The Relief Society since its inception has prepared Latter- Day Saint women for blessings of eternal life by increasing faith, strengthening families, homes and providing relief by helping those in need. One of the ways to accomplish this is through the home enrichment program. The essence of this program is to increase skills and the production of home basic needs by educating and fortifying the sisters to become self-reliant.
The Ugbighoko Ward Relief Society sisters on 24 March 2018 did ‘something extraordinary’. The sisters convened at the Relief Society class and learned home enrichment skills. The sisters were taught how to make shower gel and toilet cleaning liquid. The Relief Society President Loretta Olaye taught the sisters prior that ‘homemaking’ enables the family to economize and save money in their budget. She also taught that with homemaking, the sisters could learn to be self-reliant by acquiring home enrichment skills to better their lives. She reiterated that with these skills, every Latter-day Saint sister is enabled to contribute to the support of her family in a very little way. She also opined that this will grant the sisters with greater self-confidence.
These sisters learned the principles of temporary self-reliance by finding solutions to short term and long term welfare needs. Immediately after the discussion session, the sisters experimented on the lesson taught. As a Bishop in the Ward, I was overwhelmed by the faith of the sisters in learning these skills. As I watched the sisters mixture of the ingredients for the production of the shower gel and toilet cleaning liquid, I see the faith of their hearts in action. They experimented in the process never knowing what it may turn out to be. It strengthened my faith in the Savior as the sisters looked to their leader and obtained the desired result. We too may have an expected end of dwelling with God in the eternities, if we focus on Christ who is the author and finisher of our faith.
The Ugbighoko Ward sisters also engaged in other home enrichment skills such as baking cakes of different varieties, production of hand sanitizers, and decoration of vests. As a leader, I feel a sincere desire to help these sisters develop a self-reliance plan through more training on homemaking skills. Through my calling as a Bishop, I have come to understand that when members become self-reliant, they are better able to serve one another and to care for those that stand in need. May we in our very little way assist in the course of Zion in the name of Jesus Christ our Master, Amen.
