Mormon advice from the apostles for those tempted to the evil of Masturbation
A) A Guide to Self-Control for male Missionaries MARK E. PETERSON
B) The Little Factory "To Young Men Only", Boyd K. Packer

A Guide to Self-Control for male Missionaries MARK E. PETERSON

1. Never touch the intimate parts of your body except during normal toilet processes. Avoid being alone as much as possible. Find good company and stay in this good company.

2. If you are associated with other persons having this same problem, you must break off their friendship. Never associate with other people having the same weakness. Don't suppose that two of you will quit together, you never will. You must get away from people of that kind. Just to be in their presence will keep your problem foremost in your mind. The problem must be taken out of your mind for that is where it really exists. Your mind must be on other and more wholesome things.

3. When you bathe, do not admire yourself in a mirror. Never stay in the bath more than five or six minutes -- just long enough to bathe and dry and dress and then get out of the bathroom into a room where you will have some member of your family present.

4. When in bed, if that is where you have your problem for the most part, dress yourself for the night so securely that you cannot easily touch your vital parts, and so that it would be difficult and time consuming for you to remove those clothes. By the time you started to remove protective clothing you would have sufficiently controlled your thinking that the temptation would leave you.

5. If the temptation seems overpowering while you are in bed, get out of bed and go into the kitchen and fix yourself a snack, even if it is in the middle of the night, and even if you are not hungry, and despite your fears of gaining weight. The purpose behind this suggestion is that you get your mind on something else. You are the subject of your thoughts, so to speak.

6. Never read pornographic material. Never read about your problem. Keep it out of mind. Remember -- "First a thought, then an act." The thought pattern must be changed. You must not allow this problem to remain in your mind. When you accomplish that, you soon will be free of the act.

7. Put wholesome thoughts into your mind at all times. Read good books -- Church books -- Scriptures -- Sermons of the Brethren. Make a daily habit of reading at least one chapter of Scripture, preferably from one of the four Gospels in the New Testament, or the Book of Mormon. The four Gospels -- Matthew, Mark, Luke and John -- above anything else in the Bible can be helpful because of their uplifting qualities.

8. Pray. But when you pray, don't pray about this problem, for that will tend to keep it in your mind more than ever. Pray for faith, pray for understanding of the Scriptures, pray for the Missionaries, the General Authorities, your friends, your families, but keep the problem out of your mind by not mentioning it ever -- not in conversation with others, not in your prayers. keep it out of your mind!

**The Little Factory

"To Young Men Only", Boyd K. Packer

I wish to discuss a subject that fathers should
discuss with their sons. Because some young men
do not have fathers and because some fathers (and
some bishops) do not know how to proceed, ...
I wish to explain something that will help you
understand your young manhood ... it might be likened to having a little factory in
your body, one designed to produce the product
that can generate life.
This little factory moves quietly into
operation as a normal and expected pattern
of growth and begins to produce the life-
giving substance. It will do so perhaps as
long as you live. It works very slowly. That is the
way it should be. For the most part, unless you
tamper with it.

As you move closer to manhood, this little
factory will sometimes produce an oversupply of
this substance. The Lord has provided a way for
that to be released. It will happen without any help
or without any resistance from you. Perhaps, one
night you will have a dream. In the course of it the
release valve that controls the factory will open and
release all that is excess.

The factory and automatic release work on their
own schedule. The Lord intended it to be that way.
It is to regulate itself. This will not happen very often. ...when it
does, you should not feel guilty. It is the nature of
young manhood and is part of becoming a man.

There is, however, something you should
not do.... to tamper with that factory. He might fondle himself and
open that release valve. This you should not 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 ... Keep it in reserve for the time when it can be righteously
employed.

One of you, perhaps, ...may already have been guilty of tampering
...It is not pleasing to the Lord.
...you must leave that factory alone long enough
for it to slow down. ...
keep your mind on worthy thoughts. Divert your
thoughts from things that lead you into mischief.
Vigorous physical exercise helps young men in
many ways. You are most vulnerable when you are
idle ...learn to control your thoughts. As a
man "thinketh in his heart, so is he."

The mind is like a stage. Except when we are
asleep, the curtain is always up. There is
always some act being performed on that
stage. It may be a comedy, a tragedy,
interesting or dull, good or bad; but always there
is some act playing on the stage of the mind.
...in the middle of almost any performance, a shady little
thought may creep in from the wings
and attract your attention? These delinquent
thoughts will try to upstage everybody. If you
permit them to go on, all thoughts of any virtue
will leave the stage. You will be left, because you
consented to it, to the influence of unrighteous
thoughts....
What do you do at a time like that, when the
stage of your mind is commandeered by the imps of
unclean thinking, ...
This is what I would teach you. Choose from
among the sacred music of the Church a favorite hymn, one with words that are uplifting
Now, use this hymn as the place for your thoughts to go. Make it your emergency channel.
...you must wait until the time of your marriage
... You are forbidden to use them now.