June 27, 2025, 12:01 AM MDT
Sister J. Annette Dennis was maintained as the first counselor for the Relief Society presidency at the April 2022 General Conference and began his service on August 1, 2022. She was born in Provo, Utah on June 27, 1960, and grew up in Mississippi, Tennessee, Iowa, Nebraska and Utah.
Sister Dennis studied primary education and Spanish at Brigham Young University. On a cultural trip to BYU Spanish department and Hermosillo, Mexico, she met Jorge Dennis and married in 1980. They have four children.
Before the Relief Society’s call for the presidency, Sister Dennis was a member of the main general advisory committee. She and her husband served as mission leaders for the Ecuador Guayaquil West Mission from 2013 to 2016. From 2017 to 2018, the Dennis sisters served as Matron’s assistant, and her husband served as counselor for President Guayaquil Ecuador Temple. She also works for Relief Society, ward and stake level elementary school students and young women.
There are nine quotes from the Dennis sisters over the past year to honor her birthday.
1. “You’re not here by chance.”
“We are all different, but what unites us more than anything else is remembering that we are the daughters and sons of heavenly parents. We are spiritual sisters and brothers.
– University’s Dedicated Little Sign, May 20, 2025
2. ‘This time and at this time’
“You’ve been sent at this point. What do you say about who you are? What do you say about who you were before you came to this earth, and what are you saying about the confidence that your heavenly Father will send you to you this time?
– Pocatello YSA Conference held in Pocatello, Idaho on May 15, 2025
3. “He knows what he’s doing.”
“In the middle of the storm of life, we need to remember that our Father loves us, knows what he is doing, that everything is in his hands, and that we will not experience difficult challenges just to see us suffer.
“It’s not his personality, nor his plan either.”
– Facebook post, May 2, 2025
4. “You don’t need to be afraid of the future.”
“If you choose to protect your Savior, he will adhere to you. No matter where you go or do in this life, you don’t have to walk alone. The Savior will be with you so you don’t have to fear the future.”
– BYU Women’s Meeting, April 30, 2025
5. Shared Goals and Collaboration in Humanitarian Activities
“Humanitarian work is a common ground that allows diverse groups to unite with shared goals, including religious institutions and humanitarian organisations by achieving greater scope and impact by working together.”
– Panel remarks at the World Conference on Intercultural and Interreligious Dialogue on March 17, 2025
6. Deep Peace Between Confusion or Uncertainty
“Dear brothers and sisters, I testify that you can also feel deep peace and God’s love for you in the middle of the chaos and uncertainties you may experience in your life now or in the future.
– BYU Devotional, December 10, 2024
7. Contractual Blessing
“I tried to understand the great blessings that sisters can come to them and their families by entering into their covenant relationship, and how much they need that power and those blessings in the coming years now.
– November 2024, provinces of Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia
8. ‘He won’t leave them.’
“I know that some of you have left the church or have loved ones who have chosen the path you know that will lead to heartache. But the Savior knows them, he loves them, and he will witness to you that he will not leave them. He will never give up on us.
– Facebook post, September 27, 2024
9. Journey to heaven
“On that day, we are all convinced that there is a great deal of effort to get there, challenges, trials, heart, work, tears, climbing uphills, everything is worth it.
– BYU – IDAHO graduate, July 25, 2024
