Segment 4: Quorum and Class Presidencies
Supporting Children and Youth: A Broadcast for Parents and Leaders
Introduction
[Start video]
President Russell M. Nelson: If you are wondering how you can help to gather Israel, let me suggest four ways: you can, one, live according to the teaching of Jesus Christ; two, serve someone in need; three, invite someone to receive the gospel; and four, help to unite families for eternity.
Girl: I feel like as a class presidency we’re trying to look out for the girls and help bring the Spirit into their lives and help them with things that we’ve gone through before.
Boy: I feel my responsibility is to be able to pray for them, because as a leader, I’m supposed to be able to identify the needs and wants of my people.
Girl: I have to make sure that programs and activities are organized and that we make the best out of it.
Girl: I am responsible for letting the girls know what’s going to happen this week or next week. And if someone’s going through something really hard, or they just don’t feel like coming to church anymore, I can talk to them, and we can work through it.
Girl: I mean, I feel like we’re kind of all, you know, united. We care about all the young women, and we think about what we could do for each one of them.
Boy: My quorum, I can say we are one, because me, I like talking—too much—and as a result, we talk about things. We talk about what could improve the nature of our quorum, what could help us come early to prepare the sacrament.
Boy: It’s important just making sure I’m a part of it, planning activities, being with the boys, just being there for them. It needs to be the youth doing it because if not, they’re not going to grow the way that they need to grow to be able to survive spiritually.
[End video]
President Bonnie H. Cordon: I have to admit, I have been looking forward to this part of the broadcast. I love talking to you quorum and class presidencies! I love your energy and your fresh perspective. You truly are, as the prophet has said, “the hope of Israel.”1 I hope you feel how important you are to your Heavenly Father. He loves each of you and knows the great potential you have to bring people to the Savior. That’s why He has called you to lead your class or quorum. We are so impressed by the many things you are already doing.
President Steven J. Lund: Still, you might sometimes feel like you aren’t sure what to do. Or maybe you do know what to do, but it feels too overwhelming. Believe me, President Cordon and I know what it’s like to receive a calling that feels overwhelming. We hope that we can provide you a little help today.
President Cordon: You have been called and set apart by one who holds priesthood keys, and you serve with authority from God. The Lord has confidence in you. He wants you to succeed, and as you seek Him, He will give you personal revelation on how you can serve in your calling.
President Lund: You also have adult leaders who stand ready to help. They want to see you succeed. Seek their help. In addition, the Church has many resources on the Children and Youth website and the Gospel Library and Gospel Living apps that teach quorum and class presidencies about their callings. Let’s get a sneak peek at one of those resources.
[Start video]
Isabel: Hey there! I’m so glad you chose to click on this video. It probably means you’re a part of a Young Women class presidency or Aaronic Priesthood quorum presidency and want some help with your meetings. Am I right?
My name is Isabel, and for the next couple minutes I’ll walk you through some tips and ideas on how you can get your presidency meetings running smoothly. Let’s go.
These meetings are for planning how to accomplish God’s work. And you get to lead out in this great work. You’ll discuss the needs of members of your class or quorum, plan activities, and so much more. I think that’s a great idea. Think of it like an instruction manual. This is your work being done with presidency meetings, and this is your work without. Basically, your activities, Sunday meetings, and ministering visits may happen without a meeting. But they’re probably not going to look like, or accomplish, what you were hoping for.
[End video]
President Cordon: I love that video. We invite you to meet regularly as presidencies to discuss the needs of the quorum and class members and plan your work.
President Lund: If it feels like you have too many things to do as a leader, remember that you really have just one thing to do: help the people in your quorum or class come unto Christ and stay on His covenant path. Everything else—your presidency meetings, your Sunday meetings, your activities—all help you accomplish your bigger purpose of bringing people to the Savior.
One thing that may help is to look at a few ways we do this in the Children and Youth program—through gospel learning, service and activities, and personal development. We’ll start by talking about gospel learning.
Gospel Learning
President Cordon: Gospel learning includes your personal and family study. You can have a significant impact in your family gospel learning. This also includes Sunday meetings and, don’t forget, seminary. President Lund, what can they do to fulfill this role?
President Lund: For starters, you should conduct and lead in your Sunday quorum or class meetings. Each Come, Follow Me outline for Young Women and Aaronic Priesthood quorums has a section called “Counsel Together.” That part is not just sharing the good news of the week but for you to counsel together as a class about how to further the work of salvation and exaltation by living the gospel of Jesus Christ, caring for those in need, inviting all to receive the gospel, and uniting families for eternity.
President Cordon: When you meet as a presidency, plan who will teach in your Sunday meetings. It may be helpful to have an adult leader and a youth teach together—but base that on the needs and abilities of your class or quorum members. The most important thing, as you plan and teach these lessons, is to help the members of your class or quorum feel the Spirit and see how the gospel applies to their daily lives.
Service and Activities
President Lund: Obviously, gospel learning builds faith in Jesus Christ, but did you know that your weekly activities can do that too? I don’t mean that all your activities need to be lessons from the scriptures, but never underestimate the power of gathering with other followers of Jesus Christ, whether it’s to serve someone in need or to enjoy the outdoors.
President Cordon: Lead out in planning and carrying out service and activities. We know you know how to make them fun, but start by considering the needs and interests of your quorum or class members. This will give you the best opportunity to serve and strengthen them. Ideas and inspiration will come as you look to the Lord in prayer and study. These activities matter to Him because you are helping gather His sons and daughters. And that gathering isn’t reserved to just those in your quorum or class—you can invite anyone!
Let’s look at two examples of activities planned by class and quorum presidencies. As you watch, notice the decisions they made and how they made them.
[Start video]
Girl: I feel like, as a class presidency, we’re trying to look out for the girls and help bring the Spirit into their lives and help them with things that we’ve gone through.
Girl: Every activity starts with a need. And a lot of the girls have anxiety, and we wanted to do something hard and overcome some of our fears. We needed to find someone that knew how to repel, and our leaders helped us find him.
Male: To be able to repel, we’ve got to have a sure foundation. You’ll actually see where those anchors have been screwed into the rock, and they’re fastened in there so that when we clip into them, we’re safe. To me, it represents that foundation that I should be on. And that’s the Savior, and I need to be anchored into Him.
Girl: We want you girls to have a lot of fun. I want you to think about trust, and not only in the other girls and the leaders but also in the Savior.
Girl: I’m feeling stressed out and nervous [laughs].
Girl: We each have individual strengths and weaknesses, and Heavenly Father knows what’s hard for us individually. And when we conquer those things, He’s so proud of us.
Girl: Walking off the edge is so scary [laughs]. That’s the scariest part, and then it’s OK after. I’m proud of myself [laughs].
Girl: Sometimes Heavenly Father wants us to take the first step, and then we have to trust ourselves and Heavenly Father that we’re going to be able to be OK.
Girl: With Christ you have a feeling of comfort. It may be scary, but He has you and He won’t let you go, no matter what.
Female: It was so good to see them succeed and feel so good about themselves and see that they could do hard things and reach their goals, at the same time overcoming their fears and getting out and being more active and relating it to Christ and growing in so many different areas, all from this one activity.
Sunny: Today we are having a cooking competition between the boys and the girls.
Favour: We have prepared banku and okra soup.
Sunny: We planned it together with the young women and young men.
President Godinin Abu: They came up with the idea, and they are doing everything for themselves by going to the market and [doing] all the cooking.
Favour: We had a list of items that we needed. And some of the youth went to the market with one of our leaders, and we purchased the things that we needed to prepare that dish.
Boy: Not all of us know how to cook, especially me.
Boy: We are all planning on going on missions. So when you go on a mission, this is going to help us prepare our own food.
Favour: I think it’s a good activity because it helps us to invite others to come unto Christ. It also helps us to unite together.
Boy: I’m adding ginger, okra, onion, and garlic to make it delicious.
Girl: I’m removing the dirt from the ginger.
Girl: I’m removing the waste out of the fish.
Girl: I’m washing the meat.
Boy: I am stirring the banku.
Favour: Every individual has something they learn from activities. These joint activities bring us together as youth. We are able to plan activities to make decisions on our own.
President Abu: This program has really helped us a lot. It has really strengthened them, and it has made them be more focused in their responsibility. The youth are now helping, even assisting the ministering work. In the activity that they are doing today, they want their friends to come in and learn the restored gospel and also to improve their life.
Favour: We didn’t have a winner actually, but we all did great.
Male: You’re not going to tell me who won?
Favour: [Laughs] I’m sure the women won. The women won.
[End video]
President Lund: Those were two very different activities, weren’t they? But did you notice any similarities in what the presidents did? For example, in both cases, the presidencies knew something about their members that led them to choose those particular activities.
President Cordon: I think we could also identify ways these activities helped the youth grow spiritually, intellectually, physically, or socially. They also helped accomplish the Lord’s work, while being a lot of fun!
Sometimes the hardest thing is just coming up with that first idea. You can find plenty of ideas for weekly service and activities, camps, and conferences in the Gospel Living app and online at childrenandyouth.ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
Personal Development
President Cordon: Let’s talk about one more way you can help your quorum or class members come unto Christ. In the Children and Youth program, we call it personal development. That just means finding ways to grow spiritually, physically, socially, and intellectually—like the Savior did when he was about your age. Set goals to improve in these areas. You are already doing this—you are working to improve in school, sports, or other skills you are trying to learn. The key difference in the Children and Youth program is that you are invited to involve your Heavenly Father in this process. As you seek guidance, the Spirit will guide you, not only in how you can improve but in how you can strengthen and bless others as you grow. When I ask of God, I am almost always prompted to reach out to others.
President Lund: So what does this mean for you as a member of your quorum or class presidency? Here are just a few thoughts: first, being a leader means setting an example for your quorum or class. So start by setting your own goals and working toward them.
President Cordon: Next, get to know your class or quorum members. Pray for them, and pray to see them as Heavenly Father sees them. Serve them. Encourage them in their goals and offer to help. Maybe you can help them think of ideas or plan something the whole class can do as a goal. There are many ways you can work and celebrate together!
Remember that your purpose is to help people come unto Christ. Inspire in your quorum or class members a desire to become more like the Savior.
Conclusion
President Lund: Quorum and class presidencies, we are so grateful for your service. You will be blessed as you serve others in the name of the Lord.
President Cordon: We love you and have full confidence in you. We will now hear from President Ballard and Elder Cook for some closing thoughts.