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Beginning in middle school, I carried a copy of the For the Strength of Youth booklet in my backpack, and even trimmed the pocket version with some scissors to make it fit in my wallet. I referred to them throughout my formative years and was grateful to have input from prophets to inform my choices. One time when I was painting our mascot on a wall at my high school, my friend Rose even picked up my copy of the booklet and started reading. It was a great conversation starter.

In the last few years, I have repeatedly encountered misconceptions about the significance or meaning of the changes in the new editions of the booklet. This has led me to feel an urgent need to write this series of articles clarifying what Church leaders are and are not saying about it.

The FSY Guide

In October 2022, Elder Uchtdorf introduced a new edition of the For the Strength of Youth booklet in general conference.1 From that edition onward it has been subtitled “A Guide for Making Choices” and is usually referred to as “the FSY Guide” for shorthand in Church publications.2 It’s a terrific summary of revealed principles and guidelines for moral living—both inspired and inspiring.

The FSY Guide differs in some ways from previous editions of the booklet. The earlier editions of the booklet and the FSY Guide both have included specific concrete behaviors that are recommended and discouraged, as well as the doctrinal reasons and purposes that underlie those behaviors. But the previous For the Strength of Youth booklets spent a larger portion of time on behaviors, while the FSY Guide definitely spends far more time on the principles behind them. 

This can be quickly seen, for example, by simply comparing the tables of contents of different editions. Earlier booklets were organized by more action-oriented topics such as “Dating” or “Sabbath Day Observance,” while the 2022 FSY Guide is organized by doctrinal truths such as “Your Body Is Sacred” or “Truth Will Make You Free.”

 

Side-by-side comparison of earlier For the Strength of Youth pamphlets and the newer FSY Guide, illustrating the shift from behavior-focused topics to principle-centered discipleship and gospel standards.

In April 2026, an updated version of the FSY Guide was released,3 which doubled the number of chapters to twelve total, so youth could study one a month each year. The original chapters carried over from 2022 are substantially the same with only minor changes (and reworking the chapter on joy). Throughout this series, the term “FSY Guide” refers to either or both the 2022 and/or the 2026 editions, since most statements about one edition are true of the other. The rare times there is a relevant difference, it will be noted. A side-by-side comparison and analysis of the two FSY Guides is available at NathanRichardson.com.4

Misconceptions

Lest anyone suspect that I’m tilting at windmills or solving imagined problems, I’ll share a few anecdotes. They come from a variety of places around the world and not necessarily my own. In many cases like these, good people may themselves be misunderstanding the guide, or they may simply not be choosing their words carefully. But either way, the result is that many youth are absorbing wrong ideas about Church standards.

  1. A young woman had a conversation at a youth activity a year after the new guide came out. A fellow young woman told her that the FSY Guide means that all prophetic counsel given before its publication in 2022 is now obsolete and irrelevant; we needn’t refer to past counsel at all anymore.
     (See what Church leaders teach about this in part 7 “Continuity.”)
  2. Another young woman tells of how her Seminary teacher explains the FSY Guide in class: that since it doesn’t have the same phrasing as before regarding things like piercings, that means the standards have changed now and former ones are no longer expected of us. When the young woman pointed out to her teacher that those things were taught in general conference and worldwide devotionals and can still be found in the Gospel Library, her teacher was undeterred. “Yours is a common misunderstanding, because I know that’s not the standard anymore.”
     (See what Church leaders teach about this in part 7 “Continuity.”)
  3. A stake leader conversed with a father at a youth camp, and mentioned in passing, “We don’t have standards anymore.” But the word standards appears five times in the 2022 FSY Guide, and eight times in the 2026 version.
     (See what Church leaders teach about this in part 2 “Newly-Invented Sins.”)
  4. A youth camp director was composing an email to the youth about how to prepare for camp. Among other things, the director wanted to include a quote from the then-current edition of the For the Strength of Youth pamphlet about proper dress and grooming (this was shortly before the FSY Guide’s release). Several fellow youth leaders did not want the quote included. The camp director repeatedly clarified that she wasn’t talking about enforcement at all, and that of course all would be welcome no matter how they dressed; she just wanted to remind them of the Church’s guidelines while they were still choosing what to pack. Then Elder Uchtdorf introduced the FSY Guide at general conference. At the next camp planning meeting, one of the youth leaders brought up the new FSY Guide to the camp director as further evidence that they should not mention any dress standard for youth camp, saying, “Things have changed in the Church since our last meeting” because the FSY Guide had now been published. After receiving such persistent pushback from fellow adult leaders, the camp director gave up and refrained from quoting a Church publication (either version) in a Church-sponsored youth activity.
     (See what Church leaders teach about this in the intermission “How Parents and Leaders Can Help” after part 5.)
  5. A bishop was planning with his ward council a lesson he was going to give about the FSY Guide. When he shared the idea, using several recent quotes from Church leaders, that there are still rules that Latter-day Saint youth should follow, several ward council members said they felt that was against the spirit of the FSY Guide. The bishop also explained that understanding the principle behind a particular rule means the Spirit can prompt you to apply the principle across more situations than is covered in the specific rule, resulting in a more demanding kind of discipleship, not less. Several ward council members expressed that they felt very uncomfortable with him saying that.
     (See what Church leaders teach about this in part 2 “Newly-Invented Sins.”)
  6. A person in a predominantly Latter-day Saint city said that right after the FSY Guide was introduced, the ticket sales to the local high school’s formal dance almost doubled, because so many parents interpreted the guide as meaning that “Don’t go on dates until age 16” was no longer the Church’s standard.
     (See what Church leaders teach about this in part 7 “Continuity” and the article “’Don’t Go on Dates until Age 16’ Is Still the Church’s Standard.”)

Again, we’re all busy (especially our local leaders who serve so selflessly) and can’t be experts on every new Church publication or development. But I beleve this very small sampling of incidences, from just my own limited degrees of separation from the sources, illustrates how these contribute to a prevalent, if not ubiquitous, line of thought entrenching itself among members of the Church, among both youth and adults. 

And this is only what I’ve encountered for myself in my own direct conversations. If you want to see more, join any Latter-day Saint social media group or thread about parenting or youth activities, and watch what happens any time someone expresses concern about a relaxing of standards since the new FSY Guide came out. Many, if not most, of the responses will assert that that is precisely the intended result of the changes, and that the OP is kind of off-base for even wishing for clear shared standards anymore. You may also notice that these mistaken views about the FSY Guice are expressed in the absence of any supporting statements from general authorities or general officers of the Church. 

Many discerning Saints are rightly skeptical of the popular misconceptions above. But even they will often go too far in conceding some ideas that, while not wholly wrong, still reflect an incomplete understanding of what how Church leaders say we should use the guide.

  1. Many Saints assume that the reason some specific familiar rules are now omitted from the FSY Guide is because they are no longer expected of members. Church leaders have explained a very different reason for it. (See what Church leaders teach about this in part 3 “The Conversion Process.”)
  2. Many Saints are saying that the standards have changed, and that the only standard now is to just read the FSY Guide and pray about your choice, then do what you feel is right. The FSY Guide says something different. (See what Church leaders teach about this in part 4 “The Revelation Pattern.”)
  3. Many Standards Night activities consist only of presenting a scenario or moral dilemma, having youth search the FSY Guide for principles, and then deciding what they should do based on that. But that is not what the FSY Guide itself says to do, nor what Church leaders model in their examples. (See what Church leaders teach about this in part 5 “Sharing Persuasively.”)
  4. A prevailing assumption is that any ambiguity created by the lack of specificity in the FSY Guide effectively lowers expectations instead of raising them. Church leaders have taught exactly the opposite. (See what Church leaders teach about this in part 6 “Valiance.”)

I even took the step of administering an objective assessment to a group of youth, to quantify how well they understand what the FSY Guide says about standards. You can read how I assessed that and what the results were in part 4, “The Revelation Pattern.” 

Here is a list of prevalent misconceptions, boiled down to their simplest forms. They’re not always put so succinctly in these terms, but they often lie at the heart of the assumptions being made in conversations about the FSY Guide.

Wrong Idea Answered in Article #
A. Loosening
a.  “We don’t have standards anymore. Rules are unnecessary and even spiritually inferior.” Part 2
b.  “The rules have been relaxed.” Part 6
c.  “People were trying too hard to be good. That’s Pharisaical.” Part 6
d.  “Principles are less demanding than rules, and less likely to offend others.”  Part 2
B. Just Feel and Act
a. “The only standard now is ‘Just do what seems right and feels good to you.’” Part 4
b. “The standard now is ‘Just read the FSY Guide and pray, then do what seems good.’”  Part 4
C.  Obsolescence
a. “All previous prophetic counsel, from before the FSY Guide was first published, is now invalid and can be ignored. In fact, it’s even kind of dubious or improper to refer to such previous counsel anymore.” Part 7
b. “It’s now OK to ____ [fill in the blank with any preferred behavior].” Part 3
D.  No Shared Norms
a. “There are (or should be) no institutional rules now, only individual ones. It’s wrong to want shared norms.” Intermission after Part 5 
b. “Parents and Church leaders shouldn’t set rules anymore, like dress standards for Church activities or dances.” Intermission after Part 5 
c. Standards Night should just focus on each individual deciding what is best for only them.  Part 5
d. “Parents’ role is to merely affirm their child’s choices.” Intermission after Part 5 

All of these incorrect ideas have been addressed and countered by Church leaders, in public addresses published by the Church specifically about the FSY Guide, by the same leaders who revised it, in the last few years since it was introduced. In the rest of this article below, I will discuss:

  • Original Sources, a few of which are
  • Key Sources, from which I have gathered
  • Key Quotes, which I have sorted into seven 
  • Key Ideas that leaders teach. 

Seven Key Ideas Taught by Church Leaders

In contrast to the popular myths that I’ve recounted above, Church leaders have publicly taught very different things about their purposes in shifting the approach in the FSY Guide. This is how I would summarize leaders’ main ideas, in the order I address them in this series of articles:

  1. Both Principles and Rules. We still have standards and rules, and they haven’t changed. We’re simply renewing our emphasis on also teaching the principles and reasons behind them. (See Part 2 in this series.)
  2. Newly-Invented Sins. Principles help us expand guidance to endless new situations. The spirit of the law is more demanding than the letter of the law, not less. (See Part 2 in this series.)
  3. The Conversion Process. Christ-centered discipleship helps us become like God and act out of love for him. Rather than having prophetic counsel condensed into one reference booklet, youth learn to search out that counsel for themselves. In the process, they understand the fuller context of the standards and gain a personal conviction that makes it a delight to keep the commandments. (See Part 3 in this series.)
  4. The Revelation Pattern. We are responsible to first search, then pray. Seek out what prophets have taught in the past, because that is often how God answers our questions about what to choose. (See Part 4 in this series.)
  5. Sharing Persuasively. Principles help us explain our beliefs and practices to others in a compelling way. Principles are the reasons behind the familiar Church standards we all have in common. (See Part 5 in this series.)
  6. Valiance. We should strive to live higher than the world around us. Principles raise our expectations to new heights of discipleship. (See Part 6 in this series.)
  7. Continuity. Presume relevance, not obsolescence, when studying prophets’ teachings. Much prophetic guidance is timeless wisdom without an expiration date. (See Part 7 in this series.)

It’s also helpful to think of these seven key ideas in the categories of what we teach, why we teach it, and how we teach it. After this introductory overview of the series, I will devote an article to each of these key ideas (part 2 combines key ideas 1 and 2 above into one article). For each article, I have included at least one major metaphor or story that encapsulates the main idea in a memorable mnemonic, as can be seen with the image that accompanies each main idea.

These key ideas are not mine; they are repeatedly taught by Church leaders, especially recently by the same people who revised the FSY Guide. This series of articles merely collects leaders’ statements in context, connects them with explanations, and adds memorable examples and analogies. 

Key Sources: Authoritative and Reliable

By this point, at least some readers might be wondering, “But Nathan, how can you be so sure this is how Church leaders want us to interpret the FSY Guide? Because what you’re claiming is very different from the things I’m hearing from some other members of the Church.” 

I too found the FSY Guide a little disorienting at first. I was immediately willing to make whatever changes Church leaders were asking of us, in what and how we taught. But some of the things I was hearing people claim left me skeptical as to how well the popular understandings were reflecting Church leaders’ intentions. Indeed, Steven J. Lund, the president of the Young Men General Presidency who oversaw the revision of the guide, has lamented, “More young people have read about [it] on social media than have read … the FSY guide [itself].”5

I finally decided to do a deep dive and read everything I could find from Church leaders about the hows and whys of the new FSY Guide. I knew that was the surest way to understand their intentions. Beginning in June 2024, I began consuming everything I could find on the subject—every article, interview, and training I could find in Church publications and official media outlets. I also started reading the Church’s youth magazine more regularly and carefully. 

At the end of this article, I link to my list of reliable original sources that I’ve used, in order of publication. The most important ones are highlighted as key sources. I also link to a collection of the most important key quotes, in both video and text form, which can be especially effective for sharing these teachings in classes or trainings. 

For ease of reference, I will now list here the General Officers who administered the revision of the FSY Guide in 2022, because they are frequently the speakers and authors being quoted in these authoritative sources:

Portrait of members of the Young Women General Presidency who helped administer and teach principles related to the FSY Guide and youth discipleship

Young Women (Apr. 2018–Aug. 2023)

President: Bonnie H. Cordon
1st Counselor: Michelle D. Craig
2nd Counselor: Rebecca L. Craven

Young Men general presidency, Apr 2020-Apr 2023, President Steven J. Lund, 1st counselor Ahmad S. Corbitt, 2nd counselor Bradley R. Wilcox

Young Men (Apr. 2020–Apr. 2025)

(Note: In April 2023, Ahmad Corbitt became a Seventy and left the Young Men General Presidency, Brother Wilcox became the First Counselor, and Michael T. Nelson became the Second Counselor.) 

I have watched and read all of these sources in their entirety multiple times. It doesn’t take long to clearly see and absorb the leaders’ intended goals and purposes. And they are nothing like the misconceptions I’ve listed above. In many cases they are the exact opposite. 

Unfortunately, many of the most important sources for understanding the FSY Guide are not in the most obvious places, so many people aren’t finding them.6 

Why Should I Care, If I’m Not a Youth?

Some readers may think, “I’m not a youth anymore, so why should I be interested in anything about the new For the Strength of Youth Guide?” Others might add, “I don’t even have kids at all, much less any teenagers.” Elder Uchtdorf answered that question when he introduced the booklet in general conference:

I am also speaking to those who used to be young, even to those who can’t really remember it anymore.

And I speak to all who love our young people and want them to succeed in life.7

So even if you aren’t a youth, you may meet one some day (I hear they’re pretty thick on the ground). And as a disciple of Jesus Christ, you will naturally want to play any part you can in helping them to understand the prophets’ counsel on these many everyday choices, and to gain a conviction of the importance of following it. 

There’s another reason this topic should interest anyone reading. Sister Becky Craven said in general conference,

The For the Strength of Youth pamphlet contains standards that, when followed carefully, will bring rich blessings and help us stay on the covenant path. Although it was written for the benefit of the youth, its standards do not expire when we leave the Young Men and Young Women programs. They apply to each of us all the time.8

When we really understand how inspired moral standards bless our lives, we’re eager to find out (and share) any counsel the prophets have given. This is why the apostles frequently use this booklet as their primary way of introducing who Latter-day Saints are as a people.

This is … the booklet that, interestingly, Elder Uchtdorf carries in his shirt pocket and has for decades, and pulls that out when he’s meeting with heads of state or dignitaries. This is his first go-to to explain what the Church is about: “Well, let us talk to you about the values that we instill in our youth.” So that will be a good asset for all of us.9

Organization of This Series (What to Read First)

All of the key primary sources I use in this series are (1) published by the Church, (2) about the new FSY Guide, (3) after the new guide was published in October 2022, and (4) from the very leaders who revised the guide. 

From these key sources, I’ve collected over forty key quotes that best explain the purpose and intent behind the revision of the guide, and address the common misconceptions I’ve identified above. 

1. Video Playlist of Key Quotes

If you don’t have the time to read through these sources or even this article series, I have created a YouTube playlist of all the key quotes, excerpted from the recordings of the Church leaders they come from. I highly recommend simply listening to those key quotes to get the main ideas from Church leaders. They are brief and to the point, each less than one minute on average, and total less than an hour to listen to. 

If you go no further in this series—if you have no time for anything else—please go listen to this playlist and share it. It has the greatest impact, simply seeing and hearing what Church leaders themselves are actually saying about the FSY Guide.

Video Playlist of Key Quotes

If your time is too limited even for that complete playlist of key quotes, then here is a much shorter playlist of just the most important ones to start with. It’s about a dozen videos, totaling less than 14 minutes.

Video Playlist of Top Key Quotes

2. Printable PDF Collection of Key Quotes

I have also collected these quotes as text in a PDF that can be printed as handouts, perhaps as part of a Standards Night or classroom setting. The quotes are organized into the seven main ideas, with graphics and diagrams to help make them more memorable (no one wants to just read a solid wall of unbroken text; magazine layout is more digestible). 

Again, if you read no further than this paragraph—if you close this window and never return to finish reading this article series—the next best use of your limited time would be to simply read these twenty pages of quotes. Once you’ve listened to Church leaders themselves explain their intentions, it will clear up 99% of the misconceptions you’re hearing.

Printable PDF Collection of Key Quotes

I honestly feel that no discussion of the FSY Guide can or should proceed until the people involved have familiarized themselves with these teachings from Church leaders. If someone has drawn different conclusions about Church leaders’ intent in revising the FSY Guide—conclusions that are incompatible with the key quotes and ideas I present in this series—the burden of evidence is on them to produce authoritative statements that support their conclusions, as well as account for this collection here.

3. Original Sources

Here is a link to the full list of sources I’ve studied so that I can honestly say I’ve tried to include all relevant instructions from Church leaders. If I’ve missed anything, please tell me. A few of the most helpful sources are marked as key sources. 

Original Sources on the FSY Guide

Thoroughness Now Enables Brevity Later

Some readers may think this article series is too long. I wish it could be briefer and punchier than it is. If I had any authority myself, I would simply explain the ideas. But I need to prove my claim that I’m accurately reflecting the intentions of Church leaders, handle potential objections, and generally cover my bases, which requires using multiple authoritative sources like I have. It also takes time to string the quotes together and explain how they teach the seven key ideas. So while I’ve tried to be concise, I have to be thorough first. 

Once this series is up and available, perhaps then the next step can begin of more people condensing, popularizing, and sharing these ideas more widely. I hope people will share these ideas and quotes in shorter bite-size forms across social media, because influencers and content creators will now be more confident that they are disseminating the expressed intentions of Church leaders.

Closing

I hope this introduction has persuaded you that there exists a problem to be solved. I hope that the rest of this series succeeds in solving it. 

Misunderstanding the reasons for the change of approach in the FSY Guide can lead to spiritually detrimental drifting. But understanding and embracing the true reasons has the potential to convert your, your children’s, and your loved ones’ discipleship in amazing ways. 

In the next article (“Part 2: Newly-Invented Sins”), I will share Church leaders’ first two key ideas. You’ll hear what the main approach is that they want us to use, and why I’ve used the image of green tree branches with blue leaves to represent it. You’ll also hear one reason why it’s such a good way to teach youth. I’ll also tell you about an apostle who asked a bartender for a drink, and then admitted it in general conference! 

Here is a link to the table of contents for this series, which lists all the articles in order:

Article Series: What Church Leaders Teach about the FSY Guide

https://nathanrichardson.com/fsyguide/

Footnotes

1. The 10th edition since its debut in 1965, according to Wikipedia.

2. Only a few years earlier, they also announced youth conferences called “For the Strength of Youth” and the renaming of the youth magazine The New Era to For the Strength of Youth. For clarity, they can be referred to as the FSY Guide, FSY conferences, and FSY magazine.

3. “Youth Around the World Invited to Prepare for New Curriculum,” Newsroom.ChurchOfJesusChrist.org, 17 Apr 2026 (link). The 2026 version is the 11th edition, according to Wikipedia.

4. Nathan Richardson, “FSY Guide Comparison: 2026 vs. 2022,” Jun 2026, NathanRichardson.com (link).

5. Steven J. Lund, “The New For the Strength of Youth Guide,” 2023 BYU Women’s Conference, 5 May 2023, Gospel Library (link).

6. Many of these sources are tucked away in relatively obscure places. If you go to the Gospel Library app or website and click on Youth, you will find the For the Strength of Youth Guide itself, but you will find exactly none of these key sources. By far the most helpful and important pieces are (1) a couple “parent training” classes taught by the Young Men and Young Women General Presidencies who rewrote the guide, and (2) a couple interviews with these same presidencies on the Church News podcast. 

But the parent training classes are buried in the the Gospel Library under Adults > Women > BYU Women’s Conference. Most people won’t think to look there for material clarifying the new FSY Guide—not a youth, and probably not many fathers. And not a Deacons Quorum advisor, Youth Sunday School teacher, or Seminary teacher who want to know how to best teach the new FSY Guide. I only found them because I happened to hear a chance comment in an unrelated conversation; I don’t think I ever would have found them otherwise. 

Likewise, the Church News podcast is not exactly obscure, but it’s not on most members’ radar, and it’s not accessible via the Gospel Library app or Church website; you won’t know it exists if that app/site is your base of study. It’s also not translated into multiple languages for general consumption around the worldwide church. 

For a change as important as this new FSY Guide, basic explanatory materials need to be placed front and center in a prominent place in the Gospel Library. If it isn’t there, people aren’t finding it. So for the wonderful folks at the Church offices in charge of the Gospel Library app and website, I have one specific recommendation—create icons and links to these key sources right there in the Youth section of the app and website. It would help so many more people find them!

7. Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “Jesus Christ Is the Strength of Youth,” gen conf, Oct 2022 (link).

8.  Becky Craven, “Careful versus Casual,” gen conf, Apr 2019 (link). Note that at the time she said this, she and the rest of the youth General Presidencies were already working on revising the booklet. President Cordon and President Lund have both made comments to the effect that counsel about the previous booklets can also be applied to the new FSY Guide. Both statements can be found in part 7 of this series. President Cordon’s comment is in the video above of Sister Craven’s quote. President Lund’s comment is quoted just below Sister Craven’s quote.

9.  Steven J. Lund, “The New For the Strength of Youth Guide,” 2023 BYU Women’s Conference, 5 May 2023, Gospel Library (link). Elder Uchtdorf also mentioned this in his Oct 2022 talk.