Mormon Youth

Heber J. Grant stated, “I believe there is nothing in all the world that can compare with the joy that a man feels when he realizes that he has been the instrument in the hands of the living God of reaching some honest heart, inspiring in it a love of God and the desire to serve Him.“

As Mormon youth, we too share the responsibility of sharing the gospel in our schools and communities. When we share the gospel, we held bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to those around us, but it also strengthens our own personal testimony of the Mormon Church. It can sometimes be intimidating to share the gospel, as we fear we might offend someone or be ridiculed. Despite these fears, we must persist in finding tactful ways to share our beliefs. With Mormon Testimonies, sharing your testimony has never been so easy.

Mormontestimonies.org is a website that aims at compiling written and video testimonies from members worldwide. This site is viewed by investigators of the Church, as they seek more information and support. Your individual experience, story, or conversion to the Mormon Church could greatly influence an investigator. As a young person, you have a great amount of influence and power. Taking the few minutes to write about how the church has inspired your life can have a great impact. You will also be able to view your friend’s testimonies, and other people from your ward and stake, under the “Browse Testimonies” link. Testimonies will be classified by geography, generation, by name, and stakes and wards. The process of submitting your testimony is easy. Simply go to the Mormontestimonies.org website and under “Quick Start,” type your name or pseudonym if you would like to remain anonymous, and start writing!

This is an extremely effective yet easy way for Mormons to share their testimony. The youth of the Church has some of the most influential testimonies in the church. Your words have the potential to touch and inspire those looking for the truth.

Growing up is hard. Being a teenager is often awkward, but in youth and young adulthood we make crucial decisions that determine what adults we will become. Deciding whether to stay morally clean, who and when to date, whether to have a Temple marriage, what college to go to, whether to prepare to be a Mormon missionary: all of these things change how we will be for the rest of our lives. A decision to prepare and enter the Mormon temple can bring immense blessings, while a decision not to stay morally clean can bring dire heartache.

We are in the decision-making portion of our existence. The teenage years can be somewhat of a fall from the innocence of childhood, just like we came down to Earth from living in innocence with God. We need the knowledge we gain in life, as in teenage years, to grow up to our full potential. Though some of us would probably like to skip being teenagers, it’s a crucial learning stage. Even in awkward, emotional, challenging times, you learn important lessons to guide your life. Similarly, in the fallen state of mortality, we learn from experience the lessons necessary for our eternal destiny.

The lessons we learn in life and the decisions we make will determine whether we meet our full potential—whether we can become like our Father in Heaven. President Thomas S. Monson shared a story in the last General Conference, in which an elders quorum president was asked about the worth of souls:

The stunned quorum president hesitated as he formulated his reply. I had a prayer in my heart that he would be able to answer the question. He finally responded, “The worth of a soul is its capacity to become as God.” (Thomas S. Monson, “Our Sacred Priesthood Trust,” Ensign, May 2006, 56)

Being a teenager seems like everything when it’s happening, but when it’s over, it seems like a very short time—a time when we either prepared for the blessings and responsibilities of adulthood or we wasted time, thinking that just being a teenager was all that mattered. This life is the same way. We can either choose to prepare for the eternal adulthood—being like God—or we can be absorbed in mortality, thinking that this life is what matters.

So what does matter? Remembering the worth of your immortal soul, and preparing for the life to come. In this life, there are many ways we can prepare. We can take advantage of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. He paid the price for your otherwise-impossible destiny—will you do what it takes to reach it? We can learn to know personally our Heavenly Father and our Savior. We can repent, pray, read scriptures, listen to our leaders, and control ourselves.

While the hope and destiny of every human being is great, the things that will bring that destiny into view are usually simple, sometimes tedious, and never glamorous. They are the little things we do every day, like praying meaningfully, repenting of smaller or larger sins, and going to Mormon Church meetings. But these small things are what bring about the miracles necessary to grow to be closer to and more like Heavenly Father. Daily devotion to doing the right is what brings a powerful testimony and witness from the Holy Ghost. Worthiness brings the blessings of eternity promised when we keep our covenants. Repentance allows the miraculous atonement really work in us, to clean us from sin and let God forget our wrongs.

In this time of making choices, as in mortal life, we choose what we will be. We choose whether to be morally clean adults, blessed by covenants and service. We choose whether we will become like God after this mortal life. At this time, remember what you are worth. Remember not to throw yourself away in the darkness of a tough decision. There is light in keeping an eternal perspective.

It seems sometimes like the Mormon Church is centered on men because only men hold the Aaronic Priesthood and the Melchizedek Priesthood. The priesthood is called a power, but it is God’s power, not man’s power. God owns and controls it, letting those who are worthy use it to do God’s will. Some wonder why Mormon women cannot hold the priesthood. God has commanded that they do not. Though this may seem like an arbitrary command, but his ways aren’t an entire mystery. There are many reasons why women do not hold the priesthood and do not need to.

It is important for Mormon men and women to understand that, when men are ordained to the priesthood, they receive a power to serve others. They are given hard work to do, and the power to do that work; there is no inherent blessing in holding the priesthood, only in using it. A man can never use the power of the priesthood to bless himself, but he can receive blessings from using it to serve God. Women do not miss out on the blessings of service, since women are blessed with many inherent abilities and talents with which they can serve God and receive the blessings of service.

Women themselves are not without power of God from God. God’s amazing power to procreate is given to women, and the vast majority of that creative service lies solely with women. They receive blessings from providing bodies and nourishment for God’s spirit children on earth. The job is not easy, nor does it receive much recognition, but these injustices equal out in the next life. One might ask: If women held the priesthood, what would the men do? They would play a small part in the procreative power, and little else, spiritually. Men cannot do what women do, and they need a job to do in the Church, to grow and to serve, and that’s the priesthood.

God’s division of his power to work and serve on Earth cannot be completely understood. But in the Mormon Church, we must trust that God gives us the jobs we have because they are the best ones to help us grow and make us better. Men need the duties, hard work, and service of priesthood responsibilities. Women need the sacrifice, nurturing, and selflessness that come with motherhood.

It is not necessary for women to have the priesthood for them to receive all of the blessings of the priesthood. Women have the same opportunity as men to enter into all temple covenants, serve God in the Church as leaders, as teachers, or as Mormon missionaries. This week’s Youth Gem tells us:

I hope our granddaughters and grandsons grow up knowing that they are not and have never been third-party observers of the priesthood. The blessings of the priesthood, which ‘are available to men and women alike’ (Dallin H. Oaks, “Priesthood Authority in the Family and the Church,” Ensign, Nov. 2005, 26), are woven in and through and around their lives. Each of them is blessed by sacred ordinances, and each of them can enjoy the blessings of spiritual gifts by virtue of the priesthood. (Julie B. Beck, “An Outpouring of Blessings,” Ensign, May 2006, 11)

Most of us will probably not have the opportunity to save fifteen people (single-handedly) from a flaming building, a sinking ship . . . well, name it. We might be ready to dive in at the first hint of trouble. We might dream of heroism of one kind of another. I know I do. And there are big things we can do (that don’t require impromptu disasters). We can make a difference by going on a mission, by travelling to other countries, other states, or even just part of town to do humanitarian work. There will always be the poor, the sick, the orphaned and the lonely. Sometimes, they’re our neighbors. Mormons believe we can make a difference just by looking around and discovering each other’s needs.

So service is always important. And so is standing for what you believe. Not everyone can be official Mormon missionaries–especially not when they’re teenagers. But when you stand for what you believe is true, no matter what others think, you stand as an example of your beliefs. You make them part of yourself. And you may find people admire you for it.
“When I was in South America, the young women and their leaders sang, ‘I’m Trying to Be like Jesus’ (see Children’s Songbook, 78). They not only sang the words, but they meant it. In Asia and India, young women are examples of faith, modest dress, and purity. Their eyes shine and they are happy. The young women in England, Ireland, and Wales are standing for truth and righteousness in their schools. In an ever-darkening world, they are making a difference. Some of you are the only members in your family or your school. You are making a difference. You are leading in righteous ways.”

(Elaine S. Dalton, “It Shows in Your Face,” Ensign, May 2006, 110)

(From Youth Gems)

The world is sometimes dark and often cynical. And very often selfish. It’s easy to get caught up in our own desires and our own wants and our own needs. There are so many of them, and school and work and friends keep us so busy. “Doing good” sometimes can seem like just not “doing bad.”

But we need to be active. We need to reach out our hands to other people. We need to look to other people’s needs and be willing to put forth effort to meet them. We can be good influences.

In Mormon belief, we can be missionaries through example as well as through the Mormon missionary program. If we are kind to others, if we live what we believe, people will notice.

President Gordon B. Hinckley said:

“There is no end to the good we can do, to the influence we can have with others. Let us not dwell on the critical or the negative. Let us pray for strength; let us pray for capacity and desire to assist others. Let us radiate the light of the gospel at all times and all places, that the Spirit of the Redeemer may radiate from us.”

(Gordon B. Hinckley, “The Need for Greater Kindness,” Ensign, May 2006, 61)