Welcome! It is a privilege to be with you at BYU-Idaho. We have been thinking about you and anticipating your arrival. We welcome you just like we welcomed our children for the summer. President Eyring and I have five children and four grandchildren. Getting everyone to smile in these photos was nearly impossible but fun to try. Jeff Smith, a talented photographer, did his best with funny faces and encouraging words. Today President Eyring and I are hoping to help you smile. Let me explain a little more.
This semester is going to be great! It will definitely be different, but different can be great. Anyone who knows me knows that I frequently say, “It will be great!” Sometimes that statement is sincere, and sometimes it expresses a hope that a less-than-great situation will turn around. Usually, this is a way to remind myself that anything can work out for good. This semester will be challenging and hard and fun. The “hard” can work in our favor—if we let it.
One thing that will be challenging is connecting with one another. In the first fall devotional of 2018, when President Eyring and I spoke, he encouraged us to smile at each other and say hello. He wanted us to turn down our earbuds and look up to see and connect with each other. He said,
Here, of all places, we should greet one another warmly and enthusiastically. [1]
I remember being on campus after that first devotional and almost everyone greeted each other. It created a special campus culture that I hope we can preserve.
Sadly, this fall it will be easier than ever for you and me, with our face coverings on, to avoid saying hello. Yet now more than ever, we need to acknowledge one another.
I know it’s not easy to hear or understand what is being said when we’re wearing facemasks or shields. So, I googled how to say hello in American Sign Language. It resembles a salute. I think that is fun, because in the 88th section of the Doctrine and Covenants, Joseph Smith was given a greeting to be used with new students in the School of the Prophets. They recognized one another with this salutation:
I salute you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, in token or remembrance of the everlasting covenant . . . to be your friend and brother through the grace of God in the bonds of love. [2]
Of course, that would be a lot to say to a passerby, especially with a mask on. But I think we can all manage a quick sign of hello. Let’s use the ASL sign or salute to signal that we acknowledge and value each other. It will bless those around us, and I promise that it will make us happy, too. This semester, we might not be able to see your smile, but we can see you say hello.
We have learned during this time of limited interaction that we need each other, perhaps more than we imagined. President Eyring and the wonderful employees of BYU-Idaho have arranged to invite you back to campus. It will require obedience and sacrifice of us all. But we believe that we can qualify for intellectual, social, and spiritual blessings. It will be a challenge.
Don’t you just love a challenge? I do! There was a time when I was just starting to swim as part of my workouts. I would do my freestyle stroke back and forth across the pool. At the beginning, I was slow and tired quickly. But, over time, I was able to swim for 45 minutes without stopping.
One day another swimmer said, “Do you know how far you are swimming?” I answered, “No, I just swim for 45 minutes as hard as I can.” He challenged me to swim a mile, which is 1,760 yards. He also challenged me to swim that mile in just 30 minutes. I know that a lot of you could do it faster. But it was exciting for me to see if I could do it in that time.
I hope you feel that way about your education. You can choose to “swim” through your classes at a pace just fast enough to stay afloat. Or you can dive in and give it all you’ve got. If you do that, you will most likely surprise yourself with what you can learn.
Our unusual circumstances will bring out our creativity and flexibility. My daughter-in-law Brooke shared with me this addition to the beatitudes that she learned on her mission:
Blessed are the flexible, for they are never bent out of shape.
We will get to study and learn in different ways this semester. I am grateful for examples in the scriptures of people who had to do things differently than they first thought. For example, Nephi had to try several times and several different ways to get the brass plates. In the end he succeeded with the help of his brothers and Heavenly Father and the Savior. It will be easy to murmur. Laman and Lemuel did, “saying: How is it possible that the Lord will deliver Laban into our hands?” [3]
Like them, you and I will need Heaven’s help to navigate this challenging time. We need to remember like Nephi that,
[The Lord] is mightier than all the earth. [4]
The Lord is able to deliver us, even as our fathers. [5]
I have felt inspired help already as my family has worshipped at home. We’ve had to get creative and be flexible. I have seen President Eyring give the best Primary lessons to our grandchildren. He has creatively taught them about the seed of faith, with many kinds of seeds that the children could see, touch, and sometimes taste. He was inspired to teach in a way that they could best learn. Like the children, each of us can grow in faith this semester as we rely on our Heavenly Father and our Savior.
President Eyring and all others who work at this university have spent many, many hours thinking creatively about how to help you learn and grow this semester. I have witnessed the inspiration that has been given to them for your benefit. It has been exciting and faith-building.
Earlier this summer, as I considered the blessing of being part of BYU-Idaho, I felt the Holy Ghost tell me clearly, “This is a privilege.” I know that we are all blessed to be connected to this great university. So, let’s be kind to each other, say hello, and have a wonderful semester. This really is going to be great!
In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
[1] Henry J. Eyring, “Hello, My Friend,” BYU-Idaho devotional, Apr. 18, 2017.
[2] Doctrine and Covenants 88:133.
[3] 1 Nephi 3:31.
[4] 1 Nephi 4:1.
[5] 1 Nephi 4:3.