Future Contributions of Young Men
"We are now preparing a generation who will be the great temple builders—design the temple and buildings in Jackson County, Missouri. They will be the architects in Modern Zion. Young men from the ranks of the Aaronic Priesthood will be among the great scientists ever in the world.
As Elder Packer said at conference, it may well be a priesthood holder who will find a cure for addiction. It may be as simple as a pill. I agree with Elder Packer that the Lord will not permit man's agency to be lost, and addiction does that.
Economists and experts will be raised up in this enlightened Church to solve the world's hunger problem. Our priesthood brethren will lead out against family abandonment, child abuse, vulgarity, and evil—those things which are unacceptable in the kingdom of God.
"There will come greater inventions than television, atomic energy, or space travel. Our young men will have greater challenges than Joseph of Egypt had in solving hunger problems. They will face greater challenges than World War II or Vietnam.
They will brace themselves against a slavery far more tyrannical than the slavery which Abraham Lincoln faced. The solution to this slavery will be even farther reaching than the Emancipation Proclamation. It will involve souls and reach into godless societies and nations. This Church will raise up young men that will rival or exceed the accomplishments of Washington or Columbus.
"Our young men will probe into space further than any have dared before to do. Our priesthood holders will be leaders of nations, and they will hold up a standard of the gospel and this kingdom that will be an ensign to all nations. They will fly higher, farther, and faster than we can imagine.
"This Church will raise up young men that will perform on the athletic fields and courts in the Olympics and other contests that will be incomprehensible to us. Their athletic achievements will exceed those of any age in the past.
"This Church and its priesthood will have a prominent role in finding miraculous cures for cancer, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, blindness, deafness, heart disease, and every major disease or affliction which torments the human race.
"Priesthood leaders will lead out in solving problems of illiteracy, world hunger, moral degeneracy, and failing families.
"Our young men who hold the holy Aaronic Priesthood will be the leaven of the loaf. They will be the Lord's army who are fair as the sun and clear as the moon, and whose banners will be terrible before the nations of the earth.
"The preparatory priesthood will truly function in its divinely appointed role to prepare our young men for the significant contribution they must make in the Church, in their professions, leadership, and in saving this world."
(Excerpt from Elder Vaughn J. Featherstone's book: More Purity Give Me, 1991, p. 60-61.)