Virginia H. Pearce is one of those individuals who might be described as "a student for - and of - life."
With a seemingly unquenchable thirst for learning and an insatiable hunger for more knowledge to add to that which she has already gained, she combines books and life experiences with an expertise to which many scholars and students only aspire.Sister Pearce, sustained April 4 as first counselor in the Young Women general presidency, keeps seeking knowledge and skills because she wants to help people. One evidence that she is interested in others is that she is a great listener who understands people.
Primary Gen. Pres. Michaelene P. Grassli, with whom Sister Pearce served on the Primary general board, described the new Young Women counselor as "one of those people who is a great leavening in a crowd. She's lots of fun and doesn't take herself too seriously, but she is committed to what she does. She is open to new ideas, to learning new things."
After marrying James R.M. Pearce in 1965, Sister Pearce graduated from the University of Utah, having majored in history and minored in English. When the youngest of their six children entered kindergarten she returned to the university and received a master's degree in social work.
"I knew I always wanted to go back to school," she reflected. "I loved school, registering for classes and getting the text books. I would look at the books and think, `These are unfamiliar concepts and words, but by the end of the quarter, I will understand them.' I just love learning.
"I always enjoyed reading when I was a child. I'd have a flashlight and book under the covers when I went to bed, and usually had a book under the dinner table. I love American colonial history, and find British history fascinating. I think if we understand history, then there is a perspective we get that makes a difference in the way we see everything. I think perspective is probably one of the most valuable tools we have.
"I really want the Lord's perspective. I want to see things the way He sees them. I think history is just a little piece of that. It gives us a vision that's bigger than the mundane. We can get so bogged down in the trivia of daily life if we don't see it in the context of the big picture."
Sister Pearce's perspective of "the big picture" is sharpened through her family's history. Among her ancestors was her great-grandmother, Mary Goble Pay, a handcart pioneer. Mary Goble was just 12 when her family left Brighton, England, and then joined the saints on their trek to Utah. Her father drove one of the escort wagons for a handcart company making its way to the Salt Lake Valley. During the trek, Mary's feet were frozen and her toes later had to be amputated. Two of her sisters, a brother and her mother died during the journey. Mary rode in a wagon with her mother's body as the pioneer company entered the Salt Lake Valley. Mary not only survived the difficult journey, but also grew up to become a woman of great strength who knew the meaning of sacrifice for the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Other of Sister Pearce's ancestors played important roles in helping establish the Church in the Valley of the Great Salt Lake, building a temple and rearing families of faith and courage. Their legacy is not lost to her.
"On April 6, the day after general conference, we gathered in the [Young WomenT president's office for our first meeting as a presidency," Sister Pearce said. "We looked out the window and saw the temple. Knowing that date was the 100th anniversary of the laying of the capstone, I thought, `Oh, I see this work so much more clearly. This is about more than meetings and schedules. What we're doing is part of something so much bigger.'
"I know lots of people aren't interested in history - and I can hardly believe it. I wonder, `Why aren't they just fascinated with this?' History has always been woven into my life.
"My husband shares my love of history. We live in the house he grew up in and delight in the sense of continuity that gives us."
She is hard pressed to say whether she's interested in history because of her fascination with human behavior, or if she's fascinated by human behavior because of her background in history.
"When I went back to college to study social work, I was looking for something that would help me be useful to others," she noted. "I realized I would be helping people no matter what I did with my degree. Even if I didn't use it professionally, I knew I could use the knowledge I gained."
After she received her master's degree in social work, she was employed part time as a counselor at a mental health clinic and in a private practice until she was called to serve on the Primary general board three years ago.
Sister Pearce recalled some of the experiences that led to her personal growth.
"I was in seminary and I think we were reading the New Testament. The teacher gave us the reading assignment and said, `Come tomorrow with any questions you want to discuss.' I would go the next day, excited to ask questions because it was the first time I had had a teacher approach the scriptures with me that way. It was the first time I really saw the scriptures as a way to impact my life.
"I had read scriptures on my own before that, but it was mostly because I was a little girl who liked to check off boxes. It was still a long time before I figured out that when you have a personal problem, when you have things gnawing at you, that you go to the scriptures and find answers."
Sister Pearce said while she has not had major challenges to overcome, she has done lots of things she thought she couldn't do. "Creighton University [where her husband, now a doctor, studied medicine in NebraskaT is a Jesuit school. It was the first time either one of us had lived outside Salt Lake City. Living in that Catholic environment and going to school there helped us gain a great respect and warmth for people of other religions. It was a time for growing. We had one child, and then two years later twins were born."
Other experiences the Pearces had away from their home base in Utah were in New Haven, Conn., where her husband completed his medical residency in a community that provided what she described as a "wonderful, invigorating climate."
One of the biggest challenges, she said, was having four of their six children born within three and a half years. "Here I was, a person who liked being in charge of my life. When you have that many children in that time span, you might find you feel you are no longer in charge of your life. I spent a lot of time praying, `Please help me be more organized, help me be a better manager.'
"What I ended up figuring out was that I should be saying, `Help me learn how to enjoy and grow from this.' When I began to pray like that, life improved. I've come to realize that you might think you know what's best. You might think you know exactly what you need to help you, but in reality what you think you need isn't always the answer. In fact, it seldom is. I learned it's about being submissive to the will of the Lord. It's about being taught things we didn't know, it's about learning new ways to look at things - a new perspective.
"When the Lord told Nephi to make the plates, Nephi did not know why, but he knew that the Lord knew, and that was enough for him. Nephi said, `Wherefore, the Lord commanded me to make these plates for a wise purpose in him, which purpose I know not. But the Lord knoweth all things from the beginning.' (1 Ne. 9:5.)"
Sister Pearce said the support she receives from her husband and children enabled her to accept the call to serve in the Young Women general presidency. "They have shown love and enthusiasm, and have been willing to help me learn and grow during every season of my life," she said.
And, she observed, being on the Primary general board provided great training for her new leadership position. "I've learned that none of us has enough talent or enough intelligence or enough skill to fill our Church assignments without the Lord's help," she reflected. "If we do what we can, He makes up the difference.
"A lot of things I used to be willing to call coincidences I don't think of as coincidences any more. I know that miracles happen moment by moment."
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Virginia H. Pearce
Family: Born in Denver, Colo., to Gordon B. and Marjorie Pay Hinckley; reared in Salt Lake City. Married James R.M. Pearce; six children: Rosemary P. Olsen, Laura P. Jenkins, Emily P. Fox, Heidi P. Jenson, Amy and James; one grandchild.
Education: Received bachelor's degree in history from the University of Utah, master's degree in social work from the University of Utah.
Community service/profession: Author of several children's books, teacher of children's literature, PTA president, social work counselor.
Previous Church callings: Member of Primary general board, counselor in ward and stake Primary presidencies, gospel doctrine teacher, teacher in Primary, Relief Society and Young Women, and counselor in a ward Relief Society presidency.