Woman leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints visiting from Church headquarters in America met recently with New Zealand MP Marama Fox, Maori Party Co-Leader.
Sister Linda S. Reeves of the Relief Society General Presidency and Sister Carol F. McConkie of the Young Women General Presidency, along with their husbands Mel Reeves and Oscar McConkie met with Ms. Fox in her office at the Parliament Building in Wellington.
At the meeting they were introduced to Ms. Fox by the Church’s Pacific Area President Kevin W. Pearson and his wife, June Pearson and Elder David Thomson a local senior Church leader.
Ms Fox shared with them some of the work she is doing in the Parliament. Her efforts include Whanua Ora, a family health initiative driven by Maori cultural values; and Ka Hikita, the role of education to nurture every child’s potential and to support their educational success.
They also talked about the way The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is helping promote the value of education and how it is providing access to educational opportunities for youth throughout the Pacific.
Strengthening families was also discussed. Creating strong, self-reliant families is a focus of many of the Church’s efforts around the world and is important to Ms Fox as a mother of nine children.
The Relief Society is the woman’s organization of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It has over six million members and is one of the oldest woman’s organizations in the world. It was founded in 1842.
The Young Women’s organization of the Church supports girls between the ages of 12 and 18.