The Rising Generation: How Can We Help?

This past week at church really hit me hard. It was a heavy load to take home and unpack. I don’t always particularly enjoy the second hour of church; whether my husband and I are together in Sunday School or we are apart in Relief Society and Priesthood. I always struggle with the cultural beliefs of those around me, because quite often, mine differ (something you will learn pretty quick).

I have a firm belief in the church doctrine; you know all of those primary answers…the scriptures, prayer, the sacrament. I know that my Father in Heaven hears and answers my prayers. Whether those prayers are done formally kneeling in the floor or quickly driving down the road because I’m late for work. I know that my Father in Heaven loves me and that my Savior Jesus Christ took upon Himself all of the sins and sorrow of the world and then died on the cross so I would be blessed with the atonement. I believe in the holy power of the Priesthood and know that Heavenly Father uses the priesthood to speak directly with His children on Earth.

However, I do not believe that people with tattoos deserve less love than those without tattoos. I believe that if you are an alcoholic and relapse on Saturday, you should feel welcomed at church on Sunday. I know far too well that people make mistakes. I believe that it is quite alright to get a soda on Sunday and I hate that my favorite fast food restaurant is closed Sundays…the audacity. 

On Sunday, we began talking about how the rising generation (which was defined by those who have graduated after 2018) need our help. We began the discussion by talking about how ‘different’ the youth today are. The youth today have more things to say then my generation did. We discussed how the adolescents are LGBTQ+ and that they color their hair and have lots of piercings. Being the open-minded person that I am, I was worried that this topic was going to take a turn for the worse and I would have to leave. However, that was not the case.

We began to have a wonderful conversation about how important it is for us (graduated before 2018) to teach the rising generation with love and compassion. This is far different than the fear-based learning that I endured during my youth. Somehow, someone realized that the scare tactics and fear-based learning was not working. Our society, (not just the Latter-Day Saint religion) has taught for years through scare tactics with a fear-based learning system. Who thought that was a good idea? As a marriage and family therapy major, I know the theorist who discovered that method of teaching and what the ideology behind it was. However, I can vouch for the fact that it is NOT a successful method.

Many of the ladies in my age group began to speak up about different experiences they had growing up in the LDS faith. This included being given a t-shirt at swim parties to ‘cover-up’ so the guys were not distracted. This included stories of young women (12-18 years old) being taught that losing your virginity before marriage, regardless of the reason/way, meant there was no way you would be able to return to the Lord’s presence. The ladies spoke up about how they have had many friends fall away from the LDS church and lose any sense of religion, solely because of the way our “leaders” were leading us.

We talked about the need to teach the rising generation how much they are needed in God’s plan. Teaching them, and ourselves, what our worth is and what our purpose is. We were reminded that each of us were hand-picked by our Eternal Father and that we need to remember and recognize that. The teacher gave us the following example; 2+2=4 5-1=4 9-5=4 and so forth. She equated the number 4 to exaltation. All of us are trying to reach the end goal of exaltation. Exaltation can be reach in many different ways through many different paths. She exclaimed that we were all chosen to be a part of this extraordinary time on Earth. We have a significant purpose for being here. Not only do we have a purpose but we are all worthy of every ounce of love that Heavenly Father has to offer, and that is a lot of love. As a society, we must remember that it is our duty to God to show each other how much value we ALL have.

You have a purpose.
You are loved.
You are worthy of unconditional love.