Life has a constant barrage of challenges. In his BYU-Idaho devotional today, Elder Aaron T. Hall taught students about the importance of these challenges and how students can get through them. Elder Hall’s address was titled “Becoming is a Joyful Challenge.”
Elder Hall built his message off of a general conference talk given by President Dallin H. Oaks that had a large impact on him, called “The Challenge to Become.” Through this talk President Oaks taught that the process of “becoming” will be a difficult task in people’s lives. Elder Hall echoed that message in his address.
“As fallen mortal men and women, we often feel the gap between who we know we are supposed to be, and who we are today,” Elder Hall said. “We fall short, we make poor choices, and the adversary works tirelessly to convince us that we’ll never measure up.”
Elder Hall compared life’s challenges to competing in an IRONMAN race, sharing a personal experience from the first time he participated in the race.
“It really ties into our overall mortal experience of going through the ups and downs of life, swimming in deep water, having flat tires, having the wind pushing against us, and the heat and exhaustion of just trying to do what the Lord would have us do on days,” Elder Hall said in an interview with BYU-Idaho Radio.
Elder Hall shared some of the trials he faced in his first IRONMAN race, including flat tires, broken bicycle seats and strong winds slowing his progression. Despite all of these difficulties, he was able to persist and finish the race.
“Through these racing experiences, I have learned that there is joy in training, joy in the unknown, joy in stopping at aid stations, joy in being lifted, joy in lifting others and joy in the entire journey of becoming,” Elder Hall said in his devotional. “The finish line brings joy, but the process of transformation is where real joy is found.”
Elder Hall invited students to find joy in their challenges and to seek to understand who the Lord wants them to become.
Find live devotional addresses and see past ones on the BYU-Idaho devotional website.