The promises of the Book of Mormon found in Alma and 2 Nephi are being fulfilled and the Lamanites are bearing witness of its truthfulness.

In my experience, for an activity to build character it must be inherently good, it must require concerted effort, and it must demand perseverance over an extended period of time. Language study meets all three of these ­character-building prerequisites.

My beloved brothers and sisters in the gospel, our Heavenly Father desires nothing for us but to be happy. He tells us only those things that will bring us joy. And one of the surest principles given by God to help us find that joy is the law of chastity.

The gospel of Jesus Christ, above all else, should be taught. And every student in this institution should go forth from it with an abiding testimony in Jesus Christ and likewise in the mission of the Prophet Joseph Smith.

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.

One of the really important things we should think about each day is the blessings we have received and whether those blessings seem to be coming to us in response to our obedience to laws and commandments of the Lord. We should always remember to express our gratitude for these blessings. I think this is helpful to think about, even though, as King Benjamin put it, we will always be “unprofitable servants”—that is, always in debt to our Father in Heaven.

Family relationships are sacred. The bonds within families have spiritual roots. We know that we lived as brothers and sisters before coming to earth.

I believe that one of the most significant obstacles to our laying hold upon the word is our inability to fully immerse ourselves in the word or other worthwhile things—our inability to fully focus on them.

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.”

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.

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.

True leaders are inspiring because they are inspired, caught up in a higher purpose, devoid of personal ambition, idealistic, and incorruptible.

“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’?”

That is what we need: leaders with integrity, energy, inspiration, wisdom, and courage… I believe that if you heed the Lord’s call to be the light of the world, you will be those leaders.

Please remember this principle as you leave the university: “If you take care of the little things, the big things will take care of themselves.”

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.

Get real understanding. This will come to you as you realize the interdependence of study and prayer, as you maintain a commitment to serve while learning and earning, and as you lean not unto yourself but rely or trust in the Lord.

We hope and expect that you have grown in your understanding of the knowledge of the world and also in your convictions concerning the truthfulness of the revelations from heaven. Most important, we pray with confidence that the skills you have acquired and the talents you have magnified will allow and assist you to continue to learn throughout your lives “by study and also by faith.”

For our lives to become the music of hope for the world, our learning must be heart deep; it must reach our very core. We must be able not only to access information but to understand; we must acquire not only knowledge but wisdom.

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.

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

There is great power in stories. They can help us learn important truths at many levels.

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.

Brothers and sisters, we are like those who stand upon mountain peaks, responsible for transmitting light in these last days darkening with signs of battle before the return of the King. Having seen the light from others who have scaled similar peaks, our task is to reflect light to those on the next peak—over and over, from peak to peak, across the miles and the years until the King returns. We are light bearers in a precious tradition of learning in the light.

For you to remain as relevant at the end of your career as you are now or when you finally finish your formal academic preparations, you will be required to know how to keep on learning and hopefully contribute to the continued learning of others.

Today you become alumni of Brigham Young University and have the responsibility to help the world better understand who we are and what we do at this remarkable institution. How you live, what you do, and what you become ultimately define this university.

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.

I would like to spend our precious moments this morning in continuing to reflect on the legacy of learning that we enjoy, largely influenced by the example and efforts of living prophets from Joseph Smith to Gordon B. Hinckley.

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.

As caring adults we have a responsibility to love, to reach out to, and to teach them as our Father in Heaven instructs us to do.

I love the Prophet Joseph Smith. His life, example, and experiences provide a rich resource for our learning and understanding of gospel principles.

Every one of us, in one way or another, great or small, dramatic or incidental, is going to spend a little time in Liberty Jail—spiritually speaking.

Today I would like to share three lessons that I have learned from the experiences from my life. I do so with the sincere hope that these lessons might in some way be helpful to you.

Sometimes we allow ourselves to listen and believe things that we know are contrary to what we know to be true. When others question our beliefs, we may start to panic and begin to doubt.

Not all of us may be called to positions of heavy and mighty responsibility. But it gives satisfaction to me—and I hope to you, too—to know that the final test is “are you continuing and will you continue?”

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.

I suspect that even in Christ’s learning years He developed through a multitude of small choices rather than just through a few monumental decisions.

Thus I can testify that the fifteen men who lead this Church have been called, sustained, and anointed witnesses of the Lord Jesus Christ to all the world.

It has been said that one of the purposes of education is to learn to avoid mistakes. While this is true, it is also important to understand that we can learn very significant lessons from mistakes.

The Lord desires to bless us in all our efforts to build His kingdom. If we have need of tools, resources, or some advantage in our stewardships, the Lord is eager to grant us our needs and desires. But the Lord does not offer a solution without any effort on our part.

I am grateful that I can bear a solemn but happy witness that these men, and all others who have held this highest office in the Lord’s Church, are true servants of our living Heavenly Father and His Beloved Son.

“This is your time to prepare, to develop character, to increase your faith. I have great confidence in you and your ability to figure out the future.”

My dear young friends, don’t partake of the spirit of our times. Look for the good and build on it. Don’t be a “pickle sucker.” There is so much of the sweet and the decent and the good to build on.

Each one of you has the light of Jesus Christ within you. How wonderful that is for you as you strive to discern what is truly of great worth in your life.

Surely we will be able to think straight if we stay focused on God’s eternal plan and doctrine and use our strength in reaching out and helping others to do the same as we share our testimonies and our knowledge of the basic and simple message of the Restoration of the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

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.

As we graduate and go out into the world, searching for purpose in our careers and our families, let us remember the poignant words of Charles Dickens, who once wrote, “No one is useless in this world . . . who lightens the burden of it for any one else.”

Certainly we are ruled by ideas; and when we bear in mind the great ideas which Joseph Smith brought to the attention of mankind, which he taught to us, we begin to realize why his influence grows with the years.

When we apply the gospel to all aspects of our life, we stay true to ourselves and connected to our purpose for living.

I can assure you that finding someone who cares enough about you to tell you the truth and then is willing to take time to give you their counsel and their coaching is invaluable. Look for it.

Enduring to the end is not a separate step in the doctrine of Christ—as though we complete the first four steps and then hunker down, grit our teeth, and wait to die. No, enduring to the end is actively and intentionally repeating the steps in the doctrine of Christ.

Go forth and prosper, both spiritually and professionally. We applaud you and will always hold you close to our hearts.

I will not attempt to speak for your church, but I will speak for and to mine: It is never an option to claim Jesus Christ as Savior and behave in an uncivil manner with anyone, under any circumstance. Never.

I propose that in striving to achieve the aims of a BYU education, you will simultaneously be advancing in your quest for perfection and eternal life—a quest that we must always remember is made possible only through the love and the Atonement of the Savior.

As we seek Christ and embrace His light, we become His children—“children of light.” Children of light let their light shine so that others may see their good works and glorify our Father in Heaven. That pursuit leads us to do good in life and gives us the promise that we “shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” (John 8:12).

I know that Jesus Christ is the light that makes forgiveness possible and that as we forgive each other and ourselves, we will feel His love and experience His light in this life and even more fully in the eternal world to come.

You are not here by accident. God has a work to perform through you. Make Him the center of your efforts. Do what He would want you to do. Let His light shine more brightly through you as a result of your experiences at BYU.

As we repent, are faithful, and learn to recognize and rely on the light that is available to us through the Light of Christ and the Holy Ghost, the path that leads us to the presence of our Heavenly Father will be illuminated and our ability to see with an eternal perspective will be enhanced.

An essential part of the glory of God is light—or living, life-giving energy. In the scriptural sense, light is a capacitating power through which the righteous are given the faculty to receive truth.

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

“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.”

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.

Each of us must find and know the way the Lord chooses to communicate with us through the Holy Ghost. This process is extremely personal. The Lord will not use methods to communicate with each of us different from those He has used in the past.

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.

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.

We are in the world—and we have come to this university—so that we ourselves might become microcosms of the Divine, that we might have “the image of God engraven” not only upon our countenances but also upon our very existences (Alma 5:19). Of all the microcosms in the world, surely the greatest is the man or woman who strives to become a reflection of the Savior.

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.

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.

We can plan to give service—and I think that is excellent—but I believe the Savior taught and exemplified a better way. Christ most often blessed others when He was on His way to do something else.

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.

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.

The Lord needs faithful, articulate, committed men and women who are undaunted by what lies ahead and who are willing to stand up for what is right again and again.

Resolve that each moment of your life will reflect your determination to humbly be an example of righteousness, integrity, and conviction. With such a life you will succeed in the purpose for which you came to earth.