Much can be learned from the lives of these women, who have served so faithfully and often at great personal sacrifice and under challenging circumstances. They have each strived earnestly to further the work of their respective organizations — to bring all unto Christ — by drawing upon their own talents, abilities, and testimonies and working with able counselors and boards and under the direction of the priesthood.

This series of articles will thematically present lessons from the lives of the former auxiliary presidents. Information has been drawn from three books co-authored by Janet Peterson and LaRene Gaunt: Elect Ladies: Presidents of the Relief Society; Keepers of the Flame: Presidents of Young Women , and The Children's Friends: Primary Presidents and Their Lives of Service.

Faith in Jesus Christ is the foundation principle of the gospel (see Articles of Faith 1:4). Faith is expressed through obedience to the commandments, good works, and loving and serving others.

The Savior said, “If ye have faith in me ye shall have power to do whatsoever things is expedient in me” (Moroni 7:33). Rendering service through various callings in The Church of Jesus Christ is a manifestation of a person's faith and an opportunity to increase faith and to help strengthen the faith of others. Although each auxiliary president is indeed an example of faith, I have chosen to relate the following three stories of faith.

Jumping without Falling

From 1990 to 1997, Elaine Low Jack served as the twelfth general president of the Relief Society. The mother of four sons and an outdoor adventurer, she climbed many mountain peaks and frequently golfed with her family.

Fifteen years prior to her call, Elaine experienced a new and frightening — but exhilarating — moment when she rappelled down the face of a cliff in the mountains near Provo, Utah.

“I just jumped off the cliff,” she recalled. “I tried not to anticipate falling, but to have confidence in my niece, who had tied the rope at the top. I knew I could hang onto the rope. But I liked that feeling. Once I felt I could do it, I wasn't frightened anymore.”

When she was sustained as the new president, she said, “This is a calling to be met joyfully,” and likened it to her rappelling venture. “You have to have confidence in the one who's tying the knot and has the rope at the top of the mountain. You put the gloves on and you jump off and you do what you have to do. I don't ever anticipate falling because I can hang onto the rope. You can have confidence in the one who is holding the rope, who is our Father in Heaven.”

The Pianist's Choice

Music has been a great passion in the life of Ruth Hardy Funk, who began studying the piano at age six. As a young girl, she often practiced at four in the morning, and by age twelve she earned the grand piano her father had promised if she could play Mendelssohn's “Rondo Capriccioso.” Ruth often performed for musicians and pianists who visited Salt Lake City, where she grew up.

When a renowned pianist, Leopold Godowsky, heard her play, he said she must go to New York City to continue her musical studies and train to become a concert pianist. To be able to immerse herself in a larger musical world than Utah was a very exciting prospect for a teenager who lived and breathed music.

Her parents, however, were not as thrilled as Ruth was and were concerned for her future. One Sunday her family held a fast. Tracy Y. Cannon, a close family friend and chairman of the Church's Music Committee, joined them. Ruth was very close to her father and trusted in his receiving an answer through revelation from God.

She told her father, Fred Hardy, “Daddy, no one but my Heavenly Father loves me more than you and Mother. No one else better knows how much I love music. I want you to make the decision.” Her mother, Polly, offered the prayer to end the fast. Then, while Polly and Ruth were preparing dinner in the kitchen, Fred and Brother Cannon consulted in the living room.

“I was beautifully and gently told by my father that our Heavenly Father had other things in mind for me than the pursuit of a career that could take on a dimension that could swallow up the more important opportunities I would be given,” Ruth recalled. “He said I should remain in Salt Lake and continue my musical education, but that I should not pursue a concert career … The Lord knew I couldn't handle both that and the other major experiences that he wanted me to have.

“In no way can anything in music compare with motherhood and serving the Lord and knowing his scriptures and his doctrine. I feel I was guided by inspiration and I am grateful.

“Now the answer isn't going to be the same for everybody. Some women can and do manage it. I wouldn't ever suggest the fact that this was what the Lord wanted for anybody else but me. He knew my passion.”

With faith in this answer, Ruth did not go to New York. She graduated from the University of Utah in music education, married, became the mother of four children, and taught music privately and in high school. In 1972, President Harold B. Lee extended a call to her to serve as president of the young women's organization. At the time she began her service, it was called Aaronic Priesthood MIA Young Women. In 1974, the name was changed to Young Women. Ruth served as president for six years.

A Children's Friend

The first Primary president, Louie B. Felt, and her counselor May Anderson (who later served as the second general president) felt strongly that the Primary should have its own publication as a means to communicate with local leaders and to improve teaching. When they proposed publishing a magazine to the First Presidency, they were turned down several times and were told it was too costly.

Finally, in 1901, President Joseph F. Smith approved the publication on the condition that the Primary manage it themselves and keep out of debt. Louie offered her own home as collateral and May Anderson, a single woman, resigned from her teaching position at the University of Utah in order to work on the new magazine. (She served as editor for thirty-eight years).

Before the first issue of The Children's Friend debuted in January 1902, their printer told Louie and May, “Don't do it. Don't do it. Magazines run by women always fail. Take my advice and drop the idea.” Initially The Children's Friend was a magazine to assist leaders and teachers, with lesson helps and instructions to leaders, but it did not have any illustrations or materials for children. Later, the magazine became more child-oriented, with color illustrations, stories, and articles for children.