Brigham Young University
Speeches

“Patience is a constant companion of self-discipline.”

Brothers and sisters, I salute you for the many small charitable acts you do that mean so much to others. I hope this Relief Society sesquicentennial year will be the time when you decide your life will be something extraordinary.

“At times when I feel overwhelmed or alone, unsure or defeated, I remember that I have a Savior who understands and loves me. His atonement was personal; it was for me. He knows. He understands.”

“Shortcuts only deflect us from the narrow trail. Travel light, be kind to everyone, hear with your heart when someone needs you.”

I’m concerned that so often the Saints inadvertently label others in our ward families as “them,” somehow not like “us.”

Learning how to receive is an antidote to pride. King Benjamin asked, “Are we not all beggars?” The answer is yes. He continued, “Do we not all depend upon the same Being, even God, for all the substance which we have?” Again the answer is yes.

Will you try to live tomorrow a perfect day? And if you fail to do so, then try again the next day. Then we truly make progress in carrying out one aspect of the mission of the Church, which is the mission of every individual member of the Church, namely, “to perfect the Saints.”

Dr. Brent James examines the condition of health care in America while discussing what truly determines health. His findings may surprise you.

Our service to God’s children is a visible sign of our love for Him. As we willingly serve others, we become a conduit through which His love flows to touch the lives of everyone around us.

The realities of living in our limited, imperfect world mean that we have no choice but to make do with an approximation—to admit and accept imperfection.

I believe that our Father in Heaven expects us to develop this unity and cultivate our diverse talents and abilities so that we can be counted among the “few” servants in the allegory of the olive trees charged with pruning and edifying His vineyard (Jacob 5:70). He has spared the vineyard, as well as all of us, for this sacred purpose.

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.

In both our physical and digital worlds, we should learn to create proximity and immediacy rather than distance and division. My experiences in the arts have taught me over and over that our bodies matter一here and now一and in the eternities.

If learning scientific theories puts your faith in jeopardy, choose your faith! Choose your faith until you can better understand the science—or until science can provide better explanations. I firmly believe that both truths—religious and scientific—exist in harmony.

You, my young brothers and sisters, and you who teach them, have an obligation to participate fully in this wonderful and sometimes tumultuous time of preparation. We simply cannot afford to be anchored to anything less consequential than the saving rock of our Redeemer.

The scriptures themselves are our best sources on learning and teaching—the Savior being the perfect model of a learner/teacher.

I humbly pray that you will desire more earnestly to be worthy of the unspeakable gift of the Holy Ghost, that you may grow in the ability to recognize His promptings, that you may “be still and know” (D&C 101:16) the Father and the Son through the Holy Ghost, and that you will express gratitude for Him and His guidance, for to express gratitude invites more of the Spirit.

“Under the influence of his spirit our sympathies and love for our eternal companion will deepen, and we will come to know a happiness and contentment in marriage that the world will never know.”

By using our agency to change our behavior, we empower the Spirit to change our hearts. We must truthfully identify those things currently keeping us from following the Savior as fully as we should and, unlike the young rich man, be willing to put those things on the altar of sacrifice.

Looking back upon journal entries from my freshman days at BYU, I found what I had written to sum up my year of learning: “An unconfident man will say he has no talent. A foolish man will believe him.” This idea has made a strong impression upon me.

To what should you be attached so that you will be safe? What is your dock, your mooring, your anchor? It is your relationship with the Savior Jesus Christ.

This cycle of learning, doing, and becoming is literally going on in some micro or miniature form every day of our lives. That’s how we’ve become who we are today.

When we see each other as daughters and sons of our Heavenly Father, it changes us. Instead we begin to see each other as brothers and sisters with the singular purpose of striving to become ready to return to live with our Heavenly Father.

“I testify that if you will pause and think about the things you really want to achieve in the future and then begin doing the things that are consistent with that desire every day, you will achieve that desired result.”

The greatest impact comes as we move forward with faith—keeping our covenants in order to receive His direction and His power, submitting to His will, and letting God prevail.

How could we become like the Savior if we did not have agency to make those choices? By using our agency to choose the right, we begin to put on the divine nature—to pattern our lives after His. We find peace, happiness, and freedom as we make right choices.

I have come to realize that as we come unto Christ, He follows a pattern of instruction to provide inspiration and spiritual strength. He teaches eternal truths, extends invitations to act, and promises blessings to those who act in faith to fulfill His invitations.

We have been given much; therefore we must give of ourselves and incorporate and strengthen faith, family, and friendships. Doing so can ensure happiness and peace in this life and help us begin to understand, in part, what life will be like in our heavenly home.

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!

Obviously we cannot completely control the events that come at us daily, but we can indeed control the worthwhileness of those events. We worship an omniscient God and know that “all things wherewith you have been afflicted shall work together for your good, and to my name’s glory, saith the Lord.”

“To be a good neighbor is to wonder how your words and actions will impact others rather than to wonder how you will be impacted. This is not to say that we should abandon personal safety or exhaust ourselves in unhealthy ways. Instead, we should build the faith to understand that when we are unselfish, our needs will also be taken care of.”

Surely, returning to our loving Father is the final purpose of our attempts to order our lives, that in full and complete wholeness, sanctified through the blood of the Lamb, we might “dwell in the presence of God and his Christ.”

How important is each of the dimensions of the commandment to love God with all our heart, might, mind and strength! Loving and trusting God in our hearts and minds may require all of our might and strength, but doing so will allow us, in time, to rejoice.

What a blessing it is to be living in a day when we are privileged to have such “a wonderful flood of light” by which we may live. I testify to you of the truthfulness of the restored gospel and that we are led by a living prophet of God.

I knew I was being led by the Spirit because I kept waiting for the feeling of terror that usually accompanies an idea that is not correct. However, I felt peace and the prompting to continue forward with the project.

We can expect trials and tribulation—they are an essential part of the great plan. Some we will experience because of our own mistakes—our sins—others merely as a part of living in mortality, and others because the Lord loves us and provides experiences that tend to our spiritual growth.

Our greatest performance is when we take time to give of ourselves in love, one for another, often away from the crowd.

“If any of you are burdened with sin and sorrow, transgression and guilt, then unload your wagon and fill it with obedience, faith, and hope, and a regular renewal of your covenants with God.”

Only after we are tried and tested can we be trusted with our inheritance as heirs to the kingdom of God, joint heirs of Jesus Christ.

Our Father in Heaven desires us to be joyful and well, to nurture and care for the garden that is entrusted to each of us. He needs a healthy people and has given us the gifts and abilities to be so.

Just as with Brigham Young, Leonardo da Vinci’s ultimate allegiance wasn’t to a single discipline but rather to the “triumph of truth.” No individual or perspective is the owner of truth; truth is as widespread and diverse as those who search for it.

As often as we sincerely seek and are worthy to receive, our Eternal Father communicates with us through revelation—messages that come to us in the reflective moments of prayer, through the words and enlightenment of the scriptures, from the teachings of the prophets, or in the peaceful melodies of heavenly music. His messages are often quiet, and we all know that we can miss them if we are not ready to receive.

As you set goals and make plans for your life, working to relieve the suffering and lift the burdens of others should be present in your endeavors.

If we are constantly seeking to know the breadth and depth of His atoning love and how very personal it really is, our seeking will not be in vain.

Receiving personal revelation is not a passive process. As we seek such revelations, we must prepare for these sacred experiences.

The interconnected nature of the spiritual and secular learning that takes place at Brigham Young University is one of the defining characteristics of a BYU education.

As graduates you may think you have completed your last final exams. I must remind you, however, that one final examination remains for us all. This will be a comprehensive final exam, and it will include an ultimate accounting of our personal stewardships—what we have learned, what we have done with what we have learned, and who and what we have become.

“The two most important decisions you will make in this life are the kind of person you choose for a mate and the kind of person you choose to be as a mate.”

The very best and most certain defense we have against the temptations of the devil is our faith in Christ, our faith in His great atoning sacrifice, our faith in and testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ. With faith and testimony firmly and consciously in place, the fiery darts of the wicked one will not and cannot pierce our souls.

When you hold a personal morning devotional every day, I promise you again that your life will be changed. Joseph Smith also promised us: “If you will obey the Gospel with honest hearts, I promise you in the name of the Lord, that the gifts as promised by our Saviour will follow you.”

May we really cultivate that power to say to our Heavenly Father, “O Lord, thy will be done.”

God’s existence is a reality. Immortality is a reality. These realities will not go away simply because we have different opinions about them. These realities will not be dissolved just because some have doubts about them.

Perfection is a long, hard journey with many pitfalls. It’s not attainable overnight. Eternal vigilance is the price of victory. Eternal vigilance is required in the subduing of enemies and in becoming the master of oneself. It cannot be accomplished in little spurts and disconnected efforts. There must be constant and valiant, purposeful living—righteous living. The glory of the Lord can be had only through correct and worthy marriage and living a clean, worthy life.

Can we not build dream castles in the air and build foundations solidly under them?

It should be obvious to us all that the ultimate future of BYU is partially hidden from our immediate view. Until we have climbed the hills just ahead, we cannot glimpse what lies beyond. And the hills ahead are higher than we think.

If two people love the Lord more than their own lives and then love each other more than their own lives, working together in total harmony with the gospel program as their basic structure they are sure to have this great happiness.

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.”

When you know that Jesus is the Christ, that the gospel is true and you’re willing to sacrifice your life for it, then you have had a revelation of the Lord through the Holy Ghost, and it will guide you to all truth.

BYU accepts the copyrights of Kirkham’s two new books, A New Witness for Christ in America. Kirkham describes his motives behind writing the books and his experience of publishing the work. He also discusses the coming forth of the Book of Mormon to the world.

Our capacity to be taught is infinite—whatever our current circumstances, whatever the conditions of our physical abilities, and whatever status we may hold in the eyes of others.

Today I would like to talk about the war we are waging to defend our homes. Our social fabric has been attacked around the edges, and now it is moving to the center—our homes! I’ll use Moroni’s strategies of preparing places of security to suggest ways to protect our homes and renew our powers today.

Things do work out in the end if we trust the Lord. We cannot control some events that cause us great pain, but we can always control how we respond to them. We have no lasting power over another’s agency, but we can control our own for eternity.

It requires faith to establish and act upon a vision. But it is only when we move forward in faith that we put ourselves in a position in which the Lord can bless us.

In our communion with God we must ever be careful not just to talk but to listen. We must listen for His Spirit to guide and teach us.

I invite each of you to “step up with me.” Let us “walk together” in service to this great university and the students it produces.

I pray that your experiences will have taught you this university’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.

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.

I pray that you will exemplify BYU’s influence in your lives by joining me in serving this great university and the students it produces.

When we think of all we need to know, temporally and spiritually, it can be daunting. However, knowledge is also a great source of empowerment and comfort.

The Lord has sent you comfort—many sources of comfort and inspiration—not the least of which are witnesses in stars and stones that He lives, that He loves you, and that He has set in place a plan by which all that He has created can be yours if you will have faith and endure.

If we can understand the law of love—for God, for others, and for ourselves—we will be able to follow all of the rest of the commandments and teachings in the scriptures and from latter-day prophets.

Hold tight to that rod of iron! Be true to everything that you are and everything you can become. It is so worth it. It will bring you joy and happiness now and forever. It will bring you full circle back to Him.

It is through prayer that we can find strength, both in spirit and in body. Prayer can provide protection from all sources of harm and evil.

Having light is evidence that Jesus Christ is part of our life. His light—His spirit, His truth, His power—inspires, motivates, comforts, capacitates, and protects.

“May we be fervent enough in our faith and love of the Lord and his work that we will be more than passive camp followers in our Church membership.”

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.

“The gospel is true in that it will yield to us from those principles, according to the way we think and act and feel, those things which have been promised to us.”

Expectations are thoughts or beliefs we have about ourselves, our relationships, and what happens to us in life. They are crucial, as they are the standards or yardsticks by which we judge what happens to us and how satisfied or unsatisfied we are with ourselves and with life.

When we are in the midst of transformation, we may feel like we are being broken down, much like the butterfly in its cocoon, but the Savior will help build us up again and make us “new creatures,” if we let him.

Just as we have various learning styles in college classrooms, we have unique needs for learning about spiritual guidance, so our Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost customize our learning experiences with spiritual promptings.

Someday we will meet Jesus and feel His profound love for us. Until then, we have many lessons to learn. There are going to be both smooth days and rough days throughout our lives, but the Lord has commanded us repeatedly to “be of good cheer.”

Therefore, go; go humbly to serve. Work hard, be honest, and be reliable. I testify to you that you will be blessed and success will be yours.

Sometimes leaders need to foster close relationships of relative equality. Occasionally, strong displays of power and difference may be necessary. Usually leaders must achieve an appropriate balance according to the contingencies of their situation. That’s the hard part.

You Latter-day Saints, the youth of the noble birthright, if you can say, as Martha said, “Yea, Lord, I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world”—if you can say that and know that he is in his heaven, and you believe that with all your soul, you will not be trapped in the pitfalls of life.

Our physical surroundings change many times in our lifetimes. If we are listening to the Spirit, we will surround ourselves with truth and goodness in each of our earthly homes, making the pathway to our ultimate heavenly home more direct and attainable.

If only we could realize that the momentary pleasure we might feel by an act of disobedience can never be equal to the feelings of peace and happiness that result from obedience.

I used to think that faith in God came in the form of feeling certain that life would be as I wanted it to be. I have grown to understand that to have ultimate faith in God is to know he is with us and will give us unfailing strength to help us through life’s challenges.

“I strongly believe that one of the best barometers by which you can measure whether you are taking advantage of what BYU uniquely offers is your activity in your ward or other congregation.”

But if I could turn back the clock, would I also have to trade in what I have learned? I wouldn’t want to give that part back. Always having our first choice might mean giving up unknown benefits.

“It is this we must always remember: No matter how alone or discouraged we may feel, our Father in Heaven is always there to help us.”

“Most important, never forget to get on your knees and ask your Heavenly Father to point you in the right direction.”

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

“Usually the road to victory involves encountering a great many mistakes. The Lord wants us to learn from our mistakes because that is how we become strong. He does not expect us to be perfect, just to keep trying.”

BYU is unique among American universities because it incorporates the restored gospel as an integral part of its academic program. It is also true that both our uniqueness and also our effectiveness are enhanced to the extent that we use the Restoration to inform what we do academically.

“I am satisfied that whatever else may eventually hang in the constitutional balance, this much is clear: The continuation of the blessings of liberty depends finally on our spiritual righteousness.”

I used to think that faith in God came in the form of feeling certain that life would be as I wanted it to be. I have grown to understand that to have ultimate faith in God is to know he is with us and will give us unfailing strength to help us through life’s challenges.

“I strongly believe that one of the best barometers by which you can measure whether you are taking advantage of what BYU uniquely offers is your activity in your ward or other congregation.”

“The only constant across the entire time period has been our commitment to our unique combination of things spiritual with things secular.”

“I can think of no better lesson that all of us could learn from our experience at BYU than the importance of genuinely caring for our neighbor.”

“It is this we must always remember: No matter how alone or discouraged we may feel, our Father in Heaven is always there to help us.”

“There will be adequate opportunities for unavoidable error and disappointment; we need not reach out affirmatively to create them.”

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

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.

“I will also at this time express my conviction that we are engaged here at BYU in something very worthwhile, something that has both intellectual and also spiritual dimensions of great significance for us and our students.”

Our ability to maintain ourselves in the face of changing circumstances and a changing world will depend principally on our ability to build our house on those things that do not change.

“Over the past year perhaps more than at any other time I have understood and appreciated that while we are many, we are also one.”

May you and I, every year, every month, and every day, appreciate the fact that we are alive and able to take advantage of the BYU experience, and may we through the things that we do manifest our gratitude to our Heavenly Father for the fact we are alive and have the opportunities that life offers.

Indeed, we know that persuasion is a theme that cuts across many different academic and professional fields. In an even larger sense, persuasion is at the core of the learning process because it changes the way we perceive and understand reality, influencing our attitudes and creating our vision of the world.

An admonitional speech encouraging individuals to regard the Book of Mormon with resolution. The stories relating Alma’s encounter with Korihor and Alma’s parting words to his three sons are recalled. The Book of Mormon is vital to our spiritual condition.

People will love to hear your stories. Don’t be afraid to reach out and share them. Your stories did not just happen for you; they are meant to be shared. Sharing them is a great way for you to let your light shine for others.

The reasons behind our choices matter. And each of us individually is in charge of determining what those reasons are. May we all have the courage to allow the love of God to govern the thoughts and desires of our hearts and embark upon the path of spiritual rebirth that makes it possible.

I believe that when we exercise our agency to learn, grow, and accomplish good in this world and when we apply “the principles of righteousness,” our influence will naturally increase.

In American history this sublime and ­serious combination of religion and democracy has overall been a force for great good. Some of the most important movements of conscience in our history emerged from the convictions of religious people and used the language and liturgy of faith to build popular support.

As we learn to better recognize and respond to the promptings of the Spirit, we will find answers to our prayers and have increased capacity to know how and whether those promptings are from the Holy Ghost.

With the instruction to “always remember Him,” the Lord does not want some form of general, always-sort-of-in-the-back-of-the-mind kind of remembering.

We are of infinite value and worth to Christ. As we love him, have faith in him, and desire to be like him, he is the one who will change us, perfect us, and bring us home. Then he will give us all that he hath. How could we want for anything else?

As we listen to the stories of others, we form invisible connections that bind us to our ancestors and to strangers. These connections can be both fulfilling and compelling, driving us to strengthen relationships, to develop new friendships, and, ultimately, to make the world a better place.

One of the most important—if not the most important—challenges in learning how to come unto Christ and to be perfected in him is to learn to hear, to recognize, and then to follow the voice of the Lord.

Life often presents itself as an incessant gray wall stretching off into nowhere, but here and there, if you watch for them, flickering assurances of God’s love for us will become evident.

Our Father in Heaven’s work is individual salvation and individual happiness for eternity. We aren’t specks in the universal expanse of God’s creations but individuals loved and cherished by God.

Words, the power of language, are among the greatest gifts. I pray we can use words for our edification and bless the lives of others.

Do you have faith that your Heavenly Father knows you so well that He knows under what circumstances you will emerge as a stronger, albeit wounded, healer so that you will become a valuable instrument in His hands, able to do His work and comfort His children?

“May we be discerning of the language used in the world today, and may our own language be ever in harmony with His will.”