It is an honor for me to be attending another BYU-Idaho Commencement. This is a great institution and it is always a pleasure to be here.
I would like to share a few brief comments this morning about giving. Generally at a graduation, someone encourages you - now as part of the vast alumni group - to contribute financially back to the institution in order to continue the educational opportunities you have participated in so fully while attending this wonderful university. That is not the kind of giving I refer to. Elder Marvin J. Ashton once encouraged us by saying, “Be involved. Don’t simply give - give of yourself.” [1]
Over the years as our older teenaged children became very busy with school, work, Church, and social activities, time was limited. It was hard for them to see the value of being involved in certain things, like attending Mutual every week or taking care of family responsibilities or some other assignments. They would occasionally say, “I don’t want to go because I don’t think I’ll get anything out of it.” Their wise mother would reply, “You don’t always go for what you will get, but you can always go for what you can give!”
BYU-Idaho is such a great place to be; some of you may not want to go. The environment here is conducive to living the gospel and being obedient. It is a place where you have been nurtured and strengthened by the Spirit. You are comfortable here and may feel like you want to stay. (On the other hand, you have just survived another round of finals; you may be thinking, I can hardly wait to get out of here!) When I graduated from college many years ago, President Monson spoke to us. Paraphrasing his message, I would say, we are glad you chose BYU-Idaho to get an education. We hope you have had a wonderful experience being here. But now that you are graduating, go! You are ready to go and make a contribution. Go for what you can give. You are the leavening that will leaven the whole world. You are needed out there. (No pun intended.)
In the world, your abilities will be challenged, your values will be challenged, even your self-worth will be challenged. However, the more you give the more you will get. Elder Ashton observed relief from a drought or fuel crisis comes through conservation; in a spiritual crisis, the opposite is true. The world is in a spiritual crisis. Relief comes through giving[2] and the greatest gift you have to give is yourself.
As a student here you have been given a great deal. You have received new knowledge, skills, and experiences to prepare you for your future. You have gained friends and developed relationships that will benefit you throughout your life. Some of you may have even gained an eternal companion while you have been here. The real value of your education, however, is not what you have been able to get, but what you will now be able to give.
Wherever you go, your influence will be widely felt. As you leave BYU-Idaho, wherever you go, you will have wonderful opportunities and be faced with some interesting challenges. As Alma encouraged, be faithful, be true; stand as witnesses of God at all times, and in all things, and in all places.[3] Always remember, wherever you go you will never be any farther away from heaven than you are right here. The revelation states, “Be thou humble; and the Lord thy God shall lead thee by the hand, and give thee answer to thy prayers.” [4] To this I testify.
Notes
[1] Ensign, May 1974, 36
[2] Ensign, May 1974, 36
[3] Alma 5; Mosiah 18:9
[4] Doctrine and Covenants 112:10