This is the time of year to be thinking about enrolling in an institute class. Institute is a program that teaches religious classes on campuses throughout the United States. The institute program is also available for young adults who are not currently attending college. Many areas also offer institute classes to single adults. There may be women’s institute classes available in your area.
Institute classes give you the opportunity to study a gospel topic in depth with a group of people. The class topics vary from studying the Book of Mormon, Old Testament, and New Testament, to learning about temples, and words of the prophet. Depending on the size of the institute program in your area there may be a wide variety of classes to choose from, or they may just offer one class at a time.
If you are in an area with a large institute program there are often other programs that you can participate in. Usually the institute will sponsor dances, and other social activities. (These are aimed for the young adult crowd.) There is also usually an institute choir that you can participate in. At the larger institutes classes are usually offered at various times during the day. It is easy to plan to fit one into your schedule.
If you are in an area with a small institute program, the institute program is more of an extension of the young single adult program. It will give you the opportunity to gather with other LDS young single adults to socialize and draw support from each other. These programs can be very close knit.
You can find an institute program near you by visiting the church’s website. If you have children or grandchildren who are heading off to college encourage them to look into the institute program near them. It can help them to build a strong supportive network in a new place.