Youth

• Alma 37:35…Learn wisdom & obey commandments in Youth
• Alma 57:27…Youth- faithful, firm minds, trust in God
• Alma 53:20-21… And they were all young men, and they were exceedingly valiant for courage, and also for strength and activity; but behold, this was not all—they were men who were true at all times in whatsoever thing they were entrusted. Yea, they were men of truth and soberness, for they had been taught to keep the commandments of God and to walk uprightly before him.
•  “Around the room, the advisors to affluent families exchange knowing glances. They’ve seen the eighteen-year-old get a million dollars cash, no strings attached, under the terms of granddad’s will.  Followed immediately by the hot car, the cocaine, the parties, and finally rehab, jail, or even suicide. They’ve seen marriages break up, friendships devastated, and family members alienated from each other.  They’ve watched the companies that grandparents and parents sweated and sacrificed for decades to build go under, as heirs eager to squeeze more cash from the estate broke them up, sold them at bargain prices, or lost them through mismanagement.”  Beating the Midas Curse, by Perry L. Cochell and Rodney C. Zeeb, Page 26
• “Some of us remember David as a shepherd boy divinely commissioned by the Lord through the prophet Samuel. Others of us know him as a mighty warrior; for doesn’t the record show the chant of the adoring women following his many victorious battles, “Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousand”?  Or perhaps we look upon him as the inspired poet or as one of Israel’s greatest kings. Still, others recall that he violated the laws of God and took that which belonged to another—the beautiful Bathsheba. He even arranged the death of her husband, Uriah. I, however, like to think of David as the righteous lad who had the courage and the faith to face insurmountable odds when all others hesitated, and to redeem the name of Israel by facing that giant in his life—Goliath of Gath.”  Meeting Your Goliath (Thomas S. Monson) Kindle Loc. 40-45
• “True manhood…comes only if and when we earn it.” (Richard C. Edgley, Ensign, Nov. 1999, 42)
• “…There are more outstanding young men and women among our people at present than at any other moment in my lifetime.”  (James E. Faust, Ensign, Nov. 1990, 32)
• “For nearly six thousand years, God has held you in reserve to make your appearance in the final days before the Second Coming of the Lord. Every previous gospel dispensation has drifted into apostasy, but ours will not… God has saved for the final inning some of his strongest children, who will help bear off the Kingdom triumphantly. And that is where you come in, for you are the generation that must be prepared to meet your God. All through the ages, the prophets have looked down through the corridors of time to our day. Billions of the deceased and those yet to be born have their eyes on us. Make no mistake about it – you are a marked generation. There has never been more expected of the faithful in such a short period of time as there is of us. Never before on the face of this earth have the forces of evil and the forces of good been as well organized…Each day we personally make many decisions that show where our support will go. The final outcome is certain – the forces of righteousness will finally win. What remains to be seen is where each of us personally, now and in the future, will stand in this fight – and how tall we will stand. Will we be true to our last-days, foreordained mission?” (Ezra Taft Benson, “In His Steps,” Speeches of the Year 1979, 59-60)
• “You have been born at this time for a sacred and glorious purpose…. Your birth at this particular time was foreordained in the eternities.” (Ezra Taft Benson, Ensign, Nov. 1986, 81)
• “…Whether you realize it or not, you are a generation drenched in destiny. If you are faithful, you may be a part of some of the winding-up scenes for this world, and as participants, not mere spectators…”  (Neal A. Maxwell, Ensign, Mar. 1983, 70)
• “The special spirits who have been reserved to live in this time of challenges and who overcome will one day be praised for their stamina by those who pulled handcarts.” (Neal A. Maxwell, Notwithstanding My Weakness, 18)
• “You are a chosen generation – saved for this special time in the history of mankind.” (L. Tom Perry, Ensign, May 1994, 38)
• “You are the finest generation that has ever come to earth.” (Richard G. Scott, Ensign, May 1989, 35)