Thursday, October 4, 1956 President M’Kay Stresses Woman’s Role in Home Relief Society Dedicates $1 Million S.L. Building Continued from Page One mentally through the home, and (2) in willingness and ability to render helpful service, done through the organized Relief Society. After the addresses in the Tabernacle, President McKay, Stephen L Richards, first counselor, and J. Reuben Clark Jr., second counselor, were taken to the new building, where President McKay delivered the dedicatory prayer. His words were carried by wire to the 7,000 women in the Tabernacle. In the prayer, he praised the work of the Relief Society women, asked divine protection for the building and dedicated the edifice and its furnishings to God’s purposes. At the same time, he rededicated the lives of his audience and Relief Society members to continued service of “the needy and suffering in the church and in the world.” President Richards and President Clark spoke briefly in the Tabernacle, the former stressing the Relief Society’s visiting teaching program and the liter extolling responsibilities and satisfactions of motherhood. A history of the new building was recounted by Mrs. Marianne C. Sharp, first counselor in the Relief Society general presidency. A PROPOSAL to construct a Relief Society headquarters building was approved by members of the organization in the 1945 conference. Two years later, the women began a one-year, the women began a one year campaign to raise half a million dollars - a goal they exceeded by nearly $70,000. Mrs. Sharp also told of the many contributions of art and furnishings. The site was granted by the LDS First Presidency in October 1952, and church officials matched the funds raised by the women. Ground was broken Oct. 1, 1953, and the cornerstone was laid Sept. 30, 1954. Mrs. Belle S. Spafford, Relief Society general president, told the dedication service audience: “The building program has been a cohesive, unifying force. From the far north lands to the sunny south, from the little villages in the islands of the sea to the great metropolitan centers it has sealed together as one the sisterhood of Relief Society. “Today we are happy and grateful,” she said, “to present to the First Presidency for dedication, a building which we feel represents the enduring qualities of Relief Society, one which we feel represents the spirit and character of Latter-day Saint womanhood in its strength, its beauty and its usefulness.” MRS. SPAFFORD had been given her annual report and official instructions at the conference’s opening session Wednesday morning in the Tabernacle. Figures on Relief Society activites in 1955 “are, in most instances, gratifying to us,” she said. Membership at the end of year totaled 163,513 or an increase of 7,213 over 1954, she reported. This enrollment, is “only 48.82 per cent of the potential membership,” the society president added. Average attendance at Relief Society meetings was 35.86 per cent of the enrolled members, she continued. “Membership and attendance are giving us some concern,” she told the women. There were 163,000 more visits to families during 1955 than in the previous year, ac Get the Always Get BEST for cording to Mrs. Spafford, or a total of 2,797,264 visits. She also reported there were 25,510 days care of the sick in 1955, almost 13,000 visits to the sick and homebound and 38,611 to families in need. There were almost 31,000 singers in 2,005 Singing Mothers choruses, Mrs. Spafford said. The day’s activities also included a reception in the new building in the evening for stake and mission Relief Society officers and board members. There will be departmental meetings at various locations Thursday at 10 a.m. and tours of the new building between 2 and 7 p.m. WHEN YOU VISIT LOS ANGELES stay at air-condi HO ST