How Latter-day Saint Youth Are Learning to Share the Gospel at FSY Conferences 

Youth from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints attend For the Strength of Youth (FSY) conferences to deepen their faith in Jesus Christ. The experiences during the multi-day conferences include gospel learning, wholesome activities and meaningful connections with others.

At several FSY conferences worldwide, youth are also participating in activities that help them learn how to share the gospel, which include activities focused on missionary work, discussions with full-time missionaries, and devotionals that teach them how to “love, share and invite.” These experiences not only strengthen their faith in Christ, but also help them gain confidence in sharing their faith with others, now and in the future.

These efforts also align with President Russell M. Nelson’s invitation to “enlist in the youth battalion of the Lord” and “help gather Israel.” He taught, “My dear extraordinary youth, you were sent to earth at this precise time, the most crucial time in the history of the world, to help gather Israel. There is nothing happening on this earth right now that is more important than that. There is nothing of greater consequence. Absolutely nothing” (“Hope of Israel,” worldwide youth devotional, June 2018, Gospel Library).

‘Love, Share and Invite’ Now

One of the “love, share and invite” activities happening at some FSY conferences is a panel of missionaries who answer questions about sharing the gospel. “It helps the youth understand they have the opportunity right now to share their testimonies and experiences with the gospel with others,” said President Peter H. Barth of the Canada Calgary Mission, who, with his wife, Heather, helped facilitate FSY missionary panel devotionals. “They don’t have to wait until they are serving a mission,” he said.

“The youth of Zion are filled with testimony and light,” said Clark B. Maxwell, former mission president of the Idaho Boise Mission, who, with his wife, Kari, organized an FSY panel of missionaries in 2024. “We loved the enthusiasm and excitement we felt from the youth as we discussed how to love, share and invite.”

He added, “We noted that the youth are so natural at sharing the gospel. They really understand how to invite their friends in normal and natural ways.”

During a devotional, the Maxwells took two to three minutes to give each youth an opportunity to use their phones to share a gospel message with a friend or invite a friend to an upcoming Church activity. “They immediately responded,” said Maxwell. “Many of the youth commented to us after the meeting how fun and easy it was to share the gospel, and it got them excited about serving one day as full-time missionaries.”

At a recent FSY conference, Elder Isaac Wilkins and Elder Davin Avery, who serve in the Idaho Boise Mission, invited youth to list the names of at least five nonmember friends. “During the 2 or 3 minutes of silence, it was humbling to watch 600-plus valiant youth write down the names of their friends, pondering on how they could uniquely share the gospel with them,” Elder Wilkins and Elder Avery shared in an email.

“We sat there, realizing there were thousands of names of individuals in that room. It was an overwhelming feeling. We then … testified that just as they each know these individuals, the Savior knows them perfectly, and He would help the youth know how to share His gospel with each of them. We can only imagine the impact that the youth have had since then.”

Invite Friends to Attend FSY

Some Latter-day Saint youth haven’t waited for FSY to learn about and practice their “love, share and invite” skills; they invited their friends to attend FSY with them.

Laura Mirabal from La Vega, Dominican Republic, was baptized after a good friend invited her to attend FSY with her. Initially, Mirabal just wanted to spend more time with her best friend, but when she arrived at FSY, everything changed. “I felt something different, a positive energy that made me open my heart to things I didn’t know,” Mirabal said.

During a devotional, Mirabal listened to testimonies about the Savior’s love. “I felt a very strong peace, something I can’t explain in words. I felt loved, understood, and a sincere desire to draw closer to God. It was there that I began to read the Book of Mormon and feel that I wanted something more for my life. That was the moment when I began to seriously think about getting baptized.”

Another youth from La Vega, Alexandar (Ale) Ynfante, also joined the Church after a friend invited him to attend FSY. “From the first day, I noticed a very spiritual and beautiful environment that, as time went by, was helping me to know more about Jesus and the Church. I met incredible people, I shared many laughs, beautiful moments, and people who teach you to grow personally and spiritually,” he said.

Ynfante will always be grateful to his friend for the invitation to attend FSY. “Thanks to her, I was able to get to know the Church and to be able to change and transform my life, wanting to faithfully follow the purpose of Jesus Christ.”

‘Invite From the Heart’

Mirabal’s advice to youth who want to invite and share the gospel with their friends is to “invite from the heart, without pressure. Sometimes it’s enough to just share how good you feel about living the gospel and talk about your experience with joy,” she said. “A sincere invitation can change someone’s life, as it did for me. You never know the impact you can have just by speaking with love and enthusiasm about what you believe in.”

Prepare for Future Missionary Service

For the missionary panel discussion at the FSY in Calgary, Canada, last year, President Barth said that each missionary was assigned a question in advance. This included their pre-mission decision and preparation process, as well as what they had learned from the mission. The missionaries were able to share some of their own experiences, the sacrifices they made to serve a mission, and what they did to prepare for a mission when they were between 14 and 17 years old.

“We received wonderful feedback from the FSY youth about the testimonies of the missionaries,” President Barth said.

“For many [youth], serving a mission is a decision they are considering at this time,” wrote Elder Wilkins and Elder Avery in an email. “By sharing our experiences and helping [youth] to understand how we came to make that decision, it hopefully had an impact on several individuals. It also allowed them the opportunity to ask questions and personally reflect on how they can share the gospel.”

After Sister Emma Benson and Sister Brittany Bylund participated in a missionary panel at this year’s FSY conference in Boise, Idaho, they were introduced to a young woman who was attending FSY and desired to be baptized, but was too scared to talk to the elders. “As sisters, we got to talk and help her see how important it would be for her to meet with missionaries to prepare for baptism,” they reported in an email. “She was comfortable with us, and we set up a few Zoom lessons.” Then they connected her with sister missionaries in her hometown, who are now teaching not only this young woman but also her sister.

Three Ways Parents Can Help Their Youth

One of the objectives of FSY conferences is to empower youth to continue having spiritual experiences at home.

Elder Sean Douglas, General Authority Seventy and First Counselor in the Mexico Area Presidency, said, “FSY is not meant to be an event; … it is the beginning of good habits, norms, patterns, so that when [the youth] return home, [their families] feel the power that they bring and help them to continue this: remembering that they are children of God, children of the covenant and disciples of Christ.”

Three ways parents can help youth are:

1. Encourage them to attend FSY. “[FSY] is a place where you can grow spiritually that will help you remember our Father [and] Jesus Christ more,” Ynfante said.

2. Make it easy to register for FSY. Parents can have their child’s Church account and their password ready. For help, they can call the Global Service Center at 801-240-4357, then select option 1 for Church account and login support. 

3. Help youth remember and apply what they learned at FSY. Following FSY, parents can help youth remember and practice what they learned at FSY by asking about their experiences; welcoming their friends; helping them recognize opportunities to love, share and invite; and encouraging them to set goals and prepare for missions or other experiences where they can share the gospel.