Wonder, Gratitude, and Love: President Clark
Video Transcript
Brothers and sisters, it is a great day at BYU-Idaho. I am grateful for the opportunity to share a few remarks on this day of dedication.
My office window looks out on the two buildings that President Eyring will dedicate today—the BYU-Idaho Center and the new Manwaring Center. Every day for the last three and a half years I have watched the progress of construction and thought about and prayed about these buildings. I have walked through them many times. They are very familiar to me. And yet every time I walk into them, I feel a sense of wonder. You probably felt that sense of wonder as you came into the BYU-Idaho Center today, perhaps for the first time.
At first it is the building itself that seems so impressive. The sweep and scale of this structure are remarkable. But the wonder is not in the building, as impressive as it is. The wonder we feel is in the work that the Lord will do here. Speaking of the Restoration of the gospel, the Lord said:
"Therefore, I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people, yea, a marvelous work and a wonder."1
The wonder we feel is in the Restoration, the spirit of gathering, and the powerful influence the Lord will have on the hundreds of thousands of young people who will gather here and whose lives will be changed forever by what they experience here. We sense the impact these wonderful young people will have in their homes, their communities, and the kingdom of God.
Our feelings of wonder, therefore, are tinged with gratitude and love.
- Gratitude for the Lord, for His tender mercies, and for His many blessings and miracles large and small.
- Gratitude for living prophets who have guided these projects.
- Gratitude for those valiant pioneers whose faith, sacrifice, and hard work built this school.
- Gratitude for the widow’s mite and the sacred offerings of so many Latter-day Saints.
- Gratitude for the talents, skills, and devotion of the people who designed and built these buildings.
- Gratitude for the inspiring dedication and sacrifice of the good people who clean the buildings, set up the equipment, shovel the snow, teach the classes, and do everything else that makes these buildings work.
- Gratitude for our privilege to serve the Lord in His marvelous work.
- And finally, gratitude for the faith, humility, and goodness of the students of BYU-Idaho.
That is what we feel today on this day of dedication—wonder and gratitude as the Holy Spirit whispers to us of the love of our Heavenly Father and His Beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. May it ever be so, is my prayer, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
1. 2 Nephi 27:26