Women of all ages should sustain priesthood holders, Sisters Marie K. Hafen and Sydney S. Reynolds stressed at a Thursday morning session of the BYU Women's Conference.

"Sustain the priesthood and the priesthood will sustain you," Hafen said to an audience in the Marriott Center.

Hafen illustrated this point through the biblical example of Elijah and the widow. Elijah requested food from her when she had only enough for one last meal.

"This was hard for her to hear and hard for him to ask," Hafen said

Yet, both individuals were blessed for acting on faith. The widow saved Elijah from hunger, and he ultimately saved her son from death.

The performance of Felix Mendelssohn's vocal duet "Elijah" allowed the audience to comprehend the emotional intensity of this event.

Hafen also shared experiences of her ancestor Lydia Knight. This pioneer woman sacrificed all her money to free the prophet Joseph Smith, supported her husband in his temple-building callings in Kirtland and Nauvoo, and completed the westward exodus as a widowed mother.

"She was sustained by the Lord because she sought to build his kingdom," Hafen said.

Reynolds, first counselor in the General Primary presidency of the church, focused her remarks on helping young boys prepare to receive the priesthood.

"Boys are all there is to make men," she said.

Reynolds told how the church's primary organization began because of a mother's concern about hoodlum boys and a fear that her daughters would have no one to marry.

Amelia Kynaston, Reynolds' daughter who lives in Las Vegas, Nev., came to Provo to hear her mom speak.

Kynaston thinks her mom is qualified to speak on the subject of the priesthood.

"As a member of the church and a disciple of Christ herself, she's a personal witness to the blessings of the priesthood," Kynaston said.

"I remember her teaching me that the priesthood is what separates us from other churches."

Samantha Sheppard, a women's conference attendee from Mission Viejo, Calif., came to the lecture because of her fascination with the topic of the priesthood.

"We're only familiar with the ordinances we come in contact with," Sheppard said. "But the priesthood encompasses so much more. I am amazed at the order of the priesthood. Even the prophet has a bishop."

In addition to the visiting women at the conference, many BYU students attended.

Chrissy Ciancanelli, a senior from La Verne, Calif., said she appreciated Reynolds' and Hafen's examples of how to raise righteous priesthood holders.

Following the session, Ciancanelli said she wanted to prepare herself to teach her own children how to honor the priesthood.

Linda Rees, from Salem, wrote down personal thoughts during the lecture of things she said she needs to do in her life. However, she left with one main message.

"If we'll do our part, the priesthood will do its part," Rees said. "We just have to do our part."



Copyright Brigham Young University 2 May 2003