Duty to God
In addition to participating in the scouting program, LDS young men between the ages of 12 and 18 are encouraged to earn their Duty to God awards. Below are the requirements for the revised program, which rolled out in the summer of 2010.
Duty to God Award Requirements (Deacon):
Spiritual Strength
Pray and Study the ScripturesDuty to God Award Requirements (Teacher):
Spiritual Strength
Pray and Study the Scriptures
Live Worthily
Understand Doctrine
Priesthood Duties
Administer Priesthood Ordinances
Serve Others
Invite All to Come Unto Christ
For the Strength of Youth
Education
Duty to God Award Requirements (Priest):
Spiritual Strength
Pray and Study the Scriptures
Live Worthily
Understand Doctrine
Priesthood Duties
Administer Priesthood Ordinances
Serve Others
Invite All to Come Unto Christ
For the Strength of Youth
Family and Friends
Preparing to Receive the Melchizedek Priesthood
back to top of duty to god page
Read the section titled “Repentance” in For the Strength of Youth, and write your answers to the following questions in the space below:
What do you learn about the Atonement and repentance from this section?
How does repentance help you grow spiritually?
What is the relationship between repentance, the Atonement, and personal worthiness?
Discuss your answers with your parents or quorum members. Discuss how repentance will help you prepare to enter the temple and participate in sacred ordinances.
After studying and applying these standards, share with your parents or quorum members what you are learning, how it is influencing your life, and the kind of person you are becoming.
Record in the space below any thoughts or feelings you have about this experience.
Read Doctrine and Covenants 11:21. What promises does the Lord give to those who study His word? Record your thoughts in the box below.
You will need a basic understanding and a testimony of gospel truths to fulfill your duties now as a priesthood holder and in the future as a full-time missionary and as a husband and father.
Look at the list of doctrinal topics, and choose four or more that you would like to learn about. One of these should be “The Priesthood and Priesthood Keys.” You can use the scriptures (including the Topical Guide), True to the Faith, Preach My Gospel, and the words of latter-day prophets to learn about these topics.
Look at the list of doctrinal topics below, and choose four or more that you would like to learn about. One of these should be “The Priesthood and Priesthood Keys.” You can use the scriptures (including the Topical Guide), True to the Faith , Preach My Gospel, and the words of latter-day prophets to learn about these topics.
For each topic you study, create a simple outline. It could include: (1) a definition of the topic, (2) teachings and examples from the scriptures and your own life, and (3) your thoughts and feelings about why this topic is important. For examples of outlines, see Preach My Gospel (chapters 2 and 3).
Using the outlines you have prepared, teach others about these doctrinal topics. Counsel with your parents and quorum leaders to determine when you can do this.
Record in the space below any thoughts or feelings you have about this experience.
Read Doctrine and Covenants 20:76–79. What do the sacramental bread and water represent? Read Luke 22:19–20 and 3 Nephi 18:1–11. Whom do you represent when you pass the sacrament?
Ask your parents or your quorum leaders the following questions, and write their answers the the space below:
What does the ordinance of the sacrament mean to you?
What can I do as a deacon to help you have a meaningful experience with the sacrament?
After following through with your plan, discuss with members of your quorum how your experiences with the sacrament have helped you become more reverent.
Record any thoughts or feelings you have about this experience in the space below.
back to top of duty to god page
back to top of deacon requirements
Do all of the following.
1. Develop the habit of reading the scriptures daily. During your 2 years as a deacon, read 1 Nephi through Mosiah in the Book of Mormon. Share with your family a few of the prophetic statements about Jesus Christ.
2. Read For the Strength of Youth, and discuss with your parents the importance of standards and values.
3. Under the direction of your parents, organize and teach at least 4 family home evening lessons each year. You may want to consider using topics from For the Strength of Youth.
4. Keep a written record of your family history. Ask a parent or the ward family history consultant to help you prepare a 4-generation pedigree chart.
5. With the help and permission of a parent, prepare at least 2 meals for your family. Where possible, also wash and iron your clothes for 1 month.
6. Read the twelfth article of faith, and briefly describe to your parents the structure and major functions of your national government.
7. Perform at least 2 service projects for your family each year.
back to top of duty to god page
back to top of deacon requirements
Do all of the following.
1. Read the Prophet Joseph Smith’s testimony in Joseph Smith—History 1:1–20, and discuss it with a priesthood leader.
2. Explain to a priesthood leader the law of the fast and how fast offerings are used. Read Isaiah 58 and D&C 59.
3. As assigned by a priesthood leader, give at least one 3- to 5-minute talk each year in a priesthood or sacrament meeting.
4. Discuss with a priesthood leader the history and purposes of the Aaronic Priesthood and quorums.
5. Participate in at least 2 deacons quorum service projects each year.
6. Participate in baptisms for the dead, if possible. If not, talk with a priesthood leader about the temple and what it means to Latter-day Saints.
7. Write a half-page explanation of the purpose of the sacrament. You can refer to Matthew 26:26, D&C 20:75–79, or the Topical Guide.
back to top of duty to god page
back to top of deacon requirements
To earn a Duty to God certificate in the 2 years a young man is a deacon, he must complete 8 or more personal goals under each of the 4 categories that follow. If these suggested goals do not fit his needs or abilities, he can modify the requirements, with the approval of his parents and Aaronic Priesthood leaders. He should discuss his goals with his parents and a priesthood leader.
Complete 8 or more goals from this category. Young men can select from the goals listed below or write their own.
1. Identify 4 scriptures that testify of Christ, and talk about them with a parent or priesthood leader.
2. Read “The Family: A Proclamation to the World” and “The Living Christ: The Testimony of the Apostles.” Review them with a parent or priesthood leader.
3. Recite from memory the Articles of Faith to a parent or a priesthood leader.
4. Read D&C 20:38–60, and talk with a parent or a priesthood leader about the duties of a deacon.
5. At least once each year, bear your testimony.
6. Read an account of one of your ancestors, or learn about an ancestor from one of your relatives. Report what you learned in family home evening or in a quorum meeting.
7. Complete additional family history work, such as a family group record showing your parents as children with the other members of their families. Share this information with a parent or a priesthood leader.
8. If you do not already have one, start a journal, and write in it regularly for 2 months.
9. Set up a plan to be spiritually and financially prepared to go on a mission at age 19.
10. Make a list of skills you will need to become a successful missionary. Talk to a parent or priesthood leader about how you can learn these skills.
11. Invite at least 2 friends to a Mutual activity, Sunday meeting, or family home evening.
12. Write a letter to your parents, your grandparents, or a ward or stake leader. Thank them for their example and positive influence on you.
back to top of duty to god page
back to top of deacon requirements
Complete 8 or more goals from this category. Young men can select from the goals listed below or write their own.
1. Run 2 kilometers or 1 1/4 miles, and set a goal for steady improvement.
2. Develop and begin a 1-year plan to improve your personal physical fitness.
3. Swim 50 meters, using 2 different strokes.
4. Learn to float on your back in the water for at least 2 minutes.
5. Learn how to rescue someone who is drowning.
6. Hike 10 kilometers or 6 miles in 1 day.
7. Prepare the equipment for an overnight camping trip. Show that you can set up a tent, cook on an open fire or on a camp stove, build a latrine, and restore the surroundings to how they were before your stay.
8. While camping, show that you know the proper way to build a cooking fire or set up a camp stove. Teach someone else how to build a fire, emphasizing 5 safety rules.
9. Learn a new game or sport.
10. Play on a sports team in your quorum, ward, school, or community.
11. Learn the rules of play, and officiate for a sport of your choice.
12. Explain to a parent or priesthood leader the rules of safe bicycle riding. Complete a 30-kilometer or 20-mile ride.
back to top of duty to god page
back to top of deacon requirements
Complete 8 or more goals from this category. Young men can select from the goals listed below or write their own.
1. Make a plan to improve basic reading, writing, and arithmetic skills, and follow the plan for at least 3 months.
2. Choose 2 careers you may be interested in doing someday. Find out what educational or other requirements you would need for them, and interview someone in each position to learn what you must do to prepare for these careers.
3. Visit a government office. After your visit, explain to a parent or priesthood leader the function of the office.
4. Learn how to purify water and to wash and prepare fresh fruits and vegetables.
5. Learn emergency treatment for electrical shock, near drowning, serious burns, broken bones, heat exhaustion, and serious falls.
6. Attend a cultural event such as a church, school, or community play, music program, or musical.
7. Learn to play a musical instrument.
8. Perform a musical selection in sacrament meeting or another church or community meeting.
9. Develop and follow a financial budget for 3 months.
10. Read at least 4 issues of a Church magazine.
11. Learn computer and keyboarding skills. Demonstrate these skills by typing family history information in Personal Ancestral File or another similar program.
12. Read the Word of Wisdom in Doctrine & Covenants 89 and explain to a parent or priesthood leader what is meant by “and shall find wisdom and great treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures.”
back to top of duty to god page
back to top of deacon requirements
Complete 8 or more goals from this category. Young men can select from the goals listed below or write their own.
1. Explain to a parent or priesthood leader how to be a friend, maintain a friendship, and resolve conflicts between friends.
2. Be a friend to someone who may feel left out, and invite him to a quorum or Mutual activity.
3. Show a parent or a priesthood leader that you know how to use proper manners while eating, greeting acquaintances in formal and informal settings, greeting a person of authority, and introducing a speaker at a public event.
4. Teach your family to play a new game or sport.
5. Explain to a parent or priesthood leader what it means to obey, honor, and sustain the law.
6. Participate in a cultural event such as a school play or musical.
7. Learn and practice proper dance etiquette.
8. Explain Luke 6:31, and tell a parent or priesthood leader about when and how you have applied its teachings.
9. Help organize and carry out a quorum or ward youth activity.
10. With your quorum, clean up or repair a part of your neighborhood.
11. Participate in 4 family, quorum, or ward social activities.
12. Sing with a church, school, or community choir.
back to top of duty to god page
back to top of deacon requirements
Duty to God Deacon Service Project
Giving service to others is one of the purposes of the Aaronic Priesthood. Young men should choose a service project that benefits your family, ward, stake, or community. They should plan, prepare, and carry out the project. The project needs to be approved by his parents and quorum adviser.
If he earns the Eagle Scout Award, the Eagle service project may count for both the Eagle Scout Award and the deacon Duty to God service project. Young men are encouraged to involve other members of their quorum in completing the project.
Duty to God Deacon Journal Requirement
From the Duty to God book: "One of the best goals you can set is to keep a journal. It becomes more and more interesting and valuable as you grow older. It will give you a lifelong record of your growth and accomplishments. It is a place to record your spiritual impressions and feelings."
To earn the Duty to God certificate for deacons, young men must fill in the journal section of the guidebook.
back to top of duty to god page
back to top of deacon requirements
Do all of the following regularly:
1. Keep the commandments.
2. Live the standards in For the Strength of Youth.
3. Have daily personal prayer.
4. Read the scriptures.
5. Attend seminary, where available; otherwise, enroll in the appropriate seminary home-study course.
6. Attend sacrament meeting, priesthood meeting, and other Church meetings.
7. Keep the Word of Wisdom.
8. Pay a full tithe.
9. Prepare the sacrament.
10. Serve as a home teacher as assigned by your priesthood leaders.
back to top of duty to god page
back to top of teacher requirements
Family Activities
Do all of the following.
1. In the Book of Mormon, read Alma through Moroni, and discuss with your family what Alma, Helaman, and Moroni foretold about Christ. Also discuss the brother of Jared and the strength of his faith.
2. Study For the Strength of Youth. Discuss each topic with your parents, and explain why each is important to young men and women.
3. Read about the following topics in True to the Faith or Gospel Principles, and teach 2 of them to your family: conversion, faith, forgiveness, the Holy Ghost, obedience, the plan of salvation, prayer, prophets, repentance, and revelation.
4. Under the direction of your parents, organize and teach at least 4 family home evening lessons each year. You may want to consider using topics from For the Strength of Youth,True to the Faith, or Gospel Principles.
5. Memorize the words and learn to conduct at least 3 hymns each year, 1 hymn in 2/4 time, 1 in 3/4 time, and 1 in 4/4 time.
6. Learn to prepare and use a simple budget. Keep a budget for at least 2 months.
7. Study and briefly describe to your parents your country’s constitution and the events that led to its creation.
8. Plan an activity in which you and your family serve a neighbor or relative. Carry out the activity together.
back to top of duty to god page
back to top of teacher requirements
Quorum Activities
Do all of the following.
1. Read D&C 20:53–57. Also read “Teaching the Gospel” in True to the Faith, or read the Teaching Guidebook. Discuss with a priesthood leader how you can be a good home teacher.
2. As assigned by a priesthood leader, give at least one 4- to 5-minute talk each year in priesthood or sacrament meeting.
3. Under the direction of a priesthood leader, teach, or help teach 1 or more lessons in the teachers quorum meeting.
4. With your quorum, discuss how to prepare for and serve a full-time mission and ways to assist the full-time missionaries in your area.
5. Invite and bring to Church meetings a friend, a less-active member, or a new member your age.
6. Participate in baptisms for the dead, if possible. If not, talk with a priesthood leader about the temple and what it means to Latter-day Saints.
7. Under the direction of a priesthood leader, participate in at least 1 teachers quorum service project each year.
back to top of duty to god page
back to top of teacher requirements
Personal Goals
To earn a Duty to God certificate in the 2 years a young man is a teacher, he must complete 8 or more personal goals under each of the 4 categories that follow. If these suggested goals do not fit his needs or abilities, he can modify the requirements, with the approval of his parents and Aaronic Priesthood leaders. He should discuss his goals with his parents and a priesthood leader.
Complete 8 or more goals from this category. Young men can select from the goals listed below or write their own. 1. Study the purposes of the Aaronic Priesthood (found on page 7 of the booklet). Discuss what it means to “become converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ and live its teachings.” 2. Discuss with your parents or a priesthood leader what it means to keep the Sabbath day holy. Practice appropriate Sabbath observance. 3. Prepare and present at least 2 home teaching lessons. 4. Recite from memory the Articles of Faith and D&C 13. 5. Read and discuss a general conference address that teaches about the evils of immorality and pornography. 6. Complete a family group record for each of your grandparents where they are listed as children. 7. Write regularly in a personal journal for at least 3 months. 8. Regularly add to your mission fund in preparation for and anticipation of receiving a call to serve a full-time mission. 9. Collect recipes for a dozen meals that a missionary can prepare quickly. Prepare at least 4 of these meals. 10. Write 3 letters of appreciation to your family or ward members during the year. Thank them for their kindness and support. 11. Develop a list of 10 qualities that you admire in your father or another adult, and discuss them. 12. Read at least 2 stories from a Church magazine. Share them with your family in family home evening or with a priesthood leader.
back to top of duty to god page
back to top of teacher requirements
Complete 8 or more goals from this category. Young men can select from the goals listed below or write their own.
1. Run 5 kilometers or 3 miles in 30 minutes or less.
2. Swim 75 meters using 2 different strokes.
3. Demonstrate lifesaving skills in the water.
4. Hike 15 kilometers or 9 miles with a pack in 1 day.
5. Participate in a group cultural arts performance such as a road show, play, folk dance, or other activity in a church, school, or community function.
6. Teach a younger brother or sister or ward member how to play an indoor game or sport.
7. Participate on a sports team in the quorum, ward, school, or community.
8. Learn to play or officiate a sport of your choice.
9. If local conditions permit, participate in a 3-day quorum camping trip under the supervision of your leaders and other qualified adults.
10. Explain to your parents or a priesthood leader how to survive for 48 hours if lost in the wilderness in both warm and cold seasons. Identify edible plants and animals, and explain how you would ensure the safety of drinking water.
11. Learn and demonstrate the most important distress signals to use during a crisis or when you are lost.
12. Teach first aid skills to your family or quorum members.
back to top of duty to god page
back to top of teacher requirements
Complete 8 or more goals from this category. Young men can select from the goals listed below or write their own.
1. Continue your education, and develop additional skills in reading, writing, and mathematics.
2. Improve your reading skills by reading at least 6 issues of a Church magazine.
3. Choose 3 careers that interest you. Think of several questions you have about each career, and discuss them with your parents, a priesthood leader, or others who can help you learn about these careers. Emphasize the positive aspects of each career as they relate to your personal characteristics and life goals.
4. Visit at least 3 places where people perform work you might enjoy. Find out what they like and dislike about their work and how they prepared themselves to do it. Describe to your parents or a priesthood leader how you would feel about working at such a job.
5. If a vocational interest test is available, take it, and discuss the results with your parents. If classes are offered at your school that could help you prepare for a potential career, discuss with your parents or a priesthood leader how they could help you do this.
6. Discuss how your chosen career would allow you to maintain the moral standards of the Church.
7. Learn and explain the entrance requirements for a technical school, college, or university; describe to your parents or a priesthood leader at least 5 classes that interest you.
8. Learn to play a musical instrument.
9. Attend a “career night” where a guest speaker describes the steps a person should take to apply for a job and what characteristics employers look for in new employees.
10. Collect 3 different job applications, and fill them out as practice.
11. In a language other than your own, learn to bear your testimony, and memorize Articles of Faith 1–6.
12. Use a computer to prepare a Church talk, a school assignment, or another similar task.
back to top of duty to god page
back to top of teacher requirements
Citizenship and Social Development
Complete 8 or more goals from this category. Young men can select from the goals listed below or write their own.
1. Learn and practice proper personal hygiene and grooming, and explain to your parents or a priesthood leader why these skills are important to your success and well-being.
2. Under the direction of a priesthood leader, plan and participate in at least 1 combined activity with your quorum members and the young women in the ward.
3. Volunteer for 4 or more afternoons or evenings at a hospital, home for the aged, center for the disabled, welfare center, or homeless shelter.
4. Invite your grandparents or other senior citizens to share their childhood memories with you. Take notes of the major highlights in their lives.
5. Attend a village, community, or city council meeting, and share your impressions of the experience with your parents or a priesthood leader.
6. Visit a legal court, and share your impressions of the experience with your quorum or family.
7. Learn and sing, alone or with a group, your national anthem; explain its origin to your parents or a priesthood leader.
8. Discuss with your parents or a priesthood leader ways to help prevent crime in your area.
9. Develop a list of music, movies, television programs, and printed materials that are in harmony with gospel standards.
10. With your quorum members, plan and participate in an “etiquette dinner.” The guests of honor could be quorum members’ parents.
11. As assigned by a priesthood leader, give at least 1 talk in sacrament meeting, or give a speech at school or in the community.
12. With approval of neighborhood or community leaders, organize a project to clean and repair a public park or gathering place. Help maintain the grounds for 2 months.
back to top of duty to god page Giving service to others is one of the purposes of the Aaronic Priesthood. Young men should choose a service project that benefits your family, ward, stake, or community. They should plan, prepare, and carry out the project. The project needs to be approved by his parents and quorum adviser. If he earns the Eagle Scout Award while he is a teacher, the Eagle service project may count for both the Eagle Scout Award and the teacher Duty to God service project. Young men are encouraged to involve other members of their quorum in completing the project. back to top of duty to god page
back to top of teacher requirements
Duty to God Teacher Service Project
Duty to God Teacher Journal Requirement
From the Duty to God book: "One of the best goals you can set is to keep a journal. It becomes more and more interesting and valuable as you grow older. It will give you a lifelong record of your growth and accomplishments. It is a place to record your spiritual impressions and feelings."
To earn the Duty to God certificate for teachers, young men must fill in the journal section of the guidebook.
back to top of teacher requirements
Do all of the following regularly:
1. Keep the commandments.
2. Live the standards in For the Strength of Youth.
3. Have daily personal prayer.
4. Read the scriptures.
5. Attend seminary, where available; otherwise, enroll in the appropriate seminary home-study course.
6. Attend sacrament meeting, priesthood meeting, and other Church meetings.
7. Keep the Word of Wisdom.
8. Pay a full tithe.
9. Bless the sacrament.
10. Serve as a home teacher as assigned by your priesthood leaders.
11. Perform other assigned priesthood duties.
back to top of duty to god page
back to top of priest requirements
Family Activities
Do all of the following.
1. Read the Book of Mormon. Discuss with your family the highlights from the book, including such topics as the difference in attitude between Nephi and Laman, the value of obedience to parents and priesthood leaders, the need to heed the messages of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, the fight between good and evil, King Benjamin’s wise counsel, Jesus Christ’s visit to the Western Hemisphere, and the promise given in Moroni 10:4–5. 2. Read For the Strength of Youth, and discuss with your parents your experience in living gospel standards. 3. If you have not received your patriarchal blessing, begin making plans to do so. 4. Under the direction of your parents, organize and teach at least 4 family home evening lessons each year. You may want to consider using topics from For the Strength of Youth,True to the Faith, or Gospel Principles. 5. Read about the following topics in True to the Faith or Gospel Principles, and teach 2 of them to your family: the Atonement of Jesus Christ, the Creation, death (physical and spiritual), eternal life, the Fall, God the Father, kingdoms of glory, mercy, the premortal existence, prophets, the Restoration of the gospel, the Resurrection, and the Second Coming. 6. Read D&C 4, and discuss what it means to be prepared spiritually, financially, emotionally, and physically for your mission. Discuss the importance of work (see Genesis 3:19; Proverbs 14:23; 2 Nephi 5:17; Mosiah 2:14; D&C 42:42). 7. Talk to one or both of your parents about your career goals and how you are planning to achieve them. 8. Read D&C 134, and discuss with your parents how it relates to your responsibilities as a citizen of your country. 9. Submit the name of one of your ancestors for temple work, or write a 500-word personal history. 10. Read “Temples” in True to the Faith, or read Preparing to Enter the Holy Temple. Discuss it with your parents. Do all of the following.
back to top of duty to god page
back to top of priest requirements
Quorum Activities
1. Memorize the sacrament prayers. Talk to a priesthood leader about the baptismal covenant and what it involves.
2. If possible, give at least two 4- to 5-minute talks each year in a priesthood or sacrament meeting or Mutual, when assigned by a priesthood leader.
3. Serve as a companion to a full-time or ward missionary at least twice, when assigned by a priesthood leader. Discuss the teaching experience with the missionary.
4. Discuss the meaning of the oath and covenant of the priesthood with a priesthood leader (see D&C 84:33–44).
5. Under the direction of a priesthood leader, help teach at least 2 lessons in priests quorum meetings.
6. Learn the basic skills of conducting music, memorize a hymn, and lead others in singing it during opening exercises of priesthood meeting at least once a year.
7. Participate in at least 1 priests quorum service project each year.
back to top of duty to god page
back to top of priest requirements
Personal Goals
To earn a Duty to God certificate in the 2 years a young man is a teacher, he must complete 8 or more personal goals under each of the 4 categories that follow. If these suggested goals do not fit his needs or abilities, he can modify the requirements, with the approval of his parents and Aaronic Priesthood leaders. He should discuss his goals with his parents and a priesthood leader.
Complete 8 or more goals from this category. Young men can select from the goals listed below or write their own. 1. Speak in a quorum or sacrament meeting about the importance of honesty and integrity in daily life. 2. Teach a gospel lesson to younger children in family home evening, Sunday School, Primary, or another meeting. 3. Visit a hospital or care center, and talk with or read to the patients or residents. 4. With your bishop’s guidance, identify and assist 2 elderly families with tasks such as shopping, gardening, cleaning house, and painting. 5. Learn to play the piano or organ well enough to accompany 2 hymns in a Church meeting. 6. Participate in a baptismal service by being a witness, performing a baptism, giving a talk, leading the music, or helping set up. 7. Encourage and invite a less-active quorum member to participate in at least 1 quorum or ward activity. 8. Continue to add regularly to your mission fund in preparation for receiving your mission call. 9. Participate in a community service project that benefits people who are not members of the Church. 10. Recite from memory the Articles of Faith and D&C 4. 11. Participate in a ward or stake missionary preparation program. Where possible, work with the ward mission leader to participate in companionship exchanges with the full-time or stake missionaries. 12. As assigned by a priesthood leader, speak in sacrament meeting about a righteous father and the impact he had on his family.
back to top of duty to god page
back to top of priest requirements
Complete 8 or more goals from this category. Young men can select from the goals listed below or write their own.
1. Run 10 kilometers or 6 miles in 60 minutes or less.
2. Hike 25 kilometers or 15 miles with a pack in 2 days or less.
3. Run for 30 minutes 3 times a week for 3 months.
4. Swim for 30 minutes twice a week for 3 months.
5. Present a display or demonstrate a hobby or craft at school, in a Church activity, or at a community event.
6. Participate in a musical group that presents music in harmony with Church standards, and give a public performance.
7. Participate on a sports team in your quorum, ward, school, or community.
8. Learn to play or officiate for a sport.
9. Teach the rules of a sport to another family or quorum member.
10. As local regulations permit, organize and carry out a camping trip for your quorum. Make arrangements with the owner of the land for permission to camp there, and clean up the area before leaving.
11. Study the needs of people with disabilities. With approval from your parents or a priesthood leader, plan and carry out a camping trip or other activity that includes those with disabilities.
12. Under the direction of a priesthood leader, plan and carry out an activity close to home in which all members of your quorum may participate with little or no cost. Possible activities include a 50-kilometer or 30-mile bike or wilderness trek, a rafting or canoeing trip, or a bicycle road rally.
back to top of duty to god page
back to top of priest requirements
Complete 8 or more goals from this category. Young men can select from the goals listed below or write their own.
1. Write a post–high school education or training plan. Include how your education or training might be financed. Explain how your plans will work with your goal of serving a 2-year full-time mission.
2. Enroll and participate in a university or vocational school, on-the-job training program, apprenticeship, or internship.
3. Visit the workplace of 3 occupations you are interested in. Write about what you did and did not like about the job and about why you think it does or does not fit your long-term goals.
4. With your parents’ permission, obtain part-time work.
5. Learn how to find a job. Prepare a résumé, and hold a practice interview with one or both of your parents or a priesthood leader.
6. Obtain a valid driver’s license with your parents’ approval.
7. Prepare a personal history, including several important events in your life or your family’s life. Keep a journal or personal record.
8. In a language other than your own, learn to bear your testimony, and memorize Articles of Faith 7–13. Also, in 5 languages, learn greetings that people would give on the street.
9. Plan and participate in a variety show at church or in the community that includes local talent.
10. Create at least 3 paintings or drawings, and, if possible, display them in a church, school, or community cultural arts event.
11. Participate in a church, school, or community choir.
12. Learn to play a musical instrument.
back to top of duty to god page
back to top of priest requirements
Citizenship and Social Development
Complete 8 or more goals from this category. Young men can select from the goals listed below or write their own.
1. Plan and participate in at least 1 combined activity with your quorum members and the young women in the ward.
2. Read the section on dating in For the Strength of Youth. Discuss appropriate dating activities and conduct and the characteristics to look for in a potential spouse.
3. Learn good personal hygiene and grooming habits. Discuss why these skills are important to your success now and as a potential full-time missionary.
4. Invite a group of newly married couples from the ward or stake to a panel discussion in which they discuss how individuals should treat each other during courtship and what to look for in a future spouse.
5. Attend a social event in the ward or stake and another similar event at school. Describe to your parents or a priesthood leader how you felt and behaved in both situations.
6. Plan and carry out a cultural or social activity for a group of elderly people in your area. Consult with the ward high priests group leader in your planning.
7. Organize or assist with a crime-prevention program in your neighborhood, under the direction of priesthood and community leaders.
8. Ask a representative of a local law enforcement agency to attend a neighborhood meeting, and encourage residents to watch out for one another.
9. After talking with a priesthood leader, do 2 projects that will help you better understand national governments and how to preserve peace.
10. Talk to a priesthood leader about the culture of a country or countries in which full-time missionaries are serving.
11. Help an elderly person participate in an election in your area.
12. Participate in at least 2 community service projects during the year.
back to top of duty to god page Giving service to others is one of the purposes of the Aaronic Priesthood. Young men should choose a service project that benefits your family, ward, stake, or community. They should plan, prepare, and carry out the project. The project needs to be approved by his parents and quorum adviser. If he earns the Eagle Scout Award while he is a priest, the Eagle service project may count for both the Eagle Scout Award and the priest Duty to God service project. Young men are encouraged to involve other members of their quorum in completing the project. back to top of duty to god page
back to top of priest requirements
Duty to God Priest Service Project
Duty to God Priest Journal Requirement
From the Duty to God book: "One of the best goals you can set is to keep a journal. It becomes more and more interesting and valuable as you grow older. It will give you a lifelong record of your growth and accomplishments. It is a place to record your spiritual impressions and feelings."
To earn the Duty to God certificate for priests, young men must fill in the journal section of the guidebook.
back to top of priest requirements