Barbara Thompson is the 2nd Counselor of the General RS board. A few of the points she talked about are mentioned below. We'd love to hear what any of you high lighted from her talk.
• As the three members of the General Relief Society board prepared to travel and speak to members of the church, President Monson asked them for two favors. One was for them to express how much he loves the sisters in the church, and the other was to tell us that he prays for us.
• Barbara talked mostly on the book Daughters of My Kingdom. She mentioned how the prophet wanted a history of Relief Society given to all women as a gift. It isn’t a normal historian’s history but like the small plates of Nephi contains spiritual things. It is a record of faithful, good women who did amazing things through their faith and conviction to the church.
• If history is not your thing, at least open the book, flip through the pages and look for uplifting quotes.
• Alma 30 tells about Alma and Amulek preaching. The church was strong and things were going well. Korihor did much damage by saying that we can’t know things to come or things we cannot see. He claimed that it is the sign of a “frenzied mind” to think we can know the future. Verse 18 says that women were being led away by what he taught. It is not very often that scriptures mention women specifically. Barbara feared that we were being led away by what the world is teaching today. She exhorted us to resist.
• Moses 1:31 tells that Enoch was slow of speech. The Savior replied, “Walk with me” the rivers will move from their place. Enoch eventually taught repentance and the atonement. He spoke so powerfully, that a whole city was converted even though he was slow of speech. Moses 1:39 defines the Zion people in the city of Enoch.
• Joseph Smith said that the purpose of Relief Society is to help women become holy. Corinthians 10 talks about faith, righteousness, and charity.
• Barbara told the story behind the selecting of a plot of land for the Vancouver Canada temple. The stake president had selected 3 possibilities all of which President Hinckley was not particularly fond of. While driving around, the prophet asked about one particular spot. The stake president mentioned that it was not for sale, but the prophet asked him to check into it. When the land owner was finally located, the stake president met to discuss the possibility of purchasing the land. When the owner heard that Mormons were wanting the land, he declared that not only was the land not for sale, but under no circumstances would he sell to Mormons. The stake president got the courage to ask why and learned that his aunt was a member of the church in a nursing home and had virtually been abandoned by the Mormon Church after a lifetime of service. The stake president dug deeper and left the property owner to find out what happened. Long story short is that this sweet woman had Alzheimer’s disease and was being visited every week by her home teachers and visiting teachers. The bishop, RS president, and other friends also visited often, but her disease blocked memory of the attention she was getting. When the property owner found out the truth, he sold his property for the building of the temple. Moral of the story is: the little things we do and the small acts of service can have a huge impact.
• Barbara encourage us all to attend the temple often and “angels will be our associates”.
Listening to Barbara Thompson at the conference was great.
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