Philmont: Wednesday – Duty to God

When the new Duty to God Program came out, my dh asked me to help develop a way for leaders to track the progress of the Young Men in their quorum. He walked me through the mechanics and the basics of the program. And we came up with a form to use. He made a presentation and had an orientation meeting with the parents and that was that.
Today, I was lucky to be able to attend a meeting with President Beck (General Young Men’s President) where I gained a full understanding of the magic, meaning and purpose of the new Duty to God program.  For many mothers it may seem like just one more thing to do but it is so much more than that. What if you didn’t have to worry about family home evening for almost half the weeks in the year, your family could learn some of the most basic and important gospel principles by heart, your sons and daughters could be spiritually prepared for any mission before leaving your home, and all you would have to do is sign his Duty to God Book? Within this new program is an opportunity for your sons to change their own lives and in so doing help ease your burden as a parent. For years you have worried about their spiritual, physical and emotional well being. This program turns that responsibility back over to them, liberating both parent and child and allowing the child to become great in his own way by his own means and possibly even help his siblings become great by sharing his testimony and by his example. This is the way I understand the program, there are three steps to each level. They are learn, act and share. Each year the young man is to learn, act and share 20 important gospel principles. They are the same principles for every year. The idea is for the young men to become better and better at learning, acting and sharing these basic concepts. So there you have it, 20 FHE lessons every year! And that is if  you only have one son! There is more to the program but I’m focusing mainly on how it helps me. Selfish? Maybe…but I’ve never been more excited about a youth program than I am about the new Duty to God. The idea that instead of adding more pressure to my daily parenting routine, it relieves some of it, is exciting. It is truly inspired and I encourage everyone to read the program thoroughly. Whether you are an aunt, grandma or mommy you will love how this program helps your family. PS. Your husbands can do this program too and then you would have 40 FHE’s taken care of for the entire year. If you make them cook the refreshments, they may learn they love to cook and help out more in the kitchen too! I Love It!!!