Below is a video for Young Men in the Mormon Church. The video talks about the important need for Young Men to be a Priesthood man and fulfilling your Duty to God. The Video is called “Becoming a priesthood man: Priesthood duty”.
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As many of you know, the Mormon Church has recently re-tooled the DTG (Duty to God) program.  We used to use spreadsheets to keep track of the Aaronic Priesthood’s progress but with the new system, we really didn’t have an electronic way to keep track of their progress.

So, I’m happy to say, there is a new way to track DTG progress online.  Simply go to http://lds.org/young-men/duty-to-god?lang=eng and click on “Click here to get started” in the middle of the screen.  Now, you should know that you will need a login to the LDS.org website.  Well, actually, each young man that wants to manage their DTG progress online will have to have their own login.  To create a login you will need your membership number and date of birth.  Once this account is created, you can start using the “Interactive Version of Duty to God“.

It has also been announced that an “Interactive Book” will be available early 2011. I’m not sure what the means but I really do hope that it will be a way that youth and parents will be able to keep track of their youth’s progress on the web. I used to use a website called http://www.ymyw.org to track my son’s and daughter’s progress but with the new Duty to God Program, the requirements have completely changed and the website I used is no longer helpful. So, I’m excited to see what the LDS Church has come out with in it’s “interactive book” announcement.

Here is a link directly to the “Materials” section of the Duty to God website on www.lds.org

http://lds.org/dutytogod/materials.html

This is a set of slides that someone put together for a presentation on the DTG program.
http://www.putonthearmoroflight.com/2010/08/new-young-men-duty-to-god-program.html

Here is another article written about the new Duty to God program. It breaks down each section and each activity very nicely. It talks about how the new DTG program focuses on plan, act and share.
http://bystudyandfaith.net/2010/08/new-duty-to-god/

The Mormon Church has also updated their website with a bunch of new Videos and a PDF Copy of the new DTG booklet.
http://lds.org/dutytogod/

This is a direct link to the “Materials” page of the LDS website for DTG. You will find the links to the PDF file, videos, Q&A.
http://lds.org/dutytogod/materials.html

This is a direct link to the “Implementation video for you men, parents, and leaders.  It is a WMV file.
http://broadcast.lds.org/aaronic-priesthood/duty-to-god/2010-05-1010-overview-128k-eng.wmv

This is a direct link to the “Implementation video for Quroum presidencies.  It is in WMV format.
http://broadcast.lds.org/aaronic-priesthood/duty-to-god/2010-05-1010-overview-128k-eng.wmv

The LDS Church just came out with a NEW Duty to God Program. I’m just now starting to read through the requirements. The New DTG booklet is way different than the old booklet. As I read through the requirements, I’ll let you know if the similarities and the differences.

The first major difference I found was that all 3 sections of the Duty To God program are all bound together. There are no longer 3 separate books. The Deacons, Teachers and Priests sections are all bound together by a spiral binding. So, each young man will have one book for all 6 years of his Aaronic Priesthood years.

The Deacons Duty to God section is split up into 3 categories. Spiritual Strength, Priesthood Duties, For the Strength of Youth. In each category there are requirements to follow. For example for the Spiritual Strength category there are 3 requirements which include a “Learn” section, “Act” section, and “Share” Section. At the end of each category, there is a “Review” section that allows the Young Man to talk about what they have learned while working on these items in their lives. For example, the first requirement is entitled “Pray and Study the Scriptures”. The Deacon is then given several scriptures to read and advised to make a list of words and phrases that describe how he should approach studying and what blessings will come from studying the scriptures. He would then “ACT” and develop a habit of regular prayer and scripture study. There is a section where he can write down this goal. Then, at the end of this section the Deacon is invited to “Share” what he has learned with a family member of church leader to strengthen his testimony.

One of my first questions was, “What do we do with Aaronic Priesthood holders that are more than half way through the old program?” A number of questions just like this one have been answered in a memo that was sent out several months ago. This memo is also available on the LDS website. Here is the link to Commonly Asked Questions. In general, the answer is that young men can continue in the old program until the program has been fully implemented in their Ward or Stake. From what I understand, if they are close to finishing, they can continue with the old program and finish what they were working on and then move into the new DTG program. That is not the official church policy but it is what I understand. You will need to go to the DTG website to get the exact wording.

As I learn more, I’ll post more information.

This week my son Coby is up at Scout Camp. This is not the regular camp that most scouts go to earn a bunch of merit badges. This is a special camp called NYLT which stands for National Youth Leadership Training. When I was a youngster it was called Dan Beard Rangers. I have a few memories of this week of camp in the South Hills of Idaho. One of my best friends convinced me to go because of all of the fun he had when he went. I found out later that he really didn’t enjoy Dan Beard until the last 3 days. The first couple of days, he said he cried.

My experience was not great up at Dan Beard but it did help to build me into a man. As you might already know, the Scout Master over all of the scouts splits everyone into Patrols. They try not to put you with people that you already know so that you make new friends. That in itself is a little hard. I remember having to make our own meals every day and for 13 – 15 year olds, this is no easy thing. By day three I had gathered a small group of boys ready to decent. We had devised a plan where we would sneak out of camp, hike down to the nearest Ranger Station, and figure out how to call our parents to come pick us up. Seriously, we had a whole group ready to leave at a moments notice. I was a couple of years older than most of the boys there at camp and I was older than some of the staff, so many of the younger kids rallied around me as their leader. Fortunately I did not lead a rebellion and decided to stick it out for the whole week. I was reassured over and over again that things would get much better. They didn’t, but we made it. I still remember that the ride home was the longest ride of my life. It seemed like I was gone a month and my body ached to be home.

One of the things I got out of going to this camp was the realization that I could do hard things. In fact, I remember looking back on times on my mission to Cali Colombia and Quito Ecuador and remembering that I could do hard things because I survived Dan Beard Rangers. I know, it seems kinda silly but it helped me stay focused and gave me confidence.

So, my mind keeps returning to my son Coby up at NYLT this week. My hope is that he will have a good time, but more importantly, he will find an inner strength that might give him a foundation from which to grow. Maybe there will be some lessons that he will learn that will help him as he serves in the Aaronic Priesthood and when he serves a mission for the LDS Church. Maybe it will help him in a calling or just help him to be a better Father. That is my hope and prayer today. Go get’em Coby!

These three priesthoods form the Aaronic Priesthood in the LDS Church. The Aaronic Priesthood is a preparatory priesthood which trains young men to be leaders, counselors and advisors. Once a young man turns 18, he then is eligible to receive the Melchizedek Priesthood.

There are a few articles in this Mormon magazine that are great for young men to read. One of the articles was about a young priesthood holder that was putting together an eagle project. The article was called “He’s Got Game”. He gathered together a bunch of youth and leaders and had them all bring a ball to an organized game of soccer. At the end of the game, he rounded up all of the balls that were donated and boxed them up to be shipped to needy kids in third world countries. I thought it was a great idea so I gave the article to my son to see if it would spark any excitement since he will be working on his Eagle Project soon.

The boys were all brought together at the Stake Center and split up into 4 groups. There were two business professionals that had setup stations in the church, and two business professionals that were setup in their actual business offices. There was an Optholmologyst, Physical Therapist, Local TV Station Salesman, and a Taxidermist. Each of them talked about their careers and gave the boys a look at what it would be like to enter that profession. All of the boys had a good time and everyone that attended the clinic was able to pass of that requirement in their Duty to God books.

Not only was it a very fun time to sing with 100 men, but both of my boys were able to pass off one of their requirements for their Duty To God program.

My son that is a Teacher in the Aaronic Priesthood was able to pass off a requirement that states, “Sing the National Anthem alone or in a group. Explain its origin to parents / leaders.”.

My son that is a Deacon in the Aaronic Priesthood completed the following requirement, “Sing with a church, school, or community choir.”

It was a nice “guys night out” event. We were able to spend some valuable time together learning the song and singing it before a huge audience.

Below is a video of our 100 Man Choir.

For those of you that would rather watch it on YouTube, you can follow this link.