My dear brothers and sisters, it is a pleasure to be here with you today. I love BYU-Idaho with all my heart. I love it because of you, the students, and you, my colleagues.
I want to pay tribute to my wife, my parents, and other family members who have traveled to be here today. They are awesome, and I love them.
I was glad to see you raise your scriptures to show that you are prepared to learn. I hope you also have a notebook, because I'm going to invite you to write some things down. In fact, let's do it right now.
Take 30 seconds to think of a time when you felt the Holy Ghost, and write it down in one sentence. You might start with "I felt the Holy Ghost when" If you think you haven't had an experience with the Holy Ghost, just write "no experience."
President Spencer W. Kimball said that perhaps the most important word in the dictionary is remember and that our greatest need is to remember. [1]
The title of my talk today is "Look Up and Remember."
You are here at college to look to the future and to learn. It is a fantastic time of life. It is a time that is full of hope. It is a time of great faith and decisions. It is a season of personal growth and enlightenment. I have immense respect for you because I know that you are sincerely searching for truth and knowledge. You are striving to learn and improve your lives so you can serve other people better. I admire you for that. But this is also a time of life when it can be easy to get distracted and unintentionally begin to drift. Let me illustrate this with a story.
I grew up in California about 30 miles from the beach.
One of my first memories of the beach is when I was four or five years old. After spreading out our towels, setting up the picnic, and establishing base camp, I promised my parents to be careful as I ran down to the water to play. I played the "don't get caught by the wave" game. This is where you get as close to the water as possible; then, when a wave comes in, you run away to avoid getting wet. Then, as the water retreats back into the ocean, you follow it as closely as possible without getting wet. Then the next wave comes in, and you do the same thing. Up and down, down and up. Over and over again. Some other kids joined in the fun, and at one point one of them threw a ball into the water. We focused on it as it went up and back with the waves. I was enjoying myself and having lots of fun. I played for a long time before getting tired and noticing that my friends had all disappeared, so I decided to take a break.
I ran up to where my family was, but the towels, the picnic, and my family were gone. I ran through all the many people, looking for my family, but they were nowhere to be seen. I was confused.
Then I started to cry. I cried as I walked and ran aimlessly through the crowd in random directions.
A kind lady, a stranger, lifted me into her arms and began to comfort me. I, being an astute child, recognized that she was a stranger, and so I cried louder. But she was kind and gentle. She said not to worry and that we would find my parents, and then she started to walk up the beach in the wrong direction.
It was a fact that I was lost, but I knew she was even more lost. I kicked her and tried to get away, but she held me tight and continued to walk and talk softly for several minutes. Then, suddenly, I saw my dad walking quickly towards us.
The handoff was made, and my rescuer disappeared. I started to think, "Wow, she was really nice," and I wondered how she knew which way to walk. I was glad I hadn't succeeded in kicking her away. My dad took me back to our towels and family, and I was saved.
At the time, I felt it very important that I not be responsible for getting lost. I blamed my parents for not watching me close enough; I blamed my new friends for leaving me; I blamed the ball that kept me hyper occupied; I blamed the crowds on the beach; in the end, I blamed the whole beach. I didn't know the word at the time, but I made myself into a victim.
My dad taught me, however, that it was my responsibility to look up often to make sure I knew where our towels and family were. He promised that if I did that, I would not get lost again.
I played all the rest of the day, but I made sure to look up often and, as a result, never got lost again.
While studying geology in college, I learned that what I had experienced is called longshore drift. This is where waves hit the beach at an angle and wash up as far as they can go; then the water returns to the sea by the shortest possible route, which is straight downhill, not back along the same angle it came up in. The net effect of this continuous motion is to move the sand in a series of arcs along the beach face.
For example, it's estimated that one million cubic yards of sand per year are moved southward across the beach at Santa Monica, California.[2]
I was like a piece of sand. By following the waves up at an angle, then straight down, over and over again, I had made my way down the beach quite a distance without even knowing it. I thought I was just going up and down in the same spot, but I wasn't. I was unintentionally drifting, and in that process I got lost. My family hadn't moved; I had. My family wasn't lost; I was. I hadn't intended to get lost, but I did.
My dear friends, we must look up often and remember basic doctrines of the gospel so we don't drift and get lost like I did on that beach that day so long ago.
My purpose today is to review six basic doctrines and to suggest one approach for remembering each. This comes with a challenge to choose at least one of these doctrines and deliberately seek to remember it more often.
1. The first doctrine we need to remember is that God lives, loves us, and answers our prayers.
He is our Father. He is not a distant, uninterested God. Just the opposite, He knows us as individuals and cares about our struggles and our successes. We are His children, and He is a good father. We will be overwhelmed with gratitude, gladness, peace, and comfort when we see Him again.
Sometime in our premortal existence, our Heavenly Father let us know that we would be coming to the earth. He informed us that we would have good times and hard times. He made it clear to us that, through those good and hard times, we would learn valuable lessons that would serve us well for the eternities to come. So, now, here we are on the earth, learning and stretching and growing. Sometimes it is super, super joyful, and other times it is super, super hard, but it is always a learning experience. No matter how joyful or how hard it may be, we have learned that there is a beautiful rhythm to life when we understand and live with gospel purpose, always remembering that we are on earth by design and for a purpose.
Most, if not all, of us have prayed about whether to go to college and which college to go to. Answers to those prayers have brought us to where we are today. Whether you are a traditional student, an online student, or a Pathway student, you are in the right place. You belong here. You are capable and deserving of being a student here. You are here by design and for a purpose.
Our Heavenly Father loves each of us, and as we strive to draw near to Him, He will draw even closer to us and will help us with choices we need to make.[3]
One way we can remember that we are children of God is to pray to Him every day.
For the past 21 years, every semester, I've been blessed to teach a class for international students with English as a second language. I've had students from every continent and from over 50 countries. In my other classes I've had students from around the United States and other English-speaking countries. I've been blessed to experience the music of many languages and cultures and to see perspectives from around the world, and it's been wonderful.
I have heard all of these people pray in their own languages, and I know that Heavenly Father heard every single prayer. Regardless of country, culture, or language, He listens to us because we are all His children and He is interested in where we are, what we are doing, and where we are going. As the Book of Mormon says, "God is mindful of every people."[4]
President Gordon B. Hinckley said: "We have become as a great family spread across this vast world. We speak different tongues. We live under a variety of circumstances. But in the heart of each of us beats a common testimony."[5]
Part of this testimony is that God lives and He loves us. We are His children.
2. The second doctrine we need to remember is that the Holy Ghost can teach us the truth of all things.
Sometimes we forget that we have felt the Spirit in our lives. We may forget when the Holy Ghost has spoken to us about the truth and fulness of the gospel. I appreciate the many posts on the discussion board about how you remembered your experiences with the Spirit. When we feel dull and dreary, we need to be able to pull up our memories of our experiences with the Holy Ghost and remember that the gospel was true then, and it's still true now.
Being able to remember our experiences with the Holy Ghost will help us in good times and in hard times.
I wonder how many times Joseph Smith reflected on that moment in the grove when he prayed and received his first vision. I also wonder how often he reflected on that moment when he read James 1:5-6 and felt the Spirit encourage him to ask for wisdom. I bet he thought about those things every day and it gave him the courage to do what he needed to do. We should strive to remember our experiences every day too. They will help keep us grounded and give us the courage to do what we need to do.
One way we can remember the Holy Ghost is to reflect on our spiritual experiences and write them down.
I recall being 14 years old and on vacation at my grandma and grandpa's house. In a small bedroom on the second floor of their farmhouse, I remember reading the Book of Mormon where it says that to be prosperous I had to keep the commandments. I felt the Holy Ghost whisper to me that it was true. This story is not a dramatic story, but it's one I reflect on often because it was clear to me, and it helped shape my future.
Now it's your turn. Take a minute and turn to a person near you, and share what you wrote in your notebook earlier about the experience you had with the Holy Ghost. Also discuss why you think it's important to remember our experiences with the Holy Ghost. Some experiences are personal and only intended for you, but if your experience is not too personal, please feel free to share some details about it.
Thank you.
Some of us might be thinking that we've never felt the Holy Ghost in our lives. I get that, but please pay close attention to what we are taught in the Doctrine and Covenants:
"To some it is given by the Holy Ghost to know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and that he was crucified for the sins of the world.
"To others it is given to believe on their words, that they also might have eternal life if they continue faithful." [6]
If we can't remember a time when we felt the Holy Ghost, that's okay. We can cultivate the gift of believing in the testimonies of others who love and care about us, then have patience with ourselves as we continue to strive to recognize and understand the voice and language of the Holy Ghost. If we persist, we will prevail, but it will be on the Lord's timetable, not ours.
3. The third doctrine we need to remember is that we are here to learn and develop faith.
I'm going to ask some of you to stand up, so listen carefully. If you have learned a language other than your first language and have lived where that language was spoken, will you please, reverently, stand up and stay standing.
Great.
Okay, remember the first three months of your experience speaking your new language in a new country. Did any of you standing ever pretend to understand something when you had no clue what was going on? For example, do you remember laughing at jokes or other things just because everybody else was laughing, but you had no idea what was so funny? Did you ever shake your head like you understood what people were talking about, but you were in the dark about what they were really saying? If you ever did any of these things, please raise your hand.
It looks like a lot of hands are raised. Thank you. Please be seated.
Our Heavenly Father often expresses His love for us by giving us opportunities to exercise our faith. The state of not knowing is a wonderful opportunity to learn, stretch, and grow. For example, just because we didn't understand the language at the beginning of our experience didn't mean that the language was incomprehensible to everyone. Even little children spoke it fluently. It just meant we had a lot to learn and practice.
On one hand, the state of not knowing is frustrating, awkward, uncomfortable, and depressing. On the other hand, it gives us space to learn and grow.
Remember that Nephi and Alma in the Book of Mormon had things they did not know. Nephi once said, "I do not know the meaning of all things,"(1 Nephi 11:16-17) and Alma once said, "These mysteries are not yet fully made known unto me"(Alma 37:11). [7]
I like how they were very straightforward in what they didn't know. They didn't make up excuses or explanations. I believe that they departed this life with many questions. I also believe that they know things today that they never knew during their earthly existence. The important thing is that they recognized that they didn't know everything, and it was okay. They knew that they knew enough to commit, receive ordinances, make covenants, and live the gospel. Then they had faith to keep going.
They continued striving to learn and understand things, but they also continued to look up to heaven when there were things they didn't understand yet.
Now, back to school. Research suggests that one of the most important things we can do to learn and succeed in college is to attend every class. Similarly, I suggest that: One way we can remember that we are here to learn and develop faith is to attend church every week.
4. The fourth doctrine we need to remember is that Jesus Christ is our Savior.
He accomplished the Atonement so that we can return to live with our Heavenly Father. This included His suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane, His death on the cross at Calvary, and His Resurrection from the garden tomb.
After a long day of school, work, social encounters, extracurricular activities, family duties, and church responsibilities, we can sometimes feel like this poor little guy.
Sometimes we might wonder if it's all worth it. Sometimes we might feel like quitting and wonder, again, why we are even here. We might feel physically tired and also tired deep down in our souls.
When we feel like this, please remember that Jesus is our Savior both now and in eternity.
Remember that our Savior was talking to us when He said: "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
"Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls." [8]
I appreciated Floriana's scripture reading of Helaman 5:12 and the reminder to build our foundation on Christ.
Many years ago, Sister Hazard and I stayed in a high-rise hotel in the middle of downtown San Francisco. We were in our room on about the 17th floor when an earthquake hit. It was scary and fascinating to look out across the city and watch enormous high-rise buildings swaying back and forth. It was even more fascinating to feel the swaying of our own building. We saw and felt firsthand how critical the foundation of a building was to its structural integrity and success. We were scared, but we were safe.
The Savior taught, "Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them ... is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock; and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock." [9]
It's very clear that floods will come even if our foundation is built on Christ. Everybody has struggles. The storms will come. That's one of the purposes of living. We are here to learn, and hard things help us learn. They can be great blessings if we see them from the right perspective. When our foundations are built on the gospel of Jesus Christ, we might still be scared, but we will be safe.
When Sister Cheryl Esplin spoke here in May, she said, "As we consecrate a portion of our study each week to learn all we can of our Savior, Jesus Christ, ... [w]e will have the assurance that when He comes again, we will be ready to meet Him, and we shall know Him." [10]
In his talk titled "The Power of the Book of Mormon," from last general conference, President Monson asked us to prayerfully read the Book of Mormon every day so that we can strengthen our testimony of our Savior, who will see us through to safety.[11] One way we can remember that Jesus is our Savior is to read the Book of Mormon every day.
5. The fifth doctrine we need to remember is that charity never faileth.
Sometimes we will accidentally cause pain in others, but we should never purposefully try to hurt anyone. It's easy to be mean, but it is our opportunity to lift and build one another.
As self-reliant as we strive to be, the truth is that we need each other.
I like what President Monson said: "Life is perfect for none of us. Rather than being judgmental and critical of each other, may we have the pure love of Christ for our fellow travelers in this journey through life. May we recognize that each one is doing [his or] her best to deal with the challenges which come [their] way, and may we strive to do our best to help out." [12]
One of the principles of the BYU-Idaho Learning Model is to love, serve, and teach one another. When I think about love in the context of the Learning Model, I think about charity and kindness.
Elder Marvin J. Ashton said, "Perhaps the greatest charity comes when we are kind to each other, when we don't judge or categorize someone else, when we simply give each other the benefit of the doubt or remain quiet."[13] One way we can remember charity is to do what President and Sister Eyring invited us to do in the first devotional of the semester and say hello to everyone. [14]
Saying hello is often the beginning of charity and kindness. As educated people, and as members of the Church, we should always be nice.
6. The sixth doctrine we need to remember is that Heavenly Father's authority matters.
You might remember this story that Elder Gary E. Stevenson told in April 2009 general conference. He said: "I remember a warm, sunny afternoon when spring was trying to nudge its way through a long winter in Cache Valley, Utah. My father, whose Saturdays were always filled with chores for his grandsons, stopped by our home with an offer to 'go for a ride.' Always happy to ride in Grandpa's truck, our four- and six-year-old sons scurried into the back jump seat, and I joined my father in the front. Our drive took us through the streets of downtown Logan, which wrap around the Logan Temple, prominently situated on a hill, centered beautifully in the city. As we moved further away from the city, we turned from paved, busy streets to seldom-used dirt roads, where we crossed old bridges and weaved through trees far into the country. We were far from any other traffic and all alone.
"Realizing his grandsons were in a place they had not been before, my father stopped the truck. " Do you think we are lost?" he asked the wide-eyed boys as they gazed out the windshield across the valley. Followed by a moment of silent assessment came the profound reply of a young child. "Look," he said, pointing his finger. "Grandpa, you are never lost when you can see the temple." Our eyes turned, focusing with his, seeing the sun glistening off the spires of the Logan Temple, far across the valley.
"You are never lost when you can see the temple. The temple will provide direction for you and your family in a world filled with chaos." [15]
I want to point out that without the authority of God, the ordinances we receive and the covenants we make in the Church and in the temple would mean nothing. They might give us some direction and help us to be better people, but they would have no binding or saving power. They would be vain and empty.
However, I testify that because God's authority is on the earth, authorized ordinances and covenants are valid and meaningful. Authority does matter.
I appreciated the opening hymn "Joseph Smith's First Prayer."[16] As you know, 173 years ago today, he and his brother Hyrum were killed at Carthage, Illinois, around 5:00 in the evening. John Taylor, who was there, wrote, "Joseph Smith, the Prophet and Seer of the Lord, has done more, save Jesus only, for the salvation of men in this world." [17]
One of those things was to serve as a vessel through whom the priesthood, the authority of God, was returned to the earth. Through that authority, among other things, temples and temple ordinances were restored. Prophets ever since have encouraged us to be a temple worshiping people. One way we can remember that authority matters is to attend the temple regularly.
I love our prophets and know that they have and do hold the keys of the priesthood. I know that each of them was called to serve during different times in history to deal with the issues of those specific times, and I know that President Monson has been called to give us direction during our time. We will always have a prophet on the earth whom God can use to guide us until our Savior comes again.
Do you remember the stranger lady who picked me up on the beach when I was lost? I compare her to the prophets. She knew where she was going, even when I thought she was walking in completely the wrong direction. Her voice was gentle and sure, even when I was furious and adamant and tried to kick her away. She knew the right way, and she got me back to my father and family.
In summary, please remember today's challenge to choose at least one of the doctrines we've reviewed and deliberately seek to remember it more often. Which one will you choose? As a quick review, it is our opportunity and responsibility to:
1. Look up and remember that God lives and He loves us
2. Look up and remember that the Holy Ghost can teach us the truth of all things
3. Look up and remember that we are here to learn and develop faith
4. Look up and remember that Jesus is our Savior
5. Look up and remember that charity never faileth
6. Look up and remember that Heavenly Father's authority and ordinances matter
We can remember these things by:
1. Praying to Heavenly Father every day
2. Reflecting on our spiritual experiences every day
3. Attending church every week
4. Reading the Book of Mormon every day
5. Saying hello and being nice every day
6. Participating in temple worship regularly
I hope we remember the lesson of my little beach story so we won't get caught with our heads down and drift to places we don't recognize. We need to enjoy the journey and have fun, but while we are enjoying the journey, I hope we always remember to look up and remember who we are and find ourselves in the right place. And if we ever find that we have drifted, I hope we will not kick the prophet away but that we will allow him to help us return to our heavenly home.
In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Notes
[1] Spencer W. Kimball, "Circles of Exaltation," address to religious educators, Brigham Young University, June 28, 1968, 8
[2] Charles C. Plummer, Physical Geology, Eighth edition, 343
[3] D&C 88:63
[4] Alma 26:37
[5] Gordon B. Hinckley, "Listen by the Power of the Spirit," Ensign, Nov. 1996, 5
[6] D&C 46:13-14
[7] W. Mark Bassett, "For Our Spiritual Development and Learning," Ensign, Nov. 2016
[8] Matthew 11:28-29
[9] Luke 6:47-48
[10] Cheryl A. Esplin, "Coming to Know Jesus Christ," Brigham Young University-Idaho devotional, May 9, 2017
[11] Thomas S. Monson, "The Power of the Book of Mormon," Ensign, May 2017
[12] Thomas S. Monson, "Charity Never Faileth," Ensign, Nov. 2010
[13] Marvin J. Ashton, "The Tongue Can Be a Sharp Sword," Ensign, May 1992
[14] Henry J. & Kelly C. Eyring, "Hello, My Friend," Brigham Young University-Idaho devotional, Apr. 18, 2017
[15] Gary E. Stevenson, "Sacred Homes, Sacred Temples," Ensign, May 2009
[16] Hymns, no. 26
[17] D&C 135:3