Sunday Report: United as Sisters: Daughters of God

Sunday, Dec 6, 2009, Ward RS Presidency Message: Taught by: Sister Kimball

Knowing that we are each a Daughter of our Heavenly Father, who loves us, is a blessing that gives us purpose, confidence, hope, perspective, & understanding - with this knowledge, we are able to turn our adversities into pearls of stregnth, wisdom, & beauty. Together as sisters of this ward we are like a beatiful, precious string of pearls - made up of hundreds of pearls, each is unique, special, and important to the whole.

President Faust Spoke about what it means to be a daughter of God: "I speak this evening about what it means to be a daughter of God. The new declaration of the Relief Society begins, “We are beloved spirit daughters of God.” To be a daughter of God means that you are the offspring of Deity, literal descendants of a Divine Father, inheriting godly attributes and potential. To be a daughter of God also means that you have been born again, changed from a “carnal and fallen state, to a state of righteousness.”
Membership in Relief Society, which is a privilege for every adult woman in the Church, provides a home away from your heavenly home, where you can fellowship with others who share your beliefs and values.
As daughters of God, you cannot imagine the divine potential within each of you. Surely the secret citadel of women’s inner strength is spirituality. In this you equal and even surpass men, as you do in faith, morality, and commitment when truly converted to the gospel. You have “more trust in the Lord [and] more hope in his word.” This inner spiritual sense seems to give you a certain resilience to cope with sorrow, trouble, and uncertainty.
You cannot imagine the gifts and talents each of you has. All women have appealing features. I do not refer to model-type appeal, but rather that which comes from your personality, your attitude, and your expressions. I urge you to enhance the natural, God-given, feminine gifts with which you have been so richly blessed. None of you should be so content that you cease to care about how you look or act. In his day, President Brigham Young encouraged women to get an education. This is still good counsel, but I hasten to add: in all your getting, do not lose your sweet femininity.
You sisters do not know the full extent of your influence. You sisters enrich all of humanity. All human life begins with you. Each woman brings her own separate, unique strengths to the family and the Church. Being a daughter of God means that if you seek it, you can find your true identity. You will know who you are. This will make you free—not free from restraints, but free from doubts, anxieties, or peer pressure. You will not need to worry, “Do I look all right?” “Do I sound OK?” “What do people think of me?” A conviction that you are a daughter of God gives you a feeling of comfort in your self-worth. It means that you can find strength in the balm of Christ. It will help you meet the heartaches and challenges with faith and serenity.
I wonder if you sisters can fully appreciate the innate gifts, blessings, and endowments you have simply because you are daughters of God. It is a mistake for women to think that life begins only with marriage. A woman can and must have an identity and feel useful, valued, and needed whether she is single or married. She must feel that she can do something for someone else that no one else ever born can do- James E. Faust, “What It Means to Be a Daughter of God,” Ensign, Nov 1999, 100

Both individually and collectively sisters of Relief Society make a difference in these six ways:
- Build faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and teach the doctrines of the kingdom (see 2 Nephi 31:20-21; Omni 1:26).
- Emphasize the divine worth of each sister (see D&C 25:2-3, 15-16; Moses 6:9).
- Exercise charity and nurture those in need (See Mosiah 4:26; Moroni 7:46-48).
- Strengthen and protect families (see Mosiah 4:14-15; D&C 130:2).
- Serve and support each sister (see 1 Corinthians 12:13-27).
- Help sisters become full participants in the blessings of the priesthood (see D&C 66:2; 84:35-39; Moses 5:1).
These are the objectives of Relief Society. They show the vastness of its purpose and the breadth of its mission, and they define the sisters, setting them apart from all other associations. http://www.lds.org/pa/display/0,17884,4747-1,00.html