Elaine S. Dalton
Elaine Schwartz Dalton was called as the Young Women general president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (sometimes called the Mormon Church) in April 2008 and served until April 2013. She had served under Susan W. Tanner as First Counselor in the presidency from March 2007 to April 2008 and Second Counselor from October 2002 to March 2007. She also 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.
She was born on November 1, 1946, in Ogden, Utah, to Melvin Leo and Emma Martin Schwartz. She earned a B.A. in English from Brigham Young University. She married Stephen E. Dalton on September 13, 1968, in the Salt Lake Temple. They have six children.
“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.”[1]
Sister Dalton enjoys running and hiking with her family and dancing with her granddaughters. She loves to read, especially the scriptures, and she loves the Lord.
Her favorite scripture and life's motto is found in Proverbs 3:5-6, "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not to thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths." [2] This is the scripture she was referred to by the Lord upon the premature death of her father, which she once struggled to understand. It has guided her ever since.[3]
She is the author of No Ordinary Women (2016), Shine (2012), and A Return to Virtue (2011).
