As I continue reading through the Women\u2019s Exponent, I am struck by how great all these 19th Century women were.\u00a0 I truly feel the sisterhood of our organization.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Back then, each Retrenchment group would report on their meetings; the minutes were published in the Women\u2019s Exponent.\u00a0 Typically, the secretary would write a short summary and send it on to Salt Lake.\u00a0 The report would say that they met together, who their speakers were (if anyone came visiting from Salt Lake), how they were doing on the grain project, sericulture (silkworms), care of the poor, etc.\u00a0 What I love about these little synopses is that the women were working toward something, toward the same things, and it was shared by everyone reading the Women\u2019s Exponent.\u00a0 I love how Emmeline B. Wells said, \u201cMany hands make labor light, and union is strength.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Following are excerpts written by these wonderful women who gave of themselves, knew they were fighting alongside one another, and shared their testimonies in each of these reports filed away for the eternities:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cIn our sewing meetings, we always introduce subjects of conversation pertaining to matters of interest to us as a body of people, and no gossip is ever allowed or introduced.\u00a0 We take great pleasure in hearing of the progress of our sisters everywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI ask God to bless us, to inspire us with a sense of our religion, that we may interest ourselves in the progress of this glorious work.\u00a0 How many of us realize the importance of studying our religion, of seeking a knowledge for ourselves that this is the everlasting gospel and only true gospel on the face of the earth.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe feel a determination to do what we can to obey the voice of the good shepherd, knowing that the Lord will not command His people to do anything that they cannot perform.\u00a0 It is through obedience we realize the greatest blessings.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were organized into societies to retrench from everything that is evil; not only in extravagance of dress, but everything that is not of the Lord.\u00a0 We are counseled not to backbite nor speak evil of each other or our neighbors.\u00a0 My young sisters let us now go forth and help to build up the kingdom of God that we may come forth in the morning of the First Resurrection, among the Saviors on Mount Zion.\u201d<\/p>\n
“The sisters in the Relief Societies have really manifested an earnest zeal which does them great credit.<\/p>\n
“We are not personally acquainted with our sisters who preside in SLCity, yet we feel drawn towards them in love and good wishes for we are all striving for the same object, a salvation in the kingdom of God.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHoping that God will bless our Society and labors, and the labors of all who are working for the advancement of truth and righteousness upon the earth.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy husband and myself were down since, and commenced the work for our dead.\u00a0 My heart is filled to overflowing when I contemplate the great plan of redemption, and the great privileges we have that no other people have ever had.\u00a0 Do the Latter-day Saints realize the responsibilities resting upon them, and the days in which we are living?\u00a0 We have no time to trifle away.<\/p>\n
Sisters, let us quit following after foolish and disgraceful fashions, and try to do the will of our Father in Heaven, and see that we have oil in our lamps and be prepared to receive the blessings in store for the faithful.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a lively interest taken in the Society, and great desire to do good is manifested in caring for the poor. \u00a0The sisters need not be idle, and think they have no mission to perform, for even that of wife and mother is, to me, a vast and noble one.\u00a0 We can find time to speak words of kindness and comfort to those who are cast down, administer to the wants of the poor, and visit the sick.\u00a0 My prayer is that God will open the hearts of those who have means to give to those who have not, and both will receive a blessing. \u201c<\/p>\n
\u201cI send you a few words from our little place, to let you know how we are getting along with our meetings.\u00a0 How proud our parents would be to have their sons and daughters grow up to be mighty men and women in the church of Jesus Christ, and if we do not improve ourselves while we have a chance we will have to endure the consequences, for we will never have the opportunity to come back and retrace our footsteps after we pass away from this earth.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As I continue reading through the Women\u2019s Exponent, I am struck by how great all these 19th Century women were.\u00a0 I truly feel the sisterhood of our organization. Back then, each Retrenchment group would report on their meetings; the minutes were published in the Women\u2019s Exponent.\u00a0 Typically, the secretary would write a short summary […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[473,373,10],"tags":[132],"class_list":["post-542","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-faith-2","category-history","category-women-of-god","tag-19thcentsisters"],"yoast_head":"\n
Our Faithful Sisters of the 19th Century – Relief Society Women<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reliefsocietywomen.com\/blog\/2009\/01\/31\/our-faithful-sisters-of-the-19th-century\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Our Faithful Sisters of the 19th Century – Relief Society Women\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As I continue reading through the Women\u2019s Exponent, I am struck by how great all these 19th Century women were.\u00a0 I truly feel the sisterhood of our organization. Back then, each Retrenchment group would report on their meetings; the minutes were published in the Women\u2019s Exponent.\u00a0 Typically, the secretary would write a short summary […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.reliefsocietywomen.com\/blog\/2009\/01\/31\/our-faithful-sisters-of-the-19th-century\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Relief Society Women\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-02-01T02:02:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-12-26T18:37:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jan Tolman\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jan Tolman\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.reliefsocietywomen.com\\\/blog\\\/2009\\\/01\\\/31\\\/our-faithful-sisters-of-the-19th-century\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.reliefsocietywomen.com\\\/blog\\\/2009\\\/01\\\/31\\\/our-faithful-sisters-of-the-19th-century\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jan Tolman\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.reliefsocietywomen.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c793243c9f72af0edbcdc6094e363c7e\"},\"headline\":\"Our Faithful Sisters of the 19th Century\",\"datePublished\":\"2009-02-01T02:02:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-12-26T18:37:23+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.reliefsocietywomen.com\\\/blog\\\/2009\\\/01\\\/31\\\/our-faithful-sisters-of-the-19th-century\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":792,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.reliefsocietywomen.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c793243c9f72af0edbcdc6094e363c7e\"},\"keywords\":[\"19thcentsisters\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Faith\",\"History\",\"Women of God\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.reliefsocietywomen.com\\\/blog\\\/2009\\\/01\\\/31\\\/our-faithful-sisters-of-the-19th-century\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.reliefsocietywomen.com\\\/blog\\\/2009\\\/01\\\/31\\\/our-faithful-sisters-of-the-19th-century\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.reliefsocietywomen.com\\\/blog\\\/2009\\\/01\\\/31\\\/our-faithful-sisters-of-the-19th-century\\\/\",\"name\":\"Our Faithful Sisters of the 19th Century – Relief Society Women\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.reliefsocietywomen.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2009-02-01T02:02:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-12-26T18:37:23+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.reliefsocietywomen.com\\\/blog\\\/2009\\\/01\\\/31\\\/our-faithful-sisters-of-the-19th-century\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.reliefsocietywomen.com\\\/blog\\\/2009\\\/01\\\/31\\\/our-faithful-sisters-of-the-19th-century\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.reliefsocietywomen.com\\\/blog\\\/2009\\\/01\\\/31\\\/our-faithful-sisters-of-the-19th-century\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.reliefsocietywomen.com\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Our Faithful Sisters of the 19th Century\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.reliefsocietywomen.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.reliefsocietywomen.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"Relief Society Women\",\"description\":\"To know the history, purpose, and destiny of the Relief Society\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.reliefsocietywomen.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c793243c9f72af0edbcdc6094e363c7e\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.reliefsocietywomen.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":[\"Person\",\"Organization\"],\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.reliefsocietywomen.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c793243c9f72af0edbcdc6094e363c7e\",\"name\":\"Jan Tolman\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/71eac3417cadc1fa72be104a7f5b71f401ad21c6ba0b655d71f46eb91b32392f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/71eac3417cadc1fa72be104a7f5b71f401ad21c6ba0b655d71f46eb91b32392f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/71eac3417cadc1fa72be104a7f5b71f401ad21c6ba0b655d71f46eb91b32392f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Jan Tolman\"},\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/71eac3417cadc1fa72be104a7f5b71f401ad21c6ba0b655d71f46eb91b32392f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\"},\"description\":\"My name is Jan Tolman. I am a wife, mother of six, and grandmother of six. Besides enjoying my research into the history of the Relief Society, I also read voraciously, make art quilts, and volunteer for too many things. I am also working on a Creative Writing degree from BYU\u2019s online program. Most of all, I have a testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/reliefsocietywomen.com\",\"Jan\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.reliefsocietywomen.com\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/jtolman\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Our Faithful Sisters of the 19th Century – Relief Society Women","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.reliefsocietywomen.com\/blog\/2009\/01\/31\/our-faithful-sisters-of-the-19th-century\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Our Faithful Sisters of the 19th Century – Relief Society Women","og_description":"As I continue reading through the Women\u2019s Exponent, I am struck by how great all these 19th Century women were.\u00a0 I truly feel the sisterhood of our organization. Back then, each Retrenchment group would report on their meetings; the minutes were published in the Women\u2019s Exponent.\u00a0 Typically, the secretary would write a short summary […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.reliefsocietywomen.com\/blog\/2009\/01\/31\/our-faithful-sisters-of-the-19th-century\/","og_site_name":"Relief Society Women","article_published_time":"2009-02-01T02:02:08+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-12-26T18:37:23+00:00","author":"Jan Tolman","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jan Tolman","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.reliefsocietywomen.com\/blog\/2009\/01\/31\/our-faithful-sisters-of-the-19th-century\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.reliefsocietywomen.com\/blog\/2009\/01\/31\/our-faithful-sisters-of-the-19th-century\/"},"author":{"name":"Jan Tolman","@id":"https:\/\/www.reliefsocietywomen.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/c793243c9f72af0edbcdc6094e363c7e"},"headline":"Our Faithful Sisters of the 19th Century","datePublished":"2009-02-01T02:02:08+00:00","dateModified":"2016-12-26T18:37:23+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.reliefsocietywomen.com\/blog\/2009\/01\/31\/our-faithful-sisters-of-the-19th-century\/"},"wordCount":792,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.reliefsocietywomen.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/c793243c9f72af0edbcdc6094e363c7e"},"keywords":["19thcentsisters"],"articleSection":["Faith","History","Women of God"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.reliefsocietywomen.com\/blog\/2009\/01\/31\/our-faithful-sisters-of-the-19th-century\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.reliefsocietywomen.com\/blog\/2009\/01\/31\/our-faithful-sisters-of-the-19th-century\/","url":"https:\/\/www.reliefsocietywomen.com\/blog\/2009\/01\/31\/our-faithful-sisters-of-the-19th-century\/","name":"Our Faithful Sisters of the 19th Century – Relief Society Women","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.reliefsocietywomen.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2009-02-01T02:02:08+00:00","dateModified":"2016-12-26T18:37:23+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.reliefsocietywomen.com\/blog\/2009\/01\/31\/our-faithful-sisters-of-the-19th-century\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.reliefsocietywomen.com\/blog\/2009\/01\/31\/our-faithful-sisters-of-the-19th-century\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.reliefsocietywomen.com\/blog\/2009\/01\/31\/our-faithful-sisters-of-the-19th-century\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.reliefsocietywomen.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Our Faithful Sisters of the 19th Century"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.reliefsocietywomen.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.reliefsocietywomen.com\/blog\/","name":"Relief Society Women","description":"To know the history, purpose, and destiny of the Relief Society","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.reliefsocietywomen.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/c793243c9f72af0edbcdc6094e363c7e"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.reliefsocietywomen.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https:\/\/www.reliefsocietywomen.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/c793243c9f72af0edbcdc6094e363c7e","name":"Jan Tolman","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/71eac3417cadc1fa72be104a7f5b71f401ad21c6ba0b655d71f46eb91b32392f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/71eac3417cadc1fa72be104a7f5b71f401ad21c6ba0b655d71f46eb91b32392f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/71eac3417cadc1fa72be104a7f5b71f401ad21c6ba0b655d71f46eb91b32392f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Jan Tolman"},"logo":{"@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/71eac3417cadc1fa72be104a7f5b71f401ad21c6ba0b655d71f46eb91b32392f?s=96&d=mm&r=g"},"description":"My name is Jan Tolman. I am a wife, mother of six, and grandmother of six. Besides enjoying my research into the history of the Relief Society, I also read voraciously, make art quilts, and volunteer for too many things. I am also working on a Creative Writing degree from BYU\u2019s online program. Most of all, I have a testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ.","sameAs":["https:\/\/reliefsocietywomen.com","Jan"],"url":"https:\/\/www.reliefsocietywomen.com\/blog\/author\/jtolman\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reliefsocietywomen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/542","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reliefsocietywomen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reliefsocietywomen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reliefsocietywomen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reliefsocietywomen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=542"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.reliefsocietywomen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/542\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8771,"href":"https:\/\/www.reliefsocietywomen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/542\/revisions\/8771"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reliefsocietywomen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=542"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reliefsocietywomen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=542"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reliefsocietywomen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=542"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}