Yesterday, a young man in the ward got up to bear his testimony. This particular guy is known for his class clown attitude and joking around a lot, so it kind of surprised me when he got up and started crying as he spoke. He talked about how he was one of the few remaining young men to still be going to church. How there were a couple of priests to bless the sacrament and to pass it out they had to get adults. He was still friends with those boys that were inactive, and he spoke of how much it hurt when he couldn’t get them to come back. He brought up how sometimes he felt that people didn’t really appreciate the young men and all that they do. There seems to have been a riff that has come between the young men and young women in our ward. I’m planning to write the young man a letter (because I’m not so good at talking), so right now I’d like to speak to the young men here on Tumblr.

As a young woman, I have admired when you young men hold fast to your morals in the face of adversity, when you honor your priesthood, when you serve faithfully even when it’s not the cool thing to do. Although the girls may get annoyed as you make weird noises and play games on your phones, you have to understand that what you do to uphold your values does not go unnoticed. When you show up to church with no friends because they have gone inactive, my respect for you goes up. When you serve someone without been pushed to do so, I want to hug you and say good job.

I’m not very good at telling people that I admire them or to tell them congrats, so right now I’m trying to make up for that. Young men, please don’t think that your work goes unnoticed. Thank you so much for being so great at keeping your standards. Hold to them, and you’ll go far.