This month, Relief Society General President Camille N. Johnson and Sister Tamara W. Runia of the Young Women general presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ministered in the Church’s Central America Area.
The global leaders held devotionals and training meetings, met with families in their homes and at Church meetinghouses, and visited locations of humanitarian projects in Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama and Costa Rica.
They saw firsthand the great faith of the people in each country — a faith that is centered in Jesus Christ, Sister Runia said.
Through the Church’s humanitarian outreach and collaboration with others to help those in need, Sister Runia saw “God’s work on the earth for His children ... and His work of salvation and exaltation.”
And from Panama, President Johnson announced the new donation of $55.8 million to expand a Relief Society-led global nutrition initiative for women and children, as reported in the Church News.
President Johnson ministers to Relief Society sisters
President Johnson began her ministry in Guatemala City, Guatemala, on Saturday, June 1, where she gathered with local Relief Society leaders for a training broadcast to all Guatemala congregations.
“Jesus Christ is relief, and you are members of the Relief Society,” she said, and she told the local leaders that “the work of Relief Society is joyful. We should be the happiest women on earth.”
During the meetings with members in each country, she often spoke in Spanish — which she learned while serving with her husband, Brother Douglas R. Johnson, as mission leaders in the Peru Arequipa Mission.
“It is wonderful to have the opportunity to use my Spanish again and share my feelings in my mission language,” President Johnson said in a news release on ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
During the devotionals, President Johnson spoke about preparing for the blessings of the temple. In those four countries, there are houses of the Lord in Panama City, Panama; Guatemala City, Quetzaltenango and Cobán, Guatemala; and San José, Costa Rica; with others announced, planned or under construction in Managua, Nicaragua; and Miraflores, Huehuetenango and Retalhuleu, Guatemala.
In Guatemala, Mariaceleste Colón said she is feeling ready to go to the house of the Lord: “I learned about the importance of making covenants. I felt inspired to improve my way of ministering [to] others and to bring to them the love of our Savior Jesus Christ and seek their unique spiritual experiences.”
In Panama, Ingrid Chanis expressed gratitude for what she learned: “It was such a blessing because we are such a small country, so we do not expect to receive such a visit.”
Geraldine Lopez Darce, a Relief Society leader in Nicaragua, said: “We feel very grateful that the Lord knows where we are and that the Lord knows that we still need to hear Him, to feel His love through the leaders that come and visit us.”
Sister Runia meets with youth
Sister Runia, who was accompanied by her husband, Brother Scott Runia, participated in focus groups, youth councils and devotionals for youth in each country. After she returned home, she told the Church News how presidencies of the Young Women classes and Aaronic Priesthood quorums also came to the leadership instruction.
“They traveled long distances, and they arrived early just full of anticipation for the messages that God wanted them to hear,” Sister Runia said. “And I saw firsthand because of this devotion, this consecration that the Spirit was able to speak to them.”
After one of the youth devotionals, she had a strong impression she needed to shake hands with the more than 1,000 youth who filled the chapel and overflow rooms and look into their eyes and share God’s love and her love for them. This became one of the highlights of her time in Central America.
Another moment that touched her heart was visiting a school in rural Nicaragua where the Church has collaborated with the World Food Programme and other organizations to refurbish the school and provide much-needed food — such as rice, beans and fortified cereal.
She learned how mothers would take turns waking up at dawn to cook food over an open fire, then carry it for 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) either on their heads or their backs so their children could have a meal at school. The food donations mean the students can have the nourishment they need to stay in school and learn and grow.
“To be able to collaborate with those organizations and to know that our tithes and offerings are going to work to bless and lift and elevate God’s children in this remote part of the world — it was a privilege to be there to witness that,” Sister Runia said.
Other humanitarian outreach in Central America
President Johnson and Sister Runia visited a hospital in Managua, Nicaragua, for an official handover of a mammography machine, and saw mobile units in Panama City, Panama, at a local health clinic with Panama’s first lady, Yazmín Colón de Cortizo.
The Church is donating mammography machines in the seven countries in the Central America Area. These machines will allow earlier detection and treatment of breast cancer, explained ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
They also toured a Panamanian school where eyeglasses donated by the Church were distributed. Through these experiences, Sister Runia said she saw a collaboration of people who really cared about the women and children in the country.
On June 8, the leaders went to a food kitchen in Costa Rica, where President Johnson helped feed lunch to those in need.
“It’s hard for me to describe in words how I felt,” she said.
There, President Johnson met a woman named Yumana Patermina, who makes roses out of ribbon to sell on the streets to make money to support her family. President Johnson was touched when Patermina gave her a blue rose to thank her for being there that day.
President Johnson said traveling to be with women all over the world gives her a better vision and perspective of what their needs are, what their desires are, ”and how we might help them address them always with the focus on Jesus Christ.”
She concluded, “I hope that I helped them feel the love of Jesus Christ, that they understand more completely what it means to be a daughter of God.”
See more photos from the ministry below.
