Theme is “Thou Art Come To the Kingdom for Such a Time as This”
Womanhood will be celebrated during this year’s Brigham Young University Women’s Conference Thursday and Friday, May 3-4, at various locations on campus co-sponsored by the Relief Society of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Wendy Watson Nelson, a former BYU professor of marriage and family therapy and wife of Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, will present the conference theme, “Thou Art Come To the Kingdom for Such a Time as This,” taken from Esther 4:14, in the opening session at 9 a.m. Thursday in the Marriott Center. Her address will be followed by more than 200 presenters and more than 90 sessions.
Throughout the conference, attendees will hear from such speakers as Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve and his wife Patricia, BYU President Cecil O. Samuelson and the new Relief Society General Presidency. Also presenting will be Chad Lewis, a BYU graduate and tight end for the Philadelphia Eagles; Janice Kapp Perry, a well-known LDS music artist; and Lori Holmoe, Holly Mendenhall and Cheryl Rose, the wives of BYU’s athletic director, football and basketball coaches respectively.
Topics will include pride and competition, patience, marriage and children, time management, in-law relations, teenage dating, eating disorders, supporting loved ones in military service and great literature.
If completed on or before April 3, regular registration is $40 for the full conference or $23 for a one-day pass. After April 3, regular registration is $47, or $27 for one day. In each case, the luau dinner to be served Thursday night is an additional $15, and tickets are available on a first-come, first-served basis until April 20. BYU faculty, staff and students with a BYU ID are eligible for a reduced registration of $15 for the full conference or $8 for either Thursday or Friday.
Registration may be completed by phone at (801) 422-8925, by visiting http://ce.byu.edu/cw/womensconference/2007/registration.cfm or in person at the Harman Building lobby weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Women and men age 16 and older may register for the conference. Logistical and safety constraints on campus no longer allow accommodations for nursing infants and young children in any conference session, including at the Marriott Center, the residence halls and all Thursday night activities, including the luau dinner.
A service event, “Come Take Your Place,” will be held for conference participants from 5 to 9 p.m. on Thursday in the Smith Fieldhouse and Richards Building. More than 45 booths, called ‘Sharing Stations,’ will allow participants to exchange practical, fun and innovative service ideas as ways to strengthen the family, to be posted on the Web site after the conference.
During the evening, participants will also be assembling 25,000 hygiene kits, 13,000 school kits and 7,500 newborn kits and tying 100 quilts for Church Humanitarian Services, and completing other projects for community agencies such as greeting cards, fleece blankets and children’s games.
Thursday night’s activities will include the luau dinner and entertainment, as well as a screening of “The Work and the Glory: A House Divided” and a Shadow Mountain Music Showcase, with performers such as George Dyer, Hilary Weeks, Jenny Jordan Frogley, Alex Boye and Jenny Phillips.
Parking for the conference will be available adjacent to the Marriott Center, and courtesy vans will be available to transport participants to campus sites, with preference given to seniors and those with disabilities.
Six sessions will be presented in Spanish, with native speakers of Spanish as presenters.
A delayed broadcast will be shown on BYU Television and on byubroadcasting.org (audio streaming in English, video in English only) on Friday, May 18 and Saturday, May 19.
Sessions to be rebroadcast Friday, May 18, from 2 to 6 p.m. and 6 to 10 p.m. MDT include “For Such a Time as This” by Wendy Watson Nelson; “Establishing and Building Enduring Marriage,” by Allison H. Warner and David T. Warner; “Learnings From Our Daughters” by Susan W. Tanner, Julie B. Beck, Elaine S. Dalton and their daughters; “He Does Not Take Counsel From His Fears” by Cheryl C. Lant; and “Faith, an Anchor for the Soul” by Wendee Wilcox and Bradley Ray Wilcox.
Sessions to be rebroadcast Saturday, May 19, also from 2 to 6 p.m. and 6 to 10 p.m. MDT, include “The Errand of Angels is Given to Women” by the Relief Society General Presidency; “Of All Our Needs, I Think the Greatest is an Increase of Faith” by Helen Goo and Elder Cecil O. Samuelson; “Every Time I’m One Year Older, Everyone Else Is Too” by Cheryl Armstrong Fogg and Mary Ellen Edmunds; and “What Time is This?” by Patricia Holland and Elder Jeffrey R. Holland.
Selected sessions will be available on KBYU-TV (Channel 11 in Utah) beginning on June 3.
During the conference, sessions from the Marriott Center (Channel 33), the de Jong Concert Hall (Channel 34) and the Joseph Smith Building Auditorium (Channel 38) will be shown on Campus Cable for students residing in Wymount Terrace and Wyview Park.
For more information, call (801) 422-7692, e-mail womensconference@byu.edu, or visit the Web site at http://womensconference.byu.edu.
Writer: Brooke Eddington
