FAIR's Rising Generation

Posts Tagged ‘Fair Conference’

The FAIR Conference was inspiring and enlightening and I will recommend that everyone buy tickets for next year’s.

At the conference FRG was permitted to set up a table right next to the big names of the FAIR executives like Scott Gordon, Mike Parker, and John Lynch; I have to say that this was pretty cool. I sat at the table during most of the conference and had a lot of people approach me about FRG. They would ask me questions like, “Why does FRG exist? Isn’t FAIR enough?” The fact of the matter is NO! FAIR is not enough.

Don’t get me wrong, the Foundation of Apologetic Information and Research were pioneers in apologetics and they are continuing to serve their purpose, which is to provide researched and intuitive information about the church’s history, doctrine, and practices. They do so for the sake of those people who are unsure if they should still hold on to their testimonies when they find out something they never knew about the church, like polygomy–although I think we’re all used to telling people about that one now. FAIR has helped many people and it continues to serve its purpose admirably, but there are issues that FAIR is not prepared to deal with concerning the youth. The Kirtland Safety Society, seerstones, and DNA are all things that shake the testimonies of adults–things FAIR address–but kids have much more down-to-earth needs. Dating advice, what to say to their friends about their religion, and why they should choose to stay active in the church when parents no longer force them to are the kinds of things that teenagers have to deal with. These issues are just as real to them. Kids need and want advice about this stuff, and FRG is here to offer it to them.

ALL kids need mentoring and instruction, but not all kids will get it at home or at church. Some are just too dang stubborn to listen to mom and dad, and some have designated Sacrament Meeting as “slumbering meeting.” It’s sad and we all are shocked to discover that some kids are not as into church as we are, but that doesn’t mean we should give up on them. It means that we need to try something new or maybe it means that your kids are looking for some space and want to discover the answers to life on their own. If that’s the case, then you’d better pray that your son or daughter will latch on to good people who will help your child become better adults.

Nowadays, people often turn to the internet for answers, and what they may find there is not always something that will enrich their testimonies. But no longer will confusion and doubt rule the internet because FRG is developing media and articles to reach out to teenagers and young adults on the web. We’ll provide rich and fun instruction using our YouTube videos and we’ll back it up with some more in-depth information to be accessed from our wiki. We have some great ideas about how to help kids–who better to come up with ways to reach kids, than kids? That’s me and most of our other members.

So now here is the update on FRG’s projects:

Tommy’s video about dating has been released on YouTube and it’s in serious need of some tlc from viewers. Not many people have seen that video yet and those that have, havn’t posted any comments about it to increase our flow of traffic. So if you’ve seen the video and liked it, leave a comment about it please.

FRG has HUGE potential in what can be accomplished, but we don’t have enough people to make that a reality yet, so we’ve analyzed our goals and broken them down to some realistic ways to reach them. We are focusing on 3 projects: improving the blog and increasing its traffic, designing and publishing videos about dating for teens and young single adults, and designing and publishing content about self-confidence and the destructive nature of cliques and labels. I won’t jump the gun on what we’re actually doing for them until I have more information to give on them.

So there ya have it folks! I just told you that FRG is going to save the world–just seeing if you’re awake now. I really just told you that FRG is needed by young people and what our plans are for the next couple of months. I also told you and I want to emphasize that we needs more volunteer power to reach our full potential. We especially need more teens and college students, so if you’ve got kids or friends that might be interested–who wouldn’t be interested in helping, I mean kids need this–please have them read my post.

Thank you for reading our blog. Have a wonderful week!

When those dang Mormon polygamists headed to Canada to practice their “dangnable” polygamous ways, I assume they walked, and walked, and walked (and sang) in a straight line directly north. I only say that because Utah is directly south of my home in southern Alberta (ie, little Utah).

Salt Lake City! The great Mormon Mecca! If you’re wondering why I didn’t answer my piles of fanmail over the weekend, it’s because I was getting in touch with my roots. And yes, authentic pioneer blood does flow thru these veins. My mother’s mother may have been a low-bred convert, and my father’s father may not have even known the name ‘Helaman’, but I assure you, I am the real thing, and that makes me awesome. So there.

And then there was the FAIR conference. There was a little get-together on Wednesday where I got a lot of weird looks from a lot of weird people, as if to say “Who are you, why are you here, and where is the Security in this place?” You see, *ahem* I’m not actually a member of FAIR.

I was shocked to see fellow blogger and FRG “tough” John Lynch sporting a beard. I don’t remember much else about that night except making yet another feeble attempt to get a private, invitation-only forum so we can pursue our diabolical plans for world domination in peace.

The next day, I threw on a pair of pants and went to the FAIR conference. I mostly slept through the first half, although I believe the gist of it was something to do with Sariah meeting up with Abraham and receiving a woolly mammoth for her birthday.

After eating some bad food at Arctic Circle (I mean really?! Where do I have to go to get a decent Big Mac in this town?), I was more than ready for FAIR, day 1, part 2.

1st speaker: When it comes to science, I am brain-dead in the most politically incorrect way imaginable, but I think he was saying something about there being no DNA evidence to refute the historicity of The Book of Mormon, but also that there’s none to prove it either–at which point the audience pummeled him with frozen vegetables and booed him off the stage.

2nd speaker: Joseph Smith’s bank would have succeeded, nay, should have succeeded, but his enemies all sabotaged him big time. Point of the talk: Ol’ Joe Smith wasn’t a crook, a fallen prophet, or a con-man, etc, etc, etc, but totally radmo.

3rd speaker: Church published histories are trustworthy sources of information because Ron Barney is a good guy who would never deceive you.

4th speaker: A very humorous, uplifting, and heart-felt talk about apologetics, scared little kittens, and various Mormon conspiracy theories.

I didn’t go for the second day because I was abducted by aliens. All in all, it was a stimulating and thought-provoking experience.

Edit: Seriously though, I really enjoyed the conference. It ranged from entertaining to inspirational to intellectually exhausting. I want to say Great work! to all the participants. That said, through nobody’s fault but my own (for staying up too late the night before), I did actually doze off a couple of times.

There were three things I was thinking about when deciding what to write in my next blog post. The first was that I’ve been told several times that I need to be a teenage Mormon girl talking to other teenage Mormon girls, something I haven’t been doing very well lately. The second was that hopefully, we’ll be having some FAIR people looking at the blog soon and (unfortunately) my post may be one of the first they see. The third was the knowledge that a lot of people – although not necessarily doubting us –  may be asking: What is the point of FRG? Isn’t having FAIR enough? Why would anybody join FRG?

Instead of somehow writing three different posts concerning each individual thought, I’m writing one. No, no, I’m not clever, I’m just feeling particularly lazy at the moment.

I’ll tell you (as a fifteen year old Mormon girl) what I think the point of FRG is, in the hope that at least one of the people who have wondered this will read it.

FAIR’s Rising Generation has actually quite a similar goal to FAIR itself, except it’s aimed toward youth and young adults. We will help the rising generation of the church fend off things that might otherwise seriously shake their testimonies and possibly cause them to fall away from the Church. These things may be difficulty maintaining standards, difficulty understanding why you would want to maintain them in the first place, not understanding doctrine and just plain old lacking in faith. We’ll also help them to make right decisions and encourage them to go on missions.

As a teenage girl, I have experienced and have seen others experience those moments of ‘I just can’t believe in a church that’s founding prophet practiced polygamy’, ‘What the heck am I supposed to be doing?’, ‘I don’t know if I should even bother going on a mission’ and ‘what harm will one time do?’.

I know that there are many trials and issues which strive to tear apart the testimonies of younger Latter-Day Saints. I also know that they are a problem and I know that so many people lose their faith because of them. We are given trials to overcome them, and that is what I propose we help youth and young adults do.

I’ll tell you why just having FAIR isn’t enough. Your average sixteen or twenty year old doesn’t think the same way as a forty or fifty year old. They don’t always face the same trials, they didn’t grow up in the same age with the same walls blocking their way to salvation and truth. An eagle cannot teach a bear how to catch a fish. Your average teen or young adult will often not re-establish spiritual strength or faith the same way somebody twice or three times their age would.

I’ll tell you why somebody would join FRG. They would share the same vision as us, which is to help struggling youth and young adults overcome obstacles, understand doctrine and strengthen their faith. We aim to be youth inspiring, helping and directing other youth. It is a noble cause and one which I hope will not fail and with help I’m sure it will not.