Kelly Burgener
Academic Vice President
Kelly Burgener came to BYU-Idaho in 1990 to teach graphic design as a member of the Art faculty. Since that time, Brother Burgener has served in a number of leadership assignments in his department and college and now serves as Academic Vice President.
Prior to coming to BYU-Idaho, Brother Burgener worked professionally as a package designer in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Brother Burgener served a mission in the Thailand Bangkok Mission and has served as a campus bishop. He currently serves as the president of the YSA 8th Stake. Brother Burgener and his wife, Elizabeth, are the parents of six children and currently have seven delightful grandchildren.
Introduction
It is very nice to be here. You look wonderful! Every time I am in this setting, I feel the power of proximity to great people. You lift me, and I am always the beneficiary when around the amazing students and employees of BYU-Idaho. What an unusual place this is!
To begin, I would like to share a few thoughts around the idea of the worth of souls and our great privilege of studying and working in a place where the worth of souls is our primary mission.
The Lord said it most powerfully. He said, "The worth of souls is great in the sight of God."[1] And notice that He tells us to remember that. It can be so easy to forget--about ourselves and about others around us.
Ricks College, now BYU-Idaho, was founded on this very principle. One of our past presidents used to say it this way: Ricks College was founded upon the firm belief that there are extraordinary possibilities in ordinary people.[2]
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Our Heritage
To some degree, you and I probably sense that we are blessed to be here, but just as it is easy to forget our worth in God's sight, it is also easy to lose sight of the heritage and legacy we have inherited from others.
For example, you have heard references to the quote that Jacob Spori saw seeds becoming mighty oaks that would run all over the earth. Do you realize that you are some of those seeds? Are you and I taking advantage of the soil we are planted in here at BYU-Idaho, and do we realize we will need the strength we are currently pulling from the BYU-Idaho soil in a future time when we will need to stand on our own?
Principal Spori's statement was rather audacious when you think about it being made from this little log building, located on a wind-swept, high desert plain in Idaho in the late 1880s.
His daughter shared an example of her father's visions about this place. She said it this way: "I can remember ... many times hearing [my father] tell that he knew that this school was divinely inspired, and that it would forever stand. And when he used to say that the day would come when the hill would be covered with buildings, people would tap their heads and think that he was just a dreaming professor and he didn't know where of he spoke." Sister Stowell adds, "His prophesies are coming true every day."[3]
In preparing for this talk, I came across another story Sister Stowell once shared about an early academy teacher and leader that understood the worth of souls. This story was about a Ricks Academy principal named Ezra Dalby. Like Stowell's father, Principal Dalby understood the great mission of this little academy to build and prepare souls. Sister Stowell, who happened to be one of his students, said: "[Ezra Dalby] was as near ideal as ever a man I knew. He was so devoted to the school and to the students; each student was a personal friend.... He made it a point to let each one know that he loved them and appreciated them, [and] understood their needs. We could go to him with our problems and talk them out just like you could with your own father."
Sister Stowell continues: "I remember our little ... theology class.... [I]nstead of meeting in the school room, he'd have us come into the office and we'd sit on the floor around his desk. And we'd just talk[--]no special [topic].... [H]e'd keep [a] subject [at] hand, ... and he'd draw us out. I think no man that ever taught at the college touched as many lives as he did [and] in such a sweet way."[4]
In this exemplary but rather common story for BYU-Idaho, it is evident Principal Dalby understood what people here understand: The very basis for the founding of this institution is first and always about people, and specifically it is about building disciples of Jesus Christ.
As recent as President Eyring's inauguration a few months ago, we heard counsel about this legacy of caring shared by a father to his son: Henry and each of us are to acknowledge and treat all who teach, lead, learn, and labor here as "children of a loving Heavenly Father, with the divine potential to become like Him." President Eyring goes on to say that Heavenly Father "loves and values each [person] equally. He admitted each into His school of mortality with hope that he or she will discover divine capacity and the pathway to becoming His rightful heir."[5]
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The Power and Potential of People
I add my testimony to President Eyring's, that Heavenly Father loves and values you. Your worth to Him is so very, very great in His sight!
I love people. I think I inherited that from my mother. One of her favorite things to do was to (and this is what she called it) "go and watch the people." My mother loved to sit in malls and cars and chapels, just for the privilege of "watching people." And she did not just watch them; she would corner and talk to anyone who was willing. My mother made many, many friendships this way.
In ways, I find myself doing the same. I love to greet you on the sidewalks. I love to say hello and watch your reactions. I love the beginning and ends of each semester. I love watching you arrive here on "move in" day. I love watching you with your parents. Usually there is a mother with brochures and maps in her hands, talking animatedly with you, giving you instructions ("Do not forget to do this, and do not forget to do that"). There is usually a father also in tow. Some look a little frazzled, while others have long faces, anticipating that moment when they will part company with you.
And then there is you! The most common look on your faces is "Mom and Dad, do you have to be following me around all day?"
For a similar reason, I love it when the general conference issue of the Ensign arrives. Every six months, I look forward to the powerful doctrine that issue contains. But I also love that issue for what it contains in visual imagery.
To me, these images are sermons unto themselves. They show the beauty of God's highest creation, His daughters and His sons. These images are a testimony almost as powerful as the words of the sermons themselves. As you look into these adorable faces, the Savior's love for each one is very evident, isn't it? Truly, the worth of souls is great in the sight of God.
When I think of seeing the worth of souls, I automatically think of little children. I would like to show you a short, precious video. It is very brief, and you will notice there are words over top of the image that are very powerful also, but they are not what I would like you to notice. It is the little child I would like you to focus on. Watch her face and expression.
https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2016-03-005-your-true-identity?lang=eng
I love that! You once looked like that. You may laugh, but it is true. Your parents looked at you in the same way we are looking at this precious little child. It melts our hearts. What a precious, precious child! A little one like this becomes a precious young person just like you!
You and I get to live, work, and share our days with precious children like this every day, students as well as employees. Truly, truly this a blessed place and a blessed time in our lives! How grateful I am to have spent my career among so much goodness, among all of you!
C. S. Lewis said it beautifully, a quote that especially resonates with members of the Church of Jesus Christ. He said, "It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest most uninteresting person you [can] talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw [them] now, you would be strongly tempted to worship."
Lewis goes on: "There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations--these are mortal, and their life [compared] to ours [is] as the life of a gnat.... [I]t is immortals whom we joke with, work with, [and] marry."[6]
Elder Maxwell, the C. S. Lewis of our day, said something similarly powerful. He said:
With the Holy Spirit as our guide, our [lives stay] vibrant and alive. Things which we had never supposed come into view. Seeming routine turns out to be resplendent. Ordinary people seem quite the opposite. What we once thought to be the mere humdrum of life gives way to symphonic strains. Circumstances or a mere conversation which look quite pedestrian nevertheless cause a quiet moment of personal resolve, and a decision affecting all eternity is made. Sometimes you and I even sense it as it happens, but there are no bands playing, and there are no headlines.... What seems commonplace seldom is.[7]
Those are powerful ideas, are they not? And truly the idea that there are no ordinary people is an accurate description of BYU-Idaho, with its "everyday students" and its "everyday employees."
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The Spirit of Ricks
Many of us have heard of the Spirit of Ricks. Many of you may have noticed that President Henry B. Eyring recently called it "the Spirit of BYU-Idaho." I think it is nice now to make that transition. What is the Spirit of BYU-Idaho? Elder David A. Bednar called it simply the Holy Ghost.
To prepare for this devotional, I interviewed a number of wonderful people. As I knew I would find, I am happy to report that the Spirit of BYU-Idaho is alive and well; the love and care that Principal Dalby exhibited is still very much alive today!
As you may or may not be aware, a lot of conversation has been happening lately about the university's need to retain and mentor the precious sons and daughters of God who come here to learn. I would like to share two stories that are representative of the great love and mentoring that happens in this place. I have used some pictures to illustrate these stories, but I will point out that the students shown are not the actual people from the story. In an interview I had recently, a dear sister talked emotionally about her experience coming here as a student. She said:
This is sacred ground for me. I was so excited to come! I felt so grown up and it was an exciting time for my family. But the excitement was cut short as our family received word that my father was diagnosed with cancer. That word came just three days prior to my departure for Idaho. A cloud descended on our family. What should have been a joyous trip with my parents turned out to be a solemn ride with just my sister who drove me to Rexburg and dropped me and a few belongings off at the curb outside the women's dorms. I was alone and feeling very lost and very down.
She continues:
My schedule was incomplete, and I desperately needed to add a particular class. My mother had told me to go to the Advising Office on Monday morning to see if someone there could help me. I arrived early but was told that everything in the time slot I had available was full. I stepped out of that office and began to cry. A kind man approached me and asked me what was the matter. I was painfully shy but through my tears, I told him my plight. It turned out that he was a faculty member in that program. He kindly gave me his room number and invited me to join his class (which, by the way, was technically full).
This good woman then added, "I learned in that moment that God was aware of me and that this place was very special."
In another interview, a Ricks College graduate told me this touching story:
I came from a small logging camp in British Columbia and was the first person in that little village to go to college. I was so unprepared! I came and immediately needed a job in order to support myself. I was hired to work on the grounds crew. I remember so well how my supervisor could tell that I was hungry. He took me and bought me lunch and then helped me buy groceries. I know this special man lived on limited means, but he was a disciple and knew I was in need. My interactions with this good man changed the course of my life and set me on a positive trajectory that has blessed my whole life.
This same kind of service happens every day among you, the students. I served as a bishop of a campus ward a number of years ago. I had a young man who came to campus shy, unsure of himself, and very socially challenged. I worried for him and wondered how he would be treated. As time went by, I watched him with interest and noticed that over time, he began to change, to grow in confidence, and to smile and laugh with his peers at church. One day, in an interview, I asked him what made him so happy. He responded: "Bishop, I have the very best roommates in the world! They have become my best friends. All of them have served missions, and they have treated me like a loved little brother. I never thought I could make it as a college student, but they won't let me fail!"
This young man went on to serve a mission and returned to pay forward the gift he had received from these good and valiant men, who refused to let him fail. This kind of thing happens every semester on this campus. It happens because you are trying to be disciples of Jesus Christ.
Christ taught:
A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you....
By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.[8]
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Difficulties of Our Day
Now, if I may, I would like to share a key idea I have felt impressed to share with you today.
It is staggering to me to see the changes in society that have happened over the course of my lifetime. In my younger years, I experienced an idyllic, small-town-America boyhood. It was filled with baseball, bikes, sleeping out under the stars, and summers that seemed to last forever.
Today, you live in a very different and a very difficult world, even when you are here on this campus. There has never been a more crucial time for the work of BYU-Idaho for ministering and building one another, helping each of us to weather an increasingly evil and caustic world.
I am amazed at the complexity of the problems you face. The world presses very hard on you. I am subdued as I think about the range of challenges. I have become more aware of the heavy loads some of our students carry while serving in a campus ecclesiastical position. In a matter of months, I have seen the heartache caused by the death of close loved ones, the internal battle against addictions, the darkness of depression and anxiety, the horrific challenge of abuse, the weight of serious sin, and financial problems that seem a mile high and completely insurmountable. I have seen the struggles of new members who have been in the Church for only a matter of weeks, coming here and not only trying to decipher what it means to be a college student but at the same time navigating the new world of being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Sometimes our patience can be tested. We bump and jostle one another at times. As Elder Maxwell used to say often, "We are each other's clinical material."[9]
Life weighs us down. Moments of quiet and daily crisis can cause us to close down, turn away, disengage. But the work of the Lord is to gather, strengthen, build, and empower, while the work of the adversary is to scatter, weaken, divide, and isolate.
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The Spirit of BYU-Idaho Helps Us Overcome the Difficulties of Our Day
Here at BYU-Idaho, we are blessed to have one of the greatest gatherings of Saints found anywhere in the world. In a previous role that I held here at the university, I was asked to interview hundreds of bishops about members of their wards who had applied to teach here. Almost to the person, every conversation would end this way: "Brother Burgener, if you hire this person, you will be taking one of the best people and best families from our ward."
Ricks College and BYU-Idaho have been gathering some of the finest Saints from all over the Church for many, many decades. These men and women are your teachers and the other individuals you interact with on a daily basis here. If you ask them why they came here or why they teach your online courses (and I encourage you to do that) you will hear them say, "My heart called me to this work."
And although some of you as students may say, "I came here because I could not get into BYU" or "I am not sure why I came here," I encourage you to wait and see. I am hopeful that, like thousands who have come here over the years, by the time you graduate, or perhaps 10 or 20 years down the road, you will say, "Now I know why I was led to BYU-Idaho."
This great university is based on the value of service. In your classrooms and online courses, the Learning Model calls us as both learners and teachers to lift one another. You serve in your wards as home and visiting teachers, and you give hours upon hours of service within your callings.
And almost everyone I talk to has an awareness of and a desire for a personal ministry, a bone-deep desire to be just a little more like Jesus Christ. Taken together, these everyday experiences are powerful ways we build and strengthen one another in the Spirit of BYU-Idaho!
Everything the Father and the Son do is about the individual, first, last, and always, and the plan of salvation in large part hinges on the idea that each of us must rely on the Savior and on one another.
President Spencer W. Kimball famously said: "[God] does notice us, and he watches over us. But it is usually through another person that he meets our needs."[10]
To aid us in our work in serving one another, the Lord scatters revelation among us for the purpose of allowing us to serve and lift one another, something all of us need at different points along our paths through life.
And on that note, let me share with you one other idea that was a talk-stopper for me and has remained on my mind since it was shared with us in April general conference. President Henry B. Eyring said: "The Lord's work is not just to solve problems; it is to build people. So as you walk with Him in ... service, you may find that sometimes what seems like the most efficient solution is not the Lord's preferred solution"--why?--"because it does not allow people to grow."[11]
Let me repeat two parts of that that I think are very significant. First, President Eyring said that the Lord's work is not just to solve problems. He then added that sometimes what seems like the most efficient solution, what you and I would want to gravitate to immediately, is not the Lord's preferred solution. Why would that be? President Eyring said, because growth is more important than efficiency.
To me, that is the heart and Spirit of BYU-Idaho--and the whole purpose of the Church. The whole purpose of life is to grow and become like God together. And we will do that through love, concern, availability, and a willingness to sacrifice for one another.
Brothers and sisters, the Holy Ghost and the Savior are the greatest examples of service. Elder Bednar once taught that the Spirit is the most sure mentor, and He will always tell you the truth, the precise truth, the truth you most need to hear!
You and I will likely be imperfect at our ministering, but They--the Holy Ghost and the Savior--are not. Recently a bishop in a campus YSA ward shared something very sacred with me about heavenly mentoring he witnessed on this campus. He said: "The other evening, I was interviewing a young lady who had made some serious mistakes in her life. As I sat across the desk that night, I watched a miracle unfold before me. I felt like a bystander in a very holy process, watching the Lord reach down and do His redeeming work, helping this young lady come to Him in true repentance. I watched as He lifted an extremely heavy burden from her. Something I was entirely incapable of doing. It was a miracle and a humbling and beautiful thing to witness."
As I listened to this good bishop speak, I had this thought: The Savior and the Holy Spirit are very real forces today. Daily They mentor, lift burdens, and actively bless, just as in the days when the Savior lived and walked upon this earth.
The Savior taught, "I am able to do mine own work."[12] I think He means that and that He does that daily. I wonder if you and I underestimate our ability to be the tools He uses to meet the needs of His children. The Lord meets those needs through His children, His imperfect children--you and me!
I testify that "[The Lord God] doeth not anything save it be for the benefit of the world; for he loveth the world, even that he layeth down his own life that he may draw all men unto him. Wherefore, he commandeth none that they shall not partake of his salvation."[13]
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Conclusion
Based on your experiences in this devotional today, what are you feeling inspired to do? How will your personal ministry be improved by having been here? How will your relationships with others be improved? How can you and I go forth from today's devotional and do something to serve and bless someone?
My hope is that you and I can better signal our availability to others, better dissipate someone's doubts or fears, and better shine the light of hope a little brighter to someone near us.
I testify someone needs you--now! And I further testify that the Holy Ghost can show you who that is. It is our daily opportunity and challenge to find these people.
Brothers and sisters, He lives! And we are among the most privileged of all of His children to be here at this sacred and set-apart place on a daily basis!
I express my love and appreciation to each of you for all you mean in my life. Your kindness, your love, and your friendship bless me beyond my ability to even fully thank you!
In case you do not know this deeply enough, I testify that you--all of you--are His children. I have no doubt of that in even the slightest degree! I further testify that your individual worth is so very, very precious in His sight. And I share that in the name of Jesus Christ, amen!
[1] D&C 18:10. [2] John L. Clarke, Ricks College, 1970-1971 General Information Brochure (BYU-Idaho Special Collections & Archives, UA17: Box 6, Folder 11). See also John L. Clarke, as quoted by Steven J. Davis, "Inaugural Welcome," Brigham Young University-Idaho Inaugural Response, Sept. 15, 2015. [3] Elizabeth Spori Stowell, in "A Life Sketch of Jacob Spori," interview conducted by Harold Forbush, transcribed by Joel Miyasaki, Voices from the Past, Oct. 17, 1970, BYU-Idaho Oral Histories, BYU-Idaho Library Digital Collections; lib.byu.edu. [4] Stowell, interview. [5] Henry B. Eyring, "Inaugural Charge" (Brigham Young University-Idaho inaugural address, Sept. 19, 2017); byui.edu/devotionals. [6] C. S. Lewis, "The Weight of Glory" (sermon, Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Oxford, England, June 8, 1942), https://www.verber.com/mark/xian/weight-of-glory.pdf. [7] Neal A. Maxwell, "Grounded, Rooted, Established, and Settled (Ephesians 3:17, 1 Peter 5:10)" (Brigham Young University devotional, Sept. 15, 1981); speeches.byu.edu. [8] John 13:34-35. [9] Neal A. Maxwell, "Jesus, the Perfect Mentor," Ensign, Feb. 2001; lds.org. 10 Spencer W. Kimball, "President Kimball Speaks Out on Service to Others," New Era, Mar. 1981; lds.org. 11 Henry B. Eyring, "Walk with Me," Ensign, May 2017; lds.org. 12 2 Nephi 27:21. 13 2 Nephi 26:24.
Recognizing and Building the Worth of Souls
Audio of Kelly Burgener's BYU-Idaho devotional, Winter 2018