With the recent introduction to the new program for Young Men, I think it is a good time to show how well the Venturing program incorporates the intent of the Duty to God award. The belated six experience areas of Venturing (which remain in Venturing only for the Gold award) match nearly identically the four areas of personal growth required for personal goals. Following is a comparison of the six experience areas of Venturing and four areas of personal development in the Duty to God program. It should be clear that these are compatible and supportive of each other.
| Venturing Experience Areas | Duty to God Areas of Development |
| Service | Spiritual Development |
| Fitness | Physical Development |
| Outdoor | |
| Leadership | Educational, Personal and Career Development |
| Citizenship | Citizenship and Social Development |
| Social |
In some sense, the Gold award, which requires personal goals in each of the six areas of growth, may have been the precursor to the Duty to God award. In addition to achieving personal goals (which is now easy to define based on the Duty to God award goals), the Gold award requires:
Of note, one of the requirements requires each young man to plan two crew activity projects that are each based on an experience area. I believe that historically, this was based on an aspect of Exploring that I think is still valid-the crew should center it's activities on providing a balance based on the six experience areas. This corresponds very strongly with the new guidelines for Mutual. In particular, the guidelines explicitly indicate that Aaronic Priesthood activities should be planned around the four areas of development mentioned. By utilizing the Venturing experience areas in harmony with these areas of development, the quorums will have a successful activity program that accomplish the purposes of the Aaronic Priesthood. In addition, by having the young men do the planning, they will gain the experience in planning appropriate, gospel-based activities, rather than just planning activities for the sake of the activity.
As the Gold award occurs after one year, and the Duty to God would most likely be completed during or following the second year as a priest, the Gold award could be used as a recognition for continued preparation for the Duty to God award, particularly considering the close relationship between the two. The Silver award, which is the highest award in Venturing, could then provide a Venturing highlight in companion to the Duty to God award which provides the Priesthood highlight.