Attendance and Reporting Dress Standards Family Services General Relief Society Meeting History Leadership Relief Society Meetings Sunday Meetings and Lessons Temple Clothing Transition Visiting Teaching Welfare Attendance and Reporting Who answers attendance and reporting questions? All attendance and reporting questions should be directed to the ward or stake clerk or the stake Relief Society secretary. Is attendance taken at home, family, and personal enrichment meetings and activities? No, attendance is taken only in the Sunday Relief Society meeting. Sisters who are absent because they are serving in Primary or Young Women are recorded as attending. Dress Standards What are appropriate dress standards for Church? Relief Society sisters are encouraged to be well groomed and modest in their attire. When they are at Church meetings, their appearance and clothing should show reverence and respect for the Lord. Refer to For the Strength of Youth, which outlines dress standards for Church members. You may also refer to the addresses and articles listed below. Robert D. Hales, “Modesty: Reverence for the Lord,” Ensign, Aug. 2008, 34–39. Jeffrey R. Holland, “To Young Women,” Ensign, Nov. 2005, 28–30. D. Todd Christofferson, “A Sense of the Sacred,” New Era, June 2006, 28–31. Elaine S. Dalton, “Arise and Shine Forth,” BYU Women's Conference, Apr. 30, 2004. Susan W. Tanner, “The Sanctity of the Body,” Ensign, Nov. 2005, 13–15. Family Services Is information available to help an unwed mother in my ward? Excellent information is available at “It’s about Love.” Where available, LDS Family Services can help identify resources. General Relief Society Meeting Where can I find a video copy of the general Relief Society meeting? All stake technology specialists are instructed to record the general Relief Society meeting and then place the copy in the stake library. If your stake library does not have a copy, your stake president may need to contact the Audiovisual Department at Church headquarters in Salt Lake City to obtain a copy. The phone number is 1-801-240-1632. Video archives of general Relief Society meetings may also be viewed on LDS.org. How can I obtain tickets to the general Relief Society meeting? You should request tickets through your bishop. If he has not been allotted tickets for the meeting, he may call 1-801-240-0080 to make such requests. History Where do I find information about the history of Relief Society? Historical information can be found by doing a search on LDS.org and the Relief Society history page. Boyd K. Packer, “The Relief Society,” Ensign, May 1998, 72–74. Boyd K. Packer, “The Circle of Sisters,” Ensign, Nov. 1980, 109–11. Dallin H. Oaks, “The Relief Society and the Church,” Ensign, May 1992, 34–37. “The Founding of Relief Society,” Ensign, Mar. 1992, 57. Heidi S. Swinton and LaRene Gaunt, “The Relief Society Building: A Symbol of Service and Sacrifice,” Ensign, Sept. 2006, 54–57. Video: Tour of the Relief Society Building Leadership Who trains the ward Relief Society presidency? One of the primary roles of a stake Relief Society presidency is to train and minister to ward Relief Society presidencies using the information found in the Church Handbook of Instructions, Book 2. Who trains a stake Relief Society presidency? They are trained by the stake president using the information found in the Church Handbook of Instructions, Book 2. Additional information that can be used in training is also available on the Relief Society pages of the Serving in the Church section of LDS.org. Does the secretary conduct Relief Society meetings? Generally the president and her counselors should conduct Sunday meetings. What is the role of the secretary? The main duty of the secretary is to attend presidency meetings and complete assignments and responsibilities given to her by the president. She may compile, review, and submit attendance and visiting teaching information, prepare agendas, take notes, keep a record of assignments, ensure the presidency is aware of new members, publicize events, help prepare budgets, and assist the presidency as needed. Relief Society Meetings What do we call the counselor who is responsible for additional Relief Society meetings? We encourage you to follow the pattern of the priesthood and call the counselors “first counselor” and “second counselor.” The Relief Society president can assess the work of Relief Society and delegate assignments and responsibilities to each counselor as needed. What do we call the sister who coordinates Relief Society meetings that are held during the week? The Relief Society president may recommend that a sister in the ward be called to serve as the Relief Society meeting coordinator to help the presidency carry out these meetings. If a sister has been serving as the home, family, and personal enrichment leader, her title is now Relief Society meeting coordinator. What do we call Relief Society meetings that are not held on Sunday? Individual Relief Society meetings that are held during the week can be called whatever they are, for example, Relief Society meetings, classes, projects, conferences, or workshops. Examples of how Relief Society meetings can be announced: "This Thursday we will have a Relief Society meeting at 7:00 p.m. Our meeting this month will include a variety of classes to help us improve homemaking skills." Or, "We will have a Relief Society workshop this next month about how to be better parents." Or, "On Saturday we will have a Relief Society conference." Or, "We will have a Relief Society service project this coming month." Sunday Meetings and Lessons What should be taught in the first Sunday lesson? The Relief Society president prayerfully counsels with the bishop to determine what is most needed. This could include women’s roles and responsibilities in the gospel, strengthening marriages and families, visiting teaching, service, missionary work, activation, spiritual and temporal welfare, temple and family history work, and other topics. Time may be given for sisters to share their testimonies. What materials are used for the second and third Sunday lessons? Sisters are taught by the president, a counselor, or other Relief Society sisters. Instruction is from the scriptures and the current Priesthood and Relief Society curriculum. Lesson order is determined by local priesthood leaders. What materials are used for the fourth Sunday lesson? Sisters are taught by the president, a counselor, or other Relief Society sisters using messages selected by the stake president or bishop from the most recent general conference. Temple Clothing Who can answer questions about temple clothing and temple garments? Consult with your priesthood leader for direction. What procedures are followed to dress a deceased endowed member? In some circumstances, the Relief Society president may be asked by the bishop to make arrangements to dress endowed deceased females for burial. If a deceased sister was endowed, the Relief Society president makes sure the temple clothing is placed properly on her body. If possible, the body should be dressed by an endowed sister. For more information, your priesthood leader can order the booklet Instructions for Clothing the Dead Who Have Received Their Endowments. All other questions about temple clothing and temple garments or about dressing deceased endowed members should be directed to the Temple Clothing office at 1-801-240-3333. Transition Where can we find guidelines to help young women make the transition to Relief Society? The First Presidency letter dated February 23, 2007 provides seven suggestions for helping young women make this transition successfully. The Relief Society president should work with the Young Women president and priesthood leaders to determine ways to support parents in a coordinated effort to strengthen young adult women. For other suggestions, see the Relief Society transition page. When young women come into Relief Society meetings for opening exercises, do the Relief Society sisters recite the Young Women theme with them? No specific direction has been given about reciting the theme. This decision is left to local Relief Society and Young Women leaders in counsel with local priesthood leaders. Can the young women occasionally participate in other Relief Society meetings? Young women and Relief Society sisters may meet together occasionally in home, family, and personal enrichment meetings or activities as appropriate. Such meetings or activities should be planned by Relief Society and Young Women leaders in council with priesthood leaders. Can young women conduct the joint Young Women and Relief Society opening exercises? “Responsibility for planning and conducting the opening exercises should rotate between the leaders of Relief Society and Young Women” (First Presidency letter, February 23, 2007). Visiting Teaching Is group visiting teaching acceptable? The policies regarding visiting teaching are determined by the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The First Presidency has approved the following options for visiting teaching: Where possible, the Relief Society presidency organizes sisters into companionships of two. A husband and wife may be assigned as companions to be home teachers and visiting teachers. (In exceptional circumstances, where a couple may be more helpful, the bishop may assign a sister to visit a home with her husband. Such a visit is reported both as home teaching and as visiting teaching). Sister missionaries may be assigned as visiting teachers, with the approval of the mission president (in Preach My Gospel, sister missionaries were included as potential visiting teachers for those who are less active or investigating the Church). At no time has approval been given for sisters to be organized into “circles” or other groups for the purpose of visiting teaching. Like home teaching, visiting teaching is a matter of personal watchcare. How can we effectively involve and teach the transitioning young women in visiting teaching? Young adult women will feel needed and welcomed as they have opportunities to contribute by using the skills they bring, such as teaching a lesson, sharing musical ability, or using computer skills. This can be further enhanced by using young adult women to serve as visiting teachers. Welfare As a Relief Society president, what are my welfare responsibilities? The Relief Society president has the responsibility to assist her priesthood leader in seeking out and helping those who have immediate and long-term welfare needs. She teaches and encourages sisters to live principles of self-reliance and to seek out and help the poor and needy. She also uses visiting teachers to help identify needs.