PROVO, Utah — Recently, on a day when Sister Kristin M. Yee was feeling worried and worn out, her sister unexpectedly stopped by.
Sister Yee, who serves as the second counselor in the Relief Society general presidency, made lunch and offered a prayer, but as she thanked Heavenly Father for His Son, Jesus Christ, she became full of emotion and began to cry.
“I felt His immense love in that moment as I spoke of His Son,” Sister Yee recounted during a session of BYU Women’s Conference on Thursday, May 2. “I was reminded why I was working and striving to do His will. It was because my Father in Heaven and Savior loved me.”
Sister Yee, in a joint session with Sister Tamara W. Runia, first counselor in the Young Women general presidency, invited Latter-day Saint women to remember “why we do what we do as covenant women,” including ministering.
Love is at the heart of why God sent His Son and why His Son gave His life, she said. And love is at the heart of all He asks His followers to do and become.
The first step in learning to love ministering is to feel the Lord’s love, Sister Runia said. “When we feel love from Him, it causes us to have love for Him. Or in other words, it creates a vertical relationship with Him. ... The byproduct of this relationship — charity — is a desire to turn sideways, to look horizontally and share love with others; to love like Him. First we go up and then we go out.”
Sister Runia invited listeners to think of a time when they felt God’s love. Knowing how God feels about you “is one of the sweetest messages you’ll receive.”
In speaking about the two great commandments — love of God and love of neighbor — Sister Runia and Sister Yee both shared personal experiences and offered insights, counsel, encouragement and testimony to those gathered in the Marriott Center.
‘God’s divine arithmetic’
In her remarks, Sister Runia testified that feeling God’s love can “fill the empty spaces.”
Whatever a woman is facing, “I promise His love can fill that void we have as humans living on a fallen planet,” Sister Runia said. “And I submit our love for each other also helps fill that empty place.”
Sister Runia said the mantra that she has asked to be chiseled on her headstone when she dies is: “She who loves the most and the longest wins!”
Speaking of a time after her mother died and she desperately needed a friend, Sister Runia asked, “What if our loving Father in Heaven knew that connection would suddenly become so important on this planet that He revealed to His prophet on this planet that these social interactions, even ministering to other humans, would be the antidote to what ails us? What if? What if ministering isn’t only about lifting and blessing those I minister to? What if this is also healing me?”
She continued, “I believe in God’s divine arithmetic, that ministering was prepared for us to bless both the giver and the receiver as it boomerangs back.”
‘Stop, drop and minister’
Sister Yee, who spent several years of her career at Disney and now works in the Church’s animation team, said she became an artist because her mother thought she was talented.
“There is a powerful motivation that comes when someone really ‘sees’ you, loves you and believes in you,” Sister Yee said.
Ministering brothers and sisters have the “sweet privilege and covenant responsibility” to bring the Lord’s love and relief. “We can help those we minister to see the good qualities, talents and attributes of Christ in them and help them to grow,” she said.
Women of covenant have the resources of heaven to carry out God’s exalting work — “including the blessings of the Lord’s priesthood power through keeping your covenants and delegated priesthood authority through your callings and assignments to ministering assignments. These blessings help provide the revelation we need to minister in His way,” Sister Yee taught.
The greatest relief from the Lord often comes as individuals minister and are ministered to, Sister Yee noted. “I have watched as He, without fail, has blessed me in the ways that I have needed most as I’ve loved my sisters. I can see even more clearly now why ‘charity never faileth.’”
The Savior was often on His way somewhere when He stopped to heal, minister, teach and bless. “We can follow the Savior’s pattern of stopping and ministering. … The needs of others were not a diversion or a burden, but the very reason He came.”
Similarly, Latter-day Saints can “stop, drop and minister. Stop what we’re doing, drop expectations and minister to the ‘one,’” Sister Yee said.
The need for relief upon the earth is great, Sister Yee said. “And the Lord has placed you in your specific part of the vineyard to bring His love and relief to His children. Every act of kindness matters, every willing heart and hand matters, every expression of love and patience matters. What you do, sisters, really matters.”
