President Dallin H. Oaks, first counselor in the First Presidency, spoke to women and young women during the Saturday evening session of April 2022 general conference. He offered an introductory message from the First Presidency on the meeting’s purpose and direction. The following is a summary of what he said.
Notable quotes from President Oaks
“We honor the daughters of God in this special session by concentrating on their concerns and those of their organizations.”
“This is the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are His servants, directed by His Holy Spirit.”
“We invoke the blessings of our Lord upon the leaders of these organizations and upon the faithful women and girls who serve the Lord in these organizations and in their individual lives.”
Summary of President Oaks’ talk
An introductory message from the First Presidency at the start of “this unusual women’s session” of general conference:
Saturday evening sessions have a history of different purposes and different audiences. The April 2022 sessions embark upon “a new purpose and procedure for the foreseeable future.” Like all sessions, the First Presidency has designated the planning, speakers and music.
“The gospel of Jesus Christ does not change. Gospel doctrine does not change. Our personal covenants do not change. But over the years, the meetings we hold to communicate our messages do change and very likely will continue to change over the years.”
This session includes the doctrine of the Church, policies that relate specifically to women, and the general responsibilities and work of the organizations that include women and girls.
“We honor the daughters of God in this special session by concentrating on their concerns and those of their organizations. …
“This is the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are His servants, directed by His Holy Spirit. We invoke the blessings of our Lord upon the leaders of these organizations and upon the faithful women and girls who serve the Lord in these organizations and in their individual lives.”
About President Oaks
- President Dallin H. Oaks was called to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in 1984.
- President Oaks was a law clerk to Chief Justice Earl Warren at the U.S. Supreme Court and later served as a Utah Supreme Court justice until his call to apostleship in 1984.
- President Oaks and his late wife, June Dixon Oaks, are the parents of six children. She died July 21, 1998. On Aug. 25, 2000, he married Kristen M. McMain in the Salt Lake Temple.
President Oaks in the news
- As a “present witness,” President Oaks testifies of Christ during “Witnesses of Christmas” concert in Europe on Dec. 19, 2021.
- President Oaks rededicated the Mesa Arizona Temple with Elder Gerrit W. Gong on Dec. 12, 2021. “We were astonished, impressed, gratified with what has been done to hold with the pioneer ancestry of this traditional great temple and house of the Lord,” he said.
- In Rome at the La Sapienza University on Dec. 14, 2021, President Oaks championed religious freedom and belief as it is an essential condition for a free society. In a historic address at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia, on Nov. 12, 2021, he called for a peaceful resolution’ to the conflicts between religious freedom and nondiscrimination.
President Oaks’ recent social posts
- On Nov. 10, 2021, President Oaks shared examples of reasons for membership, attendance and participation in the Savior’s restored Church in a social media post.
- “Far from being a weakness, reconciling adverse positions through respectful negotiation is a virtue,” President Oaks wrote in a social media post on Nov. 12, 2021, following his message at the Joseph Smith Lecture on Religious Liberty at the University of Virginia.
- The answer to all serious challenges that exist today, President Oaks taught, is the same as it has always been. “We have a Savior, and He has taught us what we should do,” he said on Feb. 8. “Our greatest joy is found through the gospel of Jesus Christ, which explains our origin as spirits, the creation of the world, our purpose in mortality and our destiny in eternity.”
