I want to thank President Bednar for this privilege to speak to you this day, and I want to assure you that as I look over this large audience in this building and realize there are many in overflow locations, I feel the overwhelming responsibility that is mine, to say something of worth. I hope that you will pray for me so that I can speak by the Spirit and that you can hear by the Spirit.
Brothers and sisters, I want all of you to know how much I appreciate and love President Bednar. Like the sons of Helaman, he lives all aspects of his life "with exactness" and is an excellent example to all of us. He desires only the best for all who are associated with this great institution, particularly you students. His wife Susan's influence is also playing a very important role in what this institution is becoming.
It has been noted that my dear wife Bonnie is here with me today as well. I want to pay tribute to her for her support in the many years of our marriage. We met on a blind date on this campus some 41 years ago, and it's been a wonderful 41 years. We will be celebrating our fortieth anniversary this summer. I am grateful for five wonderful children, four daughters and one son, and for their spouses and soon-to-be 10 grandchildren. All five of our children, four of whom are married, attended this institution, and four completed their associate degrees as has one son-in-law and one daughter-in-law. I also appreciate my brother Dick, who teaches in the Art Department, for being here today.
This institution has been an integral part of my life for forty-six years since I was a freshman student here. I still pinch myself each morning to see if I am awake to determine if this wonderful experience is real. I've told my wife on more than one occasion that since I have had my paradise experience working here, I wonder what awaits me in the next life? This institution certainly has brought great blessings into my life and to my family, and I'm sure most of you feel the same as I do about your experience here at this university.
It's been several months since I was asked to speak to you, and I've thought of any topics that I might address with you this afternoon that may be of value to you.
Brothers and sisters, we all know that life is full of choices, and that is the topic I want to talk to you about today. Sister Ballard recently addressed the topic of making correct choices during Women's Weekend and did so very well. I hope you will bear with me as I add some additional thoughts on the subject.
You have made many choices that have resulted in your being here this very day. Obviously, most of you have been pretty good students and took your high school studies seriously or you wouldn't be here. Most of you have completed four years of seminary where you learned much and gained testimonies of the gospel. You chose to be active in church, which enabled you to receive a bishop's endorsement to be admitted to this institution. You also made a choice to abide by the Honor Code or you wouldn't have been allowed to come. Now that you are here, you can choose to live by that personal commitment, which will allow you to stay here, and most of you will. I'm sure during your growing up years you have made wrong choices that have required you to use the gift of repentance in your life to correct mistakes you have made. I know I have not always made right choices, and I'm so grateful for the atoning sacrifice of our Savior, which makes it possible for me to correct those mistakes.
You are young and have many decisions to make in your future, and I pray that you will live close to the Spirit so that He can help you make wise decisions when it comes time to decide to serve a mission, particularly you young men who have not served as well some of us older folks like my wife and I who may soon have the time to commit additional service to the Lord. The Spirit can assist you in choosing a spouse or in choosing a major in school in preparation for life. You need the Spirit to help you in all decisions that are in your future. The most important decision will be the choice to live the commandments of God.
The scriptures are replete with statements that tell us that we are free agents and that we can choose for ourselves. 2 Nephi 2:16--"Wherefore, the Lord God gave unto man that he should act for himself…vs. 27 Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death…." Hel. 14:30 "And remember, remember, my brethren, that whosoever perisheth, perisheth unto himself; and whosoever doeth iniquity, doeth it unto himself; for behold, ye are free; ye are permitted to act for yourselves; for behold, God hath given unto you a knowledge and he hath made you free." We read in the D&C 29:36 that one third of the host of heaven used their gift of agency to choose death and follow the plan of Satan.
I would like to share with you some personal experiences to illustrate the importance of making right choices. As a youth I was not a member of the Church, but I was raised in a very religious home. Dad was a minister and, of course, the Bible was very important to him and my mother. Dad passed away when I was four, leaving Mom the challenge of raising six of seven children who were still at home. In her efforts to teach us religious values, Mom would conduct, from time to time, her own version of family home evening in our home. I can remember when she bought an old upright piano. She had learned to play somewhat in her youth, and at times she would gather us around this old upright piano and we would sing some of our family's favorite protestant hymns such as What a Friend We Have in Jesus, The Old Rugged Cross, Bringing in the Sheaves, and many more. At times when I hear these hymns on the radio my memory drifts back many years to those nostalgic moments when we gathered like chicks around a mother hen while Mom played that old upright and we would belt out, not necessarily in harmony, those old protestant gospel hymns.
At other times she would read Bible stories to us. One of my favorites was the story of Jonah and the whale. At that time it was just a fun and exciting story without a lot of meaning, but since I have read it several times with greater understanding and can see the application of the story in my life. To me, the story of Jonah is a story of making right choices. Hopefully we will start making correct choices early so we don't have to suffer some of the consequences of being swallowed by a whale or something of equal significance to get us pointed in the right direction. You may want to turn to the Book of Jonah found on page 1147 of the Old Testament. As you can see, it is a very short book comprised of only four chapters. I would suggest you to read it sometime in its entirety.
In verse two in chapter one we see that Jonah is called to go to the great city of Ninevah to preach the gospel to a people who have been described, according to some authors I have read, as a rather rough and tough people who had a terrible reputation for being cruel. Jonah, probably knowing this, decided he did not want to follow the words of the song we often sing at missionary farewells, "I'll go where you want me to go, dear Lord," but rather decided he would run from the Lord. As we recall from the story, he made his way to Joppa, a seaport booking passage on a ship with the intent of going to distant Tarshish, a city located in the opposite direction from Ninevah and about as far as he could go in the then-known world. It is believed that Tarshish was located in Southern Spain. Ninevah was located in what we know as present day Iraq. As we read further, we see that the Lord was serious about his call of this missionary prophet and takes some rather serious steps to change Jonah's mind about the poor choice of not accepting his calling. His fleeing trip to Tarshish became a terrifying nightmare in the ship where he experienced a horrible storm, was thrown overboard by the crew's sailors, and then swallowed by a whale where he spent three miserable days. Jonah's mind and heart are changed, and we see in verse one of chapter 3 the Lord again calls Jonah to Ninevah. Possibly some of us in our own lives have lacked faith to face our callings to Ninevah and sought to go in opposite directions to remote places like a Tarshish where we could escape our responsibilities or callings and perhaps a perceived easier way of life.
I remember a time while serving my mission in the Samoan Islands that I received an assignment that I wanted to refuse because of my lack of faith in my mission president and in the Lord. If I could have found a ship heading to Tarshish, I would have probably booked passage. I had been serving on the big Island of Savai'i in Samoa, a beautiful island in the South Pacific. If you have seen the movie The Other Side of Heaven, then you probably can get a mental image of the island I was serving on in what I considered a very challenging and difficult assignment. The village was full of wonderful people; however, they belonged to the predominant local religion, not of our belief. They worshiped in a large cathedral right across the street from where my companion and I lived. We lived in a single room in the back of an abandoned store that was in the shadow cast by this cathedral until; it seemed, well into each day. That shadow seemed to somewhat represent the spirit of this location. We had a difficult time in our proselyting efforts within the village. To make matters more challenging for me, I was asked to be the branch president because the members were fighting and the branch had divided into two factions. My companion and I had the assignment from the mission president to try to bring order to the branch until the local priesthood could again provide the necessary leadership. After serving several months in this location in an effort to ready the branch for local leadership, and as I said before, doing an assignment that I felt had been the most difficult challenge of my mission, I knew that I was going to be transferred. There were about 70 locations that I was aware of that I could be transferred to, and I remember distinctly telling my companion I was more than willing to go to any location but one. The one location that I didn't want to be transferred to was another village that, to me, was almost identical to the one I was leaving. It was a community with the same predominant religion, complete with a large cathedral and a leader who held his flock under a fairly tight rein, making proselyting difficult. To complicate things, it was the only other branch left in the whole mission that needed a missionary to serve as a branch president as it had similar problems to the branch where I had been serving. Well, the time for the transfer came and I was instructed to take a small diesel commercial boat to the island where the mission home was to meet with the mission president. You can imagine my excitement in anticipation of where the next assignment would be. That excitement quickly diminished when I received my assignment. I'll let you guess where I was going. You are right! Ninevah!! Then to compound the assignment the mission president told me he was putting me with an elder who he was going to send home but had decided to give one more chance. I had the responsibility to do what I could to turn this elder around. Let me assure you, I was looking for a way to book passage to Tarshish and run from what I thought was a burden I did not want to assume. Besides, it would be my last assignment of my mission and I had in my mind that there were many other assignments that would have been much more pleasing to Elder Bird. Lacking funds for a ticket to anywhere but to what I was sure was Ninevah, I took passage to PagoPago, Western Samoa, to take on Nivevah with little faith and even less enthusiasm. To my surprise, I found the next seven months to be the most rewarding experience of my entire mission. The field was ripe and was ready to harvest as we baptized 27 people into that small branch. You will recall that Jonah had a similar experience as many people of Ninevah repented and turned to the Lord. The new converts in this branch added such a spirit that the branch truly took on a new optimism and before long was considered one of the strongest branches in America Samoa. My previous challenging assignment had prepared me well for this wonderful assignment. Furthermore, my wonderful companion, who became one of my closest friends not only served faithfully as my first counselor in the branch, he completed an honorable and successful mission, a decision he made on his own with very little need of my help other than some encouragement.
Young brothers and sisters, you are special children of a Father who knows you and cares about you. Listen and follow the still small voice. Live so you will be worthy to hear it. Your Ninevah may be your preparation from what lies ahead for you now. It might be that dreaded math class required for your major or that research paper you need to write. Or it might be your present Church assignment that will prepare you to be a teacher, a Relief Society president or elder's quorum president or, who knows, a member of one the higher quorums of the Church. But whatever it is, it may be preparing you for important assignments in your life.
In the Book of Ecclesiastes 3:1-2, page 848, we read that there is a time and place for everything. You will note that verse 2 states that, "there is a time to plant and a time to pluck that which is planted." In my youth I lived on a farm, as I'm sure some of you did. Others of you are well acquainted with the planting process in the family garden and understand the law of the harvest. Even though at this campus you are not in the garden planting business, you truly are in the planting years of you're life, figurative speaking, while you are attending BYU-Idaho. You are preparing yourselves educationally, intellectually, and spiritually. Some of you are preparing yourselves for mission service. Many, particularly you young men, are preparing to live up to your charge of being the principle bread earners for your future families. Many of you young women are preparing to be mothers and nurturers of your dream families. I plead with you not to waste this season of opportunity to be ready for the responsibilities you may have in your Ninevahs. Plant seeds now that will produce rich and bounteous harvests. Don't shirk your responsibilities now to prepare by running off to Tarshish.
A number of years ago I directed an off-campus satellite state university program that enrolled between 8 and 900 students. Most of the programs were graduate programs, but we did have a number of undergraduate programs. I cannot count the number of individuals who came in for academic counseling about what they could do to finish uncompleted degrees so they could improve their job possibilities. They had missed golden opportunities in their younger years to properly prepare to take care of families in their later lives. Most were great students but got sidetracked by such things as new cars, maybe some riotous living, and were satisfied with a pretty good job that met their immediate needs. Now things were different with family responsibilities. And the job that looked good at one time and met the needs for one was not good enough to take care of a wife and children. These individuals needed to improve their financial situation, and the completion of a degree was the obvious way to accomplish the goal. But times were different and opportunities were limited. Their families and present jobs required their time, so the process was much slower than if they had completed their preparation earlier in their lives when responsibilities were so much less. Some got discouraged and soon dropped out of school again because progress was too slow. Many did go back to evening school and finished their degrees even though it was difficult. I admired them for their efforts. Don't let yourselves get into that situation but, rather, take advantage of your present opportunity. Remember, Don't run off to Tarshish when you should be accepting a responsibility in Ninevah.
The Lord admonishes us to prepare ourselves in the following revelation given to the Prophet Joseph, "And I give unto you a commandment that you shall teach one another the doctrine of the kingdom. Teach ye diligently and my grace shall attend you, that you may be instructed more perfectly in theory, in principle, in doctrine, in the law of the gospel, in all things that pertain unto the kingdom of God, that are expedient for you to understand; Of things both in heaven and in the earth, and under the earth; things which have been, things which are, things which must shortly come to pass; things which are at home, things which are abroad; the wars and the perplexities of the nations, and the judgments which are on the land; and a knowledge also of countries and of kingdoms- That ye may be prepared in all things then I shall send you again to magnify the calling whereunto I have called you, and the mission with which I have commissioned you." (D&C 88: 77-80)
May I talk to you young ladies for just a few minutes and offer you some counsel that I often shared as a stake president to the young brides-to-be. It is no doubt your desire is to find your prince charming some time in the future-for some of you, sooner than later. Some of the characteristics you may be hoping for in your prince is that he is kind, fun, handsome, smart, and is a worthy priesthood holder who is magnifying his priesthood. Hopefully, he is preparing himself well now or is prepared to provide for the family so you can be a stay-at-home mom to nurture those perfect children you are going to have. I'm sure you can think of many other virtues that you would want on the list. You young men may also have such a list.
I would like to tell you the "rest of the story" about my mother, as there are several important lessons we can learn from her story, particularly you sisters. I'm sure my mother was looking for her prince charming when she was about your age. And she found him. He happened to be the young single minister in her church-a "man of the cloth." He was her prince charming! After their marriage he worked in his honorable profession, moving from place to place, providing the basic needs of the family even though times were tough in the depression years of the thirties. He was her true love, her provider, the father of her children, her friend; and they had a great relationship. And then he died at a relative young age, leaving her alone. We were living in Southern California at this time. So what does a mother do in these circumstances with a family to rear? It was her righteous desire to continue on as the nurturer in the home. She had no desire or plans to do anything else. But now things had changed drastically in her life. It fell on her to not only be the mother but to also be the bread earner.
To soften the blow of the possible loss of her husband, mom had invested in a "wonderful" insurance policy to protect her against such tragedies. However, it was not one that gave her enough money to raise her children. In fact, she barely got any money at all from the insurance policy and only a few dollars from the Veteran's Administration to help bury her husband as he had served in the military in World War I. Fortunately in her youth, between the time she completed her high school and when she got married, she had made some good choices. She had attended the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, at the time a women's college, and had completed her baccalaureate degree in education. Young sisters, pay attention to this next statement. Her degree was her insurance policy. As difficult as it was, she was able to go to work as a teacher, thus providing the basic needs of her small family as well as be the Mother. Again, young sisters, keep this in mind as you wonder if you should complete your education. You may be thinking that you want to always be in the home being a mom, however, you never know what may happen that would require you to do what my mother had to do. With her teaching skills she was also well trained to help her children in their homework-another great blessing to our family coming from her preparation.
Two years went by after dad's death, and Mom was adjusting somewhat to a routine of being the provider and the mother. My twin brother, Dick, and I, who are the youngest in the family, were 6 years old and in the first grade. She was teaching in an elementary school a couple of miles from our home. Attending that same school were four of her children who were still living at home. Then came another tragic trial in her life.
One day as school let out and we were boarding the bus, someone approach our bus and told us to get out of the bus as one of Mom's teacher friends, a wonderful Quaker lady, was going to drive us home quickly as there was an emergency. A neighbor had called the school to inform Mom that our home was in flames. My two brothers and I rode home in the rumble seat of the old Model A. As we approached our property, we could see no evidence of the home we had left that morning but could only see smoke rising into the sky where the home once had stood leaving only a pile of ashes. That image of the pile of ashes is indelibly etched in my memory to this day. Everything was gone. Nothing but ashes!
I can only guess the questions Mom had running through her mind. What was this mother to do who was still suffering from the loss of her husband? Where were the children going to eat their next meal, which usually was within an hour or two once they got home from school? Where were they going to sleep that night and the many other nights in the future? What about clothes as all they had was what they were wearing? I'm sure she had these and more questions come to her mind. Had the God whom she had worshiped all her life deserted her? Had he not known that she was widowed when she needed her husband the most? Why had He allowed that to happen? And now this. What should she do? She must have felt some of the same pain on a smaller scale that the Prophet Joseph felt when he was in the Liberty jail and prayed, "O God, where art thou? And where is the pavilion that covereth thy hiding place? How long shall thy hand be stayed . . ?" She was to learn in times to come the blessings of the promises of the Lord to the Prophet Joseph in answer to his prayer when he said, "My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes." D&C 121:7-8
As painful as those moments must have been for her watching the dying embers of ashes of the remains of her home and the uncertainty of the weeks and months of hardship that would follow; unbeknownst to her, there was looming a new dawn of hope because of this tragic experience that she was not aware of and wouldn't be aware of for years to come. Let me explain what I mean about this new dawn of hope. We were about to be introduced to some members of the Church who would have a great impact on the direction of our lives.
My older sister Jane had graduated from high school and worked in town in Blythe, California, at the time of our home burning down. While in high school, she would catch a school bus every morning to travel several miles to her high school. She was a shy girl and was befriended by another young girl, about her age, who also rode the bus each day. They would sit together on the bus and really became close friends. This friend was a member of the Church. Through this friendship and other members of the Church who also became her friends, she was taught the gospel and was baptized and was a member at the time we lost our home.
As Mom pondered what to do, she knew she had to make a quick decision, as the only transportation available to someplace for shelter that night was this teacher friend. Because the LDS family had been very friendly to us since Jane had joined the Church, she decided to go to their home for help. We drove the two miles it took to get to their home, and Mom went to the door and told them of the dilemma we were in. They opened their door and their hearts to us. They were angels sent from God that day to help us who were practically strangers to them. They remind me of the scripture found in Matthew: "Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungred, and you gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye come unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee?. . .or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and come unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." Matthew 25: 34-40. Never have I known a better example of this scripture than this family.
We stayed with this family, the Art Lee family, for about a week and then were able to obtain two large army tents and cots used by migrant farm workers during the harvest time, which we sat up next to the pile of ashes. We started cleaning up the mess that was the remains of the home. Not being satisfied that they had done enough, the Lee family engaged the small LDS branch to come out to help us build another home. Such love and kindness to non-members was hard for us to believe. (Parenthetically, I might mention that, that small humble home, which was built more that 50 years ago, is still being used as my wife and I visited it a year ago when we went to visit my father's grave in Southern California.) Once we got into our new home, the Lees probably thought they had set the stage sufficiently to send the missionaries over, and they did. We were kind to the missionaries and listened but were not very interested. So later the Lees sent them again with the same results. But they never gave up on us and eventually, after wearing out several sets of missionaries, including stake missionaries, we finally became converted and all but one brother, who had left home prior to our becoming acquainted with the Church, were baptized. Dick and I were just turning 13 years old at that time. All six children to this day are active members. Mom passed away some 37 years ago, a very faithful saint. Brothers and sisters, let that be a lesson to you. Never give up in your missionary efforts. I am so grateful that the Lee family and my sister didn't give up on us. Furthermore, if you think you may have been a failure on your missions because you have baptized only one soul while serving your mission, don't be discouraged. The conversion of one shy girl has resulted in more than two hundred members of the Church, dozens of missionaries, many church leaders, and many more to come in the generations in the future.
I'm so grateful for a mother who had prepared for events she never expected, but when the time came to assume an overwhelming responsibility she was prepared to do so. Let me again reiterate to all of you, use this season of opportunity today to prepare for your tomorrows.
President Hinckley in general conference in April of 1997 gave the youth counsel about choosing goals when he said, "You have come into the world in a great season in the work of the Lord. No other generation has had quite the same opportunities that you have and will have. Begin now to establish those goals which will bring you happiness - education in your chosen skill or branch of learning, whatever it may be; a mission in which to surrender yourself entirely to the Lord to do His work; future marriage in the house of the Lord to a wonderful and delightful companion of whom you will be worthy because of the way you have lived" (in Conference Report, Apr. 1997, 71; or Ensign, May 1997, 50).
In conclusion I want to bear my testimony that I know God lives; that Jesus is the Christ, our redeemer; that the Prophet Joseph Smith was called to serve as the instrument in restoring the Church in these last days. I know that we are truly being led by a living prophet, even Gordon B. Hinckley. I bear this testimony to you in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.