NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. -- About 250 Mormon young women hiked a peak overlooking the Newport Beach California Temple to unfurl their own banners and make their own virtue statement to Orange County, Calif.

The young women from the Santa Margarita California Stake were inspired by a similar hike by the General Young Women presidency up Ensign Peak overlooking the Salt Lake Temple about a year ago. Sister Elaine S. Dalton, the General Young Women president, asked the young women of the world, ages 12 to 18, to "return to virtue." Dalton said "now is the time for each of us to arise and unfurl a banner to the world calling for a return to virtue."

On Sept. 15, the young women from Foothill Ranch, Portola Hills, Rancho Santa Margarita, Coto de Caza and Lake Forest, set out with white and golden banners in hand.



"Virtue is a pattern of thought and behavior based on high moral standards. We teach our youth to have the moral courage and stand for the right, even if they have to stand alone," said Liz Forrest, the Santa Margarita Stake Young Women president and one of the event organizers.

Once at the peak, the girls were asked to promise that they would stay virtuous so they could one day be worthy to marry in the temple. Sister Dalton emphasized, "The temple is the reason for everything we do in the church and virtue is a prerequisite to entering the temple."

Kate Stromberg, a young woman from Rancho Santa Margarita, said, "In the world today, virtue isn't highly regarded; but being with the girls that day who shared my same standards and values helped strengthen me and keep me on the right path."