Meet the New Relief Society General Presidency

Contributed By Gerry Avant, Valerie Johnson, and Sarah Jane Weaver, Church News staff writers

• 5 April 2017

Sister Jean B. Bingham, Relief Society General President, center, with her counselors, Sister Sharon Eubank, left, and Sister Reyna I. Aburto, in Salt Lake City, Utah, on Monday, April 3, 2017.  Photo by Scott G Winterton, Deseret News.

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The new Relief Society General Presidency sustained during the 187th Annual General Conference on April 1 will serve 7,107,193 Relief Society sisters residing in 188 countries worldwide.

Following are brief biographies of the new leaders: Sister Jean B. Bingham, President; Sister Sharon Eubank, First Counselor; and Sister Reyna I. Aburto, Second Counselor.

Sister Jean B. Bingham, Relief Society General President

Having lived in several locations in the United States, Sister Jean B. Bingham appreciates how the gospel provides a stable influence during changes in environment.

Born in 1952 in Provo, Utah, to Robert and Edith Joy Barrus, she grew up with six sisters and two brothers. She attended elementary school in Texas and Minnesota and finished high school in New Jersey. She and her siblings were the only LDS students in their schools until they moved to New Jersey, where she was delighted to discover a girl from her new ward in her class.

After she and Bruce Bingham married in the Provo Utah Temple on December 22, 1972, they moved to Illinois to continue his schooling.

Two children were born to Brother and Sister Bingham, and they claim as their own others whom they have fostered. She earned an associate degree in family living, and when their youngest child was in high school, she returned to school and earned a master’s degree in teaching.

Sister Bingham’s first calling in Relief Society came shortly after the birth of her first child. “I was called to teach the mother education lessons. It was a great opportunity to learn from the examples of other sisters as well as the manual.”

She also served as a ward Primary and Young Women president, seminary teacher, and temple ordinance worker.

Sister Bingham traveled extensively during her service as a Primary general board member and as a counselor in the Primary General Presidency. She has seen the challenges and blessings of being a member of the Church in areas across the globe.

She hopes Relief Society sisters will recognize the goodness in one another.

“It's a temptation with the influences of the world to compare ourselves with others, which is counterproductive and opposite of what Heavenly Father wants for us.”

She says that Relief Society helps each sister develop an understanding of who she is in the eternal realm.

“When we center our lives on Jesus Christ, we really know who we are,” she said. (Learn more.)

Sister Sharon Eubank, First Counselor

Through prayer, she came to understand that although she could help the Lord take care of His children, she was not in charge of that sorrow. “Jesus Christ is in charge. He will bear this burden. They are His people, and He hears and answers their prayers.” That answer changed her ability to reach out and serve.

Years later, Sister Eubank, as the director of LDS Charities—the humanitarian arm of the Church—has delivered aid and promoted self-reliance to those in need across the globe.

She will continue in her role as director of LDS Charities.

There “is a great link” between LDS Charities and Relief Society, where members of the Relief Society General Presidency sit on the board of directors for LDS Charities, she explained.

Her responsibilities with both organizations will strengthen that link.

Born in 1963 in Redding, California, USA, Sharon is the oldest of Mark and Jean Eubank’s seven children. Raised in Bountiful, Utah, USA, Sister Eubank grew up on a 10-acre plot of land where the Eubank children picked apricots, repaired sprinklers, and had close access to Utah’s mountains.

In addition to serving in the Finland Helsinki Mission, she served on the Relief Society general board from 2009 to 2012, and has served in numerous ward and stake positions.

Sister Eubank received her bachelor’s degree in English and history from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.

In addition to her work with the Church’s Welfare Department, Sister Eubank worked on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., was co-owner of a small business, and lived abroad in Japan and France.

Each opportunity was a “leap of faith” that helped her learn the skills she uses today, allowed her to meet wonderful people inside and outside of the Church, and gave her a love and appreciation for many of the world’s cultures, languages, and foods. (Learn more.)

Sister Reyna I. Aburto, Second Counselor

Sister Reyna I. Aburto was born in Managua, Nicaragua, to Noel Blanco and Delbi Cardoza in 1963. “My parents always worked hard so they could provide for us,” Sister Aburto said. “I had a very happy childhood.”

Just past midnight on December 23, 1972, when she was 9 years old, an earthquake struck Managua. “I was saved because there was a piece of furniture behind me, but my legs were trapped.”

Hearing her and her mother’s screams, neighbors came to pull them from the destroyed adobe house. In the wreckage, they found the body of her older brother in the bed next to hers. “Material possessions are just so temporary, but the important thing is our family.”

When she was 21, Sister Aburto immigrated to the United States with her family. While she was living in San Francisco, California, she was introduced to missionaries and decided to go to church.

“As soon as I stepped into that building, I could feel the Spirit. It was stake conference, and I felt that every single message was for me,” she said. She was baptized in 1989.

During this time, she met Carlos Aburto, and they became friends. They continued to correspond even when Sister Aburto moved to Orem, Utah. They married on May 8, 1993, in the Jordan River Utah Temple. They are the parents of three children.

Sister Aburto has worked in the translation industry for more than 25 years, including at Novell Inc. and Lemoine International. She and her husband now own a small translation agency.

She studied industrial engineering at Universidad Centroamericana for four years and earned an associate degree in computer science from Utah Valley University in 1997.

Sister Aburto has served in a wide variety of Church callings, including on the Primary general board from 2012 to 2016. (Learn more.)

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