Julie B. Beck

Thank you, Sister Julie B. Beck for your service to Relief Society. I admire you for many reasons, but there are two that stand out the most to me.

The first one is that your presidency is marked by diversity. This is not a "cookie cutter' group. You were inspired to choose two VERY different women to serve as your counselors. BRAVO! These women of great strength are also my heroes. This serves as an example to anyone serving in the church. I believe it is a model we can all learn from. We attended the training held last Wednesday night in the Tabernacle. I believe it was probably your last event of that type. Your presidency stood together on that stage as one. You said that when your counselors were out traveling the world, they spoke for the entire presidency. Your faith in these great ladies was impressive, and it is an example to all of us.

The other quality that I admire about you is what you have done for the meaning of Visiting Teaching. When I was called to serve in Relief Society, I was amazed to read the first paragraph under the words "Responsibilities of Visiting Teaching" in the Handbook. It say, "Visiting teachers sincerely come to KNOW and LOVE each sister, help her strengthen her faith, and give service. They seek personal inspiration to know how to respond to the spiritual and temporal needs of each sister they are assigned to visit." I was somewhat taken aback by this. I thought for sure it would say something like, "Visiting Teachers are to visit their sister only once a month, read something from the Ensign, hopefully the VT message, and offer to help as they walk out the door" KNOW AND LOVE!! I love it!! I also love that I felt that was Sister Beck's instruction as well. When I call someone in our ward to tell them something I think they might want to know about a sister that they visit, they usually ask what they can do. Thank you, Sister Beck for giving me the courage to say to that sister, "Please let us know what you think your sister needs."

Thank you, Sister Beck for saying, "As committed disciples of the Savior we are improving in our ability to do the things He would do if He were here. We know that to Him it is our caring that counts, and so we are trying to concentrate on caring about our sisters rather than completing lists of things to do. True ministry is measured more by the depth of our charity than by the perfection of our statistics. We will know we are successful in our ministry as visiting teachers when our sisters can say, 'My visiting teacher helps me grow spiritually' and 'I know that my visiting teacher cares deeply about me and my family', and 'If I have problems, I know my visiting teacher will take action without waiting to be invited.' "

Thank you Sister Beck. We love you and will miss you, but we are grateful for your service.