BYU Speeches
Alphabetical by Speaker

The unique and magnificent thing about a BYU education is that in addition to being taught truths that we are meant to question, we are also taught far more important truths that we need not doubt. These truths are simple: God loves us, He sent His Son to save us, and He wants all of His children to be happy.

In making this choice, please remember the father who sought healing for his son. The Savior reminded him that belief, or faith, was key. Said He, ”If thou canst believe, all things are ­possible to him that believeth.”

The issues tying the United States and the Middle East together are not simple. From oil, to terrorism, to Isis, Vali Nasr explains why maintaining interactions with the Middle East is crucial at this time.

To avoid money’s corrupting influence, we must love only God and our fellowman and embrace only virtue as the defining and motivating force in our lives.

I believe we are placed on this earth to be sanctified. The Lord has declared that His work and glory is “to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.” May we focus more consciously on acting in holiness and make it a habit of practice while becoming more mindful of the moments and opportunities in our lives.

The Holy Spirit is the conduit through which you can feel how much your Father in Heaven loves you and how Jesus Christ, through His Atonement, desires to change both your mud and sand to rock and to be your sure foundation.

The Lord has provided me some specific tender mercies over the years to give me comfort and at least partial answers to these questions. These tender mercies did not come at once, but in hindsight I can see they came when I needed them. Importantly, they came at times and in ways that have helped to build my testimony that God knows me and is personally mindful of me.

Begin with the end in mind. Shape your own destiny. Remember that the development of your career, your family, and your faith in God is your individual responsibility—for which you alone will be held accountable.

Jesus descended below all things in order to rise above all things. He expects us to follow His example. Yoked with Him, we can rise above all challenges, no matter how difficult they may be.

There is great power in a strong partnership. True partners can achieve more than the sum of each acting alone. With true partners, one plus one is much more than two.

Also pivotal to God’s plan is the family. In fact, a purpose of the plan is to exalt the family.

Today I should like to distill and discuss the essence of these experiences and entitle that essence “Four Lessons from One Life”—the life I have lived thus far.

“A commitment to endure to the end means that we will not ask for a release from a call to serve.”

“Your precious identity deserves your precious integrity! Guard it as the priceless prize that it is.”

Three steps in the process of forging a monumental life from its base are neatly tucked in the verses of our song—I’ll go, I’ll do, I’ll be.

Sinless and flawless as Jesus was in mortality, we should remember that he viewed his own state of physical perfection as being yet in the future (see Luke 13:32). Even he had to endure to the end. Can you and I be expected to do any less?

Because the Father and the Son love us with infinite, perfect love, and because They know we cannot see everything They see, They have given us laws that will guide and protect us.

Remember, glorious as this physical tabernacle is, the body is designed to support something even more glorious—the eternal spirit that dwells in each of our mortal frames. The great accomplishments of this life are rarely physical. Those attributes by which we shall be judged one day are spiritual.

To increase your wisdom and stature, you will exercise your agency. You will choose your teachers and your role models. Choose them wisely.

Dear brothers and sisters, please fill your minds with worthy sights and sounds. Cultivate your precious gift of the Holy Ghost. Protect it as the priceless gift that it is. Carefully listen for its quiet communication. You will be spiritually stronger if you do.

Indeed this is a time for reflection on activities of the past, and for resolution pertaining to the future. This evening is a real milestone—the first Sabbath day of new semester, of a new year, and of a new decade.

Living in accord with these twelve standards will help us be worthy standard-bearers of the Lord. Then we can be his means of serving our fellowmen.

Gratefully add to your list of blessings thanks for the covenant—the Abrahamic covenant—by which you will be vital and precious participants in God’s promise to bless all the nations of the earth through that choice seed.

The great privilege of studying God’s creations builds in its students a reverence for life and a testimony that we are literally created by Deity.

Now, let me share a thought for you graduates. You are entering a new phase of life…with this transition in the pursuit of your formal education, you need to continue to focus on becoming the person the Lord needs you to be.

The Lord’s message to you today is the same message He sent through His angels so long ago: “Fear not.” He can say that because He knows more than we do. He sees what we cannot see. He knows what is coming, and, in the eternal scheme of things, it is not as bad as we may think.

So you see, the rigorous change required by the gospel of Jesus Christ is not meant to be disheartening or exhausting; it is exciting and exhilarating! The plan of salvation is the ultimate adventure.

Hugh Nibley discusses the military strategy and tactics of the wars in the Book of Mormon compared to other modern and ancient warfare.

Hugh Nibley discusses the military strategy and tactics of the wars in the Book of Mormon compared to other modern and ancient warfare.

Hugh Nibley shares some of the words of Brigham Young that demonstrate his unique character and his devotion to the goal of eternal life for the Saints.

Hugh Nibley speaks about the history and theology surrounding the highly coveted city of Jerusalem and the hope for peace there one day.

“Twenty-three years ago on this same occasion, I gave the opening prayer, in which I said: ‘We have met here today clothed in the black robes of a false priesthood.’ Many have asked me since whether I really said such a shocking thing, but nobody has ever asked what I meant by it. Why not? Well, some knew the answer already, and as for the rest, we do not question things at the BYU. But for my own relief, I welcome this opportunity to explain: a ‘false priesthood’?”

True leaders are inspiring because they are inspired, caught up in a higher purpose, devoid of personal ambition, idealistic, and incorruptible.

Israel’s language, religion, and culture were heavily influenced by Israel’s neighbors. Many early Christian practices were performed even before Christ.
Hugh Nibley presents interesting new scholarship about the relationship between Israelis and other Middle Eastern people in Biblical times.

Israel’s language, religion, and culture were heavily influenced by Israel’s neighbors. Many early Christian practices were performed even before Christ.
A continuation of Hugh Nibley’s presentation of interesting new scholarship about the relationship between Israelis and other Middle Eastern people in Biblical times.

The original talk, later republished in other documents.
Ties science fiction and gospel ideas.

Preston Nibley narrates accomplishments of Joseph’s life and proves that he was a man of sincerity who never wearied of the task of spreading the gospel.

All around the globe, major universities hold in their keeping science, technology, the arts, and cultures in their halls of learning and in their research establishments.

BYU’s unique, spiritually infused education gave my father (and all of us) the chance, the space, and the fuel to grow as disciples of Christ and children of God serving in this world.

What messages are we sending? How are they being received? When people see us coming, do they gravitate to us or do they scatter in a great escape? I invite each of us to be a powerful influence for good.

It is so easy to worry only about yourself—your new job, your promotions, your advanced degrees, and even your fears. You will find that it is easy to place yourself, and at times your fears, as your treasure. If you do that, your heart will fail you.

If we are not afraid, our life experiments can be tools to learn truth and to make changes. The pioneer chemist Marie Curie believed that “nothing in life is to be feared—it is only to be understood.”

We will have trials, but let’s accept them as part of this earthly experience. Let’s recognize that our lives are a miracle, a miracle of love and of innumerable blessings.

Throughout the uncertainties of life, only Christ and His love are constant. There is no more perfect example of love than the Atonement itself. Its power and promises are the “hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast.”

As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we have unlimited access to wisdom, truth, and blessings from our scriptures, our ordinances, and our covenants. Perhaps we should add a daily dose of wonder to our spiritual practices.

Loving our neighbor requires getting close to our neighbor and giving of ourselves. In Spanish, the term for “love of neighbor” is amor al prójimo, or “love of the one who is in proximity.”

Our testimonies let us trust that we are part of a very important pattern in building the kingdom of God, even if we can’t see it in its entirety. Every skill, talent, and ability we have, whether inborn or developed in callings or other areas of our lives, helps us be more serviceable in the kingdom.