 In Islam, children are seen as being in a state of purity. So they're free of sin. And this is what we refer to as fitrah. And so they're in a stage of wonder and they incline, of course, to exploration and play. So there is a great emphasis on allowing them to be children, but also to nurture them with love and gently guide them towards good behavior, virtuous behavior, proper etiquette, which is defined in the Arabic term here as adab. And children should also be introduced to the six articles of faith in Islam, which are really make up the creed of what a Muslim believes in, which entail the belief in the oneness of God, the angels, Muslims believe in a presence of the angelic realm in messengers that were sent by God to convey the message of truth. The holy books, which include the gospel as well as the Torah, the Psalms of David, and then of course the Quran. And then the day of judgment, that there will be ultimately a reality where we will stand before God and account for ourselves and divine decree. And obviously this would all be done in age appropriate ways. And we really try to stay away from concepts like punishment and hell and the demonic realm, although these are certainly part of the creed of a believer in those early stages, we try to emphasize more things that a young child because of their imagination that it could align with that and not induce any type of fear. So, and then later as they mature, we can introduce those elements. And then of course, virtuous behavior through storytelling. So there's a great emphasis on telling stories from previous prophets, from saintly people, as well as role modeling. So adults are also responsible to make sure that they possess those same virtues and allow children to really mature gradually and organically in that way. So that's the first stage of childhood. And then we move into the second stage, which is that pre-adolescent stage. And this is now the stage of instruction. And this is where children are to be taught. And the emphasis is on learning the fundamentals of practical faith, right? How faith moves beyond belief but into action. So in this stage, youth are understood to have reached the age of what we call discernment. And they know right from wrong. So they should be taught self-discipline through proper behavior, right? Morality, chastity, piety, proper speech. So truthfulness, avoiding idle talk, speaking about things that are of no benefit, foul language, they should not speak in foul language. They should also dress properly, which would be modest and loose-fitting clothing. So this would be all of the things that in this stage of pre-adolescence, a child would be instructed with. And then also the importance of time management and structure. So in Islam, as we'll get to in a moment, there are many components of the ritual faith that actually have to do with schedule and time and structure. And so children are introduced to these ideas early. And that includes the requisites of worship, which would have to do with lustration or ablution. And this is the ritual wash that Muslims do before prayer and also the ritual bath that we do to purify oneself out of certain states like menstruation, for example. And then also being taught the five pillars in a more detailed way. So in this stage, that pre-adolescence stage, children would typically receive this instruction. And just for those who are not familiar with the five pillars of Islam, the five pillars are basically the aspects of the faith that really support the faith of a Muslim believer. The first would be the declaration of faith, which is just testifying in the oneness of God and the prophethood of Muhammad. And once a person does that with witnesses, they would be considered a Muslim. And at that point, they would then be taught to how to pray five times a day or more. There are optional, subrogatory prayers that one can do, but there are prescribed prayers every single day from the dawn prayer, noon prayer, afternoon, evening, and then late evening, or I'm sorry, dusk, night prayer, and then the late evening or night prayer. So those are spread out throughout the day. And so these are the, this is the type of instruction that a young adolescent would receive to understand the meanings of the prayer and the times of the prayer, the way to prepare for the prayer, that also what to say during the prayer. And then there's a cat, it's just something that they would know, but not necessarily expected to pay, which would be a tithing or 2.5% of one's savings that they would give to the needy, the poor, usually through a mosque or an organization. The fasting, which we just had the month of Ramadan is also the fourth pillar of Islam. And this is to really practice restraint, abstinence, to feel for the needy and the hungry and the poor, to feel empathy towards them. And then the Hajj, which is the once in a lifetime pilgrimage to Mecca. So a pre-adolescent would receive all of this instruction and understand that these are aspects of their faith that eventually as they reach adulthood and maturity, they would be responsible for. And then the last stage of that adolescent's period is the stage of accountability. And this is when they are really taught to establish a strong faith identity and to have consistent practice. So here, they are seen as spiritually adults. And so understanding that they are accountable for themselves and that their deeds are being recorded. So in Islam, there is an idea, the idea that our deeds are being recorded, that there are scribes in the form of angels with every individual writing their good and their bad deeds. And at the age of this period where a child reaches the stage of adolescence fully, again, the onset of the period or other physiological changes, then they would be responsible for themselves. And now they would be taught about the importance of rectifying oneself and coming to terms with one's own spiritual challenges. So we have an entire body of study in Islam that helps individuals to understand what we would coin maybe today as spiritual psychology, the diseases of the heart, spiritual diseases, right? Anger, rancor, envy, all of these, similar to the seven deadly sins, really helping youth to come to grips with how they can overcome those and what is required to overcome those types of diseases. We would also define for them the four evils of the world which start with the ego, that one's own lower base self is actually considered an impediment to God, right? It would challenge one spiritually. And then desires, right? Vasilating desires and whims that change and fluctuate, that those are also evils, the temptations of the material world and the devil. So defining these four obstructions or evils that come between one and God for the youth is important. And then to practice self restraint, abstinence, spiritual discipline, this comes through consistent worship, those five daily prayers that are spread out, it comes through fasting, through being more charitable, through serving other people, especially the needy and the poor. So this stage of adolescence is really where we see a growth and a maturation again because of the culmination of all of these different stages. So when we move from that, now we can explore the rites of passage that are commonly practiced in many Muslim cultures. So first, the first thing would be the introduction to and the emphasis on purification and hygiene. There are many quotes from the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him and other passages of the Quran that talk about purity and cleanliness as being very essential to the practice of a Muslim. So ritual cleanliness is early, it introduced early to young children, boys are circumcised in Islam, generally at birth or before the age of seven, children are also washed regularly. Even after using the restroom, they are taught to wash and not just, there's a specific way of cleaning themselves, but water is definitely used. And then also they're taught the steps of lustration, which is in Arabic will do, and this is what one does to prepare for the prayer or preparing for the recitation of the Quran. There are certain ritual acts that require one to be in a state of ritual cleanliness. And so a child would be instructed on how to do that. And then young, the pre-adolescent girls are also taught about monarch or menstruation and how to purify themselves for prayer and ritual worship after that. So this would be one of the ways that younger children are introduced to, again, this aspect of the faith. And then the components of prayer, introducing children to components of prayer is also something that happens generally around the age of seven to 10. So children, for example, would always, even younger children, be encouraged to pray alongside their parents, just in congregation, standing next to the prayer parents or the adults, even older siblings and learning the motions of the prayer. And at that point, if the parents wished to, they could certainly teach them some of the passages of the Quran or the supplications that they would recite, but it would not be required of them to pray five times a day or to do any of that. It would be more just practice. And then they could certainly do that at the mosque as well. And then when a child does reach the age of 10, oftentimes after those few years of practice and kind of getting into the habit of prayer, they would then have what is typically called a prayer party. And this would be, again, when a child is now ready to commit to praying regularly with the family or independently, completely on their own, because they have all of the prayers memorized. So then there would be a party, some ceremonial party with friends and family to inaugurate this new phase of the child's prayer, relationship with prayer. And so that would be around the age of 10, typically. Then we also have other customs for when a child is introduced to memorizing or reading the Quran in Arabic. As you may know, the Quran is recited in Arabic from Muslims of all backgrounds and all different languages. They are taught in the Arabic language, how to pray and how to read the Quran. So many families will actually, from a very young age, teach some of those fundamental chapters of the Quran. For example, the very first chapter of the Quran is called al-Fatiha, which means the opening. And that is the main chapter that is read in every single unit of prayer multiple times a day. So oftentimes parents will introduce that to young children as well as some of the other supplications. And then also the Arabic language itself, learning phonics, the recognition of the letters, learning how to read. So a lot of young children actually do oftentimes know how to read Arabic. Even if they are not fluent in Arabic, they will know the Arabic letters, their songs and a lot of videos and other children, made for children, ways for children to learn. And then once a child in some cultures, once a child is ready to actually begin to read the Quran for the very first time, that some cultures will have what they call a Bismillah ceremony or party, which Bismillah means in the name of God. And that is the very first thing that one reads when they read the Quran. So that's why it's called Bismillah. And it's just symbolizes that this is the onset of a child's relationship with reading the Quran for the first time. So some parents will hold a ceremony with their family and friends, sometimes at a mosque in a larger setting and invite community members to honor the child's intention to read the Quran. And then at the end of that, when the child actually completes the entire reading cover to cover, they will have an Amin or Amen, which is how prayers are concluded, of course, party. And that again symbolizes that the child has completed an entire reading of the Quran cover to cover. So these are ways that many children find, again, ways to celebrate their own unique relationship in the faith. We also have other ways that some cultures like to address aspects again of the faith that I mentioned before, the encouraging encouragement of modest dress. And it's really important that young children from an early age are encouraged to dress modestly. So you will find sometimes if you see pictures of Muslim children at Islamic schools or even in the mosque, you may find them modeling after their mothers or other figures in their family, the dress. So they may wear the hijab as I am wearing right now, young girls or what we call a kufi, which is similar to the Jewish skull cap that Jews wear, but a little bit larger. So you may find children dressing like that at an early age. They're not required to dress that way, but it's more just, again, encouraging them so that when they reach that age of maturity, maturation and what we would refer to as adulthood in Islam, that they are now responsible and really do see themselves or take on the practice of modest dress. And then in other cultures, young girls specifically when they are ready and it is their decision to wear the hijab. So when they decide for themselves that they want to commit to wearing full-time the headdress or the hijab, they will in some cultures have a crowning ceremony or a party to again celebrate the young girl's intention because she wants to commit to a life of wearing the hijab. So these are all very commonly practiced customs to again introduce young children to these concepts. And then lastly here, we have the introduction to what we refer to as sunnah sports. And this just a sunnah is the way and practice of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. So he encouraged active lifestyles, healthy lifestyles through eating and exercise. And there were specific exercises that he also encouraged. So both young girls and boys are of course encouraged to maintain their health and wellbeing through exercise, fasting, eating well, but also through those three specific sports which are swimming, archery and horseback riding. So you will find that many Muslim families will have classes for their young children. They will either enroll them in swimming or maybe personally in their own homes or spaces will offer swimming lessons for them. Also archery is very common. You'll find many Muslim children in archery or horseback riding. And this is all to fulfill this sunnah sport that is highly encouraged. And in addition, martial arts is also really important just to protect oneself and to learn mastery and discipline and maintain health. So these are all ways that a lot of young Muslim children will again take on these practices to align themselves spiritually. Now just briefly, I don't wanna go over too much but the youth have a very high status in Islam. There are many passages in the Quran and stories that actually have to do specifically with noble youth. And I'll share with some passages in a moment but also many iconic figures some shared with our Christian brothers and sisters like Prophet Ismail who was of course the son of Prophet Abraham. We know the sacrifice story. We believe that he was very young teenage boy when he submitted fully and willfully to the God's command of the sacrifice. And so he's hailed as being again very virtuous in his own faith, in his own right aside from being the son of a prophet, he went on of course to also be a prophet in Islam. Then we have Maryam or Mary, the mother of Jesus, peace be upon them both. We also believe that she was a young adolescent girl and she is considered one of four perfect women. And in some cases, you know, because she received that direct revelation from Angel Gabriel, some consider her also to be a prophet. So there are those opinions. And then we have Ali ibn Abi Talib who is the son-in-law and cousin of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him who later would go on to become the fourth caliph in Islam. He actually embraced the faith of Islam at the age of 11 and was considered a very, you know, his youth was symbolic for many reasons because he came into the faith so early but he's also hailed as being an icon of the faith because of his, you know, just the intensity and the strength of his faith and the commitment of his faith. So all of these are, and many more there are other examples as well of youth that are well known but in the Quran specifically, and this will be, I'll end after this, these are just some passages where youth are hailed or lauded or just, you know, their stories referenced about specific youth that were very strong in their conviction in faith. And so we have in chapter 18, verse 10, here's a quote and other quotes as well about specific youth in the time of Prophet Musa, chapter 10, verse 83, Musa or Moses as we say in English and then also some other passages. So there's more, I just got a handful here but just to make the point that youth have always been had a very special or have a very special place in Islam and are treated depending on the different ages with utmost care and respect and really, you know, encouraged to embrace their identity at each level. So that was the presentation that I had and I'm here for any questions. I hope I didn't rush too much and I hope I didn't go over either. So I'll go ahead and stop my screen here and I'm happy to answer any questions in the time that I have left. Okay, Marcia, do you want to go in? Okay, sure. So if people have questions, let's start with our in-person people. Is there, can we take one question to start with from here? Does anyone have a question for Fasai? Yes. So if advancement is determined determined by their physical maturity, so there's no age specific, so everyone advances at a different age when it's appropriate for them? Yes, absolutely. Thank you for asking that because it's really important to clarify. Yes, because there's no specific number and each child matures at their own pace, then it would be up to the families to discern when a child would then be responsible for themselves. Some, as we know, we have early bloomers, we have late bloomers, and so we really look at specific signs. So oftentimes, that period of adolescence is marked by very specific changes. The onset of the menstruation for girls is typically when a girl would then be expected to conduct herself as an adult, that she has now left childhood, and so she would be responsible for herself. And then for boys, there would be changes like physical bodily hair or other experiences, physiological changes that would onset or that would indicate that the child has now left that childhood period and is maturing into an adult state. But yeah, there's no set number. How about a question from someone in the Zoom participants? I'm going to have to unmute everyone. Well, people can just raise their hand, and then you can sit off. Yeah, I'm going to raise your hand, I'll see if I can. Yeah, someone have a question from the Zoom audience? There it is. Let's see everybody. Does anyone have a hand up or want to ask a question? You can wave your hand if you need to. I see Audrey, I think has un-muted. I don't know if that was on our end. Oh, I had a note that said the host would like you to unmute, so I don't know. You fell in direction. I fell in direction. I think we could take one more question before we invite our second speaker up. So if there's no one in the Zoom audience with a question, how about somebody here? Chris? Yeah, so I sound like a little bit of a negative question, I apologize. I'm curious, children before the age of accountability, should a child die in childhood? What happens to that child in the judgment? Oh, that's a wonderful question. Thank you. I mentioned earlier that children are considered in an age of purity, and that would apply to all children of all backgrounds, that any child before they reached the age of accountability would be considered in that state of sinlessness and purity, and therefore there's a lot of actual, in Islamic eschatology, more detail about what happens to children, but we believe that children are not questioned that die in childhood or before that age, and there's no accountability on them, that they would be immediately in heaven, and we actually have very descriptive passages or quotes that indicate that they would be with Prophet Ibrahim, peace be upon him, and all of the children that die in this earthly realm are gathered by him, and he is the caretaker of all children in heaven awaiting the judgment day. So they have no issue. They're just in heaven enjoying heaven and waiting for the next world. Not Muslim children. Not just Muslim children. This would be all children, any child, any child of any background. It doesn't matter that we consider all children to be pure and sinless. Okay, thank you so much. Let's all give a big round of applause. Thank you all so much. It really is an honor to speak to you with all of you. Thank you. Very excellent. Excellent. Such a clear speaker. Yes. Okay. And now our next speaker, Danae Andes from Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I wonder if you want to recap, because I recorded it late. You might want to just talk to Hosni or mention her background and so on. Introduce her again. Oh, okay. We didn't turn the recording on right at the very beginning, so you would have missed anyone who's watching. Later watches the recording would have missed that Hussai is from, Muslim Community Center, Pleasanton. Okay. And the topic, I guess I'll read that again. How does your community welcome children or youth into the faith? What rights of passage, ceremonies, or traditional in your culture? Okay. Thanks, Ellen. All right. Renee. Welcome, Renee. Thank you very much. I just want to quickly say to Hussai, that was so beautiful. And well spoken. And it also made me realize maybe how much I forgot and left out of what I wanted to say. And it's a good thing. We do have quite a bit in common. And I love that we have these interfaith connections to learn about each other. And to see, we really do have a lot more in common, I think, than I think. I can only speak my personal experience. Now, in the New Testament books of Matthew, Mark and Luke, there's a story that is told as a very short one, but in the three books, it's got the same from obviously the different authors. Jesus's disciples were debating among themselves who was the most important. And so they asked him, which of them should be the greatest? And I'm sure they were expecting him to say, well, you are, of course, but instead he brought over a child that was nearby. And he set the child in the middle of the disciples and he further explained how important it is to be humble and teachable and loving just like a child. Now, because children are very impressionable and they will grow to be the next generation and our future leaders, it's in the interest of our worldwide family to teach and nurture these children not only in our homes, but in our communities of faith as well, which often act as extended family. So as a member of the Tript of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I would like to share, like Marcia has already talked about how we welcome children into our faith, as well as some of our rites of passages and our cultural experiences, but I would like to kind of do in more of a first-person setting. And so when I was one-and-a-half years old my parents divorced and knowing that my mother would be taking care of my brother and I for most of the time by order of the judge, I mean, because of the order of the judge, we would be in my mother's custody most of the time, my dad, oddly enough, recommended that she look into the Tript of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints because my dad knew someone from his work and he knew he was a good family man and for some reason that made an impression on him. And so reluctantly, my mom agreed to do so. And to make a long story short, she ended up learning more of the doctrine and over the course of a couple of months was baptized and confirmed in a church. And on the following Sunday, our names were read aloud from the pulpit and people in the congregation, they raised their right arm and they welcomed us in. And that's kind of a more formal ritual welcoming people into the church. Now, generally, when a baby is born to parents and already members of our faith and is anywhere from maybe a few weeks to a few months old, she is brought in front of the congregation to receive a blessing from her father and to have her name recorded on the records of the church. I say her, but it could be boy or girl. The family of the baby chooses male relatives such as uncles or grandfathers as well as close friends to participate in the blessing circle. So the dad will cradle the baby in his arms while the others in the circle put their right hand under the baby and their left hand on the shoulder of the person in front of them. And the blessing is actually more like a prayer that is not scripted and is generally no longer than two to three minutes in length. And the reason for that blessing is just that to bless the child and then also officially record the names upon the records of the church. But what about cases like mine where the father is unavailable for various reasons? And that is where a ministering brother or a sister will come into the picture. Now, in the case of actual blessings, that needs to be done by a male who is a priesthood holder. But every member of the church is assigned another brother or sister to minister to that family, no matter how big or small. And at the time when I was a young girl, Stan Cochran was assigned to our family to make sure our needs were being met and to teach us from the scriptures to make sure our spiritual needs are being met as well. Now, I do remember many other brothers and sisters stopping by, and I don't remember all their names, but Stan was the coolest. That's why I remember him. He used to sometimes bring us little candy here or there, but my mom, it was pretty hard. I remember she did work as a bookkeeper and stuff, but we lived out in the country and she was barely making ends meet. There were times I remember where he organized members of the congregation to come and help put a new roof on our house. One time my mother, for a Christmas time, she told us, she tears our eyes, she told us we wouldn't be having presents that year. And of course a couple of days later, there was an anonymous basket left at our front porch and I got a little stuffed puppy. I remember that too. So I was very thankful for these other brothers and sisters who would come and help look after us. Now, throughout my childhood, on Sundays at least, well, let me back up just a little bit more. The church and what we teach really is or should be home-centered and church-supported. I mean, the majority of what we learn as children should be taught in our homes and then enriched by the meetings we have either on Sundays or the occasional meetings during the week. And that, in fact, I don't know how long ago, but many, many years ago before I was born, there was even set aside a Monday night and we termed it family home evening. Still called that today. You have a little lesson and an activity because it's also important to have fun. It's not all about cracking the books, but it is about that family wholesome together time. So back to my childhood. I did attend church for three hours. And for the first hour, the whole congregation meets together. Everyone, everyone is together. And then the second and third hour, well, it was adult Sunday school for the second hour. And then after that, the women would meet together or the men would be separate. Well, for the children, the second hour we would have, well, I guess depending on age group, you would have a time where you would sing together and have more of a group lesson. And the songs are absolutely beautiful. They're all, well, we do have some, get the Wiggles out songs, but we also have songs that are teach children and the doctrine, the most simple doctrine, a very simple way. For example, there are songs to talk about. We came before we came to earth, we lived, we were spirits, we're born here, and then after we die, life does not end, it continues on. But there's these beautiful songs. And luckily in 2018, the prophet announced that church would no longer be three hours, but two hours. So that's been consolidated. And so now when the children, in fact, I paid attention this last Sunday, it was very sweet after the congregation for the sacrament meeting. Not very reverent or dignified, but many of the children did run to the corner where the room is for them to meet. So that was good because it showed me that they were excited to go see their teachers and to meet with them and to sing and to have their lessons. Now, when I turned eight years old, I was able to be baptized. In our church, the age of eight is what we termed to be, the age of accountability. And it's not because we're always making the best choices, but it is about the age of eight that we really do have the concept between right and wrong. And a baptism in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the problem put on a white suit or dress, that's just a personal preference. The father, or in my case, I chose Stan, Brother Cochran, of course, because he was amazing and I trusted him. And you go down into a baptismal font and there is the same prayer this time that is said every time for a baptism. And we believe in baptism by immersion and so the child, in this case, will be immersed under water and brought back up. After that is the opportunity for the child to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. And the actual small ceremony looks a lot like the baby blessing where the man in the circle will put the hand on the head of the child and then the left arm on the shoulder of the person in front of him and is pronounced, will then receive the gift of the Holy Ghost to be able to be guided in a more conscious way throughout life to hopefully make better decisions. We believe that the Holy Ghost as a teacher testifies of the truth and helps us to make good decisions and also will bring things to our remembrance that we need to remember. Now, when I turned 12 or when the children turned 12, that's when we can enter into either the young men or the young women program and it used to be that the boys would be involved in the scouting but that is no longer how we do it in church. It's just young men through the church and the young women. Now, I was so excited to go into the young women because I really looked up to the older girls and I could then be just like them and be one of them. At the age of 12, the boys have the opportunity to receive the Oronic Priestess which gives them the authority to pass the sacrament or in other churches might be called Lord's Supper and to bless the sacrament as well. Girls, we welcome each other can be like a formal a more of a formal ceremony as the parents would be invited, the families would be invited and there might be a musical presentation and where each of the girls would be introduced and then maybe a fun activity or a treat planned but often these days when the girls turn 12 they are welcomed by the older girls maybe with like a pancake breakfast or whatever the older girls plan on doing something fun for the girls to make them feel special. Now, there's the Sunday meetings but in each Sunday meeting and I forgot to print this out but the girls recite a theme and so do the young men these days and it's the same theme and maybe I could look that up later you could just type in young men's theme or young women's theme for the Church of Jesus Christ online. I do apologize, I didn't do that. We have youth activity nights during the week some are more spiritual in nature some are more service oriented in nature could be maybe tying quilts or building things for families and need it just depends some are almost just pure game nights there's just a variety of things that they do it's generally on Tuesday or Wednesday nights then the youth have the opportunity to also be a part of their class presidency for example right now my daughter is part of the 12th to 13 year old class presidency and there are not many of those girls in our specific congregation I think there's six girls but that gives them a chance to learn some leadership position to care for the other girls to pray for them by name to take responsibility they also have a chance to speak in front of the whole congregation it's generally a five minute, four minute speaking assignment that maybe the bishop will call and ask them and they might have to do this once every year or two years and it gives them a public speaking as well as a chance to study up on a specific topic and camp is the one that I really really love and if you ask the youth that's one of the things that they really look forward to once a year they have a summer camp it's about a week long and they learn all sorts of things it's just a time to be away from technology it's a time to commune with God in a different way in nature lots of fun activities planned but a lot of togetherness and it's just so important and the leaders that I remember made such a big difference in my youth such a difference I know we don't always I did not always appreciate the advice that my parents gave me but I was sure to listen to the advice that the other good leaders gave me and I'm very grateful for that now also when I entered high school and when youth enter high school most most of the youth go to an early morning seminary class I wasn't always excited to wake up at 5.45 but I did it and it's worth the extra mornings and efforts in fact I had come across some of my journals that I had written I didn't even remember writing a journal that much when I was in high school but I was going through some boxes during quarantine and I came across some of my journals and I often mentioned how grateful it was to be able to go to seminary in the early mornings and I think it was because well I know it was because high school is a hard time of life you've got a lot of things bombarding you and people trying to pull you in different directions and it was nice to be able to go to seminary every school morning and every high school year with the four years we studied a different set of scriptures for example one year I think I happened to be in that order it was Old Testament my freshman year then New Testament then the Book of Mormon and then the Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl Grape Price and I'm just very grateful because it obviously does take a village to raise a child and I'm grateful for the village that I had and for all the people involved in my kids life as well so thank you for this opportunity to speak to you that's the question okay so Renee how about a question from the in-person people anyone have one ready right now you haven't asked a question yet okay hold up just a moment Chris let's look at online and see Allie will you say that I have a question is there a concept of original sin in the LES church no there is not in that instance I'd say we are very close to the Muslim community that we believe that Jesus Christ well okay so we back that up a little bit so we do believe that children are innocent and from there we do believe that they are innocent because Jesus Christ atoned for our sins and it children and if you wanted to ask the same question Chris that was asked earlier about if what happens if a child dies because of their accountability they would receive the highest order of heaven to be exaltation we are not really capable of committing sin or that at least has already been paid for by by Christ how about back to the room anyone another question does anyone else have a question let's quick maybe it's considered post-youth but the importance of vision bring it up to the dots okay yes it is so I suppose you can say it's a commandment that for the young men anyway to serve a mission and it is encouraged or very welcome for the young women to do so as well the age changes have what I'm trying to say is the ages have changed I believe it's 18 now for both men and women it used to be a little older I think men were at 19 women at 21 before they could go on a mission and now it's 18 across the board for anyone male or female to go was it one year? two years or a year and a half for women another kind of practical question in terms of the morning seminary not sure how did you actually get to that? did your parents have a drive to yourself? so what I didn't tell you was my mom got remarried at the age of 10 and then we had eight children in our family at the home so I personally got to say that I had also to school we lived out in the country but that was in the morning we all just got in the car and went then I could drive after a while and so I drove and I drove my younger siblings as well then was it after school or was that the church? it was at the church now there was a church close enough to my high school in the Brezno area and there's kind of a larger population of members of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints down there and so at our particular building at the time this was 91 to 95 there were over 100 students in the morning who attended that same building general there's a lot of times the LDS churches are near to that school yes well I know where more members of the church are per capita they actually have a release time from school where they can go across the street and do that that's part of their allowed curriculum Ellen is there another question on the chat? no I don't suggest a lot of the thank yous for the talk okay no other questions so I can see any hands on the screen okay well let's give Renee alright so we're back here okay looks like we're ready to move on to the next portion we will break into small groups for anyone who would like to do that they may have a little I'm not sure exactly how to work this out but if people on Zoom if you want to hold on just for a minute I'll make some announcements and then what we've usually done for Zoom is anyone after the announcements who wants to stay for breakout group they stay and other people sign off so we know how many people that we have to figure out the sound so that we're not hearing anyone talk we'll do that here maybe we can't do that sorry if you are on Zoom today sorry you can just leave the TV and everyone can talk here if there's a discussion that we want to have we could do that but if people really want to break into small groups we could just leave it if people want to discuss sometimes it's nice to be able to speak in small groups looks like there are about 6-7 people left so if we put people into the small groups they they won't be heard I don't they'll be heard they'll only hear themselves yeah okay so I think we can do that and then from here we can just break into little clusters but let's see so for the next revision chat June 8th Zoom and in person and we will be meeting community center in Pleasanton we're going to be doing the same topic and our speakers are already committed they are Trish Monroe from Congregation Bethemic and representing the Sikh religion Karan Sani not sure I'm pronouncing that correctly he is just completing high school so apparently he's going to speak from his personal experience that should be very interesting how does your community welcome children new into the state what right of passage ceremonies are traditional in your culture so I'm going to thank our presenters again and thank you everyone for coming whether you came on Zoom or in person I think if I may say so considering it's our first time things went pretty well I thank everyone again for coming