She recounted stories of women, single and married, young and old, who serve their fellow men and women more fully when they come to realize that each is a person of worth and a daughter of God.

Confiding that to talk of charity, one needs to feel charitable, Sister Kathleen H. Hughes said she struggled as she prepared her remarks because she did not feel that way until, after tears, prayers, fasting, scripture study and temple attendance, she realized she needed to ask forgiveness of those who, "unbeknownst to them, were the cause of my uncharitable thoughts.

"And it was hard. But it was healing. And the Lord's spirit returned." Sister Hughes, first counselor in the general Relief Society presidency, said to be charitable is a life-long quest. She urged women to look beyond outward appearances and to make all welcome in Relief Society.

Second counselor Anne C. Pingree said each woman has a unique part to play in building God's kingdom, and each can learn what the Lord expects of her if she is willing to submit her will to him as "the only uniquely personal thing we have to place on God's altar."

She told of getting a blessing in her mid-30s that said she would be involved in missionary work. Married with young children, she admitted the blessing was disappointing and troubling because she didn't understand why it was focused on work she didn't think pertained to her personally.

But when she was called to a remote part of the world to serve with her husband, a new mission president, she learned a deep reliance on God in ways she had never experienced. As she submitted her will to the Lord's, "gradually my relationship with my Father in Heaven changed — in profound ways — that continue to bless me and my family."

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