Becoming a priest feels like a big step for many young Aaronic Priesthood holders. Moving forward after four years of duties as a deacon and teacher, the experience of becoming a priest is a significant step towards manhood for young men in their later teens.
What are the duties of a Priest?
Section 20 of the Doctrine and Covenants explains in great detail what duties become your responsible upon becoming a priest:
46) The priest’s duty is to preach, teach, expound, exhort, and baptize, and administer the sacrament,
47) And visit the house of each member, and exhort them to pray vocally and in secret and attend to all family duties.
48) And he may also ordain other priests, teachers, and deacons.
49) And he is to take the lead of meetings when there is no elder present;
50) But when there is an elder present, he is only to preach, teach, expound, exhort, and baptize,
51) And visit the house of each member, exhorting them to pray vocally and in secret and attend to all family duties.
52) In all these duties the priest is to assist the elder if occasion requires.
Looking at this list of the duties of a priest may prompt a feeling of being overwhelmed for many young men. I remember the intimidation I felt as I said the sacrament prayer and officiated at the sacrament table when I turned 16. The important thing to remember when taking the step from teacher to priest is that you are not expected to know everything immediately, and you are allowed mistakes. Transitioning from a deacon to teacher to priest to elder is a development process. It is well understood that young priests are learning their duties at their own personal rate.
Dealing with Social Pressure
The age for becoming a priest in the Lord’s Church – 16 years old- falls during a time in a young man’s life when he is experiencing a lot of physical and emotional development. The timing of the two is likely not a coincidence. Such experiences as learning to drive a car, taking a particular interest in girls, and growing more independent of parents run perfectly alongside the growing responsibilities expected by the Lord of one who is a developing priesthood holder.
Unless you live in an area where you are surrounded by strong members of the Church, most of your 16-18 year associates have a limited understanding of priesthood duties, especially because the Church is unique in its understanding that the priesthood ideally pertains to all males in context of the plan of salvation, which prepares boys and men to ultimately possess the same authority and power God has. Understanding that most your associates likely haven’t had the opportunity to learn the gospel as you have should bring to your mind the need for sharing those principles with them, and it should prevent you from making condemning judgments upon them while retaining your own worthiness.
The Church wants its youth to know that they are not alone in their beliefs. Young men who are preparing to become priests can interact on the LDS Church Youth Web Site. Here is one of the helps provided by the web site.