--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 30 number: 4 published: 1927-02 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: "Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations, “Outstanding Needs,” *Improvement Era* 30, no. 4 (February 1927): 370–372." source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera3004unse transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers. identifier: improvementera3004unse start_page: 370 end_page: 372 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1927-02) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera3004unse publication_year: 1927 note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1927, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # Outstanding Needs OUTSTANDING NEEDS Of the Young Men and Young Women of the Church, and Some Proposed Ways of Meeting These Needs (Compiled from suggestions volunteered by Stake and Ward M. I. A. officers, at the June Convention, 1926, edited by a joint committee of the General Boards; A. L. Beeley, chairman, Mary C. Kimball, and Ephraim E. Ericksen. It is recommended that the following be considered at the February meeting of Stake Boards, and that their findings be forwarded to the General Boards.) I. RELIGIOUS. A. The Needs. 1 . Greater faith in God, and a stronger testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 2. More active participation in and responsibility for Church and community work. Greater regard for the Sabbath day. 3. Greater reverence for our religious leaders and our religious in- stitutions. B. Proposed ways of meeting these needs. 1. More adequate leadership. Specifically: a. Adopt the "one man — one job" policy. ' b. Make use of a larger number of individuals as leaders and use them in more specialized ways. c. Select leaders with natural aptitudes for dealing with the young people. d. Secure leaders who have a testimony of the Gospel, and as far as possible, possess a genuine spirituality. e. Prune the organization of its "dead timber" (i. e., amongst the officers.) f. Encourage M. I. A. leaders to attend sacrament meetings. g. Formulate a general policy and adopt a specific program for raising the training standards of M. I. A. recreational workers by means of : (a) Leadership Institutes, (b) Training Courses, (c) ' Union Meetings, (d) Fall Conventions. h. Encourage M. I. A. teachers and leaders to attend teacher-train- ing classes. i. Stimulate teachers to painstaking, prayerful preparation. j. Enjoin teachers to avoid all forms of dogmatism. Arguments for and against a proposition should be analyzed and wherever possible facts and explanations furnished. k. Encourage leaders to read and apply the instructions contained in the Journal and the Era. 1. Select and train M. I. A. leaders to provide individualized guid- ance and companionship to boys and girls. Encourage leaders to conversation with young people. 2. Adopt more spirituality in the M. I. A. program. 3. Hold up the ideal of the mission as a spiritual objective for all young people. OUTSTANDING NEEDS . 371 4. Encourage young people to go to the temples — especially for mar- riage. 5. Correlate the work of the M. I. A. with the work of the Priesthood. 6. Cooperate with the Bishopric in providing more interesting sacra- ment meetings. Feature the testimonies of young men and wo- men on regular and special Fast days. Provide a full, stimulating program for the Sabbath day. 7. Give young people more opportunities to pray in public. 8. Conduct a campaign to make the standard Church works available in every Latter-day Saint home. Encourage the habit of scripture reading. 9.. Stimulate the use of appropriate music as a means of inducing religious attitudes. 10. Make prayer a delightful and an integral part of our worship and procedure in all group recreational activities. Encourage family prayer. 1 1 . Tell the story of old and new leaders in new ways. 12. Outline a series of renovation projects for our Church buildings in which M Men and Gleaner Girls can take responsibility. (e. g. landscape architecture, boys; interior decoration, girls.) 13. Encourage competitive essay writing ' on the various aspects of "Mormonism." 14. Provide opportunity by means of group discussion, play production, etc., for the study of other peoples, other religions, and other cultures. 15. Make a survey of all potential M. I. A. young men and young women in the ward; inventory their talents and aptitudes, and note their spiritual needs. . MORAL. A. The Needs. 1. Greater dependability. 2. Higher standards of morality. 3. Greater modesty, courtesy, and chivalry. 4. Greater sympathy and brotherly love for other persons and other groups. 5. More definite life objectives and life ideals, and greater persistence in their pursuit. 6. Greater obedience to the Word of Wisdom. B. Proposed ways of meeting these needs. 1 . Teach the scientific soundness of the Word of Wisdom. Labor individually with those who are not keeping the Word of Wisdom. 2. Encourage dependability by making dependable persons, and de- pendable behavior prominent in the association. 3. Study the problems of dress systematically by means o'f: (a) Essay writing, (b) Lectures, (c) Demonstrations, (d) Dress reviews, etc. 4. Discuss at appropriate times and in appropriate places the spiritual aspects of such things as courtship, business, politics, etc. 5. Provide a short, practical course in the nature and evolution of morals. 6. Feature demonstrations of etiquette, etc., in connection with M Men's and Gleaner Girls' banquets, dances, etc. 7. Carefully select medical and educational experts to give talks about life and its sacredness. 3 72 IMPROVEMENT ERA 8. Encourage parents to teach their children morality and the laws of physical growth. 9. Cooperate with the home and the public official in enforcing anti-liquor, and other important laws. 10. Keep the ideals and standards of Scout work and Bee-Hive work constantly before all young people. 11. In order to develop "chivalry among young men, outline a series of projects — Similar to those of Scouting, but of a more mature sort. 12. Encourage young people to make their own way in life without depending entirely upon their parents for financial help. 13. Encourage good movies — discourage unwholesome ones. III. SOCIAL, INTELLECTUAL, AND OTHER NEEDS. A. The Needs. 1 . More companionship between children and parents. 2. Greater harmony in family relationships. 3. A wider range of intellectual and physical interests in the recreational program. 4. A greater interest in the fine arts. 5. The spiritualization of secular interests. 6. A clearer conception of the vital problems of life. 7. A better understanding of young people by their elders. B. Proposed ways of meeting these needs. 1 . Provide for more participation of parents in the recreational ac- tivities of their children. 2. Stimulate greater companionship between parents and children by means of Fathers and Sons', and Mothers and Daughters' outings. Encourage home parties and home-evening programs. 3. Organize hosts' and hostesses' committees as a means of supervising the social activities of young people. 4. Employ intelligent and dignified means of advertising M. I. A. ideals and work. 5. Provide for a wider range of self-directed activities after the order of M Men's and Gleaner Girls' work. 6. Encourage the weekly half -holiday idea, and discourage social func- tions that continue late Saturday evenings. 7. Multiply the opportunities to get young people before the public. 8. Bring about a closer cooperation between the work of the M Men and the Gleaner Girls. 9. Provide more competitive activities of all sorts. 10. Stress dramatics and music. 11. Arrange for fine arts programs on regular and special M. I. A. nights. 12. Make a special effort to expand the traditional notion of recreation as merely physical activity to include the wider range of intel- lectual activities outlined in the Recreational Bulletin. 13. Create or make use of a community organization of parents to con- sider the local needs of boys and girls. (For example, make this a project for the Advanced Senior Class, and devote one night a month to such discussion.)