President Eyring and I are so happy that you are here and ready to begin a new semester. Some of you are returning; welcome back. And some of you are just beginning; a special welcome to you. We love you all, and we have been looking forward to enjoying this spring semester with you.
My husband and I think about you much the same way we think of our own five children. We talk about how good you are and how much Heavenly Father loves you. We pray to know how we can assist in helping you reach your goals and full potential. We wish we could take you skiing at Grand Targhee and chat with you on the lift, or perhaps have you join us for boating on Ririe Reservoir. That is where most of our great conversations with our children take place.
If you were younger, I would want to give you a ride home from school, with a snack in the car. I would listen to you tell me about what made you happy or what challenged you. During the day, I’d have prayed that someone would be nice to you. And I’d hope you would be able to report that you said “hello” to someone who looked lonely or needed a friend.
If you stayed for dinner, President Eyring would ask you to report three things from your day. If you didn’t have three interesting things, he would press you until you could either remember something significant or sensationalize something ordinary. He writes a journal that he sends out to all our children and his father. Knowing that we will be asked to account for our day helps us focus. We try to make sure that we have something good to report. Though we can’t ask you to report to us, you can do this with your Heavenly Father. I hope you do so already.
The intent of
And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins. [1]
President Eyring and I testify that Heavenly Father knows and loves each of you. We know He has a perfect plan that is specific to you. It takes hard work to discover this personalized plan. But our Savior Jesus Christ, who makes all good things possible, can help us find our way. BYU-Idaho is designed to help you do that. Here you can enjoy both intellectual and spiritual growth like nowhere else.
Figuring out where you should be and what you should be doing is a lot like putting together a puzzle. President Eyring loves to have a puzzle going at all times in our family room. In his devotional last semester, Jackie Nygaard, a professor of mathematics, shared this time-lapse completion of a puzzle he put together. It would be so great to see the time-lapse completion of our individual life puzzles. But, heaven requires us to work at it a piece at a time. Brother Nygaard described his approach like this:
Sometimes I'll see a spot and look for the piece that will fit the spot, but other times I will find a piece and look for the spot it will fit. But most often, through repeated attempts, the different pieces come together through recognition of the patterns and their relationship to each other. When one area isn't coming together, I'll leave it and start in another area. I can jump all over and not worry, because in the
I love how Jesus is at the center of this puzzle and the idea that He should be at the center of our lives.
At BYU-Idaho you have lots of people to help you fit
Heavenly Father wants to hear about your day. He wants to guide you as you seek to know your own plan. We will be praying for you as you choose your educational path, make new friends, and strengthen your testimonies. We want the very best for you, and we know you can find it here. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Notes
[1] 2 Nephi 25:26.
[2] Jackie Nygaard, “Puzzling Through the Repetitions of Life,” BYU-Idaho Devotional, 20 Feb. 2018.