Well, we say goodbye to the sisters who have served in the Relief Society Presidency and we welcome three sisters whose backgrounds, personalities and looks are very different from each other. I applaud diversity because in this way, every sister may feel represented somehow.
I happen to know the First Counselor, Sister Silvia H Allred and her family (I doubt she will remember me but a couple of her children surely would). They lived in Argentina for a good number of years (I am speaking about 20 years ago). I went out several times with her kids and shared many activities together. Nice family. She is the first sister to serve in a First Presidency organization who was born outside the US.
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The increasing diversity in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was manifested in the callings Saturday morning of new leadership in the Relief Society and Young Women organizations of the LDS Church. Sister Julie B. Beck, who had been serving as a counselor in the Young Women presidency, was sustained as general Relief Society president. Serving as her first counselor is Sister Silvia H. Allred, the first member of the women's presidency ever to have been born outside the United States. She is a native of El Salvador and a convert to the church. Second counselor Sister Barbara Thompson is unmarried and employed as executive director of an international assessment center for abused and neglected children. Released with a vote of gratitude for their service to the Relief Society - believed to be the largest women's organization in the world - were Sisters Bonnie D. Parkin, Kathleen H. Hughes and Anne C. Pingree, who have led the organization for the past five years. With Sister Beck's call to head the Relief Society, Sister Elaine S. Dalton, who had been second counselor in the Young Women, was reassigned to be first counselor. Sister Mary N. Cook was called as second counselor in the Young Women presidency. At a news conference following the morning session of conference, Sister Beck said that work in the church "is the greatest work in the world today." Such service is a path to happiness in this life and offers the prospect of life eternal, she said. She spent five years in Brazil, where her father served as a mission president and she learned Portuguese. She said she was influenced by the stories of faith that were related by missionaries who shared the 22-seat family dining table during those years. Her determination as the new general Relief Society president is to support the women of the church in the important work they do with their families, she said, noting the Relief Society motto, "Charity Never Faileth." The motto was adopted at the creation of the society in 1842, stands the test of time and will continue to inspire women who live in a far different world as they serve each other with love, she said... |
I know I'm biased on this subject, but I'm very pleased to see a single sister called to a position of leadership such as this. Perhaps going forward we'll have a little more focus on the needs of our singles, in particular the sisters.
Very true Roz, I believe there was another single sister who served in that same capacity.
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She said she was influenced by the stories of faith that were related by missionaries who shared the 22-seat family dining table during those years |
Yes, Sister Beck comes from a large family but not 20 brothers and sisters
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Julie Bangerter Beck lives in Alpine, Utah with her husband Ramon. They are the parents of three children and have eight grandchildren. As a child she learned to speak Portuguese when she lived in Brazil with her parents and 10 brothers and sisters, while her father served as mission president. She is a graduate of Dixie College and Brigham Young University. She feels that her education has been a blessing to her family, and has helped her in her service in the Church and in her community. Prior to her call as first counselor in the General Young Women presidency, Beck was a full-time homemaker. In the Church she has served on the Young Women General board, as ward Young Women and Primary president, as counselor in a stake Relief Society presidency and at the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah. |