and our Savior, Jesus Christ.
It all started here for us as members of the Relief Society.
And what a glorious occasion it is for us to be in this very sacred space.
We’ve felt angels round about us today.
It’s our testimony, sisters, that you are loved, that you are known, and you are precious in the eyes of God. We leave that testimony with you in the sacred name of our Savior, Jesus Christ, amen.