Charles Winston Dahlquist II says that his testimony has grown “little by little, just through doing the things the Lord has asked me to do—like going to seminary and responding to Church callings.”

He hoped the youth would have a similar experience during his time as Young Men general president. “I would like to help build a generation of young men who not only know who they are, but also have a little inkling of why they were sent here and the part in the plan of salvation they can play,” he says.

Brother Dahlquist believes the youth will be blessed in the same way he was if they are faithful. And, he says, because we live in a wicked world “we need the strongest youth that we have ever had, and I believe we have as fine a generation—if not finer—than any we’ve ever had before in the history of the world.”

Brother Dahlquist has had experience working with the young men of the Church. A recipient of the Silver Beaver Award, he has been involved in Scouting for most of his life and has been a ward Young Men president. Other Church callings he has fulfilled include president of the Germany Hamburg Mission, full-time missionary in the Swiss Mission, stake president, counselor in a stake presidency, and high councilor. Brother Dahlquist is an attorney and is actively involved in community service.

Born in Provo, Utah, to C. Winston and Afton Ahlander Dahlquist, Brother Dahlquist, 56, spent his childhood in Boise, Idaho. Following Brother Dahlquist’s mission, he married Zella B Darley in the Salt Lake Temple on 2 June 1969. They now live in Sandy, Utah. They have five daughters and seven grandchildren.

“I married my high school sweetheart,” Brother Dahlquist says. “We were in the same ward in Boise. I was the Sunday School music director, and she was the Sunday School organist. We say we’ve been making music together ever since.”