a young man should learn to rule his body like his temper he should keep it always under complete control that sometimes is not easy to do within your body you have the power of creation you will one day find a mate and desire greatly to express fully your love with her the righteous expression of this physical love in marriage is approved of the lord she may then conceive and give birth to a boy or a girl a baby of whom you will be the father this is a very sacred power the lord has commanded that
you use it only with one to whom you are legally and lawfully wedded and he has decreed serious penalties indeed for the misuse of it this power begins early in life with some when you are hardly in your teens this has a purpose for with this power come the attributes of manhood you notice the changes in your stature in your voice a beard and other masculine characteristics become part of your nature your feelings also change the physical power will influence you emotionally and spiritually as well it begins to shape you to fit and to look
and to feel and to be what you need to be as a it affects your life several years before you should express it fully you must always guard this power with manly wisdom you must wait until your marriage to use it during that waiting what do you do with these desires my boy you are to control them you are forbidden to use them now in order that you may use them with worthiness and virtue and with the fullness of joy at the proper time in your life i wish to explain something that will help you
understand your young manhood and help you develop self-control when this power begins to form it might be likened to having a little factory in your body one designed to produce that substance that can generate life this little factory moves quietly into operation as a normal and expected pattern of growth and begins to produce that life-giving substance it will do so perhaps as long as you live it works very slowly that is the way it should be for the most part unless you tamper with it you will hardly be aware that it is working at all
as you move closer to manhood this little factory will sometimes produce an oversupply of this substance the lord has provided a way for that to be released it will happen without any help nor without any resistance from you perhaps one night you will have a dream and in the course of it the release valve that controls that little factory will open and release all that is excess the factory and the automatic release valve works on its own schedule the lord intended it to be that way it is to regulate itself this will not happen very
often you may go a long period of time and there will be no need for this to occur when it does you should not feel guilty it is the nature of young manhood and is part of becoming a man there is however something you should not do sometimes a young man does not understand perhaps he is encouraged by unwise or unworthy companions to tamper with that factory he might fondle himself and open that release valve this you should not do for if you do that little factory will speed up and you will be tempted to
temp tamper with it again and again you can quickly be subjected to a habit one that is not worthy one that will leave you feeling depressed and guilty resist that temptation do not be guilty of tampering or playing with the sacred power of creation keep it in reserve for the time that it can be righteously employed now one of you perhaps is not fully understood until now perhaps your father did not talk to you you may already have been guilty of tampering with these powers you may even have developed a habit what then first i
want you to know this if you were struggling with this temptation and perhaps have not been quite able to resist it the lord still loves you it is not anything so wicked nor is it a transgression so great the lord would reject you because of it but it can quickly lead to that kind of transgression it is not pleasing to the lord nor is it pleasing to you it does not make you feel worthy or clean now there are ways to conquer such a habit first of all you must leave that little factory alone long
enough for it to slow down resisting is not easy it will take weeks even months but you can get the little factory slowed back to where it should be i have another suggestion the power to prevent such habits or to break them rest in the mind not in the body don't let the physical part of you take charge you stay in control condition your body to do the will of your mind to do this you must keep always worthy and clean thoughts divert your thoughts from things that lead you to mischief vigorous physical exercise benefits
young men in many ways you're most vulnerable when you were idle and discouraged that is the time to keep on guard i know a way to keep your thoughts worthy it has helped me and i explained it on one occasion in a general conference talk it has to do with selecting a favorite hymn and making that as the channel for your thoughts to follow a time of temptation another thing that will help you to prevent and to overcome such a habit at times of special temptation skip a meal or two we call that fasting you
know it has a powerful effect upon you physically it diverts some of that physical energy to more ordinary needs it tempers desire and reduces the temptation fasting will help you greatly in the scriptures and you should be acquainted with the scriptures fasting and prayer are generally mentioned together prayer is a powerful instrument to bless young men if a missionary for instance indulges in these unworthy practices the spirit of the lord will leave him when he is prayerful and will fast the spirit of the lord sustains him and he soon develops a manly restraint and control
resist those temptations do not tamper with your body if you have already ceased to do it now put it away and overcome it the signal of worthy manhood is self-control this creative power is ordained for the beginning of life and as a binding tie in the marriage covenant it is not to be used prematurely it is to be known between husband and wife and in no other way if you misuse it you will be sorry now a warning i am hesitant even to mention this subject it must be labeled as major transgression it is not
pleasant but i will speak plainly are some circumstances in which young men may be tempted to handle one another to have contact with one another physically in unusual ways latter-day saint young men are not to do this sometimes this begins in a moment of idle foolishness when boys are just playing around but it is not foolishness it is remarkably dangerous when a young man is finding his way into manhood such experiences can misdirect his normal desires and pervert him not only physically but emotionally and spiritually it was never intended that we use this life-giving power
only with one who is our partner in marriage i repeat very plainly physical mischief with another man is forbidden it is forbidden of the lord now there are some men who entice young men to join them in these immoral acts if you are ever approached to participate in anything like that that is the time to vigorously resist while touring a mission on one occasion a missionary said he had something to confess i was very worried because he just could not get himself to tell me what he had done after patient encouragement he finally blurted out
i hit my companion oh is that all i said in great relief but i floored him he said after a little more uh research into what had happened my response was well thanks somebody had to do it and it wouldn't and it wouldn't be well for a general authority to solve a problem in that way now i'm not recommending that course to you my young friends but i'm not omitting it you must you must protect yourselves there is a falsehood that some are born with an attraction to their own kind and that they can do
nothing about it they are just that way and that is that is a malicious destructive lie it is of the devil no one is locked into that kind of life from our pre-mortal existence we were directed into a physical body there is no mismatching of bodies and spirits boys are to become men masculine manly men ultimately to become husbands and fathers no one is predestined to a life of perversion even those who have been drawn into wicked practices and are bound by almost unyielding habits can escape if one of you seems trapped into that escape
go to your father or bishop please your parents your bishop the servants of the lord the angels of heaven and the lord himself will help redeem you from it young latter-day saints do not tamper with these powers neither with yourself alone nor with any of your own kind never let anyone handle or touch those very personal parts of your body which are an essential link in the ongoing of creation many of the world would i am sure be amused at this council let them be amused they live by another standard a lower one we live
by the lord's standard and will continue to teach it now it is normal and proper for a young man to become increasingly interested in young women to begin to date and eventually to pair up and we encourage that but be careful keep your relationships with young women pure and chaste reserve those life-giving powers for marriage generally a young man is physically developed for marriage long before he is emotionally or spiritually or materially qualified for it in due time when all things are in balance you will be ready after you have kept yourself in physical control
after you are sufficiently mature emotionally and spiritually after you have some material resources that is the time for marriage then you can enter into the new and everlasting covenant you and your sweetheart will be sealed together for time and for all eternity these sacred life-giving powers will then be released for your use they will become a binding tie in your marriage through them you will become a father but for now you prepare and follow the instruction in the scripture be ye clean who bear the vessels of the lord god bless you our young brethren bless
you that you may resist that you might cleanse and purify yourself in doing so i testify that you will please the lord and you will please his prophet of whom i bear witness in the name of jesus christ amen
