Addressing the fathers and sons in the audience, Sister Elaine S. Dalton said a father who wants to raise a virtuous daughter in today’s world must love her mother.
“By the way you love her mother, you will teach your daughter about tenderness, loyalty, respect, compassion and devotion,” Sister Dalton said.
She taught that men of the church are a peculiar people.
“You are not ordinary men … Your priesthood sets you apart,” Sister Dalton said.
Fathers can be heroes in the lives of their daughters and wives.
Sister Dalton said leaders are teaching the Young Women to understand their divine identity and roles, but fathers who choose to return to virtue will have a greater impact on their families.
“By being the guardian of virtue in your own life, in your home and in the lives of your children, you are showing your wife and daughters what true love really is,” Sister Dalton said.
She used an example to display how the impact of a father can be immeasurable. As the story in the Book of Mormon goes, Abish was converted by the testimony of her father after he received a vision. In time, Abish shared her testimony in a royal court, converting an entire society.
“The people who heard her testify became a people who ‘… were converted unto the Lord, and never did fall away’ and their sons became the stripling warriors,” Sister Dalton said.
The women of the church are “virtuous and elect,” she said, and the impact of a father is eternal.
