Achallenge to the women of the Church to "rise to the stature of the divine within you," was issued Sept. 23 by President Gordon B. Hinckley during the annual General Women's Meeting.

"Yours is a godly inheritance," President Hinckley, first counselor in the First Presidency, told the approximately 7,200 women and girls gathered in the Tabernacle and Assembly Hall on Temple Square. Thousands more listened as the meeting was telecast to some 2,500 meetinghouses in the United States and Canada. Damage by Hurricane Hugo prohibited scheduled transmission to Puerto Rico."You were among those who chose to follow the plan of Him who became our Redeemer, rather than the plan of him who became our adversary," President Hinckley told his listeners. "Great and marvelous is your place in the plan of God our Eternal Father."

President Ezra Taft Benson and his second counselor, President Thomas S. Monson, also attended the meeting and together the First Presidency greeted the general presidencies of the Primary, Young Women and Relief Society who were seated on the stand.

Other speakers during the hour-and-a-half meeting, which was open to all females aged 10 years and older, were Michaelene P. Grassli, Primary general president; Elaine L. Jack, second counselor in the Young Women general presidency; and Joanne B. Doxey, second counselor in the Relief Society general presidency.

President Hinckley, during his concluding address, offered three suggestions to help women meet the challenge of rising to their divine inheritance.

"In meeting these suggestions I do not ask that you reach beyond your capacity," he counseled. "Please don't nag yourself with thoughts of failure. Do not set goals far beyond your capacity to achieve. Simply do what you can do, in the best way you know, and the Lord will accept of your effort.

"First, educate your hands and mind," the Church leader advised. "You belong to a Church which espouses education. . . .

"In the process of educating your minds, stir within yourselves a greater sensitivity to the beautiful, the artistic, and the cultivation of the talent you possess be it large or small."

Recognizing that many women "may be fully occupied with families and have little time for other things at this stage of your lives, you can enlarge your minds and broaden your understanding through the reading of good books," President Hinckley urged. President Hinckley's second suggestion was to keep marriage and motherhood in their true perspective. "A happy marriage is the aim of every young woman," he said. "I know that many will be denied this opportunity. I urge you not to spend your time in self-pity. Rather, keep yourselves alive and vivacious in those activities which will bring satisfaction into your lives while associating with others who are vigorously pursuing lofty objectives. . . . You are not helpless, a victim of fate. You can in large measure master your fate and strengthen your self-worth in reaching out to those who need and will appreciate your talents, your contributions, your help.

"To those of you who are married, make of your marriage a partnership," President Hinckley continued. "As I have said from this pulpit before, I am satisfied that God our Eternal Father does not love His daughters less than He loves His sons. Under the gospel plan the wife walks neither ahead nor behind her husband, but at his side in a true companionship before the Lord."

In his third suggestion, President Hinckley urged women to "walk with prayer and faith, with charity and love."

"Our Father in Heaven has endowed His daughters with unique and wonderful capacity to reach out to those in distress, to bring comfort and succor, to bind up the wounds and heal the aching heart. . . .

"Marvelous is the power of women of faith. It has been demonstrated again and again in the history of this Church. It goes on among us today. I think it is part of the divinity within you. . . .

"Yes, there are adversities to be overcome, not a few of them. There are trials to be endured. There is much evil in the world and too much harshness, even in the home. Do what you can to rise above all of this. Stand up. Speak out against evil and brutality. Safeguard against abuse. Keep out of your homes the filthiness of the world which can lead to such abuse. Rise up in the stature of your divine inheritance," President Hinckley admonished.

Music for the meeting, which was attended by more women and girls than any previous general women meetings, was provided by a women's choir from five central Utah stakes: Lindon, Pleasant Grove, Pleasant Grove East, Pleasant Grove Manila, and Pleasant Grove Timpanogos stakes.

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(ADDITIONAL INFORMATION)

Suggestions to help women rise to the stature of the divine within them:

1. Educate your hands and your minds.

2. Keep marriage and motherhood in their true perspective.

3. Walk with prayer and faith, with charity and love.