Parents & leaders of youth—this FSY series is here to review and learn from the new FSY pamphlet. To familiarize ourselves with the important messages the Lord wants our Youth to know and understand today. We will study section by section and hopefully come to see more clearly the messages the youth today need.
The first section of the FSY pamphlet focuses on the power of Jesus Christ and how we can receive His help in our lives. We'll also discuss the doctrines, Eternal Truths, invitations and promised blessings of the pamphlet first section.
Parents & leaders of youth—this FSY series is here to review and learn from the new FSY pamphlet. To familiarize ourselves with the important messages the Lord wants our Youth to know and understand today. We will study section by section and hopefully come to see more clearly the messages the youth today need.
The first section of the FSY pamphlet focuses on the power of Jesus Christ and how we can receive His help in our lives. We'll also discuss the doctrines, Eternal Truths, invitations and promised blessings of the pamphlet first section.
Enjoy! www.thelatterdayladies.com
Speaker 1:
Hello and welcome to the Latter-day Ladies podcast. I am your host and your friend, jenny Moss, and today, on episode 107, we are going to dive into the First Strength of Youth pamphlet. Hello everyone, this series of the First Strength of Youth pamphlet is specifically for parents, leaders and supporters of the youth of today. The First Strength of Youth series is to familiarize ourselves with the important messages that the Lord and our Prophet wants our youth to know and understand. Today we are going to study section by section and hopefully be able to see more clearly the messages that God needs our youth to understand.
Speaker 1:
The first section of the pamphlet is entitled Jesus Christ Will Help you. I love the word will. There is power in the word will. Will is in the future tense, speaking about facts of ability and capacity. We can know that the Savior, jesus Christ, will assist us. Whether we are serving in a calling we struggle with, forgiving someone who wronged us, or even trusting the Lord's timing and purpose in something that is very painful, jesus Christ will help with his personal capacity as the Savior of our lives.
Speaker 1:
On my birthday, I felt prompted to make a goal about building up our food storage. After feeling that prompting, I immediately started to panic, trying to figure out everything that I needed to do to build a long-term food storage for our four children. As my mind tried to wrap itself around the prompting, I felt the spirit of peace and I knew it would be okay and that I didn't need to know all of the answers to be able to accept that prompting as something I needed to do. Two days later, I was just anxiously engaged in the good cause of motherhood and I received a text message from a friend and she said hey, are you interested in some food storage? They were moving and they didn't want to take everything with them across the country. Heavenly Father had already known that this friend was going to be generous enough to give us all of these things that we would stand in need of, and so he gave me the prompting of something to focus on. He included me in that miracle and helped me see his hand clearly that week. It was so amazing to see Heavenly Father work. He's provided so much for me in my life and I know that it's not singular to my experience. We are all important to the Lord and he has all things in front of him and is already preparing the roads that we will all walk one day. We do not need to ask how is it done, because the answer will always be through the Savior, jesus Christ.
Speaker 1:
The next part of the pamphlet talks about how Jesus Christ is our strength. It says, quote he has done everything necessary for you to have joy in this life and forever. By choosing Him and His gospel, you are choosing eternal joy. Even when you try to do your best and make good choices, sometimes you will make mistakes. You'll do things you wish you hadn't. Everybody does. When that happens it is easy to feel discouraged or wonder if you will ever be good enough. But there is good news, wonderful, hopeful news. Because God loves you, he sent His Son, jesus Christ, who took upon Him self your sins so you could repent and keep progressing. End quote.
Speaker 1:
I love that this section has an equal emphasis given to the accountability of our actions and the atonement of Jesus Christ. Of course we strive to use good judgment and when we use our agency we will not do that perfectly. Jesus Christ was called to become the Savior, not as a break in case of emergency tool, but as a constant companion to our journey, if we are willing and wanting His input and coaching in our lives. Each section of the For Strength of Youth pamphlet goes through a doctrine and then it comes to a place called the Eternal Truth Section where it re-emphasizes what the doctrine is and expounds upon it. So in this Eternal Truth Section it says, quote Jesus Christ can strengthen you. He can help you change your desires, your thoughts and your actions. When you are worried, afraid or struggling in any way, he will comfort you. He will help you in all aspects of your life. End quote.
Speaker 1:
Tonight, as I was writing, I felt flooded by anger and frustration from a hurt I received from another person. I almost felt my heart harden, which is difficult when you're trying to write something to bring the Spirit to others. I knew I needed the Savior to help change my desire to forgive and let go of this pain. So I said a little prayer, listened to a few talks on forgiveness to feel the desire and then actually forgive and hand my pain over to the Savior. I was so grateful because after I said the prayer I felt Jesus Christ help me, not only forgive but hand over that pain. He can help us in every step of the process of forgiveness and repentance. I know many youth have felt unworthy to ask the Savior to help because the desire to sin is still strong. I love that the Savior, jesus Christ, has the power to help us change our thoughts and desires and actions. When we emphasize that joy that the Savior feels every time we ask for help, I believe our youth and we ourselves can start to see the hope filled and loving lens that Jesus Christ truly views us in.
Speaker 1:
The section continues, quote Repentance isn't punishment for sin. It is the way the Savior frees us from sin. To repent means to change, to turn away from sin and toward God. It means to improve and receive forgiveness. This kind of change is not a one-time event. It is an ongoing process. End quote.
Speaker 1:
I found an article that Elder James E Faust wrote right before his passing. It's called the Power of God to change. Elder Faust started the article saying this quote Each one of us has been given the power to change his or her life as part of the Lord's great plan of happiness. We have individual agency to make decisions. We can decide to do better and to be better. In some ways, all of us need to change, that is, some of us need to be more kind at home, less selfish, better listeners and more considerate in the way we treat others. Some of us have habits that need to be changed, habits that harm us and others around us. End quote. We can all ask for help in changing elements of us that distance ourselves from the Lord and others. We can ask for help in the desire to change and what he would like for us to focus on in changing.
Speaker 1:
There is so much rhetoric in the world about people remaining the same forever, regardless of effort. This is often spurred by those in the world seeking to manage expectations because they've seen little progress in their own life or in others' ability to change. But what they're missing is the key to the doctrine of change. Forgiveness and repentance is predicated upon the atonement of Jesus Christ. When we seek to change but only rely on our own merits, there will always be limitation. Brother Wilcox spoke about this on last week's podcast, about the frustration we may feel in the first few weeks of January after we've made goals but seem unable to keep them. We have to remind ourselves and the youth that the Savior, jesus Christ, needs to be a part of the equation of change. When we point ourselves back to the Savior, back to His power and His authority as our Redeemer, we will understand where to put our faith in the doctrine of change. It's not in us, it is in Him.
Speaker 1:
The next part of this section is called invitations. These are invitations that are given based upon the doctrine that has been taught and explained. The two invitations for this section are repent and rejoice in the gift to do better and better. I love the hope in the phrase rejoice in the gift to do better. It reminds me of that talk President Monson gave many years ago about having joy in the journey. I think the only way I have successfully done that is by inviting the Savior into each stage of my progression. He cheers me on as I move forward, regardless of what step I'm on. It reminds me of when we're trying to teach our children how to speak. First we're asking them to make sounds, then we're having them imitate us as we're making sounds. We're seeking to help them learn how to manipulate their mouths, how to replicate the things that we're saying, and then they learn how to do it themselves. It's been a really interesting thing watching each of my kids learn how to talk. Each of them have had different struggles and have worked on a different timeline, but all of them have been able to achieve this through me staying patient and continuing to lovingly lead them along. I have not been perfect in this process my husband and children can testify of that but I know that the Savior, jesus Christ, has the ability to be the perfect leader and mentor and coach for all of us. Whatever we are working on in our life, whether it is patience, whether it is learning how to overcome a certain temptation, jesus Christ has the power to help us become better and better.
Speaker 1:
There's a next section of the pamphlet that goes through specific questions and answers about forgiveness and repentance. It's very powerful and I highly suggest that if you are a youth leader or parent, that you go through the pamphlet, take time reading through these things and having discussions with your youth, because there's so much that we can dive into on each page. One of the questions that I wanted to highlight today was I'm trying to repent, but I keep making the same mistakes. What should I do now? I love the answer they provided. He takes time to develop good habits and break bad ones, so don't give up.
Speaker 1:
Turn towards Christ. His grace is sufficient. Try again. You're never alone in your efforts to progress. Jesus Christ is always with you. There is so much power in studying these words and seeing the focus on the Savior, because, of course, that is what this entire Gospel is about. There's a whole list of scriptures that can dive into this specific topic. Then there are two temple questions at the bottom that relate to this section. I highly recommend reading this, studying this on your own, and I'd love to hear the things that you've learned and all of the things that you've received from the Lord. I know that as we turn our youth towards the Savior, his grace truly will be sufficient for all that they stand in need of. I love you guys. We can go forward with faith and not fear. If you enjoyed this episode of the Latter-day Ladies Podcast, I invite you to share it with a friend or write and review our podcast on Apple Podcasts. Have an amazing week. Bye.