How Can I Be a Better Friend?

Want to be a better friend? See what you already know about friendship by responding true or false to the statements below.

I can be a good friend by:

1. Trying to help others be their best selves.

2. True

3. False

4. Wanting only to have fun and not staying around when things get hard.

5. True

6. False

7. Sharing my standards, my beliefs, and my testimony.

8. True

9. False

I can make good friends by:

4. Respecting others and being kind.

5. True

6. False

7. Always waiting for people to come up and talk to me.

8. True

9. False

10. Sticking to my immediate group of friends and acquaintances.

11. True

12. False

13. Looking for those who may be quiet or shy and befriending them.

14. True

15. False

16. Lowering my standards to match others’ ideas.

17. True

18. False

19. Showing interest in others.

20. True

21. False

Answers: 1. True; 2. False; 3. True; 4. True; 5. False; 6. False; 7. True; 8. False; 9. True.

A True Friend

Elder Robert D. Hales

“What kind of friend are we? Are we the type of friend who always makes sure that those around us know it will be easier for them to live gospel principles, such as the Word of Wisdom or the law of chastity, when they are with us? Do our friends know that they will never have to choose between what we want them to do and what the Lord would have them do?”

Elder Robert D. Hales of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, “The Aaronic Priesthood: Return with Honor,” Ensign, May 1990, 39.

Bonus: See what the scriptures show about friendship

How were Jared and his brother good friends to others? Look up Ether 1:36–37 to find out.

“A friend loveth .” Find the rest in Proverbs 17:17.

What did Joseph Smith’s friends do? Check Doctrine and Covenants 121:9 for the answer.

Top: photo illustration by Christina Smith, © IRI; detail of Joseph and Hyrum Standing by River, by Theodore Gorka, © IRI