Dear Brothers & Sisters of the Highland Stake:
Adherent to current local government guidelines, we have been authorized by Elder Dirk Driscoll, our Area Seventy, to return to ward and stake youth activities immediately. As a reminder the term “Mutual” has been discontinued, and is replaced by the more simply understood and translated, “Youth Activity”. Please employ the following guiding principles for youth activities in our stake:
- Gather the youth together weekly.
- Give priority to outdoor activities, weather permitting, even for council meetings.
- Prioritize serving others on both sides of the veil, engaging our youth in His work of salvation.
- Adhere to current social distancing guidelines, including wearing of masks anytime 6ft distancing is unlikely or impossible to maintain, including vehicle transportation.
- Sanitizing procedures after meetinghouse use
Our dear prophet, President Russell M. Nelson invited us in his 2018 worldwide youth devotional:
“When you know your life is being directed by God, regardless of the challenges and disappointments that may and will come, you will feel joy and peace.”
“Anytime you do anything that helps anyone—on either side of the veil—take a step toward
making covenants with God and receiving their essential baptismal and temple ordinances, you are
helping to gather Israel. It is as simple as that.”
“As you pray about this sacrifice of time, you will be guided to know both what you can give up
that week and what you can do instead to help gather Israel.”
Youth we love you. As you pray, sacrifice, and provide opportunities for others to come closer to Christ, we are filled with excitement to see how the Lord will use you to hasten His work of gathering all those who will hear His voice. And we testify that there is nothing in or from this world that will make you happier than helping someone learn who they are, what Jesus Christ did for them, and how to return to our Father in Heaven.
Parents and leaders we love you too. Please remember, we often underestimate children and youth’s potential, and overestimate their experience. Please show them exactly how to engage in the work of salvation at a young age. Never doubt their ability to understand and participate in His work.
Our youth activities need to be about learning and loving His work of salvation. Please keep activities simple and focused on the Lord. Keep them practical. Please spend our time training, teaching, practicing, and then doing His work of providing the living and the dead an invitation, through our service, to come unto Christ.
Brothers and sisters, we echo our prophet’s invitation to become what we were saved and sent here to do — to bring others to Christ to enjoy His peace through making and keeping covenants with Him. We all must continue to engage in gathering together, inspiring each other, lifting those with arms that hang down, and strengthening any knees that are feeble. We love and admire you for the good you are, and do!
Sincerely,
Timothy M. Campbell
Chris A. Sanford
David L. Francis
Highland Stake Presidency