In our efforts to prepare, in our efforts to be ready, we are provided a sweet assurance in Alma, where we are reminded that the Savior “has all power to save every man that believeth on his name and bringeth forth fruit meet for repentance” (Alma 12:15).

We choose the King of the kingdom when we choose to follow the counsel of those He has chosen: the living prophets. Choose to stay connected. The consequences are eternal.

I bear solemn testimony that the restored gospel of Jesus Christ is rolling forth under His direction and in preparation for His second coming.

I would like to offer some thoughts on cultivating three faculties that will help us cultivate Godliness in mortality: those of wisdom, curiosity, and patience.

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.

I also bear testimony of the blessings we can and will receive in our personal lives as we make efforts to be in the right places at the right times and to do the right things for the right reasons. By following the counsel of our Church leaders, we will be better able to feel and follow the Holy Spirit in our lives and realize great blessings.

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.

Active engagement in the functioning of government and in addressing community concerns is an inherent responsibility of our citizenship and demands our best efforts.

Empathy is an essential ingredient for all positive interpersonal relationships. If we couldn’t at least imagine what it feels like to be in someone else’s shoes or skin, we wouldn’t be able to connect; we would live our lives in isolation.

You may have thought that you are here at this university to take a certain series of courses, obtain a degree, and then leave learning behind. If so, you do not fully understand. God desires the flourishing of your whole soul for the glories He has in mind for you, including an eternal family with children who will shine as jewels in His crown and yours, and that is why He intends to bless you, if you will exert yourself, with a soul-stretching education.

Hearkening to the call of Christ from His Spirit, or through another’s countenance, or both, we become genuinely honest, simple, solid, true—often together with someone we may not have trusted before.

His desire is for you to change, to have a change of heart, a change of nature, and to, over time, completely cast off the natural man.

The Lord’s emphasis on education has been strong and sustained. The dedication of this founding faculty to BYU early in the university’s history is humbling. We are the beneficiaries of the toil of early colleagues who built BYU at considerable personal sacrifice.

Adding heart to mind in our work will transform our teaching to learning, our knowledge to wisdom, our study to discovery, and our sacrifice to consecration.

It is the meek who have access to heaven’s instruction and guidance. The centrality of meekness in our spiritual growth, indeed our salvation, has been taught repeatedly, perhaps most often in the form of caution to avoid its opposite—pride.

May we have a productive year—a year of success and influence elevated and shaped by BYU’s unique mission to “assist individuals in their quest for perfection and eternal life.”

Brigham Young University is a very different institution than its peers across the country. Our mission is to educate students both academically and spiritually. We look to the prophetic guidance of the board of trustees in charting the course for achievement of this mission. But the board trusts us to see that the university’s prophetic destiny is reached.

A look at BYU’s past has a powerful effect, providing context and guiding our vision of BYU’s future. The life-threatening challenges with facilities and financing are largely behind us, and we can focus with little distraction on fulfilling the destiny of the university.

The Atonement is intensely individual, reaching to every single soul, and it is universal, reaching to all creation. In both of these aspects, planetary and personal, the Atonement overcomes separation of every kind.

Today I would ask: What does it mean to you to love God with all your mind? We feel what it means to love Him with our heart, but what does it mean to love Him with our mind?

No matter who you are—a recent convert or a serious scholar, a saint or an unrepentant sinner—the Book of Mormon speaks to your level.

In the end the BYU Mission Statement calls on us to “have a strong effect on the course of higher education” and to “be an influence in a world we wish to improve.” In this, our uniqueness can be an asset.

Jesus so loved the world that he gave his life, and he suffered for our sins. Oh, what love! Oh, what mercy! Can we not find the way to be merciful to all those about us?

Our eternal education begins with an understanding of where we have come from, why we are here, and where we are going after this life.

With the vacation from school approaching, it is important to remember that we are never on vacation from our commitments to the Lord. As we take time to ponder the wonder of His birth and life on earth, let us also review the commitments we have made and recommit to labor with greater zeal during the coming year. Let us be more fully aware of our commitments, decide now to keep them, follow the Master in our approach to our commitments, set realistic goals to help us fulfill our commitments, anticipate the opposition that will come, and reap the blessings, both temporal and eternal, that flow to those who faithfully keep commitments.

I pray that we keep our gaze elevated so that we can see our trials through the lens of their purpose, so that we can become more Christlike and gain the eternal win. As we do so, our hearts will be filled with peace rather than fear.

Following the Lord’s process of decision making results in consistently and powerfully righteous decisions. And that pattern of righteous decision making in turn develops our character.

In the garden is a sign that reads, “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem”—a quote from Psalm 122:6. And so we must. We must hope for and pray for peace.

A disciple of Jesus Christ must be actively engaged, patient in the process, sufficiently humble, dedicated to the Savior, and filled with faith that the Master Teacher is leading us in the right direction.

In the end, the only lasting manifestation of embracing the Word of Wisdom—of following the Man in the white robe—is to be found in the “great treasures of knowledge,” the “hidden treasures,” that are the mysteries of godliness and the “fulness of the glory of the Father” and of the Son.

What does spiritual thriving mean to me? Very simply, it means seeking, recognizing, and enjoying experiences with the Spirit of God.

The four cornerstones upon which we must build greatness faith, education, industry, and cooperation. John A. Widtsoe explains that each of these cornerstones must be nourished and understood through a gospel lens.

Grace is not achieved somewhere down the road. It is received right here and right now. It is not a finishing touch; it is the Finisher’s touch.

La gracia no se logra en algún momento del futuro. Se recibe justo aquí y justo ahora. No es un toque final; es el toque del consumador.

When that Spirit moves upon the waters—when it moves upon us—it can organize and enlighten those gifts that we have worked to develop and, through the sacrifice of our time and effort and abilities, bring forth remarkable creations out of those elements.

If we show tenacious faith and are prepared to lose ourselves in service, our Father in Heaven will prepare the way for us to accomplish all that He asks of us. I pray that we can be instruments in our Father in Heaven’s hands in doing His will and that we will find great and eternal joy in His service.

“Unless we align our eyes and our hearts with God’s glory, we will, to that extent, be filled with darkness.”

“Great works, including great families, require commitment to something greater than ourselves.”

Fully consecrate your life to Heavenly Father and draw ever closer to Him and His Son. Have an attitude that you will serve Him in spite of the pain you are going through and the lack of true understanding you have of where He is taking you. Continue to feast on the word of God and have faith.

When you’re sitting there wondering if you can stand back up again, remember that sometimes the test is not about overcoming but about whether we will keep trying no matter how hard things seem to be. Never give up. Do all things cheerfully that lie in your power, and then stand still with the assurance that God will help you.

I too confess that we are strangers and pilgrims on the earth, that life continues after our mortal bodies fail us, that our loved ones who have gone before know us and are there to help us.

If we will reflect upon our weakness, as the Prophet Joseph did upon his, the Lord will make us strong where we are weak.

If we do all we can to be obedient, if we truly accept the Atonement—which, after all, is the most magnificent offer of reconciliation ever made—the day will come when the Saviour will petition the Father on our behalf. And I am confident that there is absolutely nothing that the Father will refuse His Only Begotten.

When we learn to love each other and have respect for our different abilities, we prepare ourselves to live in a celestial order. Each person edifies the other, and then the whole can become a Zion society.

Coming to know the Savior, learning to hear His voice, and allowing Him to be our Shepherd also requires commitment. This kind of commitment requires all that we have and are.

Let us then be clear in our vision as we pursue and proclaim truth.

President Monson spoke undeniable truth when he said, “One day, when we look back at seeming coincidences of our lives, we will realize that perhaps they weren’t so coincidental after all.”

If we are prepared for His coming—if we are looking for it—that day will be a great time of reunion and rejoicing. Make your choice, brothers and sisters, to use your time in the cause that matters most—the one that leads to the millennial reign of Jesus Christ.

Here we are in these beautiful temples of learning with qualified teachers, countless books, and resources. All of this and the Spirit, too. May we each receive the knowledge that is here. Use it in wisdom to unlock eternal opportunities.

“There are valleys as well as peaks, broken bones as well as victory feasts, exhaustion as well as jubilation.”

The image of the Savior, what He taught, what He sacrificed and did for us planted firmly in our minds can help us remember all that we must do.

Some of our greatest problems can be the most help as we work through to the solution or toward overcoming these obstacles. And it is there in the growth and development of our character that we find great happiness and joy.