Shirley W. Thomas

Counselor in the Relief Society General President (September 30, 1978 – April 2, 1983)

General Conference Addresses

• October 1981 General Conference
  • An Opportunity for Continual Learning
    • “Women in the Church are familiar with the terms patriarch and patriarchal order. We associate them with things eternal and the work of the priesthood in our homes and in the Church.”
    • “We do not speak much of matriarchs; we call them instead, mothers. The mother is the counterpart to the patriarch of a home. Mothering is also an eternal, fundamental work. It has to do with bringing life and love, and it is largely learned.”
• October 1980 General Conference
  • The Doctrines of the Kingdom
    • “In our anxiety to find ready solutions to the problems we face, we do sometimes overlook fundamental truths and thereby fail to learn the sure way. Love one another; sow and you will reap; uphold the priesthood—these and other doctrines of the kingdom become a firm foundation. In their truth lie answers and solutions. As we learn and live these truths, we can bless the lives of others.”
    • “Children depend upon mothers to tell them what is wrong—what is wrong and right about words, about life, and about the world with which they are trying to cope. I think it is not possible for a mother to be overtrained for her role.”
• April 1980 General Conference
  • Welfare Principles in Relief Society
    • “Today’s problems of families reflect the increasing complexity of our time. The welfare services of the Church include multiple systems and long-range plans, but the constant through all its development is the application of gospel principles in loving concern for another’s need.”
    • “A Relief Society president knows that, in spite of a report which shows members receiving temporary assistance constitute 4 percent of a ward, to the sister in distress it is 100 percent. Her needs are whole and real.”

Other Talks

Articles in Church Publications

Other Publications and Resources