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By Mary Richards, Church News
This year, as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints moved to one manual for “Come, Follow Me” study, there may have been some confusion about whether youth classes and quorums should still counsel together at the beginning of the lessons, as they did in past years.
“The answer is yes,” explained Sister Andrea Muñoz Spannaus, Second Counselor in the Young Women General Presidency.
Take five to 10 minutes to talk about how the youth can be more involved in salvation and exaltation, Sister Spannaus invited recently in a post on the Young Women Worldwide social media account.
This is an opportunity for the class or quorum presidency to follow up on items discussed in presidency meeting or ward youth council meeting.
Examples for discussion questions can be found in Appendix D in the 2024 “Come, Follow Me” manual. But classes can discuss other questions that have come up as well.
“You can choose an area from the four areas that we have. You can do one or two questions, or if you have other questions, you can discuss those as well. Then talk with your friends and classmates what would be the answer to these questions,” Sister Spannaus said. “Counsel together.”
The four areas in the appendix are:
- Living the gospel.
- Caring for people in need.
- Inviting all to receive the gospel.
- Uniting families for eternity.
Young women leaders from around the world commented on the post and shared how this is going in their wards.
“These class counsels led by the young women are amazing,” said one comment.
“I love visiting Young Women classes and hearing the wise insights from our amazing young women during these discussions,” said another.
Others expressed thanks for the clarification, as they had been wondering about it.
Youth and Gathering Israel
In January 2022, the Young Women General Presidency wrote for the Church News that these moments of counseling together as a Young Women class or Aaronic Priesthood quorum can be powerful and bring great blessings.
“The Lord uses His youth to work miracles in the gathering of Israel. Young women and young men value opportunities to contribute to the work of salvation and make a difference in the lives of their peers, wards and communities,” the presidency wrote. “The ‘counsel together’ portion of the Sunday meeting is an opportunity for the youth to unite in the cause of Christ to bring souls unto Him.”
They explained that youth leaders can allow class and quorum presidencies to determine how to use the time and what to focus on. But the questions asked are not nearly as important as the outcome, which is strengthening faith in Jesus Christ and accomplishing the work of salvation and exaltation.
Meanwhile, leaders may wonder about the difference between the youth and the leaders and balancing who has what role in the program.
Young Women General President Emily Belle Freeman explained that Church President Russell M. Nelson has said youth are “unusually gifted in reaching out to others and sharing what they believe” — essentially, they are unusually gifted in gathering Israel (“Witnesses, Aaronic Priesthood Quorums and Young Women Classes,” October 2019 general conference).
“This is what we know — the youth are unusually gifted in gathering, particularly people their age. So we are going to let them lead. They know what we should be doing,” President Freeman said in a video on Young Women Worldwide.
Therefore, when talking about a weekly activity or a Sunday lesson or reaching out to someone in the ward, the leaders can brainstorm with the youth about what that should look like from the youth’s perspectives. Leaders can then guide, mentor and support the youth in carrying out those ideas.
Youth are busy, but asking them to lead is not giving them one more thing to do — it’s inviting them to use their gift of gathering and be a part of the work of salvation and exaltation.
“Leaders, let’s help our youth discover this gift by assisting them, guiding them, ministering to them, serving them, encouraging them, supporting them and setting an example of Jesus Christ for them,” President Freeman wrote in another post. “Young women, the gift is yours. Let your leaders know you want more opportunities to lead and share. Remember, we’re in this together.”
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