A girl in elementary school notices that another girl always sits alone in the school cafeteria. She begins sitting with her and, over time, brings her into her own circle of friends.

A boy observes the difficulty a student with physical disabilities has with simple tasks. He offers to help.

A youngster is concerned about an elderly couple in his neighborhood whose health and energy are failing. He runs errands for them.

A young woman sees a mother who looks very tired. She volunteers to babysit for a few hours to give the mother a much-needed break.

A young man notices that his neighbor's yard is a bit unkempt. He mows the lawn and, as an extra touch, plants some flowers.

"Young people!" some exclaim, often in a tone of derision. Others utter the same two words, but with a tinge of joyful amazement over the capacity many children and teens have in caring for others and living exemplary lives.

From time to time, we read newspaper reports or see highlights on television news programs that warm our hearts: the high school students who host a prom or other special event for residents in a nursing home, teenagers who tutor other students who struggle with their studies, young men and young women who help with after-school programs or with events such as Special Olympics.

For every good deed that's reported in the media, most likely, there are dozens — if not thousands — of acts of kindness that go unreported. Whether it's a smile directed toward a lonely classmate, a kind word spoken in a hallway, an expression of thanks given a teacher or neighbor, young people brighten many lives.

Many articles are published about the ills of today's youth. We read about their abuse of drugs, promiscuity, vandalism and outright criminal acts.

The silver lining in this dark cloud is comprised of the young people who are the "hope for the future." At commencement ceremonies, many speakers set forth the world's problems and then tell high school graduates that society is counting on them to find solutions. What a heavy burden to place on unexperienced shoulders!

President Gordon B. Hinckley is a champion of today's youth. In his opening address at the 174th Annual General Conference of the Church on April 3, 2004, he said:

"It is wonderfully refreshing to see the faith and faithfulness of our young people. They live at a time when a great tide of evil is washing over the Earth. It seems to be everywhere. Old standards are discarded. Principles of virtue and integrity are cast aside. But we find literally hundreds of thousands of our young people holding to the high standards of the gospel. They find happy and uplifting association with those of their own kind. They are improving their minds with education and their skills with discipline and their influence for good is felt ever more widely."

Newspapers frequently carry reports about young Latter-day Saints and their exemplary actions. For example, several reports have been published about LDS teens who arise early, often in the pre-dawn hours, to attend early moring seminary five days a week, sacrificing extra sleep in the mornings and some social life in the evenings. Other reports featured teens who stood by their values, such as athletes who went to Church instead of the playing fields or gyms when games were scheduled on Sundays.

President Thomas S. Monson of the First Presidency told of a young man who exemplified the goodness of young people:

"At a nursing home in our valley, two young men prepared the sacrament. While doing so, an elderly patient in a wheelchair spoke aloud the words, 'I'm cold.' Without a moment's hesitation, one of the lads walked over to her, removed his own jacket, placed it about the patient's shoulders, gave her a loving pat on the arm, and then returned to the sacrament table. The sacred emblems were then blessed and passed to the assembled patients.

"Following the meeting, I said to the young man, 'What you did here today I shall long remember.'

"He replied, 'I worried that without my jacket I would not be properly dressed to bless the sacrament.'

"I responded, 'Never was one more properly dressed for such an occasion than were you.' " (April 1983 general conference.)

The young man in this account is now an adult. Happily, he has been followed by other young men and women whose lives serve as examples of gospel living.