Elaine Schwartz Dalton

Second Counselor, Young Women General Presidency

Not long before Elaine S. Dalton entered her second year at Brigham Young University, her father passed away unexpectedly. It was a trying time in her life, and she prayed often to understand why her father would be taken away from a family that needed him so much.

The answer to her prayers didn’t come until the following summer, when she was touring Europe with the BYU folk dance team. On Father’s Day, as the team held sacrament meeting, one of the speakers referred to Proverbs 3:5–6: “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”

“I realized that scripture was my answer,” Sister Dalton says now. “I still didn’t know why my father passed away, but I knew I needed to trust in the Lord. That scripture has since guided my life. In everything that has happened that I haven’t understood, I’ve known that if I trust in the Lord, He will direct my path.”

In her new calling as second counselor in the Young Women general presidency, Sister Dalton hopes to encourage young women to develop that same trust in Heavenly Father and to seek the guidance of the Holy Ghost.

Sister Dalton was born in Ogden, Utah, on 1 November 1946 to Melvin Leo and Emma Martin Schwartz. She married Stephen E. Dalton on 13 September 1968 in the Salt Lake Temple. They have six children and live in Salt Lake City.

Sister Dalton earned her bachelor’s degree in English from Brigham Young University. She has served as a member of the Young Women general board, as stake Young Women president, as a Laurel adviser, and as a Relief Society teacher.

“The young women of today are incredible—they’re spiritually sensitive and strong,” she says. “They have an unusual challenge to be righteous in the world we live in now. As members of the Church, they can stand out and lead others who are looking for righteous examples.”