If there's one thing Susan W. Tanner would like young women to realize, it's that they are "daughters of God. They are daughters of Heavenly Father."

Photo by Steve Toronto

Jannae Holladay and Jody Curtis of the Pottstown Ward, Reading Pennsylvania Stake, are among thousands of young women worldwide who are invited to hear the General Young Women Meeting via the Church satellite system March 27.

Photo by David MW Pickup

Young Women class meets in the Preston, England Ward. The Young Women theme for 2004 is based on Doctrine and Covenants 90:24.

"This day and age, every single word of that is important," emphasized Sister Tanner, Young Women general president. "That is their eternal identity."

And it's this "eternal identity" that the Young Women general presidency hopes young women will come to better understand as they focus on the theme of this year's General Young Women Meeting, as well as the theme for Mutual in 2004, "Search, Pray, Believe, And all things shall work together for your good," taken from Doctrine and Covenants 90:24.

Sister Tanner and her counselors, Julie B. Beck and Elaine S. Dalton, as well as a member of the First Presidency, will address the young women of the Church concerning this theme during the general meeting, which is to be held March 27 in the Conference Center in Salt Lake City and broadcast via the Church satellite system.

"We have the hope that every young woman will have the foundation testimony of Jesus Christ," Sister Tanner told the Church News. "If they search the scriptures and pray to their Heavenly Father and have faith, they have this wonderful scriptural promise that all things will work together for their good."

That promise, she emphasized, offers young women everywhere a "good deal of hope."

And that hope, Sister Tanner and her counselors emphasized, comes from four aspects of a young woman's life as she searches, prays and believes:

• knowing her identity as a daughter of God

• having the Holy Spirit in her life

• keeping the covenants she has already made, and preparing for future covenants

• preparing for her future roles in life

"With regard to her identity," Sister Beck explained, "we would want every girl to come away with the understanding that being a girl is a grand and priceless calling from the Lord. It's a premiere position, a position of great influence."

Women have an influence on others, she added, "in a way no one else has."

This influential position, however, Sister Tanner related, is impacted by the confusing messages of the world concerning gender and feminist issues. Whereas, with Heavenly Father's plan, "identity and roles are essential," she emphasized.

"One of the things we want to emphasize is preparation for roles as wives and mothers and homemakers," Sister Tanner said.

Young women hearing all kinds of conflicting voices and messages, Sister Dalton explained, can turn to two sources of personal power. "The scriptures contain a record that will strengthen them and will give answers to their questions. (And) if they draw closer to the Lord through prayer He will guide them."

The general presidency emphasized the eternal nature of the Lord's promises and that obtaining these blessings is not without challenges. Sister Dalton recalled turning to the scriptures and to a book by President David O. McKay in the years after her father died when she was a young woman.

"That's where I always turned when I had a question as a young woman. (The answers) were always there," she recalled.

Reading the scriptures and praying, said Sister Beck, "should be like eating and breathing. They are life-sustaining forces."

By searching, praying and believing, Sister Tanner hopes every young woman in the Church comes to feel the love of her Heavenly Father. "We sense His love for these young women and want so much for them to feel it."

E-mail to: julied@desnews.com