Exiles, Managers, and Firefighters!

Parents, you may have heard your son talk about exiles, managers, and firefighters lately. Let me explain why. As you may well know, our youth face extraordinary pressures in our world today. They are told constantly that they need to be something other than themselves in order to be accepted. Unfortunately, too many of our youth, especially the young men, get caught in the grips of some very dangerous and self defeating behaviors.
I am working with President Fossum to set up a fireside for the youth to address issues of chastity, especially pornography, but you will be informed before that fireside happens. In the meantime, we are discussing in our Sunday lessons ways to incorporate the gospel into their lives in order to build a defense against the temptations they face. We discussed that exiles are the vulnerable parts of ourselves that internalize negative and hurtful messages such as "you're too cool enough" or "you're not good looking enough". Those parts of us are important and need to be heard. We have managers that seek to regulate our system and also protect the exiles. However, sometimes managers become extreme and like firefighter, they become so focused on putting out the fire that they don't think about the damage they are causing. Some common firefighters are drug and alcohol use, pornography, and self harm.
The young men were given an assignment for this week to read about putting on the whole armor of God and to ponder why each piece of the armor is placed where it is. We will continue our discussion on Sunday. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me. My number is on the back of the programs from Sacrament meetings.