Young Men: “Do It Now”

In his talk “Do It Now” Elder Donald L Hallstrom speaks to the men of the church at the Priesthood session. He opens with the story of his son, who procrastinated a school assignment and as a result did not have a family recipe to turn in for the class cookbook. He ended up turning in a friend’s recipe that used a lot of alcohol. The family suffered embarrassment from the incident. Elder Hallstrom goes on to make the comparison to those of us who may be procrastinating committing completely to the gospel. He speaks of the importance of reading … Continue reading →

Young Men: Scouting Outings

The scouting program recommends that the boys have at least one camp out or Saturday hike each month. This can be difficult to plan and execute every month. However, the fall is an excellent time to go on extended day hikes. The weather has cooled down and the foliage is truly beautiful to behold. If you plan on taking your boys hiking, you need to make sure that you do it in area that is safe from hunters and hunting. Additionally you should wear bright colors to let hunters know that you are there, just in case someone wanders away … Continue reading →

The Scout Committee

The scout committee is an important part of having a functioning scouting program in your ward. While it is possible for a scoutmaster to run everything himself, it is not the way that the program is supposed to run. One of the biggest reasons is that it leads to burnout of scoutmasters. Being a scoutmaster is a lot of work, and it is nice to for him to have some help with organizing and running the troop. The scout committee is there to help out when needed. The scout committee can help with organizing and finding merit badge counselors. The … Continue reading →

Young Men: Moving Out

The end of summer is drawing closer, and it is time to send your little (or not so little ones) off to school. This can be a big step, especially if you are sending one off to college for the first time. This is a time when your child decides for the first time what to do with his life. He has many choices in his life right now. As you send him off to school, be sure that he has these five things. 1) Pack his scriptures for him. If you are not sure that he would pack them, … Continue reading →

Young Men: Activities and Interests

Every young man will have varying interests. It is important to recognize that not every young man in your ward is going to fit into the same mold. There will be young men that love basketball, and others who hate. There will be the boys that love camping and those that don’t. There will be young men that love video games, and those who don’t (well—maybe not that one!) My point is that it is important to recognize each individual in your group and give him a chance to shine. Here are five ways to do that. 1) It is … Continue reading →

Young Men: Dating

As your teenage son approaches sixteen, he may be getting ready to begin dating. This is an exciting time for teenagers, but it is important that your son remembers to maintain the church standards while on a date. Here are five ideas that can help you prepare your son for the dating world. 1) Teach your son to treat others with respect. You can teach him the etiquette basics and encourage him to open the door for the young woman he is out with. You can take this a step further by teaching him to respect women and girls in … Continue reading →

Young Men: Video Game Party

One fun activity to consider planning for your Young Men is a video game night. This could be something that you work together for, everyone bringing their scriptures for a certain period of time or the troop passing off a certain number of merit badges. This could also be a camp out, but you would need to make sure that the guidelines are still being followed. This activity is a great way to reach out to those boys that really are not interested in scouting. Here are five ideas for making the activity successful 1) You need to set a … Continue reading →

Young Men: Summer Service Projects

The summer time is a great time for the young men to work on service projects. The young men need to complete many hours of service both for the Duty to God award and the Eagle award. For the Eagle service project the young man is supposed to organize and supervise a fairly large project. The Duty to God Award allows you to use the Eagle Project service for one of the service project requirements. Here are four ideas that can be used as projects in the summer. 1) One wonderful project is to help restore an old graveyard. This … Continue reading →

Young Men: Summer Activities

It is important to keep your son out of trouble over the summer months. The summer is great for relaxing and having fun, but it easy for kids to get in trouble if they have too little to do. Here are five activities that you may consider having your young man do over the summer. 1) You can have your son work. One common job is mowing lawns; another is taking on a paper route. You may also consider encouraging your sixteen year old to find work over the summer. You can encourage your son to pay his tithing and … Continue reading →

Young Men: Church Ball

In many areas there are wards and stake that still have the young men play basketball as a ward team. This can be a positive experience for some of the boys. However, it is too easy to have this become negative for others. It is important to realize that church ball is mainly to build friendships and to be a positive experience. Here are a few tips to make it a more positive experience. 1) Respect everyone’s choice whether they want to play or not. It is not fair to put undue pressure on boys that are not comfortable playing … Continue reading →