Julie B. Beck

General President of the Relief Society  (March 31, 2007 – March 31, 2012)

First Counselor in the Young Women General Presidency (October 5, 2002 – March 31, 2007)

General Conference Addresses

• April 2012 General Conference
  • The Vision of Prophets regarding Relief Society: Faith, Family, Relief
    • “Just as the Lord’s prophets have continually taught elders and high priests their purposes and duties, they have shared their vision for the sisters of the Relief Society. From their counsel, it is clear that the purposes of Relief Society are to increase faith and personal righteousness, strengthen families and homes, and seek out and help those in need. Faith, family, and relief—these three simple words have come to express the vision of prophets for sisters in the Church.”
    • “Leaders who seek revelation can ensure that every meeting, lesson, class, activity, and effort of the Relief Society fulfills the purposes for which it was organized. The sociality, friendship, and unity we desire will be the sweet results of serving together with the Lord in His work.”
• April 2010 General Conference
  • “And upon the Handmaids in Those Days Will I Pour Out My Spirit”
    • “There has grown in me an overwhelming testimony of the value of daughters of God. So much depends on them. In my visits with the sisters, I have felt that there has never been a greater need for increased faith and personal righteousness. There has never been a greater need for strong families and homes. There has never been more that could be done to help others who are in need.”
    • “The ability to qualify for, receive, and act on personal revelation is the single most important skill that can be acquired in this life.”
    • “Through Relief Society, sisters can receive answers to their questions and be blessed by the combined spiritual power of all the sisters. Relief Society validates the true and eternal nature of daughters of God. It is a sacred trust, a guiding light, and a system of watchcare that teaches and inspires women to be strong and immovable.”
• October 2007 General Conference
  • Mothers Who Know
    • “Mothers who know desire to bear children. Whereas in many cultures in the world children are “becoming less valued,” in the culture of the gospel we still believe in having children.”
    • “Mothers who know honor sacred ordinances and covenants. I have visited sacrament meetings in some of the poorest places on the earth where mothers have dressed with great care in their Sunday best despite walking for miles on dusty streets and using worn-out public transportation. They bring daughters in clean and ironed dresses with hair brushed to perfection; their sons wear white shirts and ties and have missionary haircuts. These mothers know they are going to sacrament meeting, where covenants are renewed. These mothers have made and honor temple covenants. They know that if they are not pointing their children to the temple, they are not pointing them toward desired eternal goals. These mothers have influence and power.”
    • “Mothers who know are leaders. In equal partnership with their husbands, they lead a great and eternal organization. These mothers plan for the future of their organization. They plan for missions, temple marriages, and education. They plan for prayer, scripture study, and family home evening. Mothers who know build children into future leaders and are the primary examples of what leaders look like. They do not abandon their plan by succumbing to social pressure and worldly models of parenting. These wise mothers who know are selective about their own activities and involvement to conserve their limited strength in order to maximize their influence where it matters most.”
    • “Mothers who know do less. They permit less of what will not bear good fruit eternally. They allow less media in their homes, less distraction, less activity that draws their children away from their home. Mothers who know are willing to live on less and consume less of the world’s goods in order to spend more time with their children—more time eating together, more time working together, more time reading together, more time talking, laughing, singing, and exemplifying. These mothers choose carefully and do not try to choose it all. Their goal is to prepare a rising generation of children who will take the gospel of Jesus Christ into the entire world. Their goal is to prepare future fathers and mothers who will be builders of the Lord’s kingdom for the next 50 years. That is influence; that is power.”
• April 2006 General Conference
  • An Outpouring of Blessings
    • “I hope our granddaughters and grandsons grow up knowing that they are not and have never been third-party observers of the priesthood. The blessings of the priesthood, which “are available to men and women alike,” are woven in and through and around their lives. Each of them is blessed by sacred ordinances, and each of them can enjoy the blessings of spiritual gifts by virtue of the priesthood.”
    • “As members of the Church, we are equal before the Lord as we partake of the sacrament. Through our faith in Jesus Christ and the power of His Atonement made possible because of that ordinance, we can all repent and become better.”
    • “Spiritual gifts are numerous and varied and come to us as we seek them and use them appropriately. We enjoy them because of the power of the Holy Ghost, which is in and around and woven through our lives.”
    • “Priesthood blessings are the great equalizer. Those blessings are the same for men and women, for boys and girls; they are the same for married and single, rich and poor, for the intellectual and the illiterate, for the well-known and the obscure.”
• April 2004 General Conference
  • A “Mother Heart”
    • “A woman with a mother heart has a testimony of the restored gospel, and she teaches the principles of the gospel without equivocation. She is keeping sacred covenants made in holy temples. Her talents and skills are shared unselfishly. She gains as much education as her circumstances will allow, improving her mind and spirit with the desire to teach what she learns to the generations who follow her.”
    • “Female roles did not begin on earth, and they do not end here. A woman who treasures motherhood on earth will treasure motherhood in the world to come, and “where [her] treasure is, there will [her] heart be also” (Matt. 6:21). By developing a mother heart, each girl and woman prepares for her divine, eternal mission of motherhood.”
    • “Every girl and woman who makes and keeps sacred covenants can have a mother heart. There is no limit to what a woman with a mother heart can accomplish. Righteous women have changed the course of history and will continue to do so, and their influence will spread and grow exponentially throughout the eternities.”

Other Talks

• September 2011 General Relief Society Meeting
  • What I Hope My Granddaughters (and Grandsons) Will Understand about Relief Society
    • “I hope my granddaughters will understand that from the day the gospel began to be restored in this dispensation, the Lord has needed faithful women to participate as His disciples.”
    • “That first group of women understood that they had been given authority to teach, inspire, and organize the sisters as disciples to assist in the Lord’s work of salvation. In their first meetings the sisters were taught the guiding purposes of Relief Society: to increase faith and personal righteousness, strengthen families and homes, and seek out and help those in need.”
    • “Throughout the years, Relief Society sisters and leaders have learned one step at a time and have improved in their ability to watch over others. There have been times when sisters have focused more on completing visits, teaching lessons, and leaving notices when they have stopped by their sisters’ homes. These practices have helped sisters learn patterns of watchcare.”
• September 2010 General Relief Society Meeting
  • Daughters in My Kingdom: The History and Work of Relief Society
    • “We know that many sisters live in oppressive or dangerous circumstances. Some are constantly hungry, and some must summon daily courage to continue in faith despite disappointments and being betrayed by others.”
    • “In the growing climate of entitlement, excuse, apathy, and enticement, daughters of God who are not watchful, prayerful, and inspired are increasingly at risk of becoming what the scriptures describe as “silly women” who worship a variety of “strange gods.” Sadly, as a result of life’s difficulties and the world’s popular heresies, many sisters believe the myths more than the truth. Their misalignment with God’s plan is demonstrated in findings that many are not doing essential things such as praying and reading scriptures. The Lord Himself has said that “this is a day of warning, and not a day of many words.””
    • “He intended Relief Society to help build His people and prepare them for the blessings of the temple. He established this organization to align His daughters with His work and to enlist their help in building His kingdom and strengthening the homes of Zion.”
    • “As we move the Lord’s work forward, the history of Relief Society will continue to be written by faithful sisters throughout the world. The Lord is strengthening Relief Society in the living present and preparing a glorious future for His daughters.”
• September 2009 General Relief Society Meeting
  • Relief Society: A Sacred Work
    • “Relief Society is part of that restoration. The Prophet Joseph Smith defined the purpose of the Relief Society and instructed the sisters in their purpose, just as he taught priesthood leaders in Kirtland and Nauvoo their priesthood purpose and work. Ours is an organization that continues to be led today by prophets, seers, and revelators.”
    • “Under the direction of the bishop, the ward Relief Society presidency can use these meetings to address spiritual and temporal needs of individuals and families in the ward and to strengthen sisterhood and unity.”
    • “A sister in this Church has no other responsibility outside of her family that has the potential to do as much good as does visiting teaching.”
• September 2008 General Relief Society Meeting
  • Fulfilling the Purpose of Relief Society
    • “To summarize, the purpose of Relief Society, as established by the Lord, is to organize, teach, and inspire His daughters to prepare them for the blessings of eternal life. I would like to say that again. The purpose of Relief Society, as established by the Lord, is to organize, teach, and inspire His daughters to prepare them for the blessings of eternal life.”
    • “Children being born now are growing up in an increasingly sinful world. Our homes are to be their refuge from the daily encounters they have with evil.”
    • “We can do the work of the Lord in His way when we seek, receive, and act on personal revelation. Without personal revelation, we cannot succeed.”
• September 2007 General Relief Society Meeting
  • What Latter-day Saint Women Do Best: Stand Strong and Immovable
    • “First, Latter-day Saint women must be strong and immovable in their faith. They can and should excel in living and sharing their testimonies of the Lord Jesus Christ and His restored gospel.”
    • “Second, Latter-day Saint women must be strong and immovable in family. They can and should do families better than anyone else. We, as disciples of Christ, can and should be the very best in the world at upholding, nourishing, and protecting families.”
    • “Third, Latter-day Saint women must be strong and immovable in relief. We are a Relief Society, and we should be the best women in the world at providing relief. This has been our special province from the beginning.”
• March 2007 General Young Women’s Meeting
  • Remembering, Repenting, and Changing
    • “The first lesson is that everyone makes mistakes. Not long ago I was with an eight-year-old girl on the day of her baptism. At the end of the day she said with all confidence, “I have been baptized for a whole day, and I haven’t sinned once!” But her perfect day did not last forever, and I am sure she is learning by now, like we all learn, that as hard as we try, we do not always avoid every bad situation, every wrong choice, or control ourselves as we should. I often hear about the chosen, royal generation of this dispensation, but I have never heard it called the perfect generation. Teenagers are especially vulnerable because the power of Satan is real, and they are making their first big, independent choices. Consequently, they are also making their first big mistakes.”
    • “My second lesson is that repentance isn’t optional.”
    • “Sometimes people get casual about repenting. I have heard some people say that repenting is too hard. Others say they are tired of feeling guilty or have been offended by a leader who was helping them repent. Sometimes people give up when they have made mistakes and come to believe that there is no hope for them. Some people imagine that they will feel better about themselves if they just leave the restored gospel and go away.”
    • “Lesson three is that we don’t do it alone.  It is not possible to make real change all by ourselves. Our own willpower and our own good intentions are not enough. When we make mistakes or choose poorly, we must have the help of our Savior to get back on track. We partake of the sacrament week after week to show our faith in His power to change us. We confess our sins and promise to forsake them.”
    • “My last lesson is that we can change.”
• March 2006 General Young Women’s Meeting
  • You Have a Noble Birthright
    • “I came away from that experience with the comforting assurance that the Lord loved me and knew me, and from that day onward I began to think more often in terms of eternity than popularity.”
    • “When you understand the meaning and purpose of a patriarchal blessing and have a sincere desire to do the work of the Lord, you should be mature enough to receive your blessing.”
    • “The patriarch can foresee the development and conditions of your life and can give you a blessing that relates to those.”
    • “You are treasured children of the promise. If you will keep the Lord’s statutes and commandments and hearken to His voice, He has promised that He will make you high above the nations in name and honor and praise. Your patriarchal blessing should inspire you to make changes in your life when they are needed. It contains promises that you can receive only through your faithfulness. If you are not faithful, you cannot plan on your blessing being fulfilled.”
• March 2005 General Young Women’s Meeting
  • A Work for Me to Do
    • “What Joseph did was remarkable. He began life as a simple farm boy, but through him the Book of Mormon was brought forth and translated, the priesthood and its keys were restored to earth, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized, and holy temples began to be built. Through Joseph Smith all the ordinances the children of our Heavenly Father need for their salvation are now upon the earth. This was the day of miracles spoken of in Moroni (see Moro. 7:35–37) and the marvelous work and wonder foretold to Nephi centuries ago (see 1 Ne. 14:7).”
    • “All of us, even the children, were pressed into service to help assemble mission newsletters and lessons. No one shipped the Church to us. The prophet did not send us stake presidents or bishops. He did not send Relief Society presidents or youth programs. The Church in Brazil was made from the same material that the pioneers started with. The material to build the Church was in the people.”
• March 2004 General Young Women’s Meeting
  • My Soul Delighteth in the Scriptures
    • “Every woman can be a gospel doctrine instructor in her home, and every sister in the Church needs gospel knowledge as a leader and teacher. If you have not already developed the habit of daily scripture study, start now and keep studying in order to be prepared for your responsibilities in this life and in the eternities.”
• March 2003 General Young Women’s Meeting
  • There Is Hope Smiling Brightly before Us
    • “Since you are already in that path, you just need to stay in it, and in order to stay in, you must have hope, a bright hope smiling before you and lighting your way.”
    • “There is hope smiling brightly before you because of the Atonement of Christ. Because you have been baptized, you are already in the way to eternal life. Just stay in!”
    • “Because of Christ there is hope smiling brightly before you, and you need not worry too much about sickness, death, poverty, or other afflictions. The Lord will take care of you. Your responsibility is to keep the commandments, feast upon the words of Christ, and stay in the path to your heavenly home.”
    • “Because you have a Savior, you also believe in a happy, eternal life of creating, serving, and learning. You are already in the strait and narrow path, and there is hope smiling brightly before you.”

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