Thank you for the beautiful music. And thank you all for exercising your faith by choosing to be here.
We read in our Come, Follow Me recently, “And it shall come to pass, that inasmuch as they are faithful, and exercise faith in me, I will pour out my Spirit upon them in the day that they assemble themselves together.” [1] Being assembled together today, I pray that we will all feel the Spirit poured out upon us.
My wife and I have four awesome grandsons: Liam, Jack, Teddy, and Benji. When they are with us, our home is full of energy, curiosity, and chaos. We recently had the opportunity to have the three oldest stay with us for a few days. Knowing that they would be with us, I decided to start incubating chicken eggs that would hatch during their stay. I got 12 fertile eggs and started them in our incubator 21 days before the boys arrived.
When they arrived, they were excited to see what was going to happen. This is Liam and Teddy with my youngest daughter, Ellie.
When day 21 arrived, the first thing they noticed was slight movements in the eggs. Then, believe it or not, the boys started hearing muffled peeping sounds from inside the eggs! This was just the beginning of three days of excitement in the incubator.
Now, when a baby chick gets close to hatching, they need air so they can start using their lungs for the first time. Up until this point, the chick has been getting oxygen through a diffusion process through the shell of the egg that doesn’t require the use of their lungs. The first step happens inside the shell, where the chick uses a special tool—a tiny, sharp “egg tooth” on the top of its beak, which it only has during the hatching process. With this egg tooth, the chick pierces a thin membrane inside the shell, reaching a small pocket of air near the blunt end of the egg.
The next thing that the boys noticed was what is called “pipping.” This is where the chick actually breaks through the shell for the first time. You can see these pips in a few of the eggs in this picture. This single “pip” provides the chick with even more oxygen in preparation for what it will have to do in the next several hours.
While all of this is happening, the other chicks who have already hatched are drawn to the unhatched eggs to offer encouragement by peeping loudly and pecking at the unhatched chick’s beak inside the egg. When they do this, it triggers the unhatched chick to continue its work at escaping its shell. As you can see, this is hard work, even for those with cheerleading duties!
Once the chick has built up some energy after the initial pip, they start what is called “zipping.” This is where the baby chick uses its beak and special egg tooth to create a sequence of many “pips” around the circumference of the egg. All that is holding the shell together at this point is a bit of attached membrane.
Now, as an observer, it’s very tempting to want to reach in and just pull apart the shell to let the baby chick out of its cramped prison. However, by doing so, you would be depriving this chick of the necessary struggle that is required for it to develop the strength and circulation necessary for it to thrive in the world it is coming into. In fact, assisting a chick out of its egg could be fatal. So, we patiently watched, hour after hour, for the chicks to finally push themselves free of the shell.
Brothers and sisters, I don’t know about you, but many times in my life, I have felt I have been so diligent in my own pipping and zipping, trying to free myself from heavy burdens that are weighing me down. In these moments, I have often wondered, Why is this so hard? Why are my faithful efforts to keep my covenants not enough to take away all my troubles? Couldn’t the Lord just reach in and rescue me from my struggle?
As a young kid, I seemed to always be noticing the pain and suffering of others. It scared me! I wanted my family and I to be protected from all of it! I remember having the belief that, if I was strictly obedient to the Lord’s commandments, He would spare me from any suffering and tribulation in my life and the life of those I loved.
Well, I was obviously wrong. As I grew and matured, I came to understand that pain and suffering are a part of everyone’s mortal experience. And, just like how necessary it is for those new baby chickens to struggle, the Lord needed me to have experiences that would help me to become what He needed me to become.
My dad, who is here with my mom today, keeps an object on his desk called a “crucible.” It’s used to refine and purify metals. Raw ore is placed inside and exposed to extreme temperatures to separate the dross, the unwanted contaminants, from the pure metal, such as gold, silver, and brass.
Inside this crucible, my dad keeps a note with this scripture from Zechariah 13:9: “I will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried.”
My mom and dad are both amazing examples of faithful Saints, who have chosen, over and over, to submit themselves to the Lord’s refinement process. They have courageously allowed the Lord to refine them in careful and unique ways through the many opportunities and trials they have experienced in their life together.
Not having strong gospel foundations, they became active in the Church shortly after being married. At that time, there was a young family that lived nearby who began to reach out in love and fellowship. As a result, my parents ended up taking my oldest brother to the temple and were sealed for eternity, beginning a life of faithful service that has shaped and refined them in remarkable ways. I will be forever grateful to the Barney family for the love and invitations they extended to my parents at that time.
I remember on one occasion when I was a young boy, my dad sitting us down as a family and saying, “Kids, I got a job at Ricks College in Rexburg, Idaho. It’s a Church school, so I’m gonna need your help to stop swearing!”
Now, I don’t remember my dad cussing a lot, but he was a cowboy, and occasionally, when he was working with his horses or mules, they’d get the best of him, and he’d let a few choice words fly. Even though it was not a big issue to us, it was still important to him that he work on refining himself in that way. And he doesn’t have mules anymore, so that has helped.
My parents went on to serve faithfully in many ward and stake callings. They were in the Philippines for three years serving as mission leaders. They also served 18 months in a small branch in Darkhan, Mongolia, way up north, close to the Siberian border. My parents are tough people, but when the heat in their apartment would stop working and the temperature was 40 below zero, they were longing for the mild winters of Idaho. Whenever I would ask my mom how they were doing, she would always simply say, “Well, you don’t know how strong you are until you have to be strong!”
Another great example of the Lord’s power to refine us is in the story of Cory Ten Boom, written in the book The Hiding Place. Cory was living with her family in the Netherlands when the Nazis began their occupation in 1940. They witnessed the persecution of the Jews, and being faithful Christians, joined the Dutch Underground Resistance, which was believed to have saved as many as 30,000 Jews from Nazi persecution.
Eventually, Cory and her family were caught and ended up in a Nazi prison camp. As a result of the unspeakable atrocities they experienced there, Cory lost her father and sister.
When I was a teenager, reading this story for the first time, I was struck by this family’s courage and devotion to their faith. One of the things I most remember was in the preface, written by the authors who helped Corrie write her story. They asked her how she made sense of all the pain and atrocities she had experienced in her life. Remarkably, this was her response: “This is what the past is for! Every experience God gives us, every person He puts in our lives is the perfect preparation for a future that only He can see.” [2] Corrie Ten Boom knows what it means to be refined by the crucible of mortality.
Brothers and sisters, we have a Heavenly Father, who is full of perfect love, perfect wisdom, and perfect understanding. He knows the beginning from the end. Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, our experiences can be consecrated to become the perfect experience for our own good.
Sometimes, our experiences are very complicated and have very messy outcomes. We may not feel as if we’ve done our best or accomplished what our Heavenly Father expected. However, He can still take any experience that we bring upon ourselves through our choices, or is brought upon us by the choices of others, or unique experiences that he directly invokes in our lives, and He will consecrate that experience to provide a perfect preparation for what lies ahead in our mission in this life. If we will only “let God prevail,” as President Russell M. Nelson taught, [3] our experiences, through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, will purify us and rid us of the dross that may be keeping us from becoming the people the Lord knows we can become.
The scriptures are full of words that describe what the Great Refiner can do for us: Words like “sanctify,” “magnify,” “purify,” “consecrate,” “restore,” “cleanse,” and “heal.”
All of these things are accomplished through the refinement that comes only through the Great Refiner, Jesus Christ. And who else should we trust but the Perfect One, who knows us perfectly, better than we know ourselves?
Sister Tamara W. Runia, in the last general conference, spoke about how, in competitive diving, the judges factor in the degree of difficulty. She said, “Everyone is diving with their own degree of difficulty. And your Savior is the only one who truly knows the difficulty you are diving with. I want a relationship with the one person who gets me, who knows my heart and how hard I’m trying!” [4]
Our dive at times may feel like an ugly, painful belly flop. But remember, our judge is a perfect judge. And He loves effort. He loves those who have the courage and faith to climb up the ladder over and over again. As we continue that effort, our hearts are changed.
Brothers and sisters, when considering all of this, some may ask, Aren’t I enough just the way I am? Doesn’t God love me perfectly just the way I am? Yes! He does!
Brother Bradley R. Wilcox shared an important truth in his “Worthiness is not Flawlessness” talk: “God loves us as we are, but He also loves us too much to leave us this way. Growing up unto the Lord is what mortality is all about. Change is what Christ’s Atonement is all about. Not only can Christ resurrect, cleanse, console and heal us, but through it all, He can transform us to become more like Him.” [5]
Let me suggest just two things that our Heavenly Father has provided for us that can refine us and bless us in remarkable ways: (1) the BYU-Idaho experience, and (2) the ward experience.
First, Sister Susan Bednar has talked about the refining power of the BYU-Idaho experience by asking this question: “Are you here to change BYU-Idaho, or are you here to let BYU-Idaho change you?” [6]
I testify that there is a power on this campus that can bring joy to your life in wonderful ways—if you will allow it. This power comes because of the covenants we have made to live the gospel of Jesus Christ. And it comes from our shared commitment to live the CES Honor Code. Please consider the following inspired principles, given to us by the Church Board of Education, which consists of prophets, seers, and revelators:
- “Represent the Savior Jesus Christ, the Church, and the Church Educational System
- “Preserve an inspiring environment, without distraction or disruption, where covenants are kept in a spirit of unity so the Holy Ghost can teach truth
- “Promote modesty, cleanliness, neatness, and restraint in dress and grooming
- “Maintain an elevated standard distinctive to educational institutions of the Church of Jesus Christ” [7]
I am so impressed with all of you who choose to live these principles every day, and in most cases, have been living these principles long before coming to BYU-Idaho. For those who may be struggling with these principles, I would invite you to exercise your faith, to re-commit yourselves, and discover what the BYU-Idaho experience can do for you.
Secondly, the Lord has blessed us with ward families. Our wards provide opportunities to serve, love, teach, learn, fellowship, and strengthen one another. And brothers and sisters, your ward family needs you! And you need them. Trust the Lord’s power to refine you as you seek to sacrifice and serve by attending all of your church meetings and willingly accepting and serving in the callings the Lord extends to you. My wife and I were recently blessed to serve in a campus ward and saw firsthand both those who chose to receive all the blessings of ward participation and, sadly, the few who chose not to receive those blessings.
In our recent general conference, Elder Steven D. Shumway said, “When we consecrate our meager but best effort, God magnifies it. When we sacrifice for Jesus Christ, He sanctifies us. This is the transformative power of God’s grace. As we serve, we grow in grace until we are prepared to “be lifted up by the Father, to stand before [Jesus Christ].” [8]
I testify that the Lord can take any effort, offered in the right spirit, however meager, and transform it to become something that will not only change you but make a difference in the life of another person. That is the power of the Great Refiner!
All of these things: the CES Honor Code, your ward meetings, your church callings, your roommates, your Home Evening groups, and even the Dress and Grooming Principles and Expectations can all be the Lord’s “perfect preparation” [9] for what lies ahead for each of you.
Now, some may ask, Why? I’m happy with who I am. I don’t need refinement—it’s what makes me who I am.
In answer to that honest question, I would testify that as we choose to let God prevail, to let Him purify and consecrate us, we will experience more joy, more confidence, and deeper, more meaningful relationships. I testify that we will experience more hope, more strength, and more comfort in times of pain, grief, loneliness, discouragement, depression, and fear.
President Nelson taught us the “why” in his “Think Celestial” talk from the October 2023 conference: “Because of Jesus Christ’s infinite Atonement, our Heavenly Father’s plan is a perfect plan! An understanding of God’s fabulous plan takes the mystery out of life and the uncertainty out of our future. It allows each of us to choose how we will live here on earth and where we will live forever.” [10]
He continues, “The very things that will make your mortal life the best it can be are exactly the same things that will make your life throughout all eternity the best it can be!”
He goes on to emphasize, “Your choices today will determine three things: where you will live throughout all eternity, the kind of body with which you will be resurrected, and those with whom you will live forever.”
So, the way I see it in my own life, I can stop putting all my energy and effort into trying to avoid difficult things, or I can turn my life over to the Savior and trust His refining fire to change me for the better.
I was impressed recently when I asked a student, “How’s your semester going?” He responded, “I’ve been feeling the refiner’s fire a lot lately … but I’m grateful for it.” This young man understood the refiner’s fire and the purpose it served in his life because he knows who the Refiner is and trusts Him. He chose to see life’s crucible as a gift.
Inside my dad’s crucible, along with his scripture from Zachariah, I put the words of verse five of the hymn “How Firm a Foundation”: “When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie, / My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply. / The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design / Thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine.” [11]
I pray we may all have courage as we trust in the Great Refiner’s plan. I testify He lives. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Notes
[1] Doctrine and Covenants 44:2.
[2] Corrie Ten Boom, The Hiding Place, 1971, Preface viii
[3] Russell M. Nelson, “Let God Prevail,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2020, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2020/10/46nelson.
[4] Tamara W. Runia, “Your Repentance Doesn’t Burden Jesus Christ; It Brightens His Joy,” Liahona, May 2025, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2025/04/43runia.
[5] Bradley R. Wilcox, “Worthiness Is Not Flawlessness,” Liahona, Nov. 2021, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2021/10/35wilcox.
[6] David A. and Susan K. Bednar, “The Family Is Ordained of God,” BYU-Idaho Speeches, March 9, 2025, https://www.byui.edu/speeches/devotionals/david-a-bednar/the-family-is-ordained-of-god-march-2025.
[7] “The Church Educational System Honor Code,” BYU-Idaho, https://www.byui.edu/student-honor-office/ces-honor-code.
[8] Steven D. Shumway, “Participate to Prepare for Christ’s Return,” Liahona, May 2025, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2025/04/42shumway.
[9] Corrie Ten Boom, The Hiding Place, 1971, Preface viii
[10] Russell M. Nelson, “Think Celestial!,” Liahona, Nov. 2023, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2023/10/51nelson.
[11] “How Firm a Foundation,” Hymns, no. 85.