October 15, 2025, 7:00 AM MDT
Three general officers representing the Relief Society, Young Women, and Primary General Presidencies of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints served in Cancun, Mexico, in late September.
Sister J. Annette Dennis, First Counselor in the Relief Society General Presidency, Sister Andrea Muñoz Spanaus, Second Counselor in the Young Women General Presidency, and Sister Tracy Y. Browning, Second Counselor in the Primary General Presidency, met with government representatives and Church members, held devotions, trained local leaders, participated in humanitarian relief projects, and learned from Latter-day Saints during their four-day mission to the Yucatan Peninsula. From September 18th to 21st.
While in Cancun, they accompanied local church leaders and ministered to Cancun families in their homes. They included Elder Brick V. Eyre, a General Authority Seventy and second counselor in the Church’s Mexico Area Presidency, and Area Seventy Elders Nelson Ramirez and Elder Ranulfo Cervantes, the Church’s Mexico Newsroom reported.
A devotion for women brought nearly 500 women from four stakes to one of the church’s meetinghouses in Cancun.
Sister Spanaus shared with those in attendance the joy of returning to Mexico, where she and her husband, Brother Allyn Spanaus, served as leaders in the Mexico Cuernavaca Mission from 2009 to 2012.
During her assignment at Brigham Young University in Hawaii earlier this year, she said she learned how the school teaches students ancient boating techniques using traditional canoes. This includes sailing in calm, sunny weather and in stormy and dangerous waters.
And, using a life metaphor, she reflected that she began to wonder if this experience was teaching her daughters how to weather life’s storms.
“Am I teaching them (my daughters) to sail when the seas are rough, or only when conditions are good and calm?” She also explained that a canoe is covered with 14 layers of varnish, likening it to protecting an emerging generation with a varnish of equal mental readiness.
Sister Browning spoke about the importance of preparing for a temple recommend as Latter-day Saints prepare to build the Cancun Mexico Temple announced by President Russell M. Nelson during October 2023 general conference.
“Some people think of the temple as a place you go to do something, and in a sense that is true,” Sister Browning said. “We go to the temple to serve ourselves and our ancestors. We also want them to think of the temple as a place where they go to receive something. For example, an endowment is one of the things you receive in the temple, and an endowment is a gift and a gift.”
Sister Browning shared a list of blessings she received in the House of the Lord, including power to solve problems, guidance in managing the home, revelation that strengthened her faith in Jesus Christ, and protection in her daily life.
Sister Dennis emphasized that although sisters may have callings in different organizations, they still belong to Relief Society. “We’re walking home together. No one should feel alone. (Although) I know some people do.”
She encouraged those in attendance to seek out their sisters and teach one another. “Ministering is about following (the example of) Jesus Christ. It’s not a program. It’s about becoming like Jesus Christ,” she emphasized.
“Now we are challenged to learn how to become like the masters of ministering. There will come a time when ministering will be more than just a job, it will be who we are.”
While speaking with young single adults in another building over the weekend, Sister Dennis encouraged them to write down the blessings in the messages and create a list of the promises they receive when they make and keep covenants with God.
“When you go to the temple, your heart will be changed, and the Lord will provide a way for you to do that,” she said.
cancun disaster relief
Cancun is prone to natural disasters such as hurricanes. To help future generations with disaster relief, Relief Society members from three branches of the Church in Cancun came together to prepare 300 emergency backpacks and donate them to Benito Juárez’s family organization Sistema Para El Desarrollo Integral de la Familia Development.
The backpack contained basic necessities, personal hygiene items, first aid supplies, clothing, and blankets. According to a news release from the Mexico Newsroom, on September 19, Sister Dennis presented the donation on behalf of the church along with Sisters Supanas and Sister Browning. Several local government officials and related parties attended.
General officers toured DIF’s facilities and learned about the services DIF provides to the community, including health, sports, education, legal advice and support for the elderly. General officers praised the organization’s efforts to promote family well-being and development.
