Linda K. Burton, president of one of the oldest and largest women’s organizations in the world, the Relief Society, visited New Zealand this week.
Yesterday she met with over 800 women in Auckland in several settings. Among the women she visited were young mothers and a 100-year-old woman by the name of Ailsa Coutts.
As Sister Burton sat with Sister Coutts in her Birkdale home, she learned that the centenarian has served for many years as a volunteer in the Church, including as a youth leader.
Auckland woman, Christine Roberts, who was hosting Sister Burton yesterday, recalled that when she was a teenager, Sister Coutts was her youth leader. “Sister Coutts used to catch the ferry across from the city so she could meet with us on the North Shore,” Sister Roberts said.
Sister Coutts has recently been the subject of several media reports in New Zealand and the United States, including this article in Auckland Now.
Sister Coutts is one of around six million Latter-day Saint women in the world who belong to the Church’s Relief Society. Despite her age, she and her daughter Andrea continue to visit other Latter-day Saint women each month, part of the Church's visiting teaching program.
Later in the day Sister Burton visited with young Latter-day saint women, including some young mothers, in Auckland’s west. She thanked them for their faith in Jesus Christ and their service to their children, families and their communities.
- Sister Burton with Auckland young mothers
- Sister Ailsa Coutts and Sister Linda K. Burton
- Sister Linda K. Burton
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Last night Sister Burton met with close to 700 Latter-day Saint women in a training meeting. She encouraged all in attendance to follow Jesus Christ’s example and teachings in all that they did, including in their homes, relationships, and other efforts.
Sister Burton is traveling with her husband, Craig P. Burton, and another Latter-day Saint leader, Sister Rosemary M. Wixom, who is the Church’s international leader of the Primary, an organization for children from the age of 3-11.
Sisters Burton and Wixom and their husbands will visit Latter-day Saints and community leaders in Tonga, Samoa and American Samoa later this week.