LDS-BSA Blog
I was once a 13-year-old Scout hoping that my troop members would elect me to become a nominee for membership in the Order of the Arrow. Not being particularly popular among my peers, I remember waiting nervously while an OA election team counted votes after conducting an election in my troop. The announcement that I […]
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I love watching the Aaronic Priesthood young men fulfill their duty to God. I am spiritually and emotionally touched every time I witness these faithful servants prepare, bless, and pass the sacrament. I’m amazed when I see them giving selfless service to the Church and in the community. I’m impressed when I watch boys cooperating […]
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Less than three-weeks ago the Church announced changes to the Young Women Camp Guide. Highlighted among those changes are “eliminating certification and emphasizing youth leaders.” There appears to be a trend in working with youth leaders in the Church. Train them younger and give them more responsibility to actually lead. Not just talk about it […]
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When President Thomas S. Monson passed away in January 2018, we heard much from the media about his great love and support of the Scouting program. Yet, he was not alone among Latter-day prophets in his enthusiasm and espousal of the Boy Scouts of America. For over one hundred years, Scouting has been the program […]
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“Boys, this will be the hardest thing you have ever done. Are you up for the challenge?” asked Scoutmaster Beckham of his Troop 747. “We are going on a tough, possibly dangerous, hike from the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, 17 miles down to the historic Phantom Ranch, then back out again. All this […]
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Did you “Roll out the Thunder” at Boy Scout summer camp? Can you “hike the whole day through?” Or, “Row or paddle a canoe?” Can you “shoot or swim or trap a BEAR o’er the mountains…?” If these phrases are familiar to you, then you likely sang the camp song, “Roll out the Thunder.” Used […]
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When Shakespeare’s Henry V spoke of his “band of brothers,” he described an empowering bond–forged under extraordinary circumstances–that elevates normal people and normal relationships above the every-day course of life. Usually with far less drama, Scouts and Scout leaders purposefully engage in such a process of taking young people out of their normal patterns to […]
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I am happy to give the Boy Scout movement my full endorsement…. I was active in the promotion of this program. I feel that thousands of our boys have been helped in becoming good men by living up to the principles of the Boy Scout movement. —President Heber J. Grant Young men and leaders in […]
Read more Today everyone seems to be familiar with the book, The Hobbit, even if only from having seen the trilogy of Hobbit movies. In one passage, Gandalf separates from Bilbo and the dwarfs at the edge of Mirkwood Forest to go slay a dragon. Before he departs, Gandalf leaves with a stern warning, “Don’t leave the […]
Read more At our district’s recent Klondike derby event, I ran into Al, a boy who joined the Order of the Arrow a while ago and who is a teacher in the Aaronic Priesthood. Al didn’t serve on the event staff with ten of his fellow OA chapter members. He camped in the snow and participated in […]
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Scouting uses different methods to achieve its aims of character development, citizenship training, and personal fitness. The methods of Scouting include Scouting ideals, patrols, outdoor programs, advancement, adult association, personal growth, leadership development, and uniform. Each of these methods is individually important in achieving the aims of Scouting as well as the mission and vision […]
Read more When I was a boy growing up, my parents took us five kids camping every summer for two or three weeks. We traveled to places all over the Western United States: Yosemite, Kings Canyon, Sequoia, Lake Tahoe, Bryce, Zion, Grand Tetons, and Yellowstone, to name a few. We had no money for hotel rooms, restaurants, […]
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