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REXBURG,
Idaho
– Brigham Young University-Idaho President David A. Bednar described the university as a Disciple Preparation
Center during the
first devotional address of the fall semester Aug. 31.
He
introduced his talk by listing some of the characteristics that all of the
Church’s 17 missionary training centers have in common. He noted how MTCs are rather isolated geographically and are few in
number; missionaries reside and study in the MTC for relatively short
periods of time; the nature of the instruction in the MTCs
is focused and intense; there are
distinctive requirements for demeanor and dress; and most
importantly how most MTCs are located near a
temple.
“As
I considered these similarities, I was struck by the fact that Brigham
Young University-Idaho in Rexburg possesses these same
characteristics,” he said. “BYU-Idaho is located in a rather
isolated geographic area; by and large, students are enrolled at BYU-Idaho
for a relatively short period of time; the learning and teaching processes
at BYU-Idaho are focused and intense; there is at BYU-Idaho a
distinguishing standard of deportment and dress; and as was announced by
the First Presidency last December, BYU-Idaho will soon be adjacent to a
temple.”
He
said, “It should be obvious to all of us that something spiritually
significant is taking place in Rexburg,
Idaho. The announcement in
June of 2000 that Ricks
College would become
Brigham Young University-Idaho was much more than the establishing of a new
baccalaureate degree granting institution.”
He
suggested that the school is not in the process of creating an MTC, but a Disciple Preparation Center
– a DPC.
“In
this special and sacred and set apart place, you and I have access to
unparalleled spiritual resources that can assist us in developing and
deepening our devotion as disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ,” he
said. “That is the primary and most important reason for the
existence of Brigham Young University-Idaho and for its sponsorship by and
affiliation with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”
He
broke this comparison down to three words: disciple, preparation and
center.
“A
disciple of Christ is one who is following and learning to be like
Christ—learning to think, to feel, and to act as he does,” he
said. “Becoming a true disciple of the Savior and following his ways
are the most demanding learning objectives we can ever strive to achieve.
No other discipline compares with his curriculum in either requirements or
rewards. Discipleship demands the total transformation of a person by
putting off the natural man and becoming a saint through the atonement of
Christ the Lord.”
He
referred to the Oxford English Dictionary as defining
“preparation” as the process of making or getting ready; the previous
putting or setting in order for any action or purpose and the word center
as a point from which things and influences originate or emanate.
“Taken
together, these three words, disciple preparation center, suggest to me a
place in which followers of the Master learn and are set in order and are
made ready – and from which their influence flows into the
world,” he said.
He
suggested three factors that contribute to the spiritual strength available
at the university: BYU-Idaho, an institution of higher education, is a
temple of learning; BYU-Idaho will be located next to a temple; and
BYU-Idaho is surrounded by strong stakes of Zion.
“Consider
that in the House of the Lord we come under covenant and bind ourselves to
act in all holiness,” he said. “In a similar way, students who
are admitted to study and learn in the temples of learning make a
commitment to keep the commandments of God and to abide by the university
honor and dress codes. Thus, covenants and commitments expand our education
in the House of the Lord and in the Church’s temples of learning.
“In
both the House of the Lord and in a temple of learning, as a result of what
we experience and what we learn and what we feel, we then strive to heed a
higher standard. That is the outcome and the result of what we learn.
Consequently, we prepare a little harder, dress a little nicer, act a
little better, and think more deeply about things that really
matter.”
President
Bednar next spoke on the importance of BYU-Idaho
being located next to a temple. He referred to Doctrine and
Covenants 97:10, 13-14 and 16 as highlighting the importance of both a
school in Zion
and of the holy temple.
“Temples are holy;
temples are sacred places for learning about and entering into eternal
covenants; temples are places of peace and of revelation,” he said.
He
asked people to consider the spiritual significance of having a House of
the Lord on the campus of BYU-Idaho and ponder the impact of a holy temple
on the campus of this school in Zion.
“The
Rexburg temple will contribute to a potent and powerfully protected place
of preparation for disciples of Christ who will be an influence for good
all over the earth,” he said.
President
Bednar told students that while they are
attending BYU-Idaho, they are also He
said there are only four places he knows of that have been prepared with
all of these conditions: Provo,
Utah (BYU); Laie, Hawaii
(BYU-Hawaii); Salt Lake City,
Utah (LDS Business
College); and
Rexburg, Idaho.
He
told students that BYU-Idaho is not just a university, they are not merely
university students, and studying here involves much more than taking tests
and performing well in academic classes, although academic development and
performance truly are important.
President
Bednar’s wife, Susan, also spoke during the
devotional. She began by asking what comes to students’ minds as they
consider the word “arms.”
She
thinks of a number of things: students raising their scriptures in the air
every Tuesday for devotional, the way male gymnasts can suspend themselves
on the rings at the Olympics, the arms of young men on campus as they have
assisted her across icy parking lots or arms being raised to the square
during general conference to sustain President Gordon B. Hinckley as our
prophet, seer, and revelator.
She
noted the Topical Guide in the scriptures refers to the Lord’s arm is
a mighty symbol for his judgment (2 Nephi 8:5), protection (Isaiah 33:2),
power (Doctrine and Covenants 16:2), and redemption (Psalms 77:15).
Reference is also made to His mighty arm, holy arm, His arm of safety, arm
of mercy, and the arms of His love.
“I
hope you students will feel the arms of the Savior’s love while you
are here at BYU-Idaho,” she ended.
Weekly
devotionals are held Tuesdays at 2
p.m. in the Hart Auditorium with additional seating in the
Hinckley Chapel, Taylor Chapel, and Kirkham
Auditorium. Devotionals are broadcast on KBYI-FM 100.5 at 2 and 9 p.m. each Tuesday.
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