Ready Always: A Parent’s Guide to Helping Teens Answer Hard Questions About Their Faith

Ready Always is a free Weak Things resource that helps Latter-day Saint teens answer the questions friends ask about their faith, and helps parents walk through those questions with them. It covers 61 real questions, from “Why don’t you drink coffee?” to the hardest topics in Church history, and every answer is built on the Church’s own teachings and links straight back to them. Start at weakthings.com/pages/ready-always.

The name comes from the Apostle Peter: “Be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear” (1 Peter 3:15). For the Strength of Youth gives our kids the same invitation: “Be a light for others… And be ready to tell anyone who asks you about the hope and happiness you feel” (For the Strength of Youth, “Truth will make you free”).

Your kids are already being asked

If you think your children aren’t facing hard questions about their faith, they probably are, or they will be soon. The questions don’t wait for Sunday School. They come:

• In the hallway and at lunch: “Why don’t you drink coffee?” “Wait, you can’t date until you’re 16?”
• On the team bus and at practice: “Why won’t you play in Sunday’s tournament?”
• In group chats and on social media: a video claiming Joseph Smith was a fraud, a comment calling the Church a cult, a link to the CES Letter.
• In class: a history textbook paragraph about treasure digging, or a teacher’s offhand comment.
• From people they love: a friend who just came out and asks, “Be honest. Does your church think I’m going to hell?”

Most of these friends aren’t attacking. They’re curious. But a teen who has never thought about the answer can freeze, make a joke, or go looking for answers in the comment section. Those sources rarely know what we actually believe, or why.

We shouldn’t avoid these questions. Our children are better served when we help them answer them, kindly and honestly, before the moment arrives.

What Ready Always is

Ready Always gathers the questions youth actually hear and gives each one a short answer they can say out loud, a fuller answer they can understand, and a path to the Church’s own sources for going further. The questions are arranged on purpose, so everyday questions come first and the hardest topics are available but not pushed to the front:

• Everyday questions (20): coffee, energy drinks, Sundays, swearing, dating, modesty, media, tithing, tattoos, missions, politics, LGBTQ friends.
• Who we are (18): Are you Christian? Do you believe in the Bible? Do you worship Joseph Smith? Why can’t I go inside your temple? Is it bad to have questions? How do you know the Church is true?
• Going Deeper (23): the First Vision accounts, Book of Mormon translation and DNA, the Book of Abraham, plural marriage, race and the priesthood, Mountain Meadows, Church finances, the CES Letter and more.

It’s free, there’s nothing to sign up for, and it works on a phone, where most of these questions show up anyway.

Built on the Church’s teachings, not opinions

Ready Always doesn’t invent doctrine or offer someone’s personal theories. Every answer is written from the Church’s published teachings and points the reader back to them:

• For the Strength of Youth. The answers follow the guide’s pattern. As it explains, its purpose “is not to give you a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ about every possible choice.” Each topic teaches eternal truths, invitations to act on them, and the Lord’s promised blessings (For the Strength of Youth, “Make inspired choices”). Ready Always quotes the guide often and links to the exact section.
• The scriptures and living prophets. Every answer lists scriptures to know, linked to the free Scriptures, Connected readers on Weak Things. Answers quote general conference, the Church’s Topics and Questions pages and, for history, the Gospel Topics Essays approved by the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve.
• Seminary’s principles for hard questions. The whole resource is organized around the three principles youth learn in Doctrinal Mastery: “Act in faith. Examine concepts and questions with an eternal perspective. Seek further understanding through divinely appointed sources” (Doctrinal Mastery, “Acquiring Spiritual Knowledge”).

Every source is labeled. Official means published by the Church, Scripture means the standard works, and Faithful scholarship means independent Latter-day Saint researchers: helpful, but not official. That way your teen always knows exactly what they’re reading and where to go next. Weak Things is an independent site and doesn’t speak for the Church, which is exactly why it keeps pointing to the Church’s own resources.

Seven ways to find a question and its answer

1. Type it the way it was asked

The search box asks, “What did someone ask you?” Teens can type the question in their own words, like “why no coffee,” “are you Christian” or even just “planet,” and Ready Always matches it to the right answer. Each answer is tagged with the many ways the same question really gets asked, including the blunt ones.

2. Tap a common question

Below the search box are a few common questions, one tap away.

3. Browse by section and topic

Each section has topic filters: food and drink, friendship, Sunday, language, dating, appearance, media and phones, school, money and more. Every card shows the short answer right on the card, so a teen can get the gist in seconds.

4. Follow “Friends also ask”

Every answer ends with related questions, because one question usually leads to another. The coffee question leads to energy drinks and “You’ve never even tried a drink?”

5. Open Going Deeper when you’re ready

Going Deeper is its own page for history and harder topics. More on that below.

6. Practice before it’s real

Practice mode puts your teen in a real situation with three possible replies. More on that below too.

7. Ask a question that isn’t there

If your teen doesn’t see their question, they can send it in, in the words they heard, with where it came up (school, a team, online, work, family). No name is required, and an email is only needed if they want a reply. Questions from real hallways decide what gets written next.

Inside every answer: five layers

Each question has the same five layers, so your teen can stop at fifteen seconds or keep going as deep as they want.

1. The hallway answer (about 15 seconds)

A short, friendly answer in a teen’s own voice, the kind of thing you could actually say at a locker. It’s followed by a “Then ask them” question that turns the moment into a conversation instead of a debate, and a button to copy the answer to text a friend.

2. The real answer (about 5 minutes)

The fuller explanation, quoting the scriptures, For the Strength of Youth and the Church’s own pages, followed by “Scriptures to know.” Tap a scripture to read it in context.

3. Go deeper: the research room

“What’s behind the question” helps your teen understand why a friend might be asking. Most of the time it isn’t an attack at all. Then come the sources, each one labeled.

4. For me

Questions to ponder privately, plus the three seminary principles applied to that topic: “What do I already know and believe here?” “How does God’s plan change how I see this?” “Who could I ask: a parent, a leader, the scriptures?” There’s a space for personal thoughts that stays on the page and isn’t saved or sent anywhere.

5. Practice this one

A real situation and three replies. Choosing one explains why it works or doesn’t: the preachy one shuts the conversation down, the nervous one is okay, and the honest, kind one keeps the friendship strong.

Practice mode: rehearse it before it’s real

The Practice page has a situation for every question and keeps score of your strong answers. Filter to Everyday, Who we are or Going Deeper (harder). Seminary teachers and youth leaders can put it on a projector, read the situation aloud and let the class vote before revealing the answer. Families can do the same on a phone at dinner or in the car.

Going Deeper: the hard questions, handled honestly

Some topics in Church history are genuinely complex, and our kids will run into them. Going Deeper doesn’t hide them. Each topic has a short version to say out loud, a full answer, scriptures, sources and a practice scenario, built on the Church’s Gospel Topics Essays. The page itself gives the right counsel: “Take your time. Read with a parent or leader if you can. It’s okay to have questions and keep believing while you look for answers.”

That counsel echoes Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, quoted in the Doctrinal Mastery materials: “Hold fast to what you already know and stand strong until additional knowledge comes” (Acquiring Spiritual Knowledge).

Real moments, and where to start

Here are a few situations we and our kids are likely to face, and where Ready Always can help you start.

The latte before first period

A friend holds out a cup: “Want some? It’s just a latte, it’s not a big deal.” Your daughter doesn’t want to make it weird. Why don’t you drink coffee? gives her a fifteen-second answer, a friendly question to ask back and the real story of the Word of Wisdom in Doctrine and Covenants 89.

The Sunday tournament

Your son’s club team has a game on Sunday, and teammates are asking why he won’t be there. Why won’t you play (or work) on Sundays? helps him explain the Sabbath without sounding like he’s judging anyone.

The group chat

Someone posts, “Watch out, she’s in the Mormon cult.” Why do some people call your church a cult? helps your teen respond with a smile and an open invitation instead of a fight.

A friend who just came out

“Be honest. Does your church think I’m going to hell?” is one of the most tender questions a teen will ever be asked. Does your church not like gay people? starts with love, quotes the Church’s own words and For the Strength of Youth, and practices a reply that keeps the friendship whole.

A video, a textbook, a link

Your teen saw a video saying Joseph Smith was a treasure digger, or a cousin sent the CES Letter. The Going Deeper page covers both, along with the other topics critics raise most, with honest answers and the Church’s own essays. This is a good one to read together.

And it’s not just teens

A coworker asks you about the Church’s finances or the SEC settlement. A neighbor asks if we’re Christian. Adults get asked too, and Ready Always works just as well for us.

How parents can use Ready Always

• Ask first. “What have people asked you about church lately?” You may be surprised. Then look it up together.
• Make it a dinner or family night habit. Read one hallway answer aloud and try the practice scenario. It takes five minutes.
• Practice in the car. Read a situation and let everyone pick a reply before you reveal the answer.
• Read Going Deeper together. When a hard topic comes up, open it side by side. Your calm matters as much as the answer.
• Use the “For me” questions for personal study. They help a teen move from “What do I say?” to “What do I believe?”
• Share it with leaders. Seminary teachers, youth leaders and Primary teachers can project the practice mode in class.

The answer behind every answer

Ready Always can help a teen know what to say. It can’t replace the most important source of answers: the Lord Himself. The best answer to a hard question is a testimony, and testimony comes from the Holy Ghost.

For the Strength of Youth puts it this way: “Seek your Heavenly Father in prayer. Pour out your heart to Him… Share with Him your joys, worries, and questions. Be still and listen for His answers, which may come as feelings of peace, thoughts in your mind, or impressions to do something.” It promises that the Holy Ghost “will help you know what to say or do,” and that with His influence “you can tell the difference between what is true and what is false” (For the Strength of Youth, “God wants to communicate with you”).

The scriptures make the same promise: “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him” (James 1:5). Moroni promises that “by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things” (Moroni 10:5).

So think of Ready Always as a place to begin. It gives your kids accurate words and the Church’s own sources in place of whatever the loudest voice online is saying. Then it sends them where every real answer comes from: the scriptures, living prophets, their parents and leaders, and their Heavenly Father in prayer.

Frequently asked questions

Is Ready Always free?

Yes. Every question, answer and practice scenario is free, with no account needed.

Is this an official Church website?

No. Weak Things is an independent site. Answers are written to match the Church’s published teachings, and every answer links to its sources so you can check them yourself.

Can my teen use it alone?

Yes. Everyday and Who we are questions are written for teens to read on their own. For Going Deeper topics, the site encourages reading with a parent or leader.

Are my teen’s notes saved?

No. Notes in the “For me” section stay on the page while it’s open and aren’t saved or sent anywhere.

What if a question isn’t there?

Send it in with the form at the bottom of the Ready Always page. You don’t need to give a name.

Open Ready Always → · Try practice mode → · Going Deeper →