YW lesson

See these candy bars?  I am going to give you a choice.  They are going to sit right here throughout the lesson...you can either come get 2 chocolate chips right now...or have the candy bar at the end.  Anyone want the 2 chocolate chips now?

Nervous about lesson...dating/sexual purity ...a topic that is sometimes a bit uncomfortable & we have girls at different ages/stages...  so I'm hoping to make the first part kind of fun & second half more serious.  We will play Who Wants to Be a Millionaire...as a team.  If you win by answering all of the questions, you'll get the candy bar up at the front at the end...unless you decide you want the 2 chocolate chips now...At any time, you can phone a friend (ask the leaders) or go to the source (look in scriptures, lds.org, Especially for Youth pamphlet. Let's get started.
Questions about dating:
$1,000What age does the church say you must be to begin dating?  (16)
$2,000 What is the purpose of dating?  Name at least 2 purposes.   (To have fun, to get to know young men, develop social skills, make friends, and eventually find an eternal companion)
$5,000 Who should you date?  (Those with high moral standards.)
$10,000Should you date one person exclusively when you are young?  (No...doesn't allow you to get to know as many people,may lead to immorality.)
$25,000What should dating help prepare you for?  (Temple marriage)
$50,000What types of activities should you do on a date?  ( fun, those that help you maintain your moral standards, activities that help you get to know your date)
100,000 according to D&C 121:45-46, what blessings come from being virtuous? (Confidence wax strong, Holy Ghost constant companion)
$250, 000 Activities not to engage in (necking, petting, etc.)

QUOTE #1  Elder Bednar said, "Such relations are not merely a curiosity to be explored, an appetite to be satisfied, or a type of recreation or entertainment to be pursued selfishly. They are not a conquest to be achieved or simply an act to be performed. Rather, they are in mortality one of the ultimate expressions of our divine nature and potential and a way of strengthening emotional and spiritual bonds between husband and wife. We are agents blessed with moral agency and are defined by our divine heritage as children of God—and not by sexual behaviors, contemporary attitudes, or secular philosophies."

$500,000 What does it mean to be chaste?  (To refrain from sexual activity before marriage and to have complete fidelity within marriage)
$1,000,000The Lord has said that this sin is more serious than any sin except murder or denying the Holy Ghost.  (Immorality)

There is no more beautiful sight than a young woman who glows with the light of the Spirit, who is confident and courageous because she is virtuous.  --Elaine Dalton, April 2010 "Remember Who You Are!"

I hope to focus primarily on the positive side of chastity, but I do feel like a warning might be necessary:
he writer of Proverbs observes: “Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned? Can one go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned? . . . Whoso committeth adultery . . . destroyeth his own soul. A wound and dishonour shall he get; and his reproach shall not be wiped away” (Prov. 6:27–28, 32–33).

Elder Holland compares sexual sin to fire...and says that part of the reason it is so serious is that it deals with how children are brought into this world.  Heavenly Father has set strict commands related to how we enter and leave this mortal state.  He gives 3 reasons sexual sin is so serious:

1st, Elder Holland states, "The body is an essential part of the soul. This distinctive and very important Latter-day Saint doctrine underscores why sexual sin is so serious. We declare that one who uses the God-given body of another without divine sanction abuses the very soul of that individual, abuses the central purpose and processes of life, “the very key” (Ensign, July 1972, 113) to life, as President Boyd K. Packer once called it. In exploiting the body of another—which means exploiting his or her soul—one desecrates the Atonement of Christ, which saved that soul and which makes possible the gift of eternal life. And when one mocks the Son of Righteousness, one steps into a realm of heat hotter and holier than the noonday sun. You cannot do so and not be burned."

2nd, Elder Holland explains, "Secondly, human intimacy is reserved for a married couple because it is the ultimate symbol of total union, a totality and a union ordained and defined by God. From the Garden of Eden onward, marriage was intended to mean the complete merger of a man and a woman—their hearts, hopes, lives, love, family, future, everything....Can you see the moral schizophrenia that comes from pretending you are one, pretending you have made solemn promises before God, sharing the physical symbols and the physical intimacy of your counterfeit union but then fleeing all other aspects of what was meant to be a total obligation?"

3rd, Thirdly, may I say that physical intimacy is not only a symbolic union between a husband and a wife—the very uniting of their souls—but it is also symbolic of a shared relationship between them and their Father in Heaven. He is immortal and perfect. We are mortal and imperfect. Nevertheless we seek ways even in mortality whereby we can unite with Him spiritually. Those special moments include kneeling at a marriage altar in the house of the Lord, blessing a newborn baby, baptizing and confirming a new member of the Church, partaking of the emblems of the Lord’s Supper, and so forth.
These are moments when we quite literally unite our will with God’s will, our spirit with His spirit. At such moments we not only acknowledge His divinity but we quite literally take something of that divinity to ourselves. One aspect of that divinity given to men and women is the use of His power to create a human body, that wonder of all wonders, a genetically and spiritually unique being never before seen in the history of the world and never to be duplicated again in all the ages of eternity. A child, your child—with eyes and ears and fingers and toes and a future of unspeakable grandeur."

I want you  to think for just a moment about what you know about God.  (all knowing, all powerful, creator, Father).  I think it is very significant that of all the things He could ask us to call Him, He asks us to call Him Father.  Of all of His roles, being our Father is the one He holds most sacred!  Of all the titles, God could ask us to call Him, He chose to have us call him Father.  I think there are several reasons for that...to remind us of our relationship to Him, to help us feel close to Him, but also to affirm His most sacred role...that of a father...a giver of life.  Of our roles here on Earth and in eternity, no role is more important than being a father or mother.  And the law of chastity is given to protect this divine and most important of roles.  It is a law of love and protection.  If he values and treasures that role, shouldn't we respect our roles as mothers just as much...and hold sacred the power that allows us to become a mother.  

Elder Holland said, "Of all the titles God has chosen for Himself, Father is the one He favors most, and creation is His watchword—especially human creation, creation in His image. You and I have been given something of that godliness, but under the most serious and sacred of restrictions. The only control placed on us is self-control—self-control born of respect for the divine power this gift represents. Don’t be deceived."

I can testify that some of the greatest joy I have ever experienced has come through being a mother...no more wonderful, powerful, or amazing experience than carrying a child in your body, giving birth and raising that child.   But as the Family Proclamation teaches, "Marriage between a man and woman is ordained of God."  It continues, "Children are entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony, and to be reared by a father and a mother who honor marital vows with complete fidelity."
**Friend's child...I want to be a normal family with a mom and a dad.
**My dear friend who got pregnant as teenager...challenges of raising children as teenager...

QUOTE #2:  Elder Bednar taught, "The power of procreation is spiritually significant. Misuse of this power subverts the purposes of the Father’s plan and of our mortal existence. Our Heavenly Father and His Beloved Son are creators and have entrusted each of us with a portion of Their creative power. Specific guidelines for the proper use of the ability to create life are vital elements in the Father’s plan. How we feel about and use that supernal power will determine in large measure our happiness in mortality and our destiny in eternity."


Repentance:

Elder Packer taught that when our physical bodies are injured, they can heal but often a scar remains.  "With our spiritual bodies it is another matter. Our spirits are damaged when we make mistakes and commit sins. But unlike the case of our mortal bodies, when the repentance process is complete, no scars remain because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. The promise is: “Behold, he who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more” (D&C 58:42)."

Elder Holland said, "If some few of you are carrying such wounds—and I know that you are—to you is extended the peace and renewal of repentance available through the atoning sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. In such serious matters the path of repentance is not easily begun nor painlessly traveled. But the Savior of the world will walk that essential journey with you. He will strengthen you when you waver. He will be your light when it seems most dark. He will take your hand and be your hope when hope seems all you have left. His compassion and mercy, with all their cleansing and healing power, are freely given to all who truly wish complete forgiveness and will take the steps that lead to it."

President Packer also testified, "I am so grateful for the blessings of the Lord Jesus Christ, for the power of procreation, for the power of redemption, for the Atonement—the Atonement which can wash clean every stain no matter how difficult or how long or how many times repeated. The Atonement can put you free again to move forward, cleanly and worthily, to pursue that path that you have chosen in life."

BLESSINGS OF REMAINING PURE (or becoming pure through sincere repentance):
**Those who were here last week...think of the obvious love that we could see that Sara and Chris, as well as Laurel and Brian share.  That's a result of righteous living and obeying the law of chastity.  You want to have that too.  (NOW I do want to caution that living the law of chastity doesn't guarantee that you will marry or have children or that life will turn out the way you expect...but it does PROMISE that all desired blessings will be yours in the eternities! All wrongs will be righted and all injustices will be made just...)

Elder Packer said, "True love requires reserving until after marriage the sharing of that affection which unlocks those sacred powers in that fountain of life. It means avoiding situations where physical desire might take control. Pure love presupposes that only after a pledge of eternal fidelity, a legal and lawful ceremony, and ideally after the sealing ordinance in the temple are those procreative powers released in God’s eye for the full expression of love. It is to be shared solely and only with that one who is your companion forever."

**Those who have been inside the temple, or even walked around the grounds...think of the peace you feel there.  One of the blessings of remaining pure is the privilege of holding a temple recommend and being able to attend the temple often.  No greater blessing.

QUOTE # ___  Elder Bednar, "The Father’s plan is designed to provide direction for His children, to help them become happy, and to bring them safely home to Him with resurrected, exalted bodies. Heavenly Father desires us to be together in the light and filled with hope. In contrast, Lucifer labors to make the sons and daughters of God confused and unhappy and to hinder their eternal progression. The overarching intent of the father of lies is that all of us would become “miserable like unto himself” (2 Nephi 2:27). Lucifer wants us ultimately to be alone in the dark and without hope."  

QUOTE # ________  Elder Bednar:  "We also are promised that, as we pursue the pathway of virtue, “the Holy Ghost shall be [our] constant companion” (D&C 121:46). Thus, living the law of chastity invites some of the greatest blessings men and women can receive in mortality: appropriate spiritual confidence in the presence of family, friends, Church associates, and, ultimately, the Savior. Our innate longing to belong is fulfilled in righteousness as we walk in the light with hope."

Video?   I CHOOSE to be pure...you are not alone in your decision to be pure!

CANDY BARS..Satan will tempt you to give up the tremendous blessings that come with sexual purity to enjoy a little pleasure now.  Don't give up what you want most for what you might think you want now.  The reward is too great.  All that the Father hath.  The companionship of the Holy Ghost.  Eternal life.  An eternal family.  Confidence.  Hope.  Decide today to live the law of chastity!