BYU Speeches
Alphabetical by Speaker

Well-meaning people may honestly disagree with my interpretation of how the universe is put together. Agency allows and requires this possibility. But for me, as I noted above, science is faith affirming because I choose to believe, and everything else follows.

As we negotiate the challenging and dangerous paths of this life, we can draw on the power of the sacred, holy, divine, awe-inspiring, sanctified, and hallowed.

God will give you strength beyond your own as you strive daily to fulfill the most sacred mortal responsibility He gives to His children.

The BYU mission statement emphasizes the importance of clear communication. It states that a BYU education should “help students . . . communicate effectively.” My New Year’s plea for you is that you emphasize this part of your education this year.

Each one of us has the opportunity to join a winning team by being full of integrity, following the promptings of the Holy Ghost, and persevering through the rough waters of life. I am grateful for the Savior and testify that He lives!

“What we need from everyone, from those of you solidly in the Church as well as those struggling to hold on, is always the same: powerful faith, faith that sustains us here and now, not just on the day of judgment or somewhere in celestial glory.”

Only Jesus can save us. The clearest expression of this is given by King Benjamin in the Book of Mormon: “There shall be no other name given nor any other way nor means whereby salvation can come unto the children of men, only in and through the name of Christ.”

As we try to do Heavenly Father’s will, . . . I believe we open ourselves, day by day, to the sanctifying power of the Atonement.

The Lord’s program is to make bad men and women good and good men and women better as He prepares us for eternal life. Participation in His kingdom here on earth can change us in wonderful ways if we are faithful.

The unique and synergistic environment of scholarship and faith at BYU has further connected those important life lessons to significant eternal truths regarding repentance and the Atonement of Jesus Christ, the wise use of agency, and how Christ makes weak things become strong.

“I believe that there is more going on here than our own merely human efforts can fully explain.”

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

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.

Are the scriptures delicious to us—as precious as gold and sweeter than honey? Do we feast on them, delight in them, and ponder them as Nephi taught?

El albedrío y la responsabilidad están inseparablemente conectados. No pueden evitar la responsabilidad sin disminuir el albedrío. La misericordia y la justicia también son inseparables. No pueden negar la justicia del Señor sin obstruir Su misericordia.

As we seek for values to stand by, especially in important or controversial matters, let us search the prophets and follow their inspired counsel.

Are we ready to choose to commit to the Lord’s plan? Are we ready to choose to forsake our sins and come unto Christ? Will we choose to call on His name?

“A brother, a sister, or a friend can literally be an oasis in the desert of mortality—the mere sight of them can refresh and renew. This type of friendship is an example of God’s tender mercy.”

My purpose today is not to debate the issues related to past wars or the conflicts that currently rage throughout the world. Nor is my intent to provide further evidence of the horrible scenes of war evident in our time. Rather, my intent is to invite you to consider what President Hinckley described as the “silver thread” of war.

As previous First Presidencies have said, and we say again to you, we expect (we do not simply hope) that Brigham Young University will “become a leader among the great universities of the world.” To that expectation I would add, “Become a unique university in all of the world.”

Please, from one who owes so much to this school and who has loved her so deeply for so long, keep her not only standing but standing for what she uniquely and prophetically was meant to be.

Uses Alma 32 to discuss planting the “seed of faith” concerning the witnesses of the Book of Mormon plates. Includes the testimonies of the Three Witnesses.

So let us remember that from the vantage point of a roof and a tall tree, our perspective is to look as far as forever and set goals that will not just help us through the week but will lead us on into eternity.

Every single person on the earth now and forever is a child of God. It doesn’t matter what their religious or political affiliation is, it doesn’t matter where they come from or the color of their skin, and it doesn’t matter if they are just like you or are vastly different from you—they are all children of our Heavenly Father.

Our Savior Jesus Christ sees us differently—not as we currently are but as we may become. I am awed by the love He has for me, who does not deserve it, and for the love He has for all of us—no matter who we are, no matter how different we may be from those around us, and no matter what struggles we have in our lives.

As you can learn to see through the generations—by looking back and by looking forward—you will see more clearly who you are and what you must become. You will better see that your place in this vast, beautiful plan of happiness is no small place. And you will come to love the Savior and depend on Him.

Like Elisha’s servant, we typically do not have access to a complete view of reality. We know, though, that the Lord can open our eyes to a greater reality.

Good friends help keep us on the high ground. Good friends strengthen us and help us live the commandments when we are with them. True friends will not make us choose between the Lord’s ways and their ways.

“May you seek after happiness by following the Lord.”

“Now, since we know the Lord loves all of his children, we need to inquire whether our being here at this time with these blessings is by chance or whether there might be a purpose to it.”

Sometimes life’s greatest lessons come to us at the most dreadful times of our lives. How we respond at such times of crisis determines if such challenges will be times for progression or merely times of suffering.

[S]eeking balance—giving adequate time and effort to each of those things that really matter—is vital to our success in mortal probation.

Parenting teens is hard, but Laura Walker aims to make it easier by sharing the pros and cons of different parenting approaches found in her research.

“Selective attitudes—particularly when combined with the truths of the restored gospel—affect the quality of life itself.”

With selflessness we demonstrate our true relationship and intimacy with the Savior. It is the link that binds together the family of God.

All things sacred and holy are to be revealed and brought together in this last and most wonderful dispensation. With the Restoration of the gospel, the Church, and the priesthood of Jesus Christ, we hold an almost incomprehensible store of sacred things in our hands.

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.

In the final analysis, then, the greatest testimony we can ever give to others is an exemplary life devoted to service.

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.

An important part of being self-aware is to understand how we influence for good or ill others around us by how we act, speak, and respond.

Sometimes life’s circumstances may seem to be in turmoil, and you may have so much on your so-called “plate” that you don’t know where to begin or what to do. This is when I believe humor and the ability to be optimistic can enhance the quality of your life.

When we speak of shaping our lives through service to others, we are really speaking of living a charitable, Christlike life.

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.

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.

Even when turbulence caused by the storms of life naturally comes our way in this mortal existence, we can be led by the lighthouse of the gospel and by our testimonies of our Savior Jesus Christ.

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.

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.

I know that my counsel to you tonight is very weighty. For some, it would appear impossible to obtain. But please have faith, and join that faith with works. The Lord is aware of you as individuals and of your particular circumstances. He will bless you. He will assist you in bringing to pass that which is right and which you righteously desire. Please have faith.

We can learn a lesson from the Israelites in the wilderness. If a prophet of God tells us we can look upon the brazen serpent and be healed, then we can look upon the brazen serpent and be healed. If an apostle of God tells us we can obtain and keep the Spirit of the Lord by following four simple points, then we should believe it!

“We don’t have to have personal experience with the effects of serious transgressions to know that they are destructive of our eternal welfare.”

Our experiences at BYU have helped us to better understand that we are in similitude of the Savior and belong to the great family encompassing all of the people of the earth.

There are certain rules on this earth that are critically important not only to our temporal journey but to our eternal journey as well.

We are commanded to care for the Lord’s creations and be wise stewards over them. Because I have benefitted so greatly from the divine Creation, I truly want to be a good steward over it.

The boat we take on life’s journey matters, since it will largely determine how we experience the storms.

Skilled performance is a very important manifestation of human knowledge. It is a kind of knowledge that improves with use. We begin learning as a novice and gain new capability every time we exercise a skill.

While Jesus sat at the well or visited with friends in their homes, the streets of Jerusalem were filled with the homeless, the hungry, the crippled, the blind, and those with leprosy, but there was nothing negligible about His services. There’s nothing negligible about the simple acts of kindness and assistance that you and I offer to those around us on a daily basis.

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.

Do you not see that one of the great mysteries of godliness that many never see is that when we use our agency to choose to give our love away, we gain more love and we become more like our Savior and our Heavenly Father?

As sons and daughters of God, each one of us has the ability and the obligation to testify and defend the work of the Lord. I beg you not to lean away or drop your voice in these situations.

We should acknowledge that our cell phones and laptops carry no secret powers that will push us toward one side or the other of the war that began in heaven; they are simply tools that amplify the choices we make through our agency.

I have learned from living sixty years that imperfections are challenges all of us must deal with. We cannot overcome them nor their consequential effects in our lives without the Lord’s help. We cannot permit ourselves to be overcome by them, and there is absolutely no benefit to be gained by detecting and advertising those we see in the lives of others.

It is important to learn how to live in faith rather than in fear because the process of changing for the better is at the very foundation of the Father’s plan for us. Changing for the better is what we are here in this life to do, and it is what the mission of His Son enables us to do.

To pass from death unto fullness of life everlasting—that is the purpose of our mortal existence, why we came to earth. Without this mortal experience, without Adam’s bringing death into the world, and without the saving works of Jesus Christ, we could not attain the very purpose of our being—everlasting fullness of life.

Quite apart from the matter of school or missions or marriage or whatever, life ought to be enjoyed at every stage of our experience and should not be hurried and wrenched and truncated and torn to fit an unnatural schedule which you have predetermined but which may not be the Lord’s personal plan for you at all.

Remember the Brazilian butterflies. What you as an individual can do may not be much, but it is something; and when aggregated with what others are doing, the increment can be significant.

My purpose today is to encourage us all to “say something” and “know something” more about mental health in order that we all might “be something” more and obtain optimal mental health.

The charity and uncommon service rendered at Kalaupapa serves as a reminder of the importance of erecting bridges instead of barriers, finding common ground instead of battleground, and valuing one another regardless of ethnicity and religiosity.

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.

Our health and our wholeness are unquestionably linked with our holiness. We need very much for body, mind, and spirit to come together, to unite in one healthy, stable soul.

I pray that you will understand clearly BYU’s divine mission and that you will faithfully accept your very personal responsibility to carry the Spirit of the Y into every corner of your life, safeguarding its reputation and sharing its light with all around you.

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.

“A knowledge of who we are, a self-image that is ennobling, a strict sense of moral responsibility, a disciplined spirit, and a keen sense of duty to God—these are the keys to spiritual power.”

We all have scenes and moments from our stories and the choices we have made that we are not proud of. Only through the power of His Atonement can we refine and smooth those awkward, badly performed moments in our lives. Only when we allow the Master Editor, our Savior Jesus Christ, to shape and cocreate with us can our story’s true potential emerge.

Earnestly seeking to know what gifts we need by asking God will often help us discover and develop previously unknown gifts that God is willing to bless us with.

Recognizing that you, as students, have come to BYU for more than academic rigor, I have made it a point to share a spiritual thought in each section I teach every day I am in the classroom.

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.

True loyalty (or those who stand by him): Some, and I hope this includes you, have a testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith and his unique and special mission. It is to you that I frame my question: What does it mean to “stand by my servant Joseph”?

We must be grounded on the rock of revelation, and although we may not know the answer to every question, we must know the answers to the primary questions. And if we do, the gates of hell shall not prevail against us and we will stand forever.