How can I prepare now to become a righteous husband and father?

Prepare Yourself Spiritually

“By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families” (“The Family: A Proclamation to the World,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2017, 145). We can prepare for these responsibilities by faithfully fulfilling our priesthood duties, learning how to receive personal revelation, loving and serving our families now, gaining an education, and learning how to work.

Resources to Help You Prepare

These resources are to help you prepare for the “Learn together” section of the meeting.

• Abraham 1:1–4, 18–19 (Abraham sees the blessings that he and his posterity can obtain by having the priesthood in his life)

• 1 Nephi 2:1–3 (Lehi receives revelation from the Lord for the safety of his family)

• 1 Nephi 16:14–32 (Nephi helps and shows respect for his family when they are starving in the wilderness)

• Doctrine and Covenants 42:22 (A husband should be faithful to his wife)

• Doctrine and Covenants 58:26–28; 107:99–100 (Scriptures describing the importance of work)

• Devin G. Durrant, “Teaching in the Home—a Joyful and Sacred Responsibility,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2018, 42–45

• Richard J. Maynes, “Earning the Trust of the Lord and Your Family,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2017, 75–77

• Joy D. Jones, “A Sin-Resistant Generation,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2017, 87–90

• D. Todd Christofferson, “Fathers,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2016, 93–97

• Dallin H. Oaks, “The Powers of the Priesthood,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2018, 65–68

• “The Family: A Proclamation to the World,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2017, 145

• “Today’s Family: Fathers” (video)

• “Fathers Can Use the Priesthood to Bless Their Families” (video)

• “Earthly Father, Heavenly Father” (video)

• “Face to Face: What can I do to ensure a successful eternal marriage?” (video)

Questions to Ponder before You Teach

How did your priesthood service as a young man prepare you to be a righteous husband and father? What else have you done to prepare? What more do you wish you had done?

What experiences could the young men have now that would help them prepare to be righteous husbands and fathers? How will their preparation bless their future families?

What can the young men do to prepare to learn? For example, they could read a talk, watch a video, or study a scripture related to this doctrine.

Teaching in the Savior’s Way

The Savior loved, prayed for, and continually served His disciples. He knew their interests, hopes, desires, and what was happening in their lives. What do you know about the young men you are serving? What can you do to help them become righteous husbands and fathers in the future?

Meeting Outline

1. Counsel Together and Share Experiences

Led by a member of the quorum presidency; approximately 5–10 minutes

Lead a discussion about items such as the following:

• Our quorum: Who is missing today? What visits do we need to make? Who should we invite to an upcoming activity? Who needs our help and prayers?

• Our duties: What assignments do we need to make? What assignments have we fulfilled? How have we invited others to come unto Christ, and how can we invite others now?

• Our lives: Remind the quorum of the discussion from the last meeting. What experiences have we had with applying what we learned? What experiences have we had in the past few weeks that strengthened our testimonies of the gospel?

If possible, discuss these items beforehand in a quorum presidency meeting.

2. Learn Together

Led by a leader or teacher or a member of the quorum; approximately 25–35 minutes

After studying the above resources and following the inspiration of the Spirit, you may select one or more of the activities below to help quorum members understand the doctrine.

• Assign each young man to read a section of Brother Devin G. Durrant’s message “Teaching in the Home—a Joyful and Sacred Responsibility” and write a letter to his future self about how he will incorporate the type of teaching in that section in his home. How do the young men think that type of teaching will bless their future families? Give the young men opportunities to share what they wrote in their letters or examples of good teaching they’ve experienced.

• Give each of the young men a paper heart and invite them to look through the first four paragraphs of Elder Richard J. Maynes’s talk “Earning the Trust of the Lord and Your Family,” looking for the definition of “integrity.” Encourage them to write the definition on their paper hearts and share what they found with each other. Why would integrity be an important quality in a righteous husband and father? Invite them to read the rest of Elder Maynes’s talk, looking for additional answers to this question.

• Can you think of an object lesson that would help the young men understand what it means to be sin-resistant? For example, you could bring an umbrella and a sponge to class and show how one object resists water and the other absorbs it. How does this comparison relate to resisting sin? Invite the young men to search Sister Joy D. Jones’s talk “A Sin-Resistant Generation” and make a list of things that they could do when they are fathers to raise sin-resistant children. How can doing the things on their lists now prepare them to be righteous husbands and fathers?

• Invite the young men to read Elder D. Todd Christofferson’s message “Fathers,” searching for characteristics of righteous fathers. Invite each young man to think of a time when his father or a father figure in his life exemplified one of the characteristics Elder Christofferson shares. You might help the young men share these experiences by inviting them to draw pictures of the experiences they thought of and share the pictures with the class. To add to this activity, you could also use one of the following resources: the seventh paragraph of “The Family: A Proclamation to the World,” the video “Fathers Can Use the Priesthood to Bless Their Families,” or the section titled “IV. Priesthood in the Family” in President Dallin H. Oaks’s message “The Powers of the Priesthood.” They could look in these resources for what their responsibilities will be when they become husbands and fathers.

• As a quorum, read 1 Nephi 2:1–3, in which Lehi receives a revelation to flee the wickedness in Jerusalem. What do the young men learn from Lehi’s example about being a righteous father? What can they do now to develop the qualities Lehi had? Ask the young men to read 1 Nephi 16:14–32 and look for how Nephi treated his family. How could this have helped prepare Nephi for his roles as a husband and father? Ask the young men what they are doing in their families now to prepare to be husbands and fathers.

3. Plan to Act

Led by a member of the quorum presidency; approximately 5–10 minutes

• Ask the young men to discuss any feelings or impressions they had during the meeting. What was meaningful to them? Is there something they can do personally or as a quorum to apply what they have learned?

• Give the young men a few minutes to record what they will do in the coming weeks to act on their impressions. Invite them to share their ideas.

• Remind the young men that they will have the opportunity to share their experiences at the beginning of the next meeting.

Related Youth Activities

Plan a Mutual activity that will help the young men apply what they learned in this lesson.