Emmeline B. Wells and Her Presidency

The beginning of this chapter mentions that it was Emmeline B. Wells, fifth general RS President, and her presidency that decided on the motto, “Charity Never Faileth.”  Show a picture of the RS seal and ask, “What symbols do you see in this image? Why do you think they chose these particular symbols?”

When someone comments on the wheat, mention this background info: the most long-lived of the society’s economic enterprises was the wheat storage program directed initially by Emmeline B.Wells in 1876, after Brigham Young suggested the Relief Society store wheat against a time of famine. In 1906 the Relief Society donated several railroad cars of wheat and flour to the victims of the San Francisco earthquake. The Relief Society continued to gather and store wheat until the close of World War I (1918), when the Relief Society sold 205,518 bushels of their storage wheat to the U.S. government at its request.

Use this story as a jumping off point to share with your class some info about Emmeline B.Wells, who was an amazing person. (See Women of Covenant: The Story of Relief Society for more details.)

• As a teen she was abandoned by her husband and lost her son
• She knew Joseph Smith in Nauvoo and then made the trek west
• She was a plural wife to first Newll K. Whitney, and then after he died, to Daniel Wells. She had five daughters from those two marriages.
• She was the editor of the Women’s Exponent for 39 years
• She represented the Relief Society in national gatherings of women
• She was friends with Susan B. Anthony and other national suffrage workers
• She herself was a tireless suffrage worker, writing many editorials about women’s rights
• She was general RS President from 1910 to 1921

A few weeks ago, a teacher in Relief Society asked me to prepare a few remarks on my experience with conversion and testimony for her lesson on that topic. I asked her if she was ok with an unconventional conversion story, and she said she was. So I got up and said the following. I was worried that I would make some people uncomfortable, and no doubt I did, but it felt good to be honest about (some of) my struggles.

“I have a very unconventional conversion story for you. Despite having been raised and married in the church, I would say that my most profound conversion experience happened about 5 years ago in 2008. It was time for me when everything church-wise was falling apart for me. This was the time of Prop 8, and I was really struggling with it. As someone who supports gay marriage, I was upset, and I was angry. I look back at that time, and I recognize now that I was close to giving up on Mormonism. My husband was scared that I was about to leave.

I say this not to make any of you who were supporters of Prop 8 feel uncomfortable. I say this because I want to be honest about my journey.

About one year ago Tracy McKay, BCC blogger, single mom, and student, lost the financial support of her ward. And the amazing loving fMh community rallied together to get her the support she needed.

We are proud to announce that this tradition of helping single Mormon mothers will live on in Tracy’s name, as the Tracy McKay fMh Scholarship for Single Mormon Mothers.

Please spread the word far and wide, pass this information along to any Single Student Moms in need of financial assistance.

(As the editor of the Exponent II magazine‘s Sisters Speak column, I would love to hear your opinion on the following questions.  Note: I might email some of you commenters asking if I might quote you in the magazine.) 

I have three very young children, and I’m already nervous about the bishop interviewing them when they are teens. Specifically, I worry about the chastity question. I don’t feel terribly comfortable with the idea of a man they don’t know well asking them personal questions about things of a sexual nature. I particularly don’t want my kids feeling dirty and sinful if they have engaged in a certain amount of self-exploration, which I consider to be a normal part of development.

So how to handle the interview? One thought I had was that I could make it clear that no interview takes place without me or their dad in the room. This would probably head off any extended or probing questions of a sexual nature. Another thought was that I would tell my kids beforehand that they are never to talk with any adult about things of a sexual nature, and that if the bishop asks about it, they should say, “My parents have instructed me that I’m not allowed to discuss that sort of thing with adults I’m not related to.”  My last thought was that I could tell them that the bishop is going to ask them if they are obeying the law of chastity, and that if they are not engaging in sexual acts with other people, then they can tell the bishop that they are keeping the law of chastity.

What advice do you have for young people going through these interviews, or for their parents who want to help them get through them in healthy ways? How did/do you yourself navigate these interviews and the chastity question? 

(Relief Society teachers, I highly recommend you getting on Amazon right now and buying some Chieko Okazaki books. I’ve found that she has something smart and insightful to say on nearly every gospel subject. She’s a wonderful resource for additional insight when you are planning your lessons.)

Part I: Introduction:

For me, the theme of spirituality – how to develop it, how to retain it – infused this lesson.

Start off the class with a personal experience/opinion question. (This signals to the class from the beginning that they need to expect to contribute and be involved in the discussion.) What is spirituality to you? What does that mean or look like? (connection to God, deep love for other humans, deep connection to earth and making it better, etc.) Who do you think embodies spirituality, both inside LDS church and beyond and why? (Eliza R. Snow, Mother Theresa, Dalai Lama, Emmeline B. Wells,  Gandhi, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Wangari Maathai (woman who revitalized Kenya by starting a movement which ended up planting 30 million trees in the country), Hildegard von Bingen, etc.

Part II: From the life of Life of Lorenzo Snow:

Spirituality was important to Snow. He converted through reason, but then realized he needed something more — something more personal, more immediate, and more emotional. He needed a manifestation of some sort.