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“The first commandment that God gave to Adam and Eve pertained to their potential for parenthood as husband and wife. We declare that God's commandment for his children to multiply and replenish the earth remains in force. We further declare that God has commanded that the sacred powers of procreation are to be employed only between man and woman, lawfully wedded as husband and wife.”

- First Presidency, “The Family: A Proclamation to the World”

“Setting aside sins against the Holy Ghost for a moment as a special category unto themselves, it is LDS doctrine that sexual transgression is second only to murder in the Lord's list of life's most serious sins. By assigning such rank to a physical appetite so conspicuously evident in all of us, what is God trying to tell us about its place in his plan for all men and women in mortality? I submit to you he is doing precisely that--commenting about the very plan of life itself.”

- Jeffrey R. Holland, BYU President, speech entitled “Of Souls, Symbols, and Sacraments”

“We have been taught... to look upon these bodies of ours as gifts from God. We Latter-day Saints do not regard the body as something to be condemned, something to be abhorred... We regard [the body] as the sign of our royal birthright... We recognize... that those who kept not their first estate... were denied that inestimable blessing.... We believe that these bodies... may be made, in very truth, the temple of the Holy Ghost....
“It is peculiar to the theology of the Latter-day Saints that we regard the body as an essential part of the soul. Read your dictionaries, the lexicons, and encyclopedias, and you will find that nowhere, outside of the Church of Jesus Christ, is the solemn and eternal truth taught that the soul of man is the body and the spirit combined.”

- Apostle James E. Talmage, Conference Report, October 1913, p. 117

“To say that a young woman in such a relationship has to bear her responsibility and that of the young man's too is the least fair assertion I can imagine. In most instances if there is sexual transgression, I lay the burden squarely on the shoulders of the young man--for our purposes probably a priesthood bearer--and that's where I believe God intended responsibility to be. In saying that I do not excuse young women who exercise no restraint and have not the character or conviction to demand intimacy only in its rightful role. I have had enough experience in Church callings to know that women as well as men can be predatory. But I refuse to buy some young man's feigned innocence who wants to sin and call it psychology.”

- Jeffrey R. Holland, BYU President, speech entitled “Of Souls, Symbols, and Sacraments”

“Question: They always tell us we shouldn't become sexually involved, but they never tell us the limits. What are they?
Answer: Any sexual intimacy outside of the bonds of marriage-I mean any intentional contact with the sacred, private parts of another's body, with or without clothing--is a sin and is forbidden by God. It is also a transgression to intentionally stimulate these emotions within your own body.11 Satan tempts one to believe that there are allowable levels of physical contact between consenting individuals who seek the powerful stimulation of emotions they produce, and if kept within bounds, no harm will result. As a witness of Jesus Christ, I testify that is absolutely false. Satan particularly seeks to tempt one who has lived a pure, clean life to experiment through magazines, videocassettes, or movies with powerful images of a woman's body. He wants to stimulate appetite to cause experimentation that quickly results in intimacies and defilement. Powerful habits are formed which are difficult to break. Mental and emotional scars result.
When you are mature enough to plan seriously for marriage, keep your expressions of feelings to those that are comfortable in the presence of your parents.12 To help you keep these sacred commandments, make a covenant with the Lord that you will obey them. Decide what you will do and will not do. When temptation comes, do not change your standards. Do not abandon them when circumstances seem to justify an exception. That is Satan's way to hurt you by making it seem that sometimes God's law does not apply. There are no exceptions.
Question: Before you are married, how far is too far to go if it is with your girlfriend?
Answer: Before marriage there can be no sexual contact with a girlfriend, fiancee, or anyone else, period.13 While a commandment, that standard is for your happiness. That's why the Church counsels you to go in groups and not to date while you are young. Later, as you prepare for marriage, remember that true love elevates, protects, respects, and enriches another. It motivates you to make sacrifices for the girl you love. Satan would promote counterfeit love, which is really lust. That is driven by hunger to satisfy personal appetite. Protect the one you love by controlling your emotions to the limits set by the Lord. You know how to be clean. We trust you to do it.”

- Richard G. Scott, October 1994 General Conference, “Making the Right Choices”

“There is; however, something you should not do. Sometimes a young man does not understand. Perhaps he is encouraged by unwise or unworthy companions to tamper with that factory. He might fondle himself and open that release valve. This you shouldn't do, for if you do that, the little factory will speed up. You will then be tempted again and again to release it. You can quickly be subjected to a habit, one that is not worthy, one that will leave you feeling depressed and feeling guilty. Resist that temptation. Do not be guilty of tampering or playing with this sacred power of creation. Keep it in reserve for the time when it can be righteously employed.”

- Apostle Boyd K. Packer, October 1976 General Conference, “To Young Men Only”

“There is a falsehood that some are born with an attraction to their own kind, with nothing they can do about it. They are just "that way" and can only yield to those desires. That is a malicious and destructive lie. While it is a convincing idea to some, it is of the devil. No one is locked into that kind of life. From our premortal we were directed into a physical body. There is no mismatching of bodies and spirits. Boys are to become men --masculine, manly men --ultimately to become husbands and fathers. No one is predestined to a perverted use of these powers.”

- Apostle Boyd K. Packer, October 1976 General Conference, “To Young Men Only”

“Where schools have undertaken sex education courses and programs, the Church believes the materials used should advocate abstinence from sex before marriage and should teach correct principles that will produce long-term happiness. Thus, the Church believes that public education should in no way promote or encourage sexual promiscuity, a lifestyle that is unhealthy, immoral, and fraught with potentially serious consequences. The Church takes the position that when sex education is taught in the schools, the teacher and the course materials should encourage parental involvement in sex-educational discussions to foster respect for the family, human life, and natural differences between the sexes. When educators teach about human sexuality, they should feel that they have been entrusted by the parents of their students with the privilege of discussing and teaching a subject that has eternal significance to the family and family members.”

- Encyclopedia of Mormonism, v. 3, “Sex Education,” by Darlene Chidester Hutchinson

“After prayerfully considering the transgression, the Church leader may—especially in cases of adultery, fornication, or homosexuality—convene a disciplinary council to help the transgressor through repentance and to protect the integrity of the Church. Depending on the offense and the spiritual maturity of the offender, a disciplinary council may excommunicate, disfellowship, place on probation, or exonerate the person.”

- Encyclopedia of Mormonism, v. 1, “Chastity, Law of,” by Bryce J. Christensen

“The First Presidency has interpreted oral sex as constituting an unnatural, impure, or unholy practice. If a person is engaged in a practice which troubles him enough to ask about it, he should discontinue it.”

- First Presidency, letter addressed to local church leaders, copy located in BYU Library Special Collections

"Sex is for procreation and expression of love. It is the destiny of men and women to join together to make eternal family units. In the context of lawful marriage, the intimacy of sexual relations is right and divinely approved. There is nothing unholy or degrading about sexuality in itself, for by that means men and women join in a process of creation and in an expression of love.
The union of the sexes, husband and wife (and only husband and wife), was for the principal purpose of bringing children into the world. Sex experiences were never intended by the Lord to be a mere plaything or merely to satisfy passions and lusts. We know of no directive from the Lord that proper sex experience between husbands and wives need be limited totally to the procreation effort, but we find much evidence from Adam until now that no provision was ever made by the Lord for indiscriminate sex.”

- Prophet Spencer W. Kimball, The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, pp. 311-312

“There is some belief, too much I fear, that sex desire is planted in us solely for the pleasures of full gratification; that the begetting of children is only an unfortunate incident. The direct opposite is the fact. Sex desire was planted in us in order to be sure that bodies would be begotten to house the spirits; the pleasures of gratification of the desire is an incident, not the primary purpose of the desire.... As to sex in marriage, the necessary treatise on that for Latter-day Saints can be written in two sentences: Remember the prime purpose of sex desire is to beget children. Sex gratification must be had at that hazard.”

- J. Reuben Clark, Conference Report, October 1949, pp. 194-195

“1. Never go into a house alone with one of the opposite sex.
"2. Never, never enter a bedroom alone with one of the opposite sex.
"3. Do not pet or neck. . . .
"4. Never park on a lonely road with just the two of you alone.
"5. Do not read pornographic literature.
"6. Do not attend R- or X-rated movies, and avoid drive-ins.
"7. Do not spend time in drinking or gambling establishments."

- Conference Report, Oct. 1973, p. 173, also in Ensign, Jan. 1973, p. 131

"'You should be attracted to one another and to marry,' said Packer. "'Then, and only then, may you worthily respond to the strong and good and constant desire to express that love through which children will bless your lives. By commandment of God our Father, that must happen only between husband and wife -- man and woman -- committed to one another in the covenant of marriage. To do otherwise is forbidden and will bring sorrow,'"

- Apostle Boyd K. Packer, October 2000 General Conference

"Sexual union is lawful in wedlock, and if participated in with right intent is honorable and sanctifying. But without the bonds of marriage, sexual indulgence is a debasing sin, abominable in the sight of Deity."

- Prophet Joseph F. Smith, Gospel Doctrine, 1939, p. 309