About This Issue

This Month’s Theme: Intimacy and Connection

Editors’ Note: In this article, “sexuality” refers to our ability as humans to experience sexual feelings, not to sexual orientation.

Hi, friends.

About five years ago, as YA Weekly was just getting off the ground as the Church’s digital magazine for young adults, we as a staff didn’t realize how much we would have to learn about so many different things. We all approach gospel topics from the reference point of our own perspectives and experiences, and some topics we write about feel more personal to us than others.

One topic in particular that we’ve learned more about over the years—through countless conversations with young adults, therapists, Church leaders, consultants, and each other—is the importance of connection.

Maybe that’s not what you were expecting.

Well, we feel like we know a bit about what young adults are going through (as most of our staff members are, in fact, young adults ourselves). We’re facing seemingly impossible choices every day about dating, schooling, careers, missions, how to spend our time, how to withstand the temptations of the world, and how to be the people Heavenly Father want us to be. We worry about struggles or habits we feel we can’t escape from. Most of all, it seems like many of us spend a lot of time feeling alone.

Sin isolates us. Social anxiety or other mental health challenges isolate us. Pornography use isolates us. Living in this digital world isolates us (because let’s be honest, virtual friends aren’t the same as real-life ones).

This month, you can find stories from young adults who have felt a need for increased connection and intimacy in their lives. A few stories include:

• Counsel from Elder Jaggi of the Seventy on how to build Christlike connection in your relationships

• A young adult from Brazil who shares habits that help her live the law of chastity

• Three ideas for how you can create deeper connections in elders quorum

• A young adult from the Philippines who didn’t feel a “spark” when she first went out with the man she would later marry—and what she felt instead

• A staff-written article with five questions to ask yourself if you’ve struggled with pornography but want to date

We also have articles that are part of our ongoing series:

• Featured Devotional: Elder Andersen gives four pieces of advice for finding the right person to marry

• Life Skills: Gospel principles that can help in your professional life

• Applying the Doctrine and Covenants to Your Life: Support for your Come, Follow Me study with a story about Thomas B. Marsh and how can we learn to see others with more empathy and charity

• Especially for Newlyweds: How you can make space in your marriage for your personal weaknesses, even as you work together to improve

Through relying on Jesus Christ, we are given the strength to overcome our weaknesses. And when we connect with others, we can also know we aren’t alone in our challenges. We can be supported in our efforts to become better disciples of Christ. And we can be prepared to enjoy different kinds of intimacy throughout our lives.

With love and lots of hope,

YA Weekly staff

Submitting to YA Weekly

Please send stories to [e-mail].

As part of our ongoing series, we are always accepting stories on the following topics:

• Stories by and for missionaries

• Tips and narratives to strengthen mothers of young children

• Practical self-reliance strategies and advice

• Articles for newlyweds adjusting to marriage

• Stories that help young adults turn to Christ if they are struggling with their testimonies