1. Common observation in the Church shows that a very high percentage of inactive families in the Church are headed by men who have the following attributes:
- a. Little understanding of the Gospel and the Church.
- b. Inferior command of language skills.
- c. Marginal vocational capability.
- d. Ancestry having characteristics I—1, 2, 3.
- e. Posterity having the characteristics I—1, 2, 3.
Conclusion: Inferior family traditions immobilize many members of the Church.
2. We might assume the following principles in connection with this subject:
- a. Persons having characteristics I—1, 2, 3, do not make strong, dependable Latter-day Saints.
- b. The role of those in authority in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is to stand as foster fathers in assisting every member of the Church to become a strong, dependable Latter-day Saint.
- c. New programs may be initiated by the ward and stake authorities of the Church to accomplish I—1, 2, 3.
Conclusion: Church authorities should specifically prepare programs to assist persons with characteristics I—1, 2, 3.
3. Comments on the program of the Church to assist inactive families to understand the Gospel and the Church.
- a. The ministering program is the principal link the church has with inactive families.
- b. As a rule, ministering brothers concentrate on fellowshipping and on relating inactive families to the local ward.
- c. Some ministering brothers do not themselves understand the Gospel very well.
Conclusion: Fellowshipping is a great good, but there is at present no effective general program for assisting inactive families to understand the Gospel and the Church. [The Church has now introduced the Come Follow Me program to meet this need.]
4. Comments on the problem of inferior language skills (Language skills: reading, writing, speaking, thinking).
- a. Though some individuals in the church assist others in this problem, the Church has no program to upgrade skills for inactive families.
- b. The public schools in general do a mediocre to poor job of upgrading the language skills of persons who come from homes with inferior traditions in this area.
- c. Persons with inferior language skills tend to do poorly in school and are shunted into channels leading to minimum vocational ability.
- d. Persons with inferior language skills tend to have difficulty relating to the Church which poses the constant threat of being called on to pray, speak, read, and teach.
- e. Persons with inferior language skills tend to have difficulty in discovering the Gospel since that demands careful reading, listening and thinking on the part of every individual to piece it together.
Conclusion: Inferior language skills form a formidable barrier to spiritual advancement. Few surmount this barrier and there is no program in the Church or out which is noticeably remedying this problem.
5. Comments on the problem of marginal vocational capability.
- a. Persons having marginal vocational capability are frequently economic liabilities to society.
- b. Persons having marginal vocational capability do little to support freedom (Historically, people on welfare do not make good soldiers).
- c. Persons having marginal vocational capability have great difficulty living the Gospel since they seldom have any surplus over their own needs with which to bless others.
- d. Many institutions are available for upgrading vocational capability (Help from these institutions usually depends on language skills, however).
- e. Public schools do vocational counseling but not with a Gospel perspective.
Conclusion: Vocational counseling from a Gospel perspective is a great service to young people. This counseling could be given on a regular basis by wards and stakes and could provide a most important means of strengthening these young people spiritually.