Speaking with gentleness, yet firmness, President Boyd K. Packer admonished the youth of the Church to cherish their physical bodies and protect them from harm — both temporally and spiritually.

Elder Boyd K. Packer

"For a long time I have had a prompting to speak to the youth of the Church who face challenges unknown to us in our youth," he related Sunday afternoon, saying that he would speak plainly to the youth about things he has learned and knows to be true.

President Packer, Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve, recalled how he received his patriarchal blessing when he was 18 and in the military service. "My patriarchal blessing counseled: 'Guard and protect [your body] — take nothing into it that shall harm the organs thereof because it is sacred. It is the instrument of your mind and the foundation of your character.'

"I found in the Word of Wisdom a principle with a promise. The principle: Care for your body; avoid habit-forming stimulants, tea, coffee, tobacco, liquor and drugs. Such addictive things do little more than relieve a craving which they caused in the first place. The promise: Those who obey will receive better health, and 'great treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures.' "

President Packer reminded youth of the importance of wholesome appearance: "If you are well-groomed and modestly dressed, you invite the companionship of the Spirit of our Father in Heaven and exercise a wholesome influence upon those around you. To be unkempt and careless about your appearance exposes you to influences that are degrading. Avoid immodest clothing. Dress and groom as to show the Lord that you know how precious your body is."

Then, speaking of President Gordon B. Hinckley's recent warnings about tatoos and body piercing "after the manner of the world," President Packer counseled: "You would not paint a temple with dark pictures or symbols or graffiti or even initials. Do not do so with your body.

"There is in your body the supernal power to create life. Boys grow up to be men and may become fathers; girls grow up to be women and may become mothers. Natural and good feelings draw men and women together. You should be attracted to one another and to marry. Then, and only then, may you worthily respond to the strong and good and constant desire to express that love through which children will bless your lives. By commandment of God our Father, that must happen only between husband and wife — man and woman — committed to one another in the covenant of marriage. To do otherwise is forbidden and will bring sorrow."

President Packer then spoke of "another danger, almost unknown in our youth but now everywhere about you. Normal desires and attractions emerge in the teenage years; there is the temptation to experiment, to tamper with the sacred power of procreation. These desires can be intensified, even perverted, by pornography, improper music, or the encouragement of unworthy associations. What would have only been a more or less passing phase in establishing gender identity can become implanted and leave you confused, even disturbed.

"If you consent, the adversary can take control of your thoughts and lead you carefully toward a habit and to an addiction, convincing you that immoral, unnatural behavior is a fixed part of your nature. With some few, there is a temptation which seems nearly overpowering for man to be attracted to man or woman to woman. The scriptures plainly condemn those who 'dishonour their own bodies between themselves. . . .'

"The gates of freedom, and the good or bad beyond, swing open or closed to the password choice. You are free to choose a path that may lead to despair, to disease, even to death."

However, President Packer emphasized "these are not unforgivable sins. There is a way back — long, perhaps; hard, certainly; possible, of course!"