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Elder Robert L. Backman, an emeritus member of the First Quorum of
the Seventy, shared guiding scriptures and his life’s experiences in his
devotional address at Brigham Young University-Idaho Oct. 1.
He began by reading Robert
Frost’s “The Road Not Taken” and explained that choices made now have a
great effect on the rest of life.
“Looking back on rich, eventful
years, I wondered why I made one choice instead of another, why I did this
instead of the other. The only conclusion I can draw is that I’ve been
guided by the Lord. He’s watched over me, cared for me, inspired me, warned
me, instructed me, protected me and shown me the way to go. I’ve heard the
still, small voice of the Holy Spirit . . . and that has made all the
difference.”
He then shared scriptures that
had helped him make decisions throughout his life and subsequent “defining
experiences.”
The first scripture, Matthew
6:33, is the “sum and substance” of setting life’s priorities.
As a young student at the
University of Utah, Elder Backman decided to resign from the ROTC and serve
a mission. In his trip to Chicago to meet the mission president and then to
Dayton, Ohio, to meet his companions, loneliness consumed him. Later,
however, as he and his companions sang “More Holiness Give Me” at a cottage
meeting, his feelings changed.
“I felt at home. I was doing
something productive to build the kingdom of God. Instantly I knew that I
had made the right choice, that I was ought to be, and I rejoiced in my
calling as an ambassador of my Lord and Savior.” His mission, he said,
better prepared himself for life’s adventures that lay ahead.
The next scripture, found in D&C
122: 5, 7 and 9, brought comfort at a time when he was in the infantry in
World War II and was given orders to go to the Pacific. His wife had
delivered their first baby girl while he was in training, and as they left
the shores of America, he found himself wondering if he’d ever see his
country again, if he’d ever get to know his daughter, how he could live
through combat, how he could live in a foxhole, how he could kill a fellow
human being, whether he would see his wife again, and whether he would ever
enjoy a normal family life. But in the midst of those feelings of
desolation, he was given comfort.
The next scripture, DC
88:77-80, led Elder Backman to pursue his schooling. He entered law school,
and decided that he did not want to accept a calling, as that may prove a
distraction to his studies. However, the phrase “seek ye first the kingdom
of God” entered his mind, and soon he accepted a call to serve as the
deacon’s quorum adviser. Despite the law school dean’s threats that outside
pursuits would prevent graduation, Elder Backman had served as a deacons
quorum adviser, in the ward Sunday school superintendency, in the stake
Sunday school superintendency and as the stake YMMIA president by the time
he graduated.
He quoted N. Eldon Tanner who
taught that sacrifice in the Church means “giving up something good for
something better.”
Elder Backman described DC
131:1-4 as a scripture that gives “entry into eternal life and exaltation.”
He encouraged students to be thoughtful in considering marriage partners.
“You don’t have to trust to
blind luck when it comes to the qualities that really count in a marriage.
I’m so glad that my wife turned out to be a person of character, who served
as a wonderful partner, a dedicated and excellent mother and a strong
Latter-day Saint with the same goals, hopes, and aspirations that I had. .
. . Be careful in your
courtship.”
Finally, he shared Joshua 1:9,
a scripture “we need to keep in mind as we face uncertainties of life and
think we’re so inadequate to do anything the lord asks us to do.”
“I am old enough now to know
that life is full of joy and sorrow, pleasure and pain, health and
sickness, good and bad, tragedy and triumph, even the pain or unpleasant
events in lives may be given to us for our experience, our discipline, and
our learning,” Elder Backman said. “As I’ve grown older, I’ve realized how
important choices I made so long ago were and what an impact they’ve had on
my entire life.”
Elder Backman was called to
serve as a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy in 1978. He served in the presidency of that
quorum in 1985. His chief
assignments have been executive director of the Missionary Department and a
member of the Missionary Executive Committee. He served as the worldwide president of the Young Men
from 1979 to 1985. He became
an Emeritus General Authority in 1992 and for the next five years served as
vice chairman of the Church Sesquicentennial Committee for the commemoration
of the arrival of the pioneers in the Salt Lake Valley. As a young man, he served in the
Northern States Mission.
Elder Backman graduated from
the University of Utah Law School.
He is a veteran of World War II, having served in New Guinea, the
Philippines and Japan.
Elder Backman’s civic
involvement has been extensive.
He served as president of the Salt Lake City Executives Association,
president of the Utah Land Title Association, on the Utah Bar Association,
the American Bar Association, the American Land Title Association, and as a
member of the House of Representative in the Utah State Legislature.
Born in Salt Lake City to
LeGrand P. and Edith Price Backman, he married the late Virginia Pickett of
Salt Lake City. They are the
parents of seven daughters and have 31 grandchildren and 17
great-grandchildren. He was
married Sept. 21, 2001, to Janet Woodbury Rigby.
Devotionals are broadcast live
on KBYI 100.5 FM Tuesdays at 2 p.m. and are rebroadcast Tuesdays and
Sundays at 9 p.m. Next week’s devotional speaker is Ann Madsen, a professor
of ancient scripture at BYU. # # #
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