Well I Really Shot Myself In The Foot.

[Cobalt-70]

I've been thinking about your evil-speaking of the lord's anointed for some time, and the conclusion I keep coming to personally is that the needs of the youth are the same today as they were in any other era. They need the same thing youth needed two-thousand years ago. Namely: instruction, example, patient loving correction, and opportunities to feel and recognize the spirit.

I would ask you to elaborate, what exactly is so different about today's youth, and in what way exactly would you have them adapt the programs and cirriculum?

"Evil speaking" is a religious term of art, circa the mid-1800s when Joseph Smith wrote the temple ceremony, that refers to slander or back-biting. Pointing out that the men who run the church are old is simply stating the obvious truth. And isn't Jesus Christ is the source of all truth?

Your statement that youth need "instruction, example, patient loving correction, and opportunities to feel and recognize the spirit" doesn't say anything about the types of programs that would best keep the youth in the church. There are about a million ways to do all the above. But sometimes the programs that appeal to the nostalgia of 80-year old men don't appeal to 16 year old girls. I don't have all the answers, but I know that a huge percentage of LDS youth find the current programs very boring and irrelevant to their lives, and they are leaving in droves. What young person can really get excited about sitting quietly through a three hour block of people telling you about farm stories and the proper roles of women as homemakers, or shaming you into covering your shoulders and knees or stopping masturbation?

We need to hire professionals to conduct studies, and we need to investigate what other churches are doing, and adopt anything we find that seems to be getting results. (Although this is a serious problem in nearly every church right now--nobody really knows how to stop the hemorrhaging.) And we have to be nimble, and be able to make adjustments on the fly quickly if something isn't working.

[Cobalt-70]

Cobalt,

I began googling the church and joined this board (among others) at 14 and my faith wasn't stellar. Irreligious is the term that I'd put. Religion, previously, just wasn't all that important to me. Of course I'm one example of a cohort. But I'm a perfect case study on how the internet and the "real story of mormonism" isn't necessarily a real struggle. And the rest of your post is just as credible, IMO.

I don't think that the "embarrassing" parts of Mormonism would even be much of an issue if we were just forthright about them from the beginning. Kids don't care whether Smith used a stone in a hat to translate the Book of Mormon, or that he had teenage plural wives, but when they get older, they might care that they had to learn about this stuff from their friends or on the internet, rather than from their mentors in the church. I try to teach my kids most of that stuff early, because I'd rather they learn it from me than from some internet site.

[Cobalt-70]

I always have somewhat of a problem understanding members who dismiss the "old men running the Church" as being out of touch with today's times... these "old men" wear the daily mantle of leadership for the Lord's Church... they meet every week in the upper room of the SL temple where they receive inspiration and guidance for the Church... perhaps that is why there is now a "new" curriculum for youth that is being introduced.

Perhaps that is why the Perpetual Education Fund was established... perhaps that is why the perpetual travel fund (or whatever it is called) has been established to assist those who live far from a temple and face excessive costs to be able to attend and receive their endowment... these "old men" have now been joined by individuals such as Uchtdorf, Bednar, Cook, Christofferson, and Andersen... all of whom receive the guidance and inspiration, and revelation for the Church. Youth who choose to succumb to peer pressure and enticements of the "world" rather than listen to their parents, or the leaders (locally, stake, and Church-wide) do so not because there are "old men" running the Church...

I don't doubt they receive inspiration for the questions they put to a vote and pray about. The problem is, perhaps the questions they put to a vote are not the right questions, and they have not done the right background studies and research. There is nothing in LDS theology that says the church is run perfectly, or that the leadership doesn't sometimes make serious errors in judgment. For counterexamples, we need look no further than Joseph Smith himself.

[Erin15]

"Evil speaking" is a religious term of art, circa the mid-1800s when Joseph Smith wrote the temple ceremony, that refers to slander or back-biting. Pointing out that the men who run the church are old is simply stating the obvious truth. And isn't Jesus Christ is the source of all truth?

So, you actually assert that your statement was a simple dispassionate mentioning of their age, and you meant no disrespect in any way?

But sometimes the programs that appeal to the nostalgia of 80-year old men don't appeal to 16 year old girls.

You speak of the programs as if they originate from the brethren, instead of The Lord. Why do you assume that the programs come from the bretheren? Is it really beyond the realm of possibility that they come from The Lord?

a huge percentage of LDS youth find the current programs very boring and irrelevant to their lives, and they are leaving in droves.

When the people rejected the gospel during the time of the great flood, was it because Noah did not make it interesting enough for them? When the Nephites rejected the gospel, was it the fault of Mormon and Moroni for not making it exciting enough?

Really it comes down to a simple question, is the purpose of the church to be popular, or truthful?

We need to hire professionals to conduct studies, and we need to investigate what other churches are doing, and adopt anything we find that seems to be getting results. (Although this is a serious problem in nearly every church right now--nobody really knows how to stop the hemorrhaging.) And we have to be nimble, and be able to make adjustments on the fly quickly if something isn't working.

Here's a better idea. How about instead of asking mortals, how about we ask The Lord how he wants His programs in His church to be run?

[Cobalt-70]

Here's a better idea. How about instead of asking mortals, how about we ask The Lord how he wants His programs in His church to be run?

I don't think you understand how the governing church bodies operate. They typically: (1) assign a committee to study an issue, (2) the committee comes back with findings and a recommendation, (3) there is deliberation, and (4) a vote is taken, and if there is unanimity, they do it. It's not like Tom Monson bumps into Jesus in the halls of the Salt Lake Temple and asks, "Hey, Jesus, can you please email me your five-point plan on what to do about the youth hemorrhage problem?"

Edited November 21, 2012 by Cobalt-70

[Erin15]

I don't think you understand how the governing church bodies operate. They typically: (1) assign a committee to study an issue, (2) the committee comes back with findings and a recommendation, (3) there is deliberation, and (4) a vote is taken, and if there is unanimity, they do it. It's not like Tom Monson bumps into Jesus in the halls of the Salt Lake Temple and asks, "Hey, Jesus, can you please email me your five-point plan on what to do about the youth hemorrhage problem?"

You're right. All that time I spent working at church headquarters didn't give me daily examples of watching the spirit of revelevation affect and influence each decision made.

I am being sarcastic, of course. The reality, Cobalt, is that The Lord really does guide and direct even the little decisions. I have seen it with my own eyes. This is His church. He is in charge.

If you do not have a testimoy of that, then it is your responsability to go get one.

[volgadon]

We need to hire professionals to conduct studies, and we need to investigate what other churches are doing, and adopt anything we find that seems to be getting results. (Although this is a serious problem in nearly every church right now--nobody really knows how to stop the hemorrhaging.) And we have to be nimble, and be able to make adjustments on the fly quickly if something isn't working.

The Russia Rostov Mission was mentioned by Richard G. Scott in the most recent general conference, in relation to a local member's inspired program for the youth.

"In the Russia Rostov-na-Donu Mission the youth were invited to each index 2,000 names and then qualify at least one name from their own families for temple ordinances. Those who accomplished this goal were invited to go on a long journey to the new Kyiv Ukraine Temple. One young man shared his experience: “I was spending a lot of time playing computer games. When I started indexing, I didn’t have time to play games. At first I thought, ‘Oh no! How can that be!’ When this project was over, I even lost interest in gaming. … Genealogical work is something that we can do here on earth, and it will remain in heaven.”"

What isn't mentioned here is that the local member who issued the challenge is an old lady. I served in that mission and had actually seen some of the kids I know posts a locally produced video about it several months before conference.