PROVO — Calling for a return to virtue, Sister Elaine S. Dalton, Young Women general president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, counseled young adults of the church during a Church Educational System fireside that virtue means purity.

"At the very core of virtue is chastity — meaning sexual purity," she said during the fireside originating from BYU's Marriott Center and broadcast via satellite to many parts of the world Sunday evening.

"One cannot tamper with the divine spirit and precious body — the eternal soul — of another and be deemed as possessing any kind of virtue or be virtuous," she said.

Referring to the age in which her listeners — college-age young adults — live, Sister Dalton said, "We live in a world that is concerned about cleanliness and purity — the cleanliness of our air and the cleanliness of our environment, our water and even our food. In some places, we legislate against pollution and even have government-funded Environmental Protection Agencies to ensure that we are not made ill by contaminants that get into our air, our water or our food supply.

"And yet society tolerates moral pollution in the form of pornography on billboards, television, entertainment, Internet and other media. We tolerate filth that invades our minds through suggestive lyrics, music and language.

"In some respects, we are an organic generation ensuring purity and quality in our lives, and yet we are polluting our moral fiber. I believe that the lack of virtue in our society is directly responsible for many of our social, financial and governmental ills. I believe that the disintegration of faith and families and financial unrest are directly related to the lack of virtue in our society. And I believe that a return to virtue could save an entire nation."

She continued, "We call for a social reform, but what is really needed is a moral reform — a call for a return to virtue."

Women and men are both to be guardians of virtue, Sister Dalton stated.

She told the women they have "the sacred power to create mortal life and to become mothers of Heavenly Father's choice and pure spirits."

She continued, "Safeguard that power by living the standards, dressing and acting modestly and remaining virtuous."

To the men, she said, "Guard your personal virtue, your thoughts, what you view, what you say and your actions. Do not allow pornography to diminish your personal power. Remain pure so that you can exercise the power of the priesthood with which God has entrusted you."

Sister Dalton counseled the young adults what they could do to maintain their virtue: