I was fortunate to be amongst over 500 sisters from Plymouth, Portsmouth, Merthyr Tydfil, Cheltenham, Bristol, and Cardiff stakes gathered in Wells Road Chapel Bristol on a chilly November evening to hear Sister Yee, the second counsellor in the General Relief Society, speak.
“It’s a sweet, sweet sight”, she said, “to see your faces and to know that you’ve come from busy lives and days…to seek the Lord’s voice, the Lord’s healing and comfort and peace.”
Speaking of some little drawings that had been gifted to her as she arrived, she reminded us of the gifts that we offer to Heavenly Father and how we might not feel that the gift is enough or even makes sense, yet she encouraged, “He loves you for it.”
She spoke of discovering her English and Scottish roots through her great-great grandmothers and how these discoveries had been made through her current service. She invited us to see our callings as resources for our growth.
As we seek revelation, she reminded us, we are following patterns of the priesthood which allows us to act and do God’s will. “Wherever you find yourself in your calling, you have the Lord’s delegated priesthood authority. And His power through your covenants.” She spoke of President Nelson’s wish for us to enter the temple often and encouraged us all to understand more about the power and authority of the priesthood in our own lives.
“Think of someone who loved you,” she continued, “Think of how that helped you think about yourself and what was possible. That’s the kind of love He has for us and how He feels about us.”
She spoke of President Nelson's recent teaching about the importance of covenant relationships and of our responsibility towards the rising generation: “Sisters, each of you is here because you have felt something. You have felt the love of Jesus Christ.”
“God is never done with us. He has so much to teach us,” she said. He invites us to speak with Him plainly and have a real relationship with Him.
She encouraged us to know about our role as creators, as we bring things to the world that have not been here before—things like kindness, a beautiful space, or good relationships. She invited us to recognise our gifts as creators.
Friends I spoke with afterwards shared they felt seen by the Lord and ministered to by the Lord’s servant as Sister Yee greeted every person who queued to see her.
The Relief Society General Presidency asked President Nelson what he would have them tell the sisters. He said please tell them that they are loved, that they are necessary to this work, and that they are precious.