LDS Church members sustained a new Primary General Presidency during the Saturday afternoon session of general conference, and two members of the First Quorum of the Seventy were given emeritus status.

Sister Coleen K. Menlove was sustained as the new general president of the Primary, an auxiliary organization for children.

Sister Sydney S. Reynolds and Sister Gayle M. Clegg were sustained as first and second counselors, respectively.

Elders Joe J. Christensen and Andrew W. Peterson, two members of the church's First Quorum of Seventy, were granted emeritus status and released from service as general authorities.

The new Primary General Presidency succeeds Sister Patricia P. Pinegar, Sister Anne G. Wirthlin and Sister Susan L. Warner, who had served since Oct. 1, 1994.

Sister Menlove, a lifelong teacher of children, resides in Salt Lake City. She holds a bachelor's degree in elementary education from the University of Utah and a master's in elementary curriculum from Brigham Young University.

She has served as a member of the Young Women General Board, stake Primary president, ward Young Women president and as a teacher in the Relief Society. She and her husband, Dean, have seven children and six grandchildren.

Sister Reynolds, an Idaho native who was raised in Southern California, now resides in Orem. She received her bachelor's degree from Brigham Young University in history and political science, with a teaching certificate in secondary education. She also pursued postgraduate studies at BYU.

She has served as a member of the Primary General Board since 1995. Her previous church callings include stake and ward Young Women president, Relief Society president, Primary teacher and early morning seminary teacher. She and her husband, Noel, are the parents of 11 children, and they have six grandchildren.

Raised in Salt Lake City, Sister Clegg still makes her home here. She completed undergraduate studies in history at the University of Utah. She and her husband, Calvin, presided over the Portugal Lisbon North Mission until July 1999.

Sister Clegg has served as a gospel doctrine teacher, ward Primary and Young Women president. Because of her husband's career in law enforcement, she has lived in many places across the United States and also in Latin America. She has also taught school in Miami, Buenos Aires and Salt Lake City. The Cleggs are parents of five children and the grandparents of nine.

Elder Christensen and Elder Peterson received expressions of gratitude Saturday afternoon from Latter-day Saints gathered in the Tabernacle and in meetinghouses throughout the world for their church service.

A general authority since April 1989, Elder Christensen had served in the Presidency of the Seventy. He and his wife, Barbara, are now serving as president and matron of the San Diego Temple.

Elder Peterson was called to the First Quorum of Seventy in October of 1994. He was serving as president of the Mexico North Area when he suffered paralyzing injuries from a trail bike accident in Parleys Canyon near Salt Lake City on Sept. 28, 1997.