Young Men General President speaks to PLC

       Charles W. Dahlquist II, newly called Young Men general president, visited Priests Leadership Conference on June 10, 2004, and spoke to young men participants and staff. He challenged the young men to be careful how they live their lives and be ready to serve the Lord as missionaries.   

           Acknowledging the wind, cold, and snow squalls participants had endured during the prior hours, he spoke of driving through periods of rain, sleet, and sun to get to the camp.  He said he thought to himself, “This is just like life.”

       He told of a scout leader who prays that when his troop goes on a camp that there will be some rain or other adversity.  He tells his young men that if all the conditions are perfect, it doesn’t matter if you’re prepared or not.  But adversity teaches a young men the importance of being prepared.

       President Dahlquist recalled an encampment that he attended for LDS young men in Florida, just two weeks before, which was interrupted and drenched by a deadly storm. (See Church News, June 12, 2004, “‘Men of Truth’ is youth camp theme”.) The storm provided valuable lessons to the young men to pray and exercise faith when facing adversity, and to work to be prepared for the storms they would face throughout their lives.

       President Dahlquist described his feelings regarding his recent call as Young Men general president. When he was set apart by President Hinckley, he was blessed to be “almost consumed” with saving the young men of the Church. He reported that he has begun to have these feelings with him constantly.  He challenged the participants to help him with this responsibility, by assisting all members of their quorums to become active.  He told of a Priests quorum that had 17 members, but only one active. The young mens leader promised that he would pay for a bowling and pizza party for the quorum as soon as all 17 attended priest quorum meeting together.  The one talked to other priests at school and visited them in their homes, along with the adult leader. Soon several started to attend and then they too became involved in inviting others to participate. Eventually a Sunday came when 16 out of the 17 attended. The next week there were also 16, but one was different. The young men made a special effort and the following Sunday all 17 were there.

       He complemented the PLC participants, stating that they seemed like good, stalwart young men. He emphasized that we need to be very careful about how we live our lives, by quoting from King Benjamin:

       “But this much I can tell you, that if ye do not watch yourselves, and your thoughts, and your words, and your deeds, and observe the commandments of God, and continue in the faith of what ye have heard concerning the coming of our Lord, even unto the end of your lives, ye must perish. And now, O man, remember, and perish not.” (Mosiah 4:30)

       Young men such as J. D. Knowlden and Jared Wilcock, both serving on staff as members of the VOA cabinet, were impressed by his advice to prospective missionaries. When President Dahlquist spoke of the reduced number of young men in our current missionary force, partly because the Church has “raised the bar” of worthiness, Jared stated that it struck him forcibly that he needed to keep his own standards and behavior high. The Lord needs many more missionaries, but they must be worthy. As eighteen-year-old Priests, they both agreed with his warning to stay away from evils such as pornography and that the first priority for them is to prepare in every way for missionary service. 

       These young leaders were impressed with President Dahlquist’s insight that the Articles of Faith are useful as a way to present the basics of the Gospel to a non-member. He challenged the participants to strengthen their memorization of the Articles of Faith, to help them be more effective when they become missionaries.