What is the significance of the upcoming general women’s meeting, and who can attend?
[00:00]
This is an exciting meeting. It’s historic, even. I think it’s the first time in the history of the Church that women have been invited, from 8 years old to 80 or older, as old as you want, to come together.
[00:26]
The women in the Church need to feel each other’s joy and pattern of womanhood and faith, so we are excited about this meeting.
How did the meeting come about?
[00:39]
The nine general women officers of the Church — the Primary, the Young Women and the Relief Society leaders — meet together often in council, and we just began to converse and talk about the idea of a united meeting of the sisters.
[00:58]
We counsel together every week, and it has taken weeks really to come to a final product as it were. It was a joyous journey. We all talked together, shared our ideas freely, and it began to form into a plan that was agreeable to everyone, so that counseling is very important with the men.
Who will be speaking and how is the meeting being coordinated between the auxiliaries?
[01:23]
We counseled for weeks and with our priesthood brethren on this, and because it is such a historic moment we felt that the three general presidents of the three women’s organizations should be the speakers. It just is fitting. That felt right to all of us. And there will be a member of the First Presidency speaking as well.
What role do the women and girls in the Church play in strengthening the family?
[01:44]
The gospel works and together, strengthening one another beside our priesthood brethren, working together like a team, we can strengthen families. We can take from this meeting instruction, inspiration, patterns of faith, and we can go home to our homes, to our families, and our sphere of influence will be great and goodness there. There will be a goodness that comes from us as we take of the spirit of this meeting, and it will bless families.
[02:19]
We have a message for the women in the world and that is to be true to the beauty and the goodness that’s in them, to give of themselves and what they have to give, and there will be many different ways of giving, but the gospel of Jesus Christ is what inspires us to understand what we have to give.
How can women share their thoughts about the meeting through technology?
[02:41]
Women do like to talk and share and give their feelings to one another, so social media is a great outlet to gather some friends around and say, “Look what was said here” or “Don’t you feel something wonderful when you watch this” or just to say to someone who knows nothing about our Church, “This represents the women of the Church. This is what we look like, this is how we feel.”