Just one small "battalion" doing good.
President Camille N. Johnson and husband, Doug Johnson, with
Mormon Battalion Historic Site Missionaries, June 29, 2024
President Johnson and her husband, Doug, joined us in a tour at the Mormon Battalion.
President Johnson presented 25 practical and doable ways to participate in the
"Global Initiative for Women and Children"
A quarterly meeting of WISE (Women in Service Everywhere)
Church's online Newsroom article:
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/president-johnson-shares-women-and-childrens-initiative-san-diegoA brief history of women in the Mormon Battalion: A battalion is considered to be a large body of "troops" ready for battle. When the Mormon Battalion of 500 men was recruited in July1846 to fight in the war with Mexico, they were divided into companies of of 100 men each. Each company was allowed to have four laundresses accompany them. These laundresses would receive rations and some allowances from the government, but their payment for laundry services and their transportation were private matters not governmental ones. Although militarily unconventional, Lieutenant Colonel Allen, who originally recruited the men, also allowed for some wives and families to march with the men. In the end about 80 women and children accompanied the Battalion as far as Santa Fe. But after a total of three sick detachments left the Battalion and went to winter in Pueblo, only five women and one youth remained to complete the grueling march to the Pacific coast.
In a very real sense, we are in a battle to preserve the vulnerable in our society as well as preserving our values as a society. On June 29th it was an honor to be invited to attend a quarterly meeting of WISE (Women in Service Everywhere). This group of articulate and motivated women overseeing nonprofit organizations striving to help others, especially women and children, in need was powerful. Each woman was asked to introduce herself and tell what the needs of her organization were and/or what her organization could offer to another organization.
I could offer service. As missionaries, our focus is on serving others spiritually as well as temporally. The Mormon Battalion Sister Missionaries not only serve at the Battalion giving tours and teaching about the importance of faith, service and sacrifice, they also serve in the community of San Diego. They serve at a food bank, an elementary school garden, Wounded Warriors, Birth-line, Sharia's Closet, Family Search, and last but not least, they help to beautify Old Town by painting ugly utility boxes and maintain a large public parking lot. We continue to look for opportunities to serve that fit into our schedule.
It is easy to see the spiritual, emotional, and social battles all around us, and the need to be aware of and help someone in need is very real. I like this quote by Elder Boyd K. Packer on the power and importance of women in our society. I am blessed to be around these kind of women each day.
"We need women who are organized and women who can organize. We need women with executive ability who can plan and direct and administer; women who can teach, women who can speak out. . . . We need women with the gift of discernment who can view the trends in the world and detect those that, however popular, are shallow or dangerous. . . . we need women who know how to make important things happen by their faith and who are courageous defenders of morality and families . . . who are devoted to shepherding God's children . . . ." (Elder Boyd K. Packer as quoted by President Nelson in "A Plea to My Sisters, Oct. 2015).
