Mary Ellen Wood Smoot was the thirteenth general president of the Relief Society

Relief Society

The Relief Society is a philanthropic and educational women's organization and an official auxiliary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . It was founded in 1842 in Nauvoo, Illinois, USA and has approximately 6 million members in over 170 countries and territories...

 of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1997 to 2002.

Mary Ellen Wood was born in Ogden

Ogden, Utah

Ogden is a city in Weber County, Utah, United States. Ogden serves as the county seat of Weber County. The population was 82,825 according to the 2010 Census. The city served as a major railway hub through much of its history, and still handles a great deal of freight rail traffic which makes it a...

, Utah

Utah

Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...

, and raised in Clearfield, Utah

Clearfield, Utah

Clearfield is a city in Davis County, Utah, United States. The population was 25,974 at the 2000 census. The city grew drastically during the 1940s, with the formation of Hill Air Force Base, and in the 1950s with the nation-wide increase in suburb and "bedroom" community populations and has been...

. In 1952 she married Stanley M. Smoot in the Salt Lake Temple

Salt Lake Temple

The Salt Lake Temple is the largest and best-known of more than 130 temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is the sixth temple built by the church, requiring 40 years to complete, and the fourth operating temple built since the Mormon exodus from Nauvoo,...

.

In 1983, Smoot accompanied her husband to Ohio

Ohio

Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...

, where her husband presided

Mission president

Mission president is a priesthood leadership position in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . A mission president presides over a mission and the missionaries serving in the mission...

 over the Ohio Columbus

Columbus, Ohio

Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...

 Mission

Mission (LDS Church)

A mission of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a geographical administrative area to which church missionaries are assigned. Almost all areas of the world are within the boundaries of an LDS Church mission, whether or not Mormon missionaries live or proselytize in the area...

 of the church, and later the Ohio Akron

Akron, Ohio

Akron , is the fifth largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Summit County. It is located in the Great Lakes region approximately south of Lake Erie along the Little Cuyahoga River. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 199,110. The Akron Metropolitan...

 Mission. The Smoots later served as the head of Church hosting for VIP

Very Important Person

A Very Important Person, or VIP is a person who is accorded special privileges due to his or her status or importance.Examples include celebrities, heads of state/heads of government, major employers, high rollers, politicians, high-level corporate officers, wealthy individuals, or any other...

s that visited Temple Square

Temple Square

Temple Square is a ten acre complex located in the center of Salt Lake City, Utah, owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . In recent years, the usage of the name has gradually changed to include several other church facilities immediately adjacent to Temple Square...

 and LDS Church headquarters in Salt Lake City, Utah

Salt Lake City, Utah

Salt Lake City is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. The name of the city is often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC. With a population of 186,440 as of the 2010 Census, the city lies in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which has a total population of 1,124,197...

.

At the April 1997 church general conference, Smoot was accepted

Common consent

Common consent is a democratic principle established by the Latter Day Saint movement's founder, Joseph Smith, Jr., who taught in 1830 that "all things must be done in order, and by common consent in the church, by the prayer of faith." As it is most frequently used by the Church of Jesus Christ of...

 as the general president of the Relief Society

Relief Society

The Relief Society is a philanthropic and educational women's organization and an official auxiliary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . It was founded in 1842 in Nauvoo, Illinois, USA and has approximately 6 million members in over 170 countries and territories...

, with Virginia U. Jensen and Sheri L. Dew

Sheri L. Dew

Sheri L. Dew is an American author and publisher, currently acting as president and chief executive officer of Deseret Book, in Salt Lake City, Utah. Dew has also been a religious leader within The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , an inspirational speaker, writer, and acted as a...

 as her counselors. Smoot succeeded Elaine L. Jack

Elaine L. Jack

Elaine Low Jack was the twelfth general president of the Relief Society of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1990 to 1997. She also served in the general presidency of the church's Young Women Organization between 1987 and 1990...

, who had been Relief Society president since 1990. Smoot was the first Relief Society president to call an unmarried woman—Dew—to be a member of the general Relief Society presidency. Smoot was succeeded in 2002 by Bonnie D. Parkin

Bonnie D. Parkin

Bonnie Dansie Parkin was the fourteenth general president of the Relief Society of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 2002 to 2007. Parkin was also a member of the general presidency of the church's Young Women organization from 1994 to 1997.Bonnie Dansie was raised in a...

.

Smoot and her husband are the parents of seven children. She sits on the advisory board of the West Ridge Academy

West Ridge Academy

West Ridge Academy , is a youth residential treatment center based in West Jordan, Utah, USA. It seeks to provide clinical services, education, and other programs for teens, both girls and boys, that are identified as at risk. Until 2005, the Utah Boys Ranch was male-only...

.

Publications

• Mary Ellen W. Smoot and Mary Ellen Edmunds (2000). Sweet is the Work : How Relief Society Helps Bring Women to Christ (Salt Lake City, Utah: Bookcraft
  Bookcraft
  Bookcraft was a major publisher of books and products for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints .-History:In 1940, LDS Church President Heber J. Grant asked the church's Improvement Era magazine to compile his sermons into a book called Gospel Standards. Compiler G...
  
  ) ISBN 1573457906