Brothers and sisters, welcome to the first BYU–Idaho devotional of Winter Semester 2023. Many of you are attending in the BYU–Idaho Center. Many others are blessed by online means. All of us can look forward to uplifting and enlightening experiences as we give our best today and throughout this semester.
The Concept of Nurturing
Recently, the topic of nurturing has come to my mind and heart. I vividly remember being a college student. It was a busy and sometimes harried time. There were classes to attend, assignments to do, and exams to prepare for. There was also a need to foster apartment unity. Somebody had to buy groceries, make regular meals, and occasionally clean the apartment to prevent health hazards.
I’m sure this sounds very familiar to you. But there is something very valuable that can make these tasks both lighter and more effective.
When I was a young boy, a long time ago, I loved singing about a little stream that paradoxically wanted to give away its water. You may have sung these words in your youth. Let’s sing them together:
“Give,” said the little stream, “Give, oh! give, give, oh! give.”
“Give,” said the little stream, as it hurried down the hill;
“I’m small, I know, but wherever I go, the [grass] grows greener still.
Singing, singing all the day, “Give away, oh! give away,”
Singing, singing all the day, “Give, oh! give away.”[1]
Thank you. My mother taught me this song when I was just learning to sing. I lived on the top of a high hill in California. Rain fell plentifully in the winter and spring, bringing out flowers and frogs. However, summer and fall were mostly dry. I liked to imagine that the hilltop streams could run year-round, keeping the flowers always refreshed.
At BYU–Idaho and online, the rivers of spiritual and temporal knowledge never cease to flow. And no student is left to flounder. Even as we focus on our studies and develop capabilities to lift ourselves and others, we can be nurturers.
A Pattern of Nurturing
As we strive to be nurturers, the scriptures can give us powerful insights. Surprisingly to me, the word “nurture” appears rarely in our standard works of Church scripture. One of those references can be found in Enos 1:1. It says:
Behold, it came to pass that I, Enos, knowing my father that he was a just man—for he taught me in his language, and also in the nurture and admonition of the Lord—and blessed be the name of my God for it.[2]
In a similar vein, the Apostle Paul referenced nurturing. He said this to the Saints in Ephesus, which is in modern-day Turkey:
And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath; but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.[3]
These scriptures remind me of you. You are, in the words of the Apostle James, “easily entreated.” This means that you are willing to do what the Lord asks of you, without stubbornness and with humility. I admire you for this quality. James says:
[T]he wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.[4]
There is a similar reference in 3 Nephi 10:4 when great destruction nearly devastated the Nephite civilization. For many hours, the earth reeled and seemed likely to end. In the dark stillness afterward though, the people heard our Savior’s voice. He said:
O ye people of these great cities which have fallen, who are descendants of Jacob, yea, who are of the house of Israel, how oft have I gathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and have nourished you.[5]
My constant prayer and hope is that you and I will use our divinely appointed gift of nurturing to “gather chickens” under our “wings.” In particular, BYU–Idaho can be a place where we gather to be nurtured intellectually and especially spiritually.
President Nelson has said something similar. In the April 2018 General Conference, he declared:
A hallmark of the Lord’s true and living Church will always be an organized, directed effort to minister to individual children of God and their families. Because it is His Church, we as His servants will minister to the one, just as He did. We will minister in His name, with His power and authority, and with His loving-kindness.[6]
BYU–Idaho, A Place of Nurturing
When I think of nurturing, my parents quickly come to mind. As a child, I felt that nurturing when my father was president of Ricks College. His office on campus was just a few small city blocks from my school. At lunchtime, I walked there from my junior high school, and he made lunch for the two us. After school, I returned to his office where I did homework. Then, we walked home for dinner.
Even then, Rexburg and this campus left an indelible impression on me. When my father was transferred to Utah and my family moved there, I assumed that I’d never live in Rexburg again.
When I returned to Rexburg in 2006, following a family mission in Tokyo, I could hardly imagine how much had changed, especially at the university. In addition to a much larger campus, there were four-year degree programs, but I was amazed by the sweet spirit that continued here. Professors and other university leaders seemed to me like mission leaders, caring for the students and other employees with the same reverence and guiding hand of a mission president and his companion.
And the students had a missionary quality, not just in the classroom but also on the campus at large, which embraced students working online. Today, I feel the same nurturing I had felt with my father on this campus many years ago.
Over this past holiday break, I received many Christmas cards. Many of the cards are sweetly personal. Here is an example of one:
I was raised in Colonia Juarez, Mexico; my ancestors were neighbors with your grandfather [Henry Eyring], before the Revolution of 1910. It’s fun to make those connections. I appreciate who you are and the Spirit felt here at BYU–Idaho.
I recently visited with a couple of students who described the reason for which they have chosen to remain at BYU–Idaho and progress toward graduation.
For both students, the gospel was never a part of their growing-up years. They [both] describe that being here initially felt odd as they struggled to feel a sense of belonging.
When the first student left to return home to work and save money, he realized the difference in the spirit he felt at BYU–Idaho, and he chose to return.
When the second student returned after Thanksgiving, he recognized the difference in the spirit he felt here and decided to stay because he wanted more of the Spirit in his life. Today both students are working toward temple recommends.
I have invited a current student, Mattie Thomas, to share her personal experiences with nurturing at BYU–Idaho. Following her remarks, management faculty member, Bob Morley, will share his thoughts and insights with us.
Mattie Thomas
As a student here at BYU–Idaho, I feel it’s almost always possible to feel the love and compassion that teachers and the administration have for every single student. The lessons we are taught, the textbook material we study, and the class discussions always strengthen my testimony and remind me of God’s power in my life. To have my soul nurtured in this way is a unique experience and one that I hold very close to my heart. This care and guidance shown to me by various professors has fostered a better sense of leadership, personal honor, integrity, self-reliance, and so many other key personal characteristics. These characteristics have been essential in my work as a wife, mother, student housing manager, and mentor for the Heber J. Grant program.
I’ve loved the opportunities I’ve had as a mentor and manager to listen to individuals who are homesick, struggling with mental illness, worried about their dating life, wrestling with which major to choose, or trying to figure out how to handle a situation with a roommate. There are always ups and downs associated with college life. Being able to stand next to the students I associate with and offer comfort during the lows and celebrate their successes during the highs has been inspiring and unforgettable. The light, love, and joy I feel when focusing on serving others around me fills my heart with immeasurable peace, whether they be students staying at the apartment complex, students who are part of the Heber J. Grant program, or those I see passing by.
In all of this, I find it important to remember the gift of accepting service and the loving attempts from others to nurture me. I have learned that when I allow others to serve and nurture me, I am essentially telling our Heavenly Father that I am willing to learn and be molded. It is in my weaknesses—when I am humbled before the Lord and willing to completely and wholeheartedly rely on Him—that He strengthens and nurtures me through prayer, scripture study, and the kind, selfless acts of those around me. Sister Neill F. Marriott of the Young Women General Presidency has said, “We build the kingdom when we nurture others.”[7] My prayer for all of us this semester, and throughout the rest of our lives, is that we will gladly take every opportunity to serve and love those around us. That we may show the Lord, through our dedicated efforts, that He may always rely on us to do His will and nurture as He does. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Bob Morley
After His Resurrection, Jesus visited several of His disciples as they were fishing along the shores of the Sea of Tiberias. After inviting the disciples to dine with Him, Jesus poignantly asked Peter the same simple question three times: “Lovest thou me?” After Peter’s affirmative and heartfelt reply, the Lord thrice repeated the same clear commandment to Peter: “Feed my sheep.”[8]
In our mission here at BYU–Idaho to build and to become disciple leaders, perhaps the most important question we must consider is the same that Jesus asked of Peter: “Lovest thou me?” And perhaps the greatest demonstration of what it means to be a disciple-leader is to choose to “feed [His] sheep” by nurturing the people in our lives—which begs the question: If I love the Lord, how can I feed His sheep?
In the scriptures, the Lord teaches that for a seed to take root and become a life-giving tree, it must be planted in good ground and nurtured carefully and consistently over time. While learning to feed His sheep merits a lifetime of study and practice, even a child can recognize what is behind all effective nurturing—it is love. To have good soil, or a prepared heart, we must feel the love of God and trust Him enough to be willing to plant the seed of truth by acting on it. The same love that invites us to plant the seed is also the essential nutrient for the tree to grow and the promised fruit when the tree matures.
As each person is a unique, beloved son or daughter of God, the way we show His love must also fit the needs of the individual. I’d like to share two examples from my life.
When I was a student at BYU, I lived in the basement of a sweet, elderly couple. One day, as I knocked on the door to pay rent, our landlady answered the door in tears. When I asked her what was wrong, she explained to me that her grandson (we’ll call him Jimmy) had just moved into the upstairs apartment and that she had discovered that he had been using his new-found freedom of living at Grandma’s place to party and smoke weed. Jimmy’s abuse of his grandma’s kindness infuriated me, and I determined that I would pay him an immediate visit to set him straight on behalf of his grief-stricken grandmother.
As I approached the door of Jimmy’s apartment, a small bird dove violently at my head. I ducked behind a car until I thought it was safe, but my second attempt was met with an even more vicious response from my feathered attacker. In my third attempt to rise from my place of safety, the ensuing attack was such that I fled for my life, still determined to return and give Jimmy a piece of my mind when the coast was clear.
I returned to my apartment to begin my studies for the day with a little time in the scriptures. I opened to Alma 17 and read of Ammon winning the heart of King Lamoni by offering to become his servant.[9] I felt humbled and moved to abandon my initial anger and to return to Jimmy in the spirit of friendship.
I did so (this time without a bird attack), and when he answered the door, I welcomed Jimmy to our apartments and asked him what he liked to do. It turned out that we both loved doubles volleyball, and we set a regular time to play.
Over time, all of us roommates befriended Jimmy. We had a lot of fun and some precious conversations and Jimmy eventually served a mission and went on to become a great husband, father, and leader. I’ve often been grateful that a little bird gave me the opportunity to pause and think about what might actually nurture and lift Jimmy.
This principle of preparing the ground by showing sincere love is further illustrated by a miracle that occurred in our family in recent years.
My wife has a twin sister, Michelle. She has a good, generous heart, yet for many years, her goodness was somewhat overshadowed by ill feelings toward the family and toward the gospel and some tragic choices that led to addiction and suffering. Try as we might, Michelle was not always willing to receive our attempts to connect and we sometimes felt that our prayers for a better relationship were in vain.
At one point, my teenage daughter, Ella, decided that she wanted a relationship with her Aunt Michelle. She determined to write her once a month, no matter the response. After four months of unanswered letters, my wife received a surprising text from Michelle that went something like this: “I just checked my mail, and I found Ella’s letters. Tell her I’m in tears right now and that this is the first time since I can remember that I’ve felt like an aunt and like I am a true part of a family. I’ll write her as soon as I can.”
We had prayed and fasted for many years to know how to help Michelle, and the simple, no-strings-attached nature of a young woman’s letters were a catalyst that set in motion one of the most beautiful seasons of love and connection with Michelle and her son that we’ve ever experienced. She has since voluntarily and heroically left her addictions behind, and we now have daily conversations that are laced with gratitude, love, light, and truth. Michelle also started classes with Pathway this last week.
So, to nurture others, we must seek, receive, and be willing to share God’s love. Then, if we desire it, the words of Christ will tell us and the Spirit will show us what to do. We might be invited to befriend people who are different from us, to teach and mentor differently, to sacrifice our time, to take out our headphones and say hello to the people around us, or to exchange virtual time for real time with real people. Whatever the invitation, I know that its Author can be trusted completely and that the promised fruit of His invitations is “sweet above all that is sweet”[10] and that it will bring us more joy than anything else in the universe.[11] In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
The Miracle of Nurturing
Like you, I am grateful for inspiring testimonials such as these. Some of the stories seem to be facilitated by angels on both sides of the veil.
Another example of nurturing can be found in a heroic female in the New Testament. The Widow of Nain lived in a city which our Savior and His disciples visited. He learned that the woman’s only son had died. As the dead young man was carried out of the city, a large crowd formed.
When the Savior saw the bereaved widow, He had compassion on her, saying, “Weep not.” He then came and touched the young man’s coffin, causing the bearers to stop. Remarkably, the Savior said, “Young man, I say unto thee, Arise.” The man sat up and began to speak. Of course, his mother was overjoyed.[12]
Word went out far and wide. Among the first to respond were the disciples of John, a cousin of the Savior. These disciples knew their respective roles in the establishment of the Lord’s Church. The Savior welcomed John and his disciples. But it was clear, through miracles of healing the lame, cleansing lepers, restoring hearing, raising the dead, and preaching the gospel to those of all stripes, that Jehovah was reigning on Earth.
One of the results was fame and large, curious crowds. John receded, allowing the Savior to strengthen His Church. The miracles performed by the Son of God spoke for themselves. The Savior declared His divinity, including His power to remit sins and command the elements.
The faith, humility, and nurturing of this one woman allowed our Savior Jesus Christ to work miracles and strengthen the Church.
In going about doing good, you and I can be assured that we are in the Lord’s work. He will guide and strengthen us. We will have the capacity to work miracles in our own lives and in the lives of others. I look forward to joining you as fellow nurturers—and recipients of nurturing—in our Heavenly Father’s kingdom. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Notes
[1] Fanny J. Crosby, “‘Give,’ Said the Little Stream,” Children’s Songbook, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, 1989.
[2] Enos 1:1.
[3] Ephesians 6:4.
[4] James 3:17.
[5] 3 Nephi 10:4.
[6] Russell M. Nelson, “Ministering with the Power and Authority of God,” Ensign, May 2018.
[7] Neill F. Marriott, “What Shall We Do?” Ensign, May 2016.
[8] John 21:15–17.
[9] See Alma 17:24–25.
[10] Alma 32:42.
[11] 1 Nephi 11:21–23.
[12] Luke 7:11–15.