Why Testimony is Not the Only Goal for Latter-day Youth—Part 2 | A Presentation by Dan Duckworth

Watch the Young Saints Virtual Conference with 14-day access to the
Core Leader Library Dan Duckworth is a disciple, family man, and
changemaker. As a teacher and coach, he guides elite leaders to the
top of their game. He’s the author of Stop Asking Why: Your Purpose
is Self-Evident, and president of the Leading Saints Board of
Directors. This podcast is the second of a 2-part presentation for
the Young Saints Virtual Conference. Listen to PART 1: Why
Testimony is Not the Only Goal for Latter-day Youth—Part 1
Highlights 00:40 In general, our goal for the youth is to develop
disciples of Jesus Christ. We want people who show up for Christ
and contribute to the kingdom. We are looking for leaders and
contributors that can be productive and effective leaders,
missionaries, parents, and spouses. 04:20 Kurt and Dan talk about
character building and why it’s important to leadership. Youth
development could also be considered character development. 06:25
Youth development isn’t about knowledge or skills. Character is the
most important thing. 07:20 Dan explains what character is and how
it affects youth development and leadership. 09:20 Contrary to
popular belief, character isn’t good or bad. It’s either effective
or ineffective relative to your goals. 10:55 It’s not just about
staying on the covenant path. Christ is looking for builders of the
kingdom. He wants people to work alongside him. That is why
character is so important. Character is about how consistently you
show up. 11:40 Becoming a disciple of Christ is equally about
developing character and testimony. Character is how you show up.
Testimony is why you show up for Christ. 13:40 It’s easy to get
hyper focused on testimony development and completely overlook
character development. Both are equally important. 15:40 Examples
in the scriptures of testimony and character. Great examples are
Jonah and Peter. They had great testimonies but weak characters.
Jonah tried to run away. Peter denied Christ three times. 16:40 How
do you gain a testimony? Testimony is built through direct
experiences with God. You are a witness of something. You could be
a first hand witness or you have an experience with the holy
spirit. 19:40 We need to understand character and testimony to be
effective youth leaders. 20:30 Between 20 to 30 percent of
missionaries go home early. Most have the testimony but lack the
character. The emotional and mental maturity isn’t there to help
them deal with the demands of a mission. 23:40 More scriptural
examples of testimony and character. 25:55 How does character
develop in the real world? 30:35 Leadership development with adults
vs. youth development. Adults are much more stuck in their ways and
harder to change their thinking. They aren’t malleable like the
youth. 33:05 The single most impactful factor on youth development
is if mentors are involved and if that mentor was not just assigned
but if they emerged. They became that youth’s mentor because they
were a teacher or coach and they also wanted to mentor them. 33:55
Dan shares a real life example of how a teacher became a mentor to
a young man who was struggling on his sports team and also Dan’s
son, who was training to run a half marathon. This man wasn’t
assigned. He wanted to mentor these kids. 36:00 Most of us block
people off who try to mentor or influence us. It’s only
occasionally that there is a special connection made and we then
open ourselves up to be mentored. 38:25 Our behavior and the
narrative that we have for ourselves is based on the experiences
that we have. We have to be open up to rewriting that narrative and
accepting mentorship or therapy. 40:00 A huge part of mentorship is
just helping that person understand the experiences that they have
had or are currently having and what those experiences mean to them
or about them. 41:00 How to get in a state of mentorship