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I testify to you that there is another, a greater One, who lived, who walked the dusty roads of Galilee, who atoned for our sins, who was crucified and resurrected, and who lives again.
Great minds conceive great questions—questions that spark imagination, questions that stimulate discovery, and questions that provoke more questions. Ignorance cannot last long when accompanied by investigation and inquiry.
Al registrar los sentimientos que tuvo al salir de la Arboleda y en los días subsiguientes, José dejó registrada esta oración: “Mi alma se llenó de amor, y por muchos días pude regocijarme con gran gozo, y el Señor estaba conmigo, pero no pude encontrar a ninguno que creyera mi visión celestial”.
Recording the feelings he had on leaving the Grove and on the subsequent days, Joseph left on record this sentence: “My soul was filled with love and for many days I could rejoice with great joy and the Lord was with me but [I] could find none that would believe the heavenly vision.”
I want to focus not so much on his prophetic character and gifts as on the characteristics observed by those who surrounded him—on Joseph Smith the man.
I have gone through the life of Joseph Smith and singled out instances in that life when these gifts were manifest. It is no surprise that he did, in fact, experience all the spiritual gifts.
In all of this Joseph struggled both to endure and to overcome. That is the tension we all face. What must we simply go through, and what, through our faith and worthiness, can we overcome?
The Kirtland Temple was an unprecedented sacrifice, and it was met with an unprecedented divine outpouring.
There is a difference between speaking, testifying, and teaching, and that setting in which soul is alone with soul. And in this again the Prophet was a master.
The Nauvoo era also was the period of a life-and-death struggle, for there were many who by that time were organized against the Church and who swore they would bring Joseph Smith and his kingdom of blockheads to naught.
Like many of the prophets of ancient times, the prophet of the last dispensation was martyred for the Lord’s cause.
When you are on record and in the presence of others, and are trying to be truthful, and you consult the depths of your own soul, you yourself may learn how profoundly you know.
It is during our Abrahamic tests, our moments of excruciating trial, that we prove to ourselves how strong our conviction really is and receive our rewards.
The heritage of prayer in this church teaches us that, whether or not we settle the question of foreknowledge, there is a point in reaching up to that Person, not a thing, who is himself free and has used his freedom to forbid to himself the use of force.
“On this campus you have engaged texts and teachers. In the temple you can engage and commune with the intimate and ultimate Creator.”
Among the words of the English language the word farewell is the hardest to pronounce, and I, probably, will succeed very poorly at my present attempt.
Amid the ever-changing scenes of development . . . there must go through it all, like a golden thread, one thing constant: the spirit of the latter-day work.
Questions—particularly questions that arise about the gospel—can be especially trying. Questions are inherently born of uncertainty, and we as humans are vehemently opposed to uncertainty. We dislike the feeling of not knowing because we feel vulnerable. Yet this vulnerability can actually be a sacred space.
I have since learned that dwelling obsessively on what we do wrong is one of the greatest sources of interference to maximizing our potential. Self-doubt is dangerous.
The Lord knows you by name. He is so eager to share His infinite love with you. He wants you to feel His love so that you will embrace your life’s plan and cherish the gift that it is.
It is possible to reach your goals if you work hard, keep the right perspective, and use your challenges as opportunities to grow and develop.
Brothers and sisters, you are the light of the world and the future mileposts in the timeline of technology. May we recognize a loving Heavenly Father’s hand in the miracles of the technologies around us and remember that He gave them to us to bless us and our families and to advance His purposes.
It is true that we have to shoulder our burdens and do hard work, but when we look with hope and love to Christ, we will be given compensating blessings that will bind us to Him in powerful ways—even if our challenge remains.
The message of the Atonement is a message of joy. Our Savior knows our suffering. He took upon Himself our suffering that we might have joy.
Each of us has the capacity to accomplish much good in this life, but we must always return credit and appreciation to the source of all that is good and truthful.
Remember that there is one thing Christ and Satan have in common: they both want us to become like them. Satan, however, wants to trick us into it. Christ wants it to be our choice.
It is my testimony that God is love, that the gospel of Jesus Christ is a gospel of love, and that true discipleship requires sharing that love with all people. It is my hope that we will be able to recognize and reject those false systems of value that demean and divide and instead embrace the love that is true discipleship.
I think we should understand that individuals must shoulder the responsibility for their own preparedness and for their own acquisition of knowledge and of skills and service.
Not to recognize and appreciate the atonement is the greatest of all ingratitude; to ignore Christ is the height of folly; to obey him is the greatest happiness. The greatest display of wisdom that we can demonstrate on this earth is to follow the Lord and to keep his commandments.
The boat we take on life’s journey matters, since it will largely determine how we experience the storms.
There are lots of disappointments in the world that may be hard to understand. Instead of stressing over them or blaming others, sometimes it is best to “be still,” become humble, and put your trust in God that all is well.
Our perspective is limited, so we must act with restraint and compassion. Indeed, our purpose must be to serve. And we, perhaps more than any other group on the planet, are equipped and obligated to establish peace.
Our Savior gave us the perfect example of love, compassion, respite, and rescue. He has beckoned us to come unto Him, to be His hands, and to love one another. May we go forward with a commitment to listen to those spiritual promptings.
All hell may be moved, but as it moves, the devil’s kingdom will be irrevocably shaken, so that many can be shaken loose from his grasp. It is the kingdom of heaven that is coming—triumphant, true, and everlasting!
The catalyst of prayer helped Jesus to cope with suffering, and by his suffering he emancipated all men from death and made possible eternal life. This cardinal fact about the central act of human history, the Atonement, ought to give us pause, therefore, as we face our challenges individually.
God knows you perfectly. He loves you perfectly. His Only Begotten Son, Jesus, has asked you, “Come, follow me.” Thus, in a real and majestic sense, each of us here tonight has been “called to serve”!
“We must, like the prodigal son, arise and go to our father and be prepared for that resplendent reunion.”
An essay about the Prophet Joseph Smith as a seer. Referring to the translation of the Book of Mormon, the author writes that “since Joseph, who knew the ‘particulars’ [of the translating process], chose not to describe them in detail, we cannot presently be definitive about methodology”
The family is the tilt point for a vast number of souls who can go either way—to alienation and anger or to sweetness and service.
[God] wants us to have joy. We cannot do that unless we are free to choose. But neither can we have that joy unless we are willing to be spiritually submissive day in, day out, and unless we exercise that grand and glorious freedom to choose in which people truly matter more than stars.
None of us can or will be immune from the trials of life. However, if we learn to endure our struggles well, they will be turned into blessings in eternity.
Oh, how we adore Jesus for his atonement! For his free gift of immortality to all!
Latter-day Saints should have all the genuine excitement others have in the traditional adventure of learning, including learning secular truths—and we, of all people, should have a little more!
From Joseph Smith, one unlearned and untrained in theology, more printed pages of scripture have come down to us than from any other mortal—in fact, as President Holland has pointed out, more than the combined pages, as available at present, from Moses, Paul, Luke, and Mormon.
Meekness is needed in order for us to be spiritually successful—whether in matters of the intellect, in the management of power, in the dissolution of personal pride, or in coping with the challenges and routine of life. With meekness, living in “thanksgiving daily” is actually possible even in life’s stern seasons.
Furthermore, whether you realize it or not, you are a generation drenched in destiny.
The combined doctrine of God’s foreknowledge and of foreordination is one of the doctrinal roads least traveled by, yet these clearly underline how very long and how perfectly God has loved us and known us with our individual needs and capacities.
“What we will take with us—to the degree we have developed them—will be the cardinal qualities that Jesus has perfected; these are eternal and portable.”
The daily discipleship of which I’m speaking is designed to develop these very attributes that are possessed to perfection by Jesus. These attributes emerge from a consciously chosen way of life; one in which we deny ourselves of all ungodliness and we take up the cross daily—not occasionally, not weekly, not monthly.
Patience is a vital mortal virtue in relation to our faith, our free agency, our attitude toward life, our humility, and our suffering. Moreover, patience will not be an obsolete attribute in the next world.
I love you. I have great hopes for your generation. Thank you for this chance to bear my witness to you today. This is the Lord’s work.
Thus, there are certain mortal moments and minutes that matter—certain hinge points in the history of each human. Some seconds are so decisive they shrink the soul, while other seconds are spent so as to stretch the soul.
“Those of little faith frequently mistake local cloud cover for general darkness.”
When we speak of shaping our lives through service to others, we are really speaking of living a charitable, Christlike life.
In the midst of our adversity, it may be tempting to think that God has not fulfilled His promises. But we do not lean for repose on desired outcomes. As the song says, we lean for repose on Jesus, who will not desert us to our foes, though all hell may shake around us.
It is our obligation to go to work on our problems and then counsel with the Lord and get the ratifying seal of the Holy Spirit on the conclusions that we’ve reached; and that ratifying seal is the spirit of revelation.
The most important decision you can make in this life is choosing your eternal companion. Don’t settle for less than eternity.
Repentance means that we have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, that we forsake our sins, that we come into the church and kingdom of God on earth and receive the Holy Ghost.
[Joseph Smith] is one of the great dispensation heads, and a dispensation head is a revealer for his age and his period of the knowledge of Christ and of salvation.
If our vision is blurred where this doctrine and these concepts are concerned, or, if knowingly or unknowingly we have fallen prey to any of the false sectarian notions that abound with reference to them, our progress toward eternal life will be slow indeed.
True and saving worship is found only among those who know the truth about God and the Godhead and who understand the true relationship men should have with each member of that Eternal Presidency.
It is incumbent upon us to believe the truth. We have the obligation to find out what is truth, and then we have the obligation to walk in the light and to apply the truths that we have learned to ourselves and to influence others to do likewise.
God grant that we may all believe and know and understand the great eternal verities by which salvation comes and that, believing and knowing and understanding, we may so live as to gain eternal life.
It is in the accepting of our lot and moving forward with what the Lord has asked of us that we discover that the Holy Ghost enjoys our company, angels feel constrained to join us, and the heavens open to our vision.
We are taught to honor and celebrate those great men who wrote and voted for the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia. But none of what they committed themselves to … none of that would have been worth any more than the paper it was written on had it not been for those who were fighting to make it happen.
Daily prayer, daily scripture study, and daily service are three important spiritual antioxidants that help guarantee we will retain our spiritual vision and have the Spirit to guide us in our day-to-day activities.
I wish you every success and hope your wildest and fondest dreams come true. Clearly you are the hope of our nation, our church, and your families.
I hope that when you are at the end of your days you will not have walked past opportunities that you should have taken or challenges you should have accepted. I hope you will draw each day upon your secular and spiritual knowledge to find your way in faith.
Just as you have passed through the halls at BYU, I hope the Spirit of the Y has passed through you and become a part of you.
I believe you are the hope of things to come in the sciences, the home, politics, technology, medicine, engineering, the arts, and society as a whole. There is no better time than today to catch—then realize—the vision of your possibilities.
The power of choice is within you. The roads are clearly marked: one offering animal existence, the other life abundant…
The Spirit will help you remember that our potential is beyond our present capacity. We cannot attain it in our current condition and we cannot attain it on our own. We need help. We need a helper. We need Jesus, who is our Helper.
The Savior, both in His own recorded words and through the words of His holy prophets, has invited us to come unto Him, to experiment for ourselves on the truthfulness of His gospel, and to claim the attendant blessings.
It is my belief that we can obtain this goal of celestial glory as we seek and follow the divine feedback that comes through the still, small voice of the Holy Ghost.
Act upon what you know to be true and your righteous works will perfect your faith. Your lives will be full and wonderful.
Change yourself. Decide today “I am going to make the Church and kingdom of God the center of my life!” Position yourself firmly inside God’s kingdom; allow it to encompass you.
Civil War historian James McPherson details important events from history that show how and why the Civil War still matters today.
Much of my time here at BYU is spent teaching students how to build therapeutic relationships. Over the years I have come to realize that there isn’t much to do with the gospel that isn’t about relationships—either our relationships with Heavenly Father and the Savior or with our fellowmen.
We cannot be slackers in our commitment to the Lord . . . Our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and our gratitude for His sacrifice for us compels us to serve by bearing testimony of Him, even Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God.
Becoming decisive is part of our spiritual growing up. This growing up requires constant decision making. We must learn to be decisive, because indecision is no choice at all. If we fail to choose, we fail to act.
Individually and collectively our destiny lies in the ability to connect the points of light in our lives so that we can see the broad patterns of eternity.
God wants you to find and keep joy in this world and in the world to come. You have been specially endowed with a celestial nature that is to grow into a fullness of joy.
There is, however, a soul-expanding kind of doubt that proceeds from an attitude of humility—the species of humility that openly admits our weaknesses. When we begin to see ourselves and our weaknesses clearly, we arrive at a state of vulnerability similar to what Joseph Smith faced as he unwittingly prepared himself for the Sacred Grove.
Besides a sincere apology, repentance includes striving to forsake our shortcomings and weaknesses. We strive to keep our promises to do the dishes. We focus on not being grumpy and not snapping at our spouse. We endeavor to become better listeners and less judgmental. As we continually repent, we constantly try to improve ourselves.
There is so much to learn. So be curious. Keep your sense of wonder about the world. We have been given a great promise over and over again. Ask, and you will receive; seek, and you will find.
Our conduct and our way of life cannot be separated from our doctrine, for what we believe empowers and directs what we do.
Members of different faiths need to work together to affirm religious liberty, necessary in preserving human rights, human dignity, and human flourishing.
One aspect of just being nice is appreciating the dignity of every human soul—even those you don’t know, but especially those you do, and even more especially the hard to love among you.
There are people all around us, in our classes in school, in our work, in our homes and families, who cry, like Bartimaeus, “Have mercy on me.” And we, in turn, reflect on the Savior’s answer to Bartimaeus: . . . “Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole.” [Mark 10:51–52]
As you keep the flame of testimony burning brightly, you will become a beacon of righteousness—even a light—for all to see.
I can’t stress too strongly that decisions determine destiny. You can’t make eternal decisions without eternal consequences.
If you ever have doubts—and of course you will—just remember this quotation from Shakespeare’s play Measure for Measure: “Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt.”
Actually, my young friends, the period of your preparation did not begin the day you walked into your first college or university classes. It began long before you ever came to mortality, when we lived as spirit children of our Heavenly Father.
I testify to you today that turning away from God brings broken covenants, shattered dreams, and crushed hopes. Such a quagmire of quicksand I plead with you to avoid. You are of a noble birthright. Eternal life in the kingdom of our Father is your goal.
What can we learn from the prophets whom I have known and about whom I have visited with you today? We can learn that they never wavered, never faltered, never failed; that they are men of God.
Today I pray earnestly that all of us may open wide the three gates of which I have spoken—the Gate of Preparation, the Gate of Performance, and the Gate of Service—and walk through them to our exaltation.
A plan in which supposedly everything would go right so nobody would be lost was already proposed and rejected. The plan of salvation, on the other hand, allows for opposition in all things: sadness and sweetness, wrongdoing and repentance, trial and testimony.
Our responsibility to watch involves more than merely registering the signs that precede the Savior’s coming. It includes preparing ourselves for that coming.
What I learned is this: there is a fundamental part of our identity that continues no matter what changes we experience in our lives. That fundamental part of our identity is that we are children of a Heavenly Father who loves us.
Brothers and sisters, do we relish our time on Earth? Do we have enough purpose in our lives to shake off despair and apathy? President Uchtdorf recently challenged us to prioritize all of the “good” things we do in order to do the best things we can. I have found that on occasion it is healthy for me to step back and contemplate what I really want to gain from this life and the precious time that I have.
In the final analysis, then, the greatest testimony we can ever give to others is an exemplary life devoted to service.
If we are truly going to be holy, we will have to overcome our desire to fit in and think like everyone else and instead relish the idea of thinking more like God and less like this world.
All of us can find ways to be more open and receptive to the transformative change that the Lord requires of us—even that mighty change that transforms us into someone new.
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 W. Nibley Topics > War, Peace
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 W. Nibley Topics > Doctrines, Principles > Plan of Salvation, Terrible Questions > Exaltation and Eternal Life
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’?”
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Education, Learning > Brigham Young University (BYU)
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Zion, Babylon > Leaders and Managers
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.
Old Testament Topics > Israel, Scattering and Gathering
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.
Old Testament Topics > Israel, Scattering and Gathering
The original talk, later republished in other documents.
Ties science fiction and gospel ideas.
“Science Fiction and the Gospel” (1985)
“Science Fiction and the Gospel” (1992)
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.
Like the mortal life of which they are a part, adversities are temporary. What is permanent is what we become by the way we react to them.
The subject I believe we have neglected is the Book of Mormon’s witness of the divinity and mission of Jesus Christ and our covenant relationship to him.
To accomplish its mission, BYU must have all parts of its community united in pursuing it.
We must strive for mutual understanding and treat all with goodwill. We must exercise patience. We should all speak out for religion and the importance of religious freedom. We must, above all, trust in God and His promises.
May God bless us to live our lives so as to avoid entangling ourselves in sin and compromising our precious and unique gift of free agency. May we accept responsibility for our thoughts and our actions. May we use our free agency to make righteous choices and to act upon them as we have the freedom to do so.
“Each year there are new examples of coincidences—I call them miracles—that further our ties and our friendship with China and its people.”
More important than what you do as a student are the choices you are making in your personal life—the priorities you are adopting consciously or subconsciously. Are you going forward against the world’s opposition?
Though men’s hearts are failing them, you should take heart. There have always been challenging times. We, the generations of your predecessors, have survived daunting challenges, and so will you. The answer to all of these challenges is the same as it has always been. We have a Savior, and He has taught us what we should do.
Only from Jesus Christ, the Lord and Savior of this world, can we obtain the living water whose partaker shall never thirst again, in whom it will be “a well of water springing up into everlasting life.”
A person who engages in self-congratulation over a supposed strength has lost the protection of humility and is vulnerable to Satan’s using that strength to produce his or her downfall.
Elder Dallin H. and Sister Kristen M. Oaks talk about dating, hope, and how to push back against the pressures of the world by keeping the Sabbath day holy.
Only the gospel of Jesus Christ can unite and bring peace to people of all races and nationalities.
I know that God lives and that revelation to his children is a reality. I pray that we will be worthy and willing, and that he will bless us to grow in this principle of revelation.
“We don’t have to have personal experience with the effects of serious transgressions to know that they are destructive of our eternal welfare.”
The first principle of the gospel is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Faith means trust—trust in God’s will, trust in His way of doing things, and trust in His timetable. We should not try to impose our timetable on His.
Our tolerance and respect for others and their beliefs does not cause us to abandon our commitment to the truths we understand and the covenants we have made.
“The weightier matters that move us toward our goals of eternal life are love of God, obedience to his commandments, and unity in accomplishing the work of his Church.”
What seem to be only small deviations in direction or small detours from the straight and narrow path can result in huge differences in position down the road of life.
This is why we partake of the sacrament each week: to renew our covenants we have made with the Lord in the waters of baptism; to remember Him and to keep His commandments; to refresh in our minds who we are and what our role is in God’s plan.
Whatever your past has been, your future is spotless, so tie yourself to your potential, not to your past. One of the most beautiful truths of the plan of happiness is that the Lord forgives and forgets.
Being “an example of the believers,” living a life of kindness and compassion, keeping your covenant “to mourn with those that mourn,” and serving others can all have powerful effects on those around you.
Armed with BYU degrees, you will leave this place that has grown sacred to you because of the academic and spiritual opportunities you have been afforded here. You too carry the responsibility to add burnish to the name Brigham Young University. It now becomes your time to demonstrate to your employers, your graduate school professors, your business colleagues, your neighbors, and your friends what a BYU education truly means.
I believe you will clearly see that—as with the parade of students who have passed through these same portals—your most cherished experiences at BYU came because the Spirit of the Lord was undergirding and surrounding your experiences. The Spirit was manifest in dedicated classrooms and on acres of consecrated soil, and it was witnessed to you by leaders with testimonies of the truth.
For me, these kinds of paradigm-shifting moments triggered by a facing of truth are fundamental to the real BYU experience. Indeed, they help me understand the words of Christ when He said, “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32).
This mortal experience can take a toll on our testimony and commitment to the gospel. It is precisely in these times of testing that we need to be intellectually honest with ourselves and consciously remember the authentic spiritual experiences we have had.
I love the Prophet Joseph Smith. His life, example, and experiences provide a rich resource for our learning and understanding of gospel principles.
In these two ways, “to believe on their words” is like borrowing a flame to light a spiritual fire. There is no need to return the flame; no one comes asking for it. We just need to continue to fuel the fire. And those words can become pure revelation that we call our own.
It’s important to remember that we should not try to judge another’s motives. But we can judge our own motives. We need to look inside and take stock. Are we doing what we do out of love? Or has some other motive taken over?
“When we don’t use our arms, we lose the use of our muscles. So it is with our talents and testimonies in our lives.”
I believe something powerful happens anytime we gather as God’s covenant people anywhere in the world, no matter how many people the gathering may include. That power can be difficult to describe, but perhaps these words of the Savior explain it best: “Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them”.
When you were a student, we expected you to study, work hard, and develop into a person of faith, intellect, and good moral character. We invite you to continue to grow educationally and spiritually.
Just as our students consider the world our campus, BYU alumni have truly gone forth from this campus in excellence to work and serve in communities locally and all around the globe.
I am confident you will all use your individual talents to “go forth to serve” and will represent us well. D&C 64:33 states: “Wherefore, be not weary in well-doing, for ye are laying the foundation of a great work. And out of small things proceedeth that which is great.”
A BYU education is not easy to accomplish. But you have retooled, refocused, and refined yourselves by experiencing a university that blends secular and spiritual truths. Congratulations, Cougars.
Every ordinance in the gospel is a channel of power to us if, as we function in those ordinances, we develop in an ever-increasing way a personal relationship with the Lord.
Would I rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints? Not for one moment. Once one has felt the joy of the gospel there is no going back to a frivolous world.
You live in a time when you have more opportunities and options available to you than any other women have had throughout the history of mankind. Some of these options will complement your God-given natures. Others will chip away at it.
To each of you I say that your work is not yet finished either, and I regret to inform you that you don’t know how much time you’ve got left. Pondering that reality should raise some questions in your mind as to what you should be doing with that time.
My dear friends, examples of faith are not confined solely to the scriptures. Great faith was also demonstrated by Saints early in this dispensation. And it is clearly evident in our fellow Saints with whom we live day to day.
The need for us to hear the voice of the true Shepherd has never been greater. His sheep still hear His voice. The influence of the Holy Ghost is available for us in our lives every day.
We all have meaningful stories to tell. I know we do. If we tell them and let this marvelous generation of computer- and video-literate youth film them, I know we will draw others into tenderly telling their meaningful stories, too.
We can safely travel life’s journey by relying on the maps of the scriptures, the words of the living prophets, and the compass of the Holy Ghost. God’s plan and desire is that all be successful in reaching their destination.
Go to, then, you who are gifted; cultivate your gift. Develop it in any of the arts and in every worthy example of them.
Our homes are most vulnerable; therefore, the consummate power of the priesthood has been given to protect the home and its inhabitants. It is not an easy or small thing to be a presiding officer in the Church or in the home.
“Each of us must accommodate the mixture of reason and revelation in our lives. The gospel not only permits but requires it. An individual who concentrates on either side solely and alone will lose both balance and perspective.”
You are consummately precious to the Lord, to the Church, to your parents, to one another. You now must decide what is right—you know what is right—and then have the courage to do it. You will be blessed and redeemed and exalted.
If you hold to the rod, you can feel your way forward with the gift of the Holy Ghost, conferred upon you at the time you were confirmed a member of the Church. The Holy Ghost will comfort you.
The blessing conferred upon you in company with your degree is simply this: I bless you through the authority of the priesthood as a servant of the Lord that you will live the gospel and that in consequence of that you will be happy.
May you be blessed in all that you do, that the Spirit of the Lord will be in your hearts, and that you will have the inspiration combined with knowledge to make you equal to the challenge of teaching the snow-white birds who come to you to learn how to fly.
I know words carried by the gift of the Holy Ghost can bring to your understanding “the truth of all things.” All truth is worth knowing. Some truths are more useful, but there are truths that are most worth knowing.
Having a testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ gives us confidence and courage in life. We can yield our agency to the Lord and let him manage our lives. I know it requires faith to do this, but our divine nature gives us that strength, and we find joy in our commitment and our duty.
We know that we don’t have control over all the situations that come into our lives each day. But, then again, it’s not so much what comes into our lives as it is how we respond to it.
We do not have to travel abroad to have fascinating and memorable experiences of service. We can and should start right here in our homes and neighborhoods. Jesus did not travel very far; often He served those very near to Him.
Jesus Christ was the supreme leader about whom not enough can ever be said. His task was to lead all people back to their Father in Heaven, to give us all the unlimited potential of eternal life and its blessings.
My challenge to you is to study the scriptures daily, draw upon the word daily, let the words of Christ tell you all things that you should do, and drive darkness from your life. May you always remember that all things testify of Christ.
As you reflect on your BYU days, I pray that you will choose to celebrate all that was happy and good and productive. I pray, too, that you will choose to move forward with that same attitude toward all you undertake and all that undertakes you.
What is personal ministry? Each of us has a personal ministry. I believe we received our personal ministry in the premortal world. It was divinely given and lasts a lifetime.
If you know—and remember—who you are and remember your divine birthright, you will date noble people, wear modest clothing, use clean language, surf worthy Web sites, listen to good music, watch enriching movies, keep the Word of Wisdom, and stay morally clean.
As we try to do Heavenly Father’s will, . . . I believe we open ourselves, day by day, to the sanctifying power of the Atonement.
If we are satisfied with where we are, if we are pretty sure we have the whole thing figured out, we are in effect saying: “We have received, and we need no more.” The point of this life is to grow and progress, to become something so unbelievably far from where we are now that it almost seems ridiculous to contemplate.
But what constitutes righteous judgment, and who qualifies to make it? Simon, or the elder son? Martha, or the Pharisees, or me, or you? While there are many things we must make judgments about, the sins of another or the state of our own souls in comparison to others seems not to be among them.
It is my understanding—based on more than twenty years of research—that operations and ministrations of angels are largely unknown to mortals. Angels can move about the earth conducting the Lord’s divine work, and they serve, minister, and mingle among mortals, usually without our awareness.
To be like Jesus—and we must be like Him if we want to be with Him and the Father—we must strive for a deeper knowledge of who the Son of God is, since it is by Him we come to know the Father.
“Sometimes struggles and opposition will come into our life. We can become stronger by dealing with these difficult challenges and by not allowing them to cripple us in our spiritual progression.”
What is it that you think you want to know to consider yourself an educated person, to be part of civic and professional life alongside people from different religions in this, the most religiously diverse nation in human history?
The Lord has furnished us with two models to help us cope with the tension we often face between faith and reason. These two models take the form of the wanderer and the wonderer. Both of these types appear prominently in our scriptures and provide us postures we ought to consider assuming as we confront the challenges of living in a modern world.
Joseph had no training in theology, no doctor of divinity degree; his formal education was at best scanty. And yet through him comes light that dissolves the profoundest paradoxes and strengthens and edifies me through my own personal trials.
Like Nephi, each one of us is likely to experience the breaking of a bow—a major life challenge that has all the makings of a personal or family disaster or one that has all the makings of an opportunity to grow.
Faith in Jesus Christ has the power to help us get our stories straight, and I pray that, like Zoram, we will see that our life’s circumstances are often the very conditions in which God has chosen to bless us as He helps us work out our lives.
The root of morality, according to Levinas and Bauman, is recognizing our role as our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers. Everything else…serves as a way to increase our awareness of that role, our desire to fulfill it, and our ability to do so.
I hope you will allow your mind to conceive and believe that Heavenly Father sent His Son to give us hope and help in finding a more abundant life.
Espero que permitan que su mente conciba y crea que el Padre Celestial envió a Su Hijo para darnos esperanza y ayuda para encontrar una vida más abundante.
Practice makes perfect, but work is more than mere practice. Work opens us to revelation and spiritual gifts.
The creator actively remembers His creation. Closely linked to His remembrance of us is the loving attention associated with it. He not only remembers you; He cares deeply about where you are, what you are doing, who you are becoming, and what you are feeling.
The mission of BYU is to assist individuals in their quest for perfection and eternal life. That assistance should provide a period of intensive learning in a stimulating setting where a commitment to excellence is expected and the full realization of human potential is pursued.
What can we do to ensure that we build a lifetime of righteousness and accumulate wise choices? We can live our life with purpose—the purpose to gain eternal life and be counted as a disciple of Jesus Christ.
Our Heavenly Father wants us to grow in every way while on this earth, and that includes developing our ability to weigh facts, render judgments, and make decisions. But He also invites us to bring our decisions to Him in prayer.
I love everything this university stands for and am truly honored to receive an honorary doctorate as a culminating event in my life.
Learn to appreciate the power and potential in your heads. Get out of your comfort zone! Expand your vision! Experience the satisfaction that comes from real, earned accomplishment.
I have a special respect and admiration for President Brigham Young as he led the colonization of the pioneers here in the West. As we meet on the campus that bears his name, it seems appropriate to remind ourselves of some of the teachings, philosophy, and vision of this great leader.
“Let us all show justice, kindness, and charity toward our fellowmen. Let us demonstrate the love and reverence we should exhibit toward our Almighty God.”
Here is our foundation of truth. It is the doctrine and His revealed covenants we must take upon ourselves that will lead us back to His presence.
In this first dispensation we learn that we are sons and daughters of an Eternal Father and have the right to communicate with Him through prayer and receive answers through inspiration and revelation. Included in our life’s plan should be constant and regular communication with the Father of all.
As you examine the memorabilia you have put into your book of life, will you find the ones prescribed by the Lord in being obedient to his laws?
Consistently develop your talents, hold fast to your integrity, and build your character. These are principles that will not depreciate with time. Why? Because they are God-given principles founded on eternal truths, and will endure through time and for all eternity.
As we pause tonight to contemplate another new year, I would hope that for a few minutes we could catch the spirit of Joel or of Peter as we reflect on prophecy, vision, and dreams.
The charge has been given to us. Now, to obtain the promised blessings, we must respond by increasing our understanding of the doctrine and religiously applying the doctrine in our lives.
“We must continually be thinking about our preparation for the time of the harvest. Our challenge is to protect the tender plants among the tares that choke out and leave us no credit or return for a life of toil.”
May God bless each of us with a desire to gain a real understanding of the blessings granted to us under this great Constitution of the United States of America. And may we have the strength and the courage to defend and uphold it for our generation and for all who follow after us.
We challenge you to study and internalize the basic required courses for life with the promise that conducting yourself in harmony with the Lord’s law will bring the only true, fulfilling, and rewarding happiness that this experience in the University of Mortality can produce.
I challenge you to become “the greatest generation” by assisting our Father in Heaven’s children to return to their Christian faith and to the strong religious foundation that is so necessary to enjoy peace of mind and real happiness in this period of mortal probation.
“Never be satisfied with where you are. Always be reaching out to make the world a better place, to make your sacrifice for the benefit of your fellowmen.”
My prayer is that each of you will leave here today better prepared to meet the world and its challenges. There are endless opportunities for good all around us! May each of you be blessed to find the proper balance in your life spiritually, mentally, emotionally, and physically.
“We must fight the good fight. We must finish our course. We must keep the faith.”
We Latter-day Saints must realize that the restoration of the gospel was a mighty drama, the first steps having been taken long before Joseph Smith. If God was going to restore the gospel in the last days, where would it take place and under what conditions?
When you are faced with the question of whether you really believe some principle of the gospel, I encourage you to hold fast to the things that you know are true because the answers to the rest will come to you in time.
When we reflect upon Him as an anchor in our lives, I am grateful for the physical manifestation of the marks driven through His hands and feet that show the depth of sacrifice and charity from Him that sustains and blesses us today.
“I believe that there is more going on here than our own merely human efforts can fully explain.”
Whenever we’re thoughtful and kind and honest, the light inside us increases. Whenever we observe the Sabbath, the light increases and the darkness decreases.
I would like to visit with those of you who have become discouraged in your personal prayers, the ones you say when no one else is listening. I’d like to talk to those of you who have stopped praying or who do not pray as frequently or as fervently as you once did.
I will tell you about some of my own experiences with adoption and adoption in this country and in the Church, and finally I will speak about adoption as it pertains to all of us as the seed of Abraham.
I wanted to start with the voyage we all know about and take it to another voyage, because there is an element to the Pilgrim story that, 20 years ago, I would have never believed existed but is true.
BYU is a unique institution in all the world—a community of saint scholars, a community of saint students, an unparalleled community of academic and spiritual excellence that could only be possible as a result of the Restoration.
Brothers and sisters, we are all servants. We have received talents that are indeed the Lord’s goods. Those goods should help us develop His attributes.
It is a wondrous opportunity and a sacred responsibility to build up the kingdom of God on earth, to be kingdom builders—right now.
“It is my prayer that each of us will accept the goal that our Heavenly Father has set as our guiding and overall goal—immortality and eternal life with him.”
The Christlike qualities of selflessness, patience, honesty, and integrity are the most valuable assets we can acquire that will bless the lives of others as well as our own and should be demonstrated in all of our associations and endeavors.
I know of nothing worthwhile in life that comes easy. However, nothing in life is as valuable as a strong marriage and a secure family. I am speaking to all who want their future marriages to succeed.
Christ invites us to come quickly unto Him. His love casts darkness away. We are protected from deception when we choose to walk in His light as we see ourselves as we really are and as we really can be.
Whatever it may be that binds us, whatever sins, circumstances, or past events hold each of us captive, the Lord Jesus Christ, the great Immanuel, has come to set us free.
I am deeply thankful for the gift of prayer, which is surely among the greatest of gifts given by our Father in Heaven to His children on earth. Prayer is the ordained means by which men and women, and even little children, come to know God. It is our channel of communication with heaven. It is a priceless privilege.
Brothers and sisters, Heavenly Father did not send us to this earth without also sending the Holy Ghost to guide and protect us. One of the most important skills we must learn in this life is to receive and recognize the quiet whisperings of the Spirit.
There, tucked away as a tiny comment, was the answer—simple, clear, and enormously effective: “but we heeded them not.” Difficult to do? Yes. Clear to understand? Yes!
As we seek for values to stand by, especially in important or controversial matters, let us search the prophets and follow their inspired counsel.
Receiving the gifts of God is a catalyst for change! A change of heart, a change of countenance, a change of desires, a new birth.
Constant effort yields perfection in a skill and a glimpse of the capacity our Heavenly Father has endowed us with. Trust and coachability are akin to faith and obedience, and, when tested, prepare you—and your confidence waxes strong.
Not unlike physical maps, we have spiritual maps to help guide and direct us to our ultimate destination—back to our heavenly home.
Perhaps instead the Lord expects that we acknowledge that we are weak, that we have much to learn through the experiences we have, and that we make mistakes, and then prove to Him that we will repent and put our whole heart into doing better.
Because he was willing to ask God directly, the Prophet Joseph—and each of us through him—learned eternal truths about the nature of God and the current status of God’s kingdom on earth.
Jenny Hale Pulsipher shares her joy in discovering early American stories, showing how history can come alive and be an adventure no less thrilling than that of Indiana Jones.
