You look so good from up here. I’m so happy to have the opportunity to speak to you today and pray the Spirit is with us to teach us and to edify us.
Over the years, I’ve often thought about titles. I know that sounds a little funny but let me explain. I worked in TV news for about a decade and now in radio here on campus. Any time we interview somebody, we work to get their title correct. Even right now, you’re seeing my title: Radio News and Programming Coordinator. Ooh, so fancy! But is that who I really am? Can Brandon Isle’s life or your life, experience, personality, or character be boiled down to one title like this? I don’t think so. I’m much more than that, and you’re much more than the titles or labels of the world. What if we changed this title here? What would be the most appropriate? Adjunct faculty member? I teach a couple of classes. How about News Guy or maybe runner, father—I’m a dad of six kids—son, brother? Or maybe a son of God?
President Dallin H. Oaks taught in general conference this concept of the importance of labels. “Most important, each of us is a child of God with a potential destiny of eternal life. Every other label, even including occupation, race, physical characteristics, or honors, is temporary or trivial in eternal terms. Don’t choose to label yourselves or think of yourselves in terms that put a limit on a goal for which you might strive.”[1]
President Oaks uses an important word in this quote. He says “choose.” The way we label ourselves is a choice. From this pulpit, we hear a lot about trials and the big choices you're making in this decade of decisions.[2] These are important discussions, but I want to talk to you about what may seem like small choices that actually may make all the difference.
One of my favorite scriptures is in 3 Nephi. Mormon takes a moment to talk to the reader and explains who he is. He doesn’t mention he’s a general, a soldier, or any other worldly label; he chooses something different, and this is perhaps my favorite title. Listen to this: “Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been called of him to declare his word among his people, that they might have everlasting life.”[3]
A disciple of Jesus Christ. Out of all the titles or labels he could have chosen he chooses “disciple of Jesus Christ the Son of God.” It reminds me of the mission of BYU-Idaho. Have you ever really looked at it? Here’s what it says: “Brigham Young University-Idaho was founded and is supported and guided by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Its mission is to develop disciples of Jesus Christ who are leaders in their homes, the Church, and their communities.”[4] Isn’t that profound? The very mission of this school is to “develop disciples of Jesus Christ.”
I believe many of you are already there, and we’re all striving to be there. We work hard to become a disciple of Jesus Christ in how we act, in how we speak, and in how we conduct ourselves. Because it takes work, we have to start somewhere. Part of that start is the choice to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.
Let’s try something. Will you recite with me the Fourth Article of Faith? It starts, “We believe.” Okay, here we go. No looking. “We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord, Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.” Thank you for doing that.
Faith is where we’ll focus today. To be a disciple of Jesus Christ, we have to start with faith—faith in Jesus Christ, the type of faith that motivates us to choose to do something. I think it has already motivated you and me to choose to come to or be associated with BYU-Idaho, so we have a good start. But in our world today our faith is under attack. With the constant barrage of messages that undermine our faith, we must be deliberate about how we defend ourselves. We must choose to surround ourselves with faith. I think this phrase is important, especially if we really do surround ourselves with faith.
Helaman helps us understand why this is so important. In Helaman 5:12, Nephi and Lehi remember the lesson their dad Helaman taught them.[5]
And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the arock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your bfoundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty cstorm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.
The devil is certainly sending forth his mighty winds and is working hard to destroy our faith. You’ve seen the subtle and not so subtle messages on social media, YouTube, and other places. Old Scratch is trying to sow doubt in our minds wherever he can. He especially loves to make us think we have to give in to our natural desires and choices. But we know better. “For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord.[6]?
Our energetic prophet, President Russell M. Nelson, adds, “Take your questions to the Lord and to other faithful sources. Study with the desire to believe rather than with the hope that you can find a flaw in the fabric of a prophet’s life or a discrepancy in the scriptures. Stop increasing your doubts by rehearsing them with other doubters. Allow the Lord to lead you on your journey of spiritual discovery.”[7]
So, if we build our foundation on Christ, we can withstand that whirlwind. To surround ourselves with faith is to choose to find ways to boost our faith and testimony. Obviously, activities like scripture study and prayer help to do this. We certainly need to do that daily, but I think we need more than that. We can surround ourselves in faith in the entertainment we choose, the friends we choose to be around, the career path we pursue, and the way we choose to spend our time. Any and all of these things can help us.
To help illustrate what I mean I’ll take the advice of Brother John Reed from last week’s devotional and jump into the Book of Mormon to find how the lessons there can help us in our lives. You all showed you were prepared to learn and held up your scriptures or your phones. Now let’s use them. I love to study the story of Nephi. He’s the first person we encounter in the Book of Mormon and his story is so full of lessons as Brother Reed illustrated.
As you’ll recall, Nephi begins his story with the life altering decision of leaving his home in Jerusalem. The world there was much like our world today. Faith was not important to many of the people. In fact, they tried to kill Lehi because he told them to repent. We know what happens next: they leave Jerusalem and then Lehi tells his sons to return to get the plates, which they do, then return to get Ishmael’s family. All the while, we see how Nephi exercises his faith. But the part I really want to focus on is when they’ve returned to the wilderness and Lehi has had his vision of the tree of life.
Listen to the different way Nephi reacts to the vision, then how Laman and Lemuel react. Open your scriptures with me to 1 Nephi 11:1. Here’s what he says, “For it came to pass after I had desired to know the things that my father had seen, and believing that the Lord was able to make them known unto me, as I sat pondering in mine heart I was caught away in the Spirit of the Lord, yea, into an exceedingly high mountain, which I never had before seen, and upon which I never had before set my foot.”
Here’s what stands out to me. He desired to know the things his father had seen. He believed the Lord would show him the same things. He pondered what his dad had taught him. He was surrounding himself with faith. What came next was his remarkable vision of the tree of life, a direct blessing of his faith.
Now let’s jump ahead to chapter 15. We’ll pick up the story where Nephi’s vision is over and he’s returning to his family. He sees his brothers arguing and asks them why. In verse 7, they tell him. “And they said: Behold, we cannot understand the words which our father hath spoken concerning the natural branches of the olive tree, [8] concerning the Gentiles. And I said unto them: Have ye inquired of the Lord? And they said unto me: We have not; for the Lord maketh no such thing known unto us.”[9]
Nephi then wonders why his brothers don’t keep the commandments. I believe it’s because they had not surrounded their lives with faith. Consequently, they can’t understand the words of their father and certainly not the words of the Lord for their lives.
Do you see the pattern here? Nephi trusted in the Lord, he believed he would receive answers to his questions, and we repeatedly see how he demonstrated his faith throughout the Book of Mormon. Meanwhile, Laman and Lemuel argue about the meaning of revelations, apparently don’t follow the commandments, and are slow to obey the Lord. Eventually, they leave the family and turn completely away from the Lord and blame all of it on Nephi.
Later in the Book of Mormon, Nephi relates how he and his people surround themselves with faith. Let’s turn to 2 Nephi 25 and read verses 23 and 26: “For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do. . . .[10]
So, for Nephi and his people they wrote about Christ, talked about Christ, rejoiced in Christ, preached of Christ and prophesied about Christ.
“But Brother Isle, we’re not all prophets. How do we surround ourselves with faith?” I’m so glad you asked.
I know many of you have served missions for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Diligent missionaries are perfect examples of how we can surround ourselves with faith. On a mission, you wake up early, study the scriptures and doctrines of the Church with your companion and on your own. You teach people about Christ, preach of Christ, write about Christ, create social media posts about Christ, and on and on. It’s remarkable. But we’re not all missionaries and for those of you who have served, the time is over. You came home, you found a job, you enrolled at BYU-Idaho, you met new friends, maybe even started dating. Life is busy, messy, stressful, and very different from a mission. So, what do we do?
I asked several of your peers what they do to get a sense of the small and large things we choose to bring into our lives to surround ourselves with faith. Here’s a video the Media Creation team made. I asked this simple question, “What do you do to surround yourself with faith?”
For me, the way I surround myself with faith is by being around people that I know show a similar belief that I have and interests, whether it be in God or interests that I have. So, I think that for me, surrounding myself with those things kind of helps increase my faith.
I try to think about the Savior and how He embraces my life and how He helps me to be better.
I read the Book of Mormon every day and seek revelations from Heaven.
I surround myself in faith by going to the temple and surrounding myself with those who have the same standards as me.
I, like, look at the podcasts and listen to the podcasts for the week’s Come, Follow Me. It’s one of my favorite things to listen to. And I also just read my scriptures.
Hanging out with good people and acting upon the things that I’ve learned. Definitely, when you read the scriptures and receive promptings, when I act upon it, it will help build my faith.
I surround myself with faith by the people around me. So, all my roommates are returned missionaries, so they help me as I’m preparing to serve a mission and they help me progress and I also try to remember to stay grateful for things that I have.
I think daily habits like reading the scriptures or I’ll pray with my wife, and I think a lot of times people, friends that you make—make sure you’re with friends who are supporting you, I guess, in your discipleship.
So many good ideas in that video. On the devotional discussion board, I took this concept a step further and asked how surrounding yourself with faith helps to strengthen your testimony. In your posts, I saw great examples of how focusing on the Savior is increasing your faith and testimony. Some comments mentioned standing in holy places, staying on the covenant path, surrounding yourself with good people, attending the temple, and even watching and attending devotionals have increased your testimonies of Jesus Christ. Thank you for all your comments.
I mentioned earlier it is the small choices that may make all the difference. I’ll share some of the small choices in my life that have made all the difference for my faith in Jesus Christ and for my testimony.
First, in how I start my day. I know many of us use our phones as our alarms. They’re pretty good at getting us up in the morning. I have an actual clock I use as an alarm. When it goes off, I get out of bed and start my day with a prayer, then turn on a lamp and study out of the Book of Mormon and the Come, Follow Me lesson. Usually, it’s with a physical copy of the scriptures. I used to use my phone only to study. It’s easy and convenient, but I found, for myself, that I was easily distracted. What would start as studying out of the Book of Mormon would end up studying out of Instagram or Facebook. So, I made the small change. I feel like I can immerse myself better at the start of the day. Do you have to do it this way? No, of course not, but I’m giving you some ideas.
Second, in my entertainment choices. I love a good movie, a good TV series, a good podcast, and a good social media post. I think we’re in a golden age of content. There are so many content creators who are pumping out video, audio, memes, and reels that are good, bad, and everything in between. But, as you probably know, it’s easy to get distracted in what we read, watch, or listen to. Deciding how to spend our time with entertainment should be purposeful, fun, and uplifting. I think perhaps the hard part is when we decide to read, watch, or listen to something that at first seems fine but ends up offending the Spirit. I’ve experienced this more than once. I have felt the Spirit tell me on those occasions to simply stop watching that show, listening to that podcast, or following that social media personality. It’s a small choice, but it increases my testimony of how the Lord is watching out for me and helping me become just that much better.
Third, in my music choices. Again, there are so many things we can listen to. I think we can find uplifting music in many genres out there. Here’s what the Standards of Youth pamphlet tells us:
Music can enrich your life. It can edify and inspire you and help you draw closer to Heavenly Father. Music has a profound effect on your mind, spirit, and behavior.
Choose carefully the music you listen to. Pay attention to how you feel when you are listening. Some music can carry evil and destructive messages. Do not listen to music that encourages immorality or glorifies violence through its lyrics, beat, or intensity. Do not listen to music that uses vulgar or offensive language or promotes evil practices. Such music can dull your spiritual sensitivity.[11]
Consider the music you listen to and truly ask yourself how you feel while listening to it. Does it put you in a bad mood? Change it. Does it make you feel anxious or that you’re not good enough? Change it. You’ll find something different that you like and will help you to surround yourself with faith.
My work at BYU-Idaho Radio has taught me there are many people in the community who are turning to uplifting music. They’re searching for the type of music that really is inspirational. By the way, one place you can find it is on KBYR 91.5 and 88.3 FM.
Surrounding yourself with faith doesn’t need to be overwhelming. As I said, it’s the small choices and I encourage you to make them. As you add these choices together, you will find the overall effect will help your testimony in Jesus Christ grow. You will be able to withstand the whirlwinds of the devil. You will become a disciple of Jesus Christ. I know you can do it, and I know the Lord will help you along the way. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Notes
[1] Dallin H. Oaks, “Where Will This Lead?” Ensign, May 2019.
[2] Robert D. Hales, “To the Aaronic Priesthood: Preparing for the Decade of Decision,” Ensign, May 2007.
[3] 3 Nephi 5:13.
[4] “BYU-Idaho Mission Statement,” https://www.byui.edu/about/byu-idaho-mission-statement
[5] Helaman 5:12
[6] Mosiah 3:19.
[7] Russell M. Nelson, “Christ is Risen; Faith in Him Will Move Mountains,” Ensign, May 2021.
[8] 1 Nephi 15: 7–9.
[9] 1 Nephi 15:7–9.
[10] 2 Nephi 25:23-26
[11] “Music and Dancing,” Standards for Youth.