Brigham Young University
Speeches

In a world where we are trained to expect the worst, Gregg Easterbrook shares research concerning the potential for a positive future global economy.

What do we have that we can offer in return for all the good gifts of our Father in Heaven and His Son Jesus Christ? We can offer our hearts and our free will—our obedience. We can sacrifice a broken heart and a contrite spirit.

Hope is a most powerful influence in our lives. Yes indeed, we do live in a troubled and challenging world. But we live in one of the greatest periods of time in all the history of the entire world.

Joseph Smith lived the life of a prophet. He suffered the life of a prophet. He died the death of a prophet.

I’m suggesting that we seek to experience contentment while we work toward godliness—that we remember and appreciate all that God and Christ have done for us.

Our happiness lies in following the gospel of Jesus Christ—in having faith in Him, believing Him, coming unto Him, and becoming more like Him.

Mickey Edwards shares insights on the importance of the Constitution.

As members of the Church, we must seek truth in all areas, be it spiritual, educational, scientific, or in the social and moral settings of society.

As we move into a new season of life, may we always remember the lessons that we have learned during this “intellectually enlarging” and “spiritually strengthening” season of growth.

As wonderful as modern technology is, it still pales in comparison to God’s power and ability. We get to view the wonders of the universe; He gets to create them.

Our challenge then is to overcome our natural-man reluctance to interact with those who come from different languages, dialects, and cultural backgrounds and to treat them as no more strangers but actual, or potential, fellow citizens with the Saints in the household of God.

Choosing wisely is a critical part of His plan of happiness and an integral part of the test of our earth life. God’s direction to Enoch was to say to the people, “Choose ye this day, to serve the Lord God who made you” (Moses 6:33). He really does know best.

Faith that is “tested, wounded, but . . . here” is a powerful, transformative kind of faith. That kind of faith recognizes that because we look through a glass, darkly, we will still have questions. It is a faith that coexists with questions and paradoxes. It is a faith that has battle scars but also enduring resonance.

Technology provides the means for communicating the good news of the gospel and its theology to the inhabitants of the world and improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the operation of the Church.

This is the love God is calling us all into. We are deeply relational beings, designed for love and connection with God and with one another.

Regardless of the conditions, our task is to participate in the race, safely cross the finish line, and receive the grand prize. Our motivation is the priceless prize designated for finishers of the race—that of eternal life.

Everything the Savior did and said was for the benefit of humankind. His Atonement, His example, and His teachings—everything was to help us not only to have a more abundant life on earth but also to attain the most abundant of all life—even eternal life.

Faith leads to repentance of our past mistakes. But all of us need to follow up necessary repentance with belief—a belief in God and a belief that, though we all sin, the Atonement of Jesus Christ can and will save us.

If we change our perspective so that caring for the poor and the needy is less about giving stuff away and more about filling the hunger for human contact, providing meaningful conversation, and creating rich and positive relationships, then the Lord can send us someplace.

Missionaries are taught that part of their responsibility is to “invite all to come unto Christ.” Surely if all are worthy of an invitation to come unto Christ, they are worthy of an invitation to join a study group or to come to a dance. Let our campus be an inclusive community, not an exclusive fraternity.

There is nothing more discouraging than knowing what you should do and then procrastinating performance and missing the opportunity. There is nothing more invigorating than knowing what you should do and then getting about doing it.

May we take advantage of the many ­mentors who surround us this year, and may we be worthy mentors to those whom we serve. May we not just take direction but may we take direction well, without taking offense.

Just as you can have love in your heart always, your heart can be drawn out in prayer—always.

You may well doubt that you can have much effect on the people around you. But you will have help.

May He give you entrance to the hearts of those you teach and then make you know that as you enter there, you stand in holy places.

“A choice to be good—even with the trials that come, or perhaps because of the trials that come—will allow the Atonement to change your heart.”

I bear you my testimony that God lives. He is your Father. You want to go home. You want to be with him. The only way you can be with him in the way you want to be is to become clean and spotless.

His plan of redemption has always required men and women to consecrate all they have and all they are to the service of God. They covenant to do that.

Feeling the influence of the Holy Ghost works both ways: the Holy Ghost only dwells in a clean temple, and the reception of the Holy Ghost cleanses us through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. You can pray with faith to know what to do to be cleansed and thus qualified for the companionship of the Holy Ghost and the service of the Lord.

You may not be asked to face death in the service He requires of you, but you will be asked to love and to sacrifice for a lifetime. And you will be blessed by your faithful and loving Master beyond what you would have asked of Him. And, above all, you will, as the faithful servant, become His friend.

Delayed blessings will build your faith in God to work, and wait, for him. The scriptures aren’t demeaning when they command, “Wait upon the Lord.” That means both service and patience. And that will build your faith.

As President Worthen knows, inspired leaders and teachers here have made it possible for students to begin to serve with what they have learned while they are still here. They don’t wait to graduate to become colleagues in the role of teachers.

I pray with my whole heart that we may listen together and that we may have the gift of the Holy Ghost, both in our private search for truth and as we sit at the feet of the servants of God wherever we may be.

Your experience in enduring well in the trials of life by drawing on God’s power of deliverance can bring you the assurance you need to find peace in this life and confidence for the next.

“If you can feel what it is like to be a student and feel their pains and afflictions, you can make a great difference, a moral difference, in how they feel about who they really are and what they can become.”

“You will find that he knew the way and wanted to share it with you. And you will have confirmed to you that he was the perfect example in mentoring, as he is in all service that brings real value.”

There will be a day for you and me when, whatever difficulties and limitations we have here, we will have that promise fulfilled for us. We will be lifted up as on eagles’ wings, and it will be those who have waited upon the Lord.

I now view creation not as something that occurred long ago but as a process that continues today in which we are given the sacred privilege to participate.

“What Deb and I have found around the country is that the closer up you see the United States—the more you are at the neighborhood and community level—the more hopeful you feel.”

“What Deb and I have found around the country is that the closer up you see the United States—the more you are at the neighborhood and community level—the more hopeful you feel.”

I have good memories of my BYU experience as a student—ward activities, teaching at the MTC, intramural football games, challenging business classes, and weekly devotionals here in the Marriott Center. But I didn’t really appreciate what BYU offered until I had graduated and left the campus.

The admonitions that we receive from our leaders to attend church, pray, read the scriptures, and remain worthy of the influence of the Holy Ghost can be viewed as reminders to regularly correct our courses by reference to divine standards.

Our commitment should be to be educated well—broadly with a humility that opens us to the widest possibilities for knowledge and hopefully, with an eye to how learning can enable us to contribute to a better future, not just for ourselves but for all the world.

Brigham Young died with the name Joseph upon his lips. He spoke of him and his work in these words: “I honor and revere the name of Joseph Smith. I delight to hear it; I love it.

If I can, I should like to challenge those who attend this institution to broaden their vision, rather than to limit it, so that there might be no lost horizons for any of the graduates of this great university.

The golden pathway to happiness is the selfless giving of love—the kind of love that has concern and interest and some measure of charity for every living soul.

Our testimonies can be strengthened and fortified and our lives given greater purpose every time we read and reread our patriarchal blessings.

Each has to receive his own witness concerning Jesus as the Christ. I wish this morning to set my seal upon this knowledge.

You will not be able to travel through life on borrowed light. The light of life must be part of your very being. The voice you must learn to heed is the voice of the Spirit.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is in our heart of hearts, and, when it is in our hearts as individuals, it will also be in our great buildings of worship, in our great educational institutions, in our magnificent temples, and it will also be in our homes and families.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints should be in our hearts, and, when it is in our individual hearts, it will also be in our great buildings of worship, in our lovely educational institutions, and in our magnificent temples, as well as in our homes and families.

“I believe, as you study the scriptures, you’ll come to really know, not of the Savior, but really know him.”

Those brave souls left us a legacy and a rich heritage. No amount of money could purchase what they freely gave. It cost life and limb. It cost great suffering and the most severe kind of heartache imaginable. Theirs was the noblest gift—that of love.

Life will be hard but wonderful. You will be tested, but you will win. Enjoy the process of life. And in a lot of years you will look back and realize you have had a wonderful one.

To whom shall we go if not to him? Where in all the world? In whom could we put our trust? Where could we find the peace that surpasseth understanding?

BYU is here to help all of us serve the world better. Look for opportunities in your life to be the one who makes the difference in the life of another. Bring light and goodness wherever you are through your service.

Just like waiting until the clock reads double zero, you have prepared for the proper educational plays, emerged victorious, and received your hard-earned degree.

Just like waiting until the clock reads double zero, you have prepared for the proper educational plays, emerged victorious, and received your hard-earned degree.

BYU is here to help us all serve the world better. Look for opportunities in your life to be the one who makes the difference in the life of another. Bring light and goodness wherever you are through your service.

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

Our BYU stories have played a major role in shaping us. We all leave this place with memories and experiences that have shaped our future for good and serve as a springboard for the next phase of life.

Our BYU stories have played a major role in shaping us. We all leave this place with memories and experiences that impact our future for good and serve as a springboard for the next phase of life.

Our BYU stories have played a major role in shaping us. We all leave this place with memories and experiences that have shaped our future for good and serve as a springboard for the next phase of life.

Our BYU stories have played a major role in shaping us. We all leave this place with memories and experiences that impact our future for good and serve as a springboard for the next phase of life.

This Christmas season I invite each of us to foster and care more for the child of God within us and bend to the exigencies of life and finances less—to take joy in the wonderful and simple journey to be the child that is like those who make up the kingdom of God.

Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ we can be liberated from sin on condition of repentance. There is no greater liberation.

When he discovered the power of stories, Michael Flaherty used his love of teaching and of God to build a film company devoted to spreading good.

As the Church continues to expand, especially in foreign lands, the percentage of members who are literal descendants of the pioneers decreases, but I believe that those who bind themselves to this great work that the pioneers began are somehow spiritually adopted and become descendants of those noble forbears.

Cairns are placed on trails to guide us across trail segments that are unclear and difficult to find. I have described three spiritual cairns today that can help guide you safely through mortality: scriptures, prophets, and temples.

Perhaps one of my messages today is to learn from our family histories. Both Howard and Harvey were born in large families in small towns. One became an internationally known scientist, bearing his testimony to large numbers of people throughout his life and while working in New York City. The other quietly served a mission, raised a family, worked hard on a farm in Victor, Idaho, and served the Lord with all of his heart whenever called. Perhaps in the eyes of the world one was great and one was relatively obscure. However, in the eyes of the Lord, I think that both were good. Both were valiant servants of our Lord Jesus Christ throughout their lives.

The promise of a higher education at BYU not only includes the highest quality instruction and meaningful research but also includes the direct influence of heaven. The BYU experience aims to develop faith, intellect, and Christlike character in a quest that will ultimately—in the far distant future—lead to perfection.

I know some of you are tired. You are not sure you can keep at it. You go ahead and find some stillness today. Gather your strength today. Rest up today, because tomorrow we ride for Zion. And it is not quite Zion if you are not there.

This is your turn on earth. In eternal time, it is like a minute. There are only sixty seconds in it. We can’t refuse it. But it is up to us to use it.

Let us continue to do what we have learned from our university experience and seek out truth and understanding everywhere it can be found.

Having peace all of the time sounds like a noble project. Knowing that restrictions apply to having peace, though, means that you and I, who could use an additional measure of it in our lives, need to be striving to live in a way that qualifies us.

Amid all our mortal gloom and doom, Jesus Christ has overcome the world. Come, let us rejoice.

You are the clay—and as such you are of utmost importance to the Lord. He loves you and desires to shape you into a magnificent vessel of honor—designed and glazed for all eternity.

We can struggle up the mountainside of life, observing, learning, internalizing, and acquiring spiritual character that will position us on the mountain peak of spiritual peace and prosperity.

As representatives of Christ, we can work hard to heal the painful legacies of racism that we have inherited, legacies that manifest in new and pernicious ways. Taking this action will help us alleviate the suffering of others. This is what the Savior did for each and every one of us.

Remembering the past is a natural response to situations that might make us sad. So when the hail and the mighty storm shall beat upon our vessels, we can remember those things on which we have built our foundations.

Certainly throughout our lives we repeatedly have opportunities to step forward and declare, “Here am I!” Some of these times are formal, such as when we receive a mission call, have a temple recommend interview with our bishop, or receive a calling in the Church. . . . Other times may come to us unexpectedly.

The knowledge of most worth comes first as we learn to place all learning in the context of the gospel of Jesus Christ and seek the gifts of the Spirit as we learn.

Will we drift along with the downturn, or will we master the moment and right the ship? If we choose drift, the consequences will surely be disastrous. But if we choose mastery, we have the chance to reverse our course and write a whole new chapter in the American story.

No matter what the outer conditions are, keep spirits high and just persevere. Personal righteousness, responsibility, discipline, and devotion are requirements for final achievements.

Perhaps in the struggle to defend religious liberty for our churches and for all Americans, our greatest weapon is neither the voting booth nor the legal brief but the prayers that we and our worshipping communities lift up to Almighty God week after week on behalf of our nation.

Just as both wings are necessary and must be in working order for the dove or the eagle to fly, so too both faith and reason are necessary for the intellectual and spiritual quest and for the intellectual and spiritual life.

Does your pattern reflect exercising faith, seeking to know His will, trusting the Lord, heeding His counsel, and keeping the commandments, even when you cannot suppose what lies ahead?

The more links you forge with your ancestors through their culture, the richer the legacy you will have to pass along to your own children and grandchildren.

The greatest joy is in the peace of knowing that we are following the path that leads us to eternal life, that our house is in order, and that we are preparing to meet our Savior.

Let each of us try harder to care for our bodies, to keep them clean and undefiled inside and out and keep our passions and appetites within the bounds the Lord has set. We will feel better and will be able to give more service.

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.

“But the highest and most important use of the mind is to lead us to peace in this life and exaltation in the world to come.”

Heavenly Father believes in plans. He has a plan for the salvation of His children—a specific plan just for you. It is referred to as the plan of happiness because it is designed to bring us happiness in this life and a fulness of joy in the life to come.

“What Christ knew is that despite the tumult we feel all around us, God will prevail in the end.”

Maybe it is making your next tuition payment, choosing a new roommate, finding a summer internship, or even getting a date for Saturday night. Perhaps, though, your wicked problem is more complex—maybe it is a bit trickier.

Joseph Smith ignited something in thousands of men and women that connects them to God and to each other in powerful ways.

I testify that by the proper application of our extrarational processes there is a systematic path leading to a high degree of assurance of things hoped for, even knowledge and a surety of divine and spiritual things.

Both the Savior and the Prophet Joseph gave their lives in a divine cause.

You are part of the Lord’s army. You don’t need to be set apart for that. The call to stand up for the truth is not a Church calling. It is a life calling.

Because of the Restoration and because of a true and fuller understanding of mankind’s origin and destiny, we know that we are not predestined to anything. Each one of us is in fact foreordained unto salvation and exaltation.

“I express gratitude and appreciation to each student, faculty, and staff member who is building on BYU’s firm foundation of bedrock virtues, values, and principles while learning appropriately when and how to adapt in changing and challenging times.”

Promptings from Heavenly Father through the Holy Ghost can help us live right now. I am grateful Heavenly Father respects perfectly our agency and at the same time—in circumstances and at times He knows best—also prompts and guides us.

May we learn how to learn by the Spirit; may we choose and decide in time how best to prepare for eternity; may we offer global experience and training to contribute to every nation, kindred, and tongue; and may we seek and rejoice in spiritual strengthening.

You may find yourselves in situations where you have to be brave in defending the principles of righteousness even when no one is watching. In such situations, you may draw courage to defend the principles of righteousness from your faith in God and also from your love toward God and your fellow man.

By using our best thinking, by choosing to act with real intent, and by seeking direct revelation from God, we can come to a humble yet firm conviction of the truth of all things.

There are so many opportunities for lifelong learning. If we do our best and seek Heavenly Father’s help, He will strengthen us beyond our natural abilities and help us to learn.

Discerning our journey through the world entails, first, choosing specific worthy destinations rather than just drifting somewhere.

The abundant opportunities to choose the right that confront us in apparently small ways each day provide the choices that I am talking about. These are the choices that mold character and determine who, at the core, we really are.

But here’s some bad news: it’s hard work to understand the Constitution. At least it’s hard work if you try to understand what it meant to those who wrote and ratified its provisions. In my view, that is the understanding we must seek.

When we come to have some sense of what Christ has done for us—and, in particular, what He has suffered for us—our natural reaction as children of God is to want to show our gratitude and love by giving our lives to Him, by obeying Him.

Let us follow Him: Learn the truth, make promises to live the truth, and do all in our power to keep those promises.

Reverberating through all eternity, all creation exults: “In Christ there is always hope.” I know whereof I speak.

Believe that you have a divine purpose. Believe that you have unique talents that are unmatched in the world. Work hard and pray. The Lord will help. He will direct you to your best self.

Armed with the Spirit, we will do as the missionary does: strive to become an instrument of the Lord to do His work.

“May we lay down our lives for those sheep, a day at a time, in a service that partakes of the most honorable cause that ever graced the pages of human existence.”

We can’t develop a Christlike love by ourselves, but we can do all in our power to become a “true follower”—meek, lowly of heart, and submissive to correction and affliction. Then the Comforter, the Holy Ghost, “filleth” us “with hope and perfect love, which . . . endureth [forever], when all the saints shall dwell with God.”

They fulfill their dreams by coming to this oasis of learning in a spiritually parched world, yearning to ask the young ruler’s question: What shall I do? And they come believing that the faculty and staff here will tell them what to do.

All I ask brothers and sisters, is that we who go to college may be honest enough and courageous enough to face whatever uncertainties we may encounter, and that we try to understand them and do something about them.

Every time we go to the temple, the ordinances reorient us to the natural order of the universe, including the natural order of marriage. Like the ancient mariner, we look to the heavens to get our bearings—and we do that through the temple.

The best way for a Latter-day Saint student to reconcile the competing values of faith and intellect is to be mentored by teachers and leaders whose daily lives, attitudes, and teaching authentically demonstrate how deep religious faith and demanding intellectual rigor are mutually reinforcing.

“The Lord speaks of a solemn assembly where the laborers for Zion may purify themselves so that he by his atoning power may make them clean.”

“The teacher’s work, especially here at Karl Maeser’s school, is a deeply satisfying labor, with students and books and papers that bless us all the days God lets us live. What a good way to spend our lives.”

May your positive memories of BYU stay with you throughout your life. May your BYU connections continue to be a strong influence in all that you do. May you know that you will always be welcome here on campus on this consecrated ground.

May your positive memories of BYU stay with you throughout your life. May your BYU connections continue to be a strong influence in all that you do. May you know that you will always be welcome here on campus on this consecrated ground.

As we connect with ­others, our power to do good in the world is ­exponentially increased.

“The Lord wants and needs all of you to be strong, to be believers, to be an example of goodness to all the world.”

You will be able to do and accomplish so much that I will only add to the other advice you have received: live the principles of the gospel.

Joseph Smith was foreordained to be the duly appointed leader of this, the greatest and final of all dispensations.

Someone has likened each of our lives to a mighty river as it flows to the sea. It is the product of many streams—some large, some small . . . I thank God for the streams, clear and pure, that have influenced my life.

“It is for this reason you have come to this institution—to learn how to take this intelligence, knowledge, and experience to gain wisdom and learn understanding in your hearts in order to help you keep the commandments.”

To assist you in living lives of service, let me suggest three essential principles: First, help others succeed. Second, learn and develop your own talents and value the talents of others. Third, obtain a spirit of serving and giving.

As the years go by, you will discover many axioms that reflect your own experience of living the gospel. Learn them, live them in your life, and share them.

In our fast-paced world, we are sometimes impatient for His plan to unfold. Popular culture tells us, “Get a life.” My advice to all of us is, “Get an eternal life.” By making right choices today, tomorrow, and for the rest of our time on earth, that eternal goal means the most to us.

“The capability, through repentance, to forgive and the ability to love are God-given gifts to enable us to live our lives fully and to help others live bravely and meaningfully in this less than perfect world.”

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.

The temple is a sacred edifice, a holy place where essential saving ceremonies and ordinances are performed to prepare us for exaltation.

I add my testimony to that of Nephi. I know that God lives and that Jesus is the Christ and that this is the way.

It is my fervent desire that each of us will use our God-given intelligence to gain the knowledge, wisdom, and understanding in our hearts to meet life’s tests and trials and to endure to the end.

Whether it is a no-problem day or we are in the midst of an intensive period of testing and trial in our lives, we can find strength in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Both the heart and the mind must be fully engaged in this holy process. The conversion of our soul and the ongoing refinement of our life, as we adopt the attributes of godliness, is our earthly mission and is rewarded with “eternal life, which gift is the greatest of all the gifts of God.”

My aspiration is for each of us to want to live a more reverent life—a life reflective of our love for God the Eternal Father and Jesus Christ, His Son and our Savior.

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

We renew [our] covenants as we come to His Church every Sabbath day and partake of the sacrament. This is how we come to Christ. This is how we walk with Him. This is how we realize our full divine potential.

I humbly remind you of the only pure, sinless life ever lived on this earth, that of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Seek for Him! And when you find him, you, too, will make a difference.

Life, if lived properly, allows the Holy Ghost to bring the vision into our mind. The perfect description was given by a loving Heavenly Father when He said, “For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.”

It requires the gospel and the Church to bring everything that is important in our lives into one eternal sphere. There is nothing else in this life of eternal worth—just family, friends, and the gospel and the Church of Jesus Christ.

We are authority figures, and our outreach, or our interest—or our lack of it—may influence these of little experience but great capacity to learn.

We are not justified if we “pass by on the other side,” hurrying to our priesthood meetings or to the temple or to do visiting teaching or anything else if there is something at hand we should do that the Lord wants done. I don’t think we should or need to choose between serving God and serving our fellowmen.