REXBURG, Idaho –
“If you will take all the knowledge you have been
given here at BYU-Idaho, and all the knowledge you gain throughout your
life and apply it to others, you will have the wisdom and understanding
to discover your mission on this earth,” counseled Elder Robert D.
Hales, Saturday at Brigham Young University-Idaho.
Elder Hales, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints spoke to graduates, family, and
faculty at BYU-Idaho’s first-ever December commencement. He taught
principles and life goals to work toward after commencing life after
graduation.
“You have achieved an important goal in your life, but it is not the
end. It is a new beginning. It is an opportunity to commence upon the
challenges of a mortal journey, and to do so in the Lord’s way,” he
said.
“You will not fully appreciate the greatness of your teachers whom you
remember here, until you face challenges that require you to put into
practice what they have taught you,” said Elder Hales.
He focused on four goals that will bring joy in fulfilling the mission
of coming to earth and aid in meeting life’s challenges:
“One, marry in the temple and cultivate eternal family relationships by
prayerfully balancing the many facets of life, such as family,
occupation, continuing education, hobbies and entertainment.
“And second, faithfully and obediently live your religion and be true to
your baptismal and temple covenants, always treasuring up the good
things of life.
“Third, hold on to the eternal perspective gained here at BYU-Idaho,
remembering that the things of the kingdom are eternal and the things of
the world are temporal or temporary.
“Next, remember to give dedicated service throughout your life, and
always care for the needy who may require your love and your support,”
said Elder Hales.
He added that simply making the goals wasn’t enough, but that students
need to make plans to carry them out. He exhorted students to take time
over the weekend and “ponder what you want to achieve in your life and
what your goals should be.”
“There are always more things to do each day, week, month, and year than
we have time and energy to accomplish. The secret is to choose wisely
those activities that will help and achieve your divinely inspired
goals, and then have the strength of character and conviction to
disregard what would distract or detain us from eternal destination,”
said Elder Hales.
“Time is the commodity by which we all measure progress in our life’s
journey. But just because time passes doesn’t mean we’re making
progress. Just because we’re busy doesn’t mean we’re accomplishing the
right goals,” he added.
Elder Hales taught from the scriptures and shared a story his mother
used to tell him as a boy. It pointed toward preparation before
encountering problems and the storms of life, so that we can “sleep
through a storm.”
He challenged graduates to learn these things now, to stay on the
“straight and narrow path that leads to eternal life.”
“Part of staying on the path is continuing to learn. The scriptures are
our curriculum for this continuing education,” taught Elder Hales.
“There is a difference between our intelligence, which is God-given, and
our knowledge, which is given and gained by our study and through life’s
experiences.”
“It is not a matter of preparation IF the storms are going to come in
your life. It is a matter of you preparing for WHEN they come into your
life,” concluded Elder Hales.
The historic graduation saw 563 students receive bachelor’s degrees and
355 awarded associate degrees.
With almost 1,000 students completing their requirements, the university
felt that there should be an opportunity for them to have a graduation
ceremony at the end of the fall semester. A summer graduation has been
held for decades to go along with the regular April commencement.