One video includes the amusing story of a man with just one leg. Most of his young martial arts students don’t know that one of his legs is artificial so when a child yanked it off by mistake, the class—including the waiting mothers—were thrown into chaos of tears and screaming. This man, Tim Hurst is also a marathon runner.

Ingrid Maldonado, a Guatemalan amputee, is a college student and also works for the government, helping people who can’t read or write with applications. She lost her legs a little at a time after catching on fire and had a series of surgeries from ages two to twelve. When she gets depressed, she remembers that others suffer far more and that Jesus Christ, though suffering great trials, went through life essentially happy and that she can, too. She considers herself a person with no limits.

Jarom Frye survived cancer as a teenager but lost a leg when he chose amputation over the other options. He is a serious athlete—he climbs rocks, water skis, snow skis, and rides a mountain bike. He couldn’t find just the leg he needed…so he built his own. Today he creates products to help other people with disabilities to carry out their own dreams. He decided as a teenager to ignore the experts who told him he couldn’t continue his athletic life and he has proven them all wrong. He is a husband, a father, an innovator, and of course, a Mormon.

The Mormons have a wide range of resources for people with disabilities. Children with special needs are integrated into their regular classrooms at church, both for their own advantage and for the benefit of their classmates. Materials for church members are available in braille, audio, captioned video, American Sign Language and large print. A website about disabilities for members with special needs, parents, teachers, and leaders is available in ten languages. Buildings are accessible to those who need accessibility. When a child has a special need, the teachers and leaders are taught how to meet those needs and when necessary, an aid is provided. The humanitarian services program offers a wheelchair program and a vision program for people who are not Mormon in many countries.

When visiting a Mormon ward (congregation), you might find a sign language interpreter in the worship service, an aid for an autistic child in the Primary children’s organization, a blind toddler nursery leader, or a boy in a wheelchair passing the sacrament (communion). Most Mormons have volunteer positions referred to as callings, and people with disabilities serve in most of those positions, including leadership positions. Sometimes leaders become very creative in finding meaningful work for someone who has intense special needs. One congregation appointed a young adult with an intellectual disability to ring the bells each week signifying the end of class—a calling that required her to learn to tell time first. Another built a special tool to help a teenage boy pass the sacrament effectively.

In one congregation, a teenager with autism was unable to earn her Personal Progress award, which required a challenging series of accomplishments. The girl’s church classmates decided to earn it for her. Each girl completed one part of her award in addition to doing that part for herself. When they had all finished, she received her award as a gift from the other teenagers.

A thirteen-year-old boy named Spencer, featured in the video below, was chosen as the youth leader for his church class. He was given a responsibility to look after the needs of all the other boys in his class. One boy was named Dayton. Dayton has cerebral palsy and can only communicate through blinking. Spencer is an athlete who runs triathlons and he wanted to give Dayton opportunities he might never have. He asked Dayton if he’d like to enter a triathlon with Spencer and Dayton did. It took some planning, but they figured out how to do it. Spencer swam and biked pulling Dayton behind him in a boat and cart and then on a specially made bike. Spencer was exhausted, but finished the race happily. Each boy also passes the sacrament with Dayton so he can do what the other boys do—they push his chair while carrying the sacrament on a tray on his chair. This is the sort of training young Mormons receive in their church classes by caring association with those who have special needs and this impacts how they will interact the rest of their lives.

The new curriculum is more flexible, allowing each congregation, called wards, to teach the essential topics in ways that meet the needs of their own youth. Lessons are organized by month, but more lessons are offered than can be taught in that month, so teachers and leaders will select those lessons their students most need. In addition, if a class requires more than one week—for instance, if the lesson ends and students still have questions or concerns—the lesson can continue the following week. Topics will be coordinated between Sunday School and auxiliary classes, providing students with a more in-depth look at the topic.

The lessons bring into play the most advanced methods of teaching students. Teachers are given suggestions and reference materials and are expected to prepare for the lesson by studying and building their own testimonies of the topic. At the same time, students are told what their lessons will cover the next week and asked how they intend to prepare for the lesson. This, along with other methodologies, increase student responsibility for learning and also take the lesson outside the classroom.

To see how the curriculum operates, let’s review one lesson for teenage girls. You can find the lesson online here:

How Can I Become More Christlike?

The lesson first summarizes the topic theme, so teachers can stay focused on the actual topic. Next, the teacher is given questions to ponder and a list of references to study that will help her educate herself on the topic and also help her choose materials she feels will benefit her students. The list includes scriptures, recent talks by church leaders, Mormonads (one-page fun pictures that teach an important principle) and a chapter from Preach My Gospel. This last resource is a manual used to prepare teens to serve as volunteer missionaries. The missionary age for both men and women has been lowered, so it is important that they begin preparing while in high school.

Then the teacher receives suggestions for teaching the lesson. The class begins by having the girls report on their experiences with last week’s lessons. How did they apply the lesson? What did they learn as they studied further? This helps them see the lessons as relevant to real life, and not just as an academic exercise.

Next, the teacher chooses from suggestions for introducing the lesson for this week. One suggestion is to have them complete a self-evaluation found in Preach My Gospel. Another is to have each girl come to the chalkboard to write one aspect of the Savior’s character. They can’t learn to be Christlike until they know what Christ was like. If neither of these seem appropriate, there is a link to other ideas.

Next, teachers and students learn together as they explore the topic. The teacher is given a list of suggested activities that the class can do together to learn the topic. The instructor selects the ideas that she feels will work best for her class. For example:

1. The girls might study a list of Christlike attributes and choose one they want to work on. They set personal goals and develop a plan to achieve their goal.
2. The girls research the scriptures to learn what Christ was like (which is more effective than having the teacher simply tell them). They can also study one scripture and write about it in their journals.
3. They can think about times when they or others they know were Christlike and discuss how that feels. They study the Mormonads and then create their own.
4. They can study a modern parable and then study scriptures, deciding how the story and scriptures work together. Then they set personal goals and make a plan.

All of these methods invite active participation in the learning, rather than listening to a sermon by the teacher. It invites the girls to actually apply the lessons in real life and it also helps them learn how to study the scriptures to find answers. In addition, they gain experience in how to set goals.

Finally, the teacher evaluates how well the students have learned the topic and checks to see if they have concerns or questions that weren’t answered. They decide together if they need another week to explore the topic. Then the girls each plan a way to further learn and apply the lesson material in real life.

At the end of the lesson, the girls find out what they are studying next week and decide how to best prepare. This allows them to come to class ready to participate.

These lessons are very inspired. They help students learn the art of self-directed learning that will show them how to learn the gospel—and anything else—even without a teacher. They learn that knowledge is meaningless unless it is applied. They also learn how to use the scriptures and to see in them messages for modern life.

“I am pleased to announce that effective immediately, all worthy and able young men who have graduated from high school or its equivalent, regardless of where they live, will have the option of being recommended for missionary service beginning at the age of 18, instead of age 19. I am not suggesting that all young men will—or should—serve at this earlier age.Rather, based on individual circumstances, as well as upon a determination by priesthood leaders, this option is now available.

As we have prayerfully pondered the age at which young men may begin their missionary service, we have also given consideration to the age at which a young woman might serve. Today I am pleased to announce that able, worthy young women who have the desire to serve may be recommended for missionary service beginning at age 19, instead of age 21.”

Mormon missionaries teach about Jesus Christ.

Reaction was swift and bishops (lay ministers) are reporting a rapid response from teenagers, some emailing for appointments to discuss missions the moment the announcement was made. It is anticipated that the announcement will increase the number of missionaries in the field, due to the ability to serve before getting caught up in other life choices.

This announcement will also impact the populations of church-owned universities and sports teams, eventually leading to an older student population and initially opening up more spots for new students.

Mormons serve at their own expense. They often begin saving money in childhood so that much of the expense is really their own, helping them to appreciate the experience more. They also study their faith more intensely than teens of most faiths, with a Pew forum study showing that Mormon teens were better able to discuss their faiths and to show a sincere commitment to it than most other teens. Preparation includes study as a family and an individual, attendance in weekly Sunday School and youth classes, and also attendance in daily religious study before school. They are taught to read the scriptures for themselves and to pray for a personal testimony.

Now, with the possibility of serving at an even younger age, parents and teens are being asked to step up their preparations. In order to accommodate the anticipated increase in numbers, training will be shortened, which means missionaries must arrive better prepared. This will help teens become even better acquainted with their faith.

Missions are recognized as a way to help teenagers mature rapidly. It requires strict self-discipline because there are many rules designed to help teens stay morally safe and focused on their work. This discipline, much like the discipline received by people in the military for example, helps teens to become more adult and better prepared for the rigors of adult life. Because they are expected to do community service on their missions, they train themselves to notice the needs of others and then to meet them. They become exposed to new cultures, new ideas, and diversity of people. They learn to cope with rejection and develop courage and tact. All these skills make them very competent adults.