Happy 177th Birthday, Relief Society!

Sunday marked the 177th anniversary of the organization of the largest women's organization in the world: the Relief Society of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. On March 17th, 1842, "The Female Relief Society of Nauvoo" was created, here in Nauvoo, in the second story room above Joseph Smith's Red Brick Store.

In the spring of 1842 Sarah Granger Kimball and her seamstress, Margaret A. Cook, discussed combining their efforts to sew clothing for workers constructing the Nauvoo Temple. They determined to invite their neighbors to assist by creating a Ladies' Society. Kimball asked Eliza R. Snow to write a constitution and by-laws for the organization for submission to President of the Church Joseph Smith for review. After reviewing the documents, Smith called them "the best he had ever seen" but said, "this is not what you want. Tell the sisters their offering is accepted of the Lord, and He has something better for them than a written constitution. ... I will organize the women. .. after a pattern of the priesthood.

On Saturday, the Illinois Nauvoo Mission presented a re-enactment of that event. It was held in the reconstructed Red Brick Store. We all dressed in our 1840's finery and participated, as if we were part of the original meeting. It was a very special day. We were picked up at the Wagon Depot and taken by horse-drawn limousine to the store. We were entertained by Sisters Mensel and Flanders playing violin duets of hymns as we ascended the stairs. Of course, we removed our hats so as not to block others' views of the proceedings.

After the re-enactment, all the women went outside the store to pose for pictures in front of the store. There were about 50 of us lined up outside. I don't have that picture yet, but will update and post it later. I do have a picture of Sister Holt, Sister Williams and myself together. Sister Holt said she felt like Mother Goose in her outfit. Now I can't get that vision out of my head!

Below is a picture of our photographers. I tried to snap a quick pic while they all had their cameras and phones up, but they were taking our picture at the time and I didn’t want to ruin the shot.