This is the best season for women in all the history of the world, President Gordon B. Hinckley declared during the General Relief Society Meeting Sept. 23. "In opportunities for education, for the training of your hands and minds, there has never before been a time when doors were so widely opened to you as they are today.

"But neither has there been a time, at least in recent history," the prophet continued, "when you have been confronted with more challenging problems. I need not remind you that the world is a world of turmoil, of shifting values. Shrill voices call out for one thing or another in betrayal of time-tested standards of behavior. The moral moorings of our society have been badly shaken."During his address, President Hinckley announced a proclamation issued from the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles "to the Church and to the world as a declaration and reaffirmation of standards, doctrines and practices relative to the family which the prophets, seers and revelators of this Church have repeatedly stated throughout its history."

The prophet then read the proclamation to the "mighty congregation of women" gathered in the Salt Lake Tabernacle or listening via Church satellite in more than 3,000 meetinghouses in the United States, Canada, Dominican Republic, Haiti, West Indies, Jamaica and Puerto Rico. (Please see full text of the proclamation on page 3.)

The last time a Church proclamation was issued was April 6, 1980, in commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the organization of the Church. At that time, portions of the Sunday sessions of general conference were telecast by satellite from the reconstructed Peter Whitmer Sr., farmhouse in Fayette, N.Y., the birthplace of the Church. In behalf of President Spencer W. Kimball, then-Elder Hinckley of the Quorum of the Twelve read the proclamation concerning the progress, doctrine, mission and message of the Church. (See April 12, 1980, Church News.)

At the General Relief Society Meeting, conducted by Elaine L. Jack, Relief Society general president, other speakers, in addition to President Hinckley, were Pres. Jack, and her counselors, Chieko N. Okazaki and Aileen H. Clyde. (Please see coverage of the presidency's addresses on page 4.)

Also attending the meeting were President Thomas S. Monson, first counselor in the First Presidency; President James E. Faust, second counselor in the First Presidency; Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve and Elder Glenn L. Pace of the Seventy, who are priesthood advisers to the Relief Society; and the general presidencies of the Young Women and Primary organizations. Seated among the Relief Society general board members were Barbara W. Winder and Barbara B. Smith, former Relief Society general presidents.

A reverent, quiet calm filled the Tabernacle during President Hinckley's remarks. "There are three-and-a- half million of you," he said, referring to the membership of Relief Society throughout the world. "You live in many lands and you speak with a variety of tongues. But you understand with a single heart. Each of you is a daughter of God. Reflect on all the wondrous meaning of that one paramount fact. He who is our Eternal Father has blessed you with miraculous powers of mind and body. He never intended that you should be less than the crowning glory of His creations."

Continuing, President Hinckley counseled: "I believe that it should be the blessing of every child to be born into a home where that child is welcomed, nurtured, loved and blessed with parents, a father and a mother, who live with loyalty to one another and to their children.

"Stand strong against the wiles of the world. The creators of our entertainment, the purveyors of much of our literature, would have you believe otherwise. The accumulated wisdom of centuries declares with clarity and certainty that the greater happiness, the greater security, the greater peace of mind, the deeper reservoirs of love are experienced only by those who walk according to time-tested standards of virtue before marriage and total fidelity within marriage.

"There are those who would have us believe in the validity of what they choose to call same-sex marriage. Our hearts reach out to those who struggle with feelings of affinity for the same gender. We remember you before the Lord, we sympathize with you, we regard you as our brothers and sisters. However, we cannot condone immoral practices on your part any more than we can condone immoral practices on the part of others.

"To you wives and mothers who work to maintain stable homes where there is an environment of love and respect and appreciation I say, the Lord bless you. Regardless of your circumstances, walk with faith. Rear your children in light and truth. Teach them to pray while they are young. Read to them from the scriptures even though they may not understand all that you read. Teach them to pay their tithes and offerings on the first money they ever receive. Let this practice become a habit in their lives.

"Teach your sons to honor womanhood. Teach your daughters to walk in virtue. Accept responsibility in the Church and trust in the Lord to make you equal to any call you may receive. Your example will set a pattern for your children. Reach out in love to those in distress and need.

"Seek to establish an environment conducive to study in the home. It is the home which produces the nursery stock of new generations. I hope that you mothers will realize that when all is said and done you have no more compelling responsibility, nor any laden with greater rewards, than the nurture you give your children in an environment of security, peace, companionship, love and motivation to grow and do well.

President Hinckley then referred to single mothers. "Our hearts reach out to you. We know that many of you live in loneliness, insecurity, worry and fear. For most of you there is never enough money. Your constant, brooding worry is anxiety for your children and their futures. Many of you find yourself in circumstances where you have to work and leave your children largely to their own devices. But if when they are very small there is much of affection, there is shown much of love, there is prayer together, then there will more likely be peace in the hearts and strength in the character of your children. Teach them the ways of the Lord.

"Set an example for them," the prophet counseled. "That will mean more than all the teachings you can give them. Do not overindulge them. Let them grow up with respect for and understanding of the meaning of labor, of working and contributing to the home and its surroundings, with some way of earning some of their own expense money. Let your sons save for missions, and encourage them to prepare themselves, not only financially, but spiritually and in an attitude to go out to serve the Lord without selfishness of any kind. I do not hesitate to promise that if you will do so, you will have reason to count your blessings."

After reading the proclamation, President Hinckley said: "May the Lord bless you, my beloved sisters. You are the guardians of the hearth. You are the bearers of the children. You are they who nurture them and establish within them the habits of their lives. No other work reaches so close to divinity as does the nurturing of the sons and daughters of God. May you be strengthened for the challenges of the day. May you be endowed with wisdom beyond your own in dealing with the problems you constantly face. May your prayers and your pleadings be answered with blessings upon your heads and upon the heads of your loved ones. We leave with you our love and our blessing, that your lives may be filled with peace and gladness."

A Relief Society choir from the American Fork Utah Region, with Jean Applonie directing and Linda Margetts accompanying on the organ, provided music for the meeting. Eric and Martha Glissmeyer of the Geneva Heights 3rd Ward, Orem Utah Geneva Heights Stake, performed a duet. Diane Wilson, Relief Society president of the American Fork Utah East Stake, offered the invocation; Dlora Dalton, Relief Society president of the Taylorsville Utah Central Stake, gave the benediction.