At the first meeting of the Female Relief Society of Nauvoo, there was a debate about the name of the organization. John Taylor suggested that it be called with some form of the word Benevolent Society. Benevolent meaning, well-meaning and kindly. But Emma Smith, the first president of the society said no. She wanted it to be a Relief Society. It would be a group of women who would bring relief to the world. She famously said,

“we are going to do something extraordinary— when a boat is stuck on the rapids with a multitude of [members of Christ’s Church] on board we shall consider that a loud call for relief— we expect extraordinary occasions and pressing calls—”

(emphasis added, Emma Smith, Emma Smith, in Relief Society Minute Book, Nauvoo, Illinois, Mar. 17, 1842, Church History Library, Salt Lake City, 12. See Church Historian’s Press for a transcript).

Then Elder Taylor said, “I shall have to concede the point— your arguments are so potent I cannot stand before them— I shall have to give way—“. President Joseph Smith agreed that he could no longer speak against the name. He said that anything he would give to the poor, he would give to the society.

So, what were these extraordinary occasions and pressing calls? I asked this of one of my religion classes this week. (It was REL 225 – Foundations of the Restoration at BYU-I). Unfortunately, my students could come up with very few. So, I enlightened them, and want to share with us here.

While their husbands were being called and sent on missions the women were taming a desert in Utah. I think there were amazing sacrifices of faith from both the women and the men. This is not to disparage those wonderful early missionary men. It is to spend some time shining light on the phenomenal women. The calls to polygamy, pioneering, and missionary work were extreme calls that required a measure of faith that is mind-blowing. But as much as I don’t relish the topic of early church polygamy, it afforded women some pretty amazing opportunities. For example, the ability to send women back east to study medicine, which Brigham Young did. The wives and mothers felt safe leaving their children in the care of their sisters and went to study medicine.

Here is a list of things that the pioneer women did when they came to the Utah Territory. I invite you to do some research of your own on these amazing women. (Click the underlined words to go to a page to learn more). Remember, there was no Walmart in the Utah deserts of the 1840s. No running water, flushing toilets, dishwashers, etc! So, with the men gone, the responsibility was on the shoulders of the women. (I know you know that, 🤣 it’s just so amazing to think about).

• Mad Homemaking Skills!
  • Industry and Self-Sufficiency
  • had children,
  • farmed the land,
  • ran the household
  • provided for the family (spiritually, physically, mentally, emotionally).
• Pioneer Medicine
  • Gift of Healing – Jonathan A. Stapley, “’Pouring in Oil’: The Development of the Modern Mormon Healing Ritual, RSC, 2013.
  • hospitals (Deseret Hospital)
  • doctors (Martha Hughes Cannon, Ellis Reynolds Shipp, Romania Pratt, and Ellen Brooke Ferguson)
  • Nurses and midwives (see Midwifery and Medicine, Church History)
• Started newspapers
  • Woman’s Exponent (1872–1914) Index
  • The Relief Society Magazine (1914-1970)
  • The Young Woman’s Journal (1889-1929)
• Were Lawyers
• Sister Missionaries
  • Julia Samuelson Curtis
  • Women in the Mission Field
  • Journals of Early SIster Missionaries
• Ran Cooperatives (grain and silk production)
• First Women to Vote
  • they were given the right in 1870, but it was taken away in 1887.
  • they worked tirelessly with the suffrage movements.
  • See Suffrage and the Relief Society
• Politicians
  • First Female State Senator
• Started Religious Organizations and classes for
  • Relief Society
  • Young Women
  • Primary
• Public Speakers
  • At the Pulpit: 185 Years of Discourses by Latter-day Saint Women
• Ordinance Workers
• And More – Daughters of Utah Pioneers Publications

In fact, it was the grain that they had gathered (see above) that blessed lives and became the start of the Church’s Welfare program.

“They guarded the wheat carefully, loaned it to the poor, and shared it in times of drought. These relief efforts expanded in 1906, when the women sent wheat and other supplies after an earthquake in San Francisco and during famine in China. The U.S. government purchased some of the wheat during World War I. The interest income contributed to maternity care, child welfare, and general health care for Church members” (Church History, A Call to Save Grain, accessed, July 4, 2025).

It’s no wonder that western author, Wallace Stanger stated, “[Though] I do not accept the faith that possessed them does not mean I doubt their frequent devotion and heroism in its service. Especially their women. Their women were incredible.” (Wallace Stegner, The Gathering of Zion: The Story of the Mormon Trail (1971), 13).

Those faithful pioneer women did it because of their devotion to Jesus Christ and their love for His gospel and their fellow man.

So, now, I will leave the subject of the “pressing calls” of the Relief Society in the past. The questions of more modern examples and the how and what of what we can do, I will tackle in another post. In closing, I echo the words of the Prophet. “Live up to your privilege!” Joseph Smith said.

“You are now placed in a situation where you can act according to those sympathies which God has planted in your bosoms. If you live up to these principles how great and glorious!—if you live up to your privilege, the angels cannot be restrained from being your associates. … If you will be pure, nothing can hinder.“

(Joseph Smith, in Relief Society Minute Book, Nauvoo, Illinois, Apr. 28, 1842, Church History Library, 38; spelling, punctuation, and capitalization standardized as needed in all excerpts from this minute book.)

There is so much we can do!