One of my favorite scenes in one of my favorite old movies includes these lines: “Don’t you just love New York in the fall? It makes me want to buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address.” [1]
I would like to change that slightly to say to you today: “Don’t you just love Rexburg at the beginning of Winter Semester? It makes me want to buy school supplies. If I could, I would buy each of you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils.”
Really, I am excited about this new semester, and I hope you are too. I wonder what exciting things you and I will learn. I wonder who we will meet. I can hardly wait to fill in our notebooks with ideas and promptings as we go to class and devotional. I just know this is going to be great!
You might ask me, “Sister Eyring, why do you feel so optimistic about what will happen?” I feel this way because I have had experience with new beginnings, including new school semesters, new roommates, and a new ward. I love the chance to start again. Let’s think for a moment about the possibilities ahead. Take one moment to turn to your neighbor and tell them one thing you hope to learn or do this semester.
I will be praying that you will be blessed with the good things that you hope and work for this semester.
I am also experienced enough to know that there will be some things you weren’t planning on learning and experiencing. So much will depend on how you decide to see those things.
I was moved to tears as I listened to an interview of a family who lost their home to Hurricane Michael in Florida. The home of Kimberly Downs Norton was hit hard by the hurricane. Her backyard was covered in downed trees and debris from surrounding homes. She found a silver lining in what seemed to me like an insurmountable trial. She said, “We had so many trees in the yard. We can see more of the stars at night now.” [2] Can you believe her gratitude amid her loss?
Those of you who have lived in Rexburg for a semester, or for all of your life, know that we can see the stars at night here. I wish it were nighttime and I could take you out onto my back porch. We could point out the constellations and the North Star, and we might even see a shooting star. Since it is the middle of the day, I have asked our audiovisual crew to help me simulate that experience.
Our family moved to Rexburg following a three-year mission in Tokyo, Japan. I loved Japan, but I don’t remember being able to see the stars. I do remember one of the first nights in Rexburg thinking how lucky I was to be living in a place where I could see the stars and the night sky. They testify to me of a loving Heavenly Father.
I want to testify to you of our Father in Heaven and His Son, who desire to give us new beginnings. In fact, it is the Savior’s mission to make sure that we can have hope and happiness through His Atonement. He said:
These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. [3]
We can be of good cheer and optimistic because we know the Savior has overcome the world for us. President Gordon B. Hinckley, the ultimate optimist, encouraged us:
Believe in yourself. Believe in your capacity to do great and good things. Believe that no mountain is so high that you cannot climb it. Believe that no storm is so great that you cannot weather it. . . . You are a child of God, of infinite capacity.
Stand a little taller, rise a little higher, be a little better. Make the extra effort. You will be happier. You will know a new satisfaction, a new gladness in your heart. [4]
Finally, I would like to share a scripture of hope. The Lord said to the prophet Joshua:
Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest. [5]
We can be optimistic about the new semester because we can have the Spirit to be with us all the time if we want it.
I challenge all of us to write today in our notebooks and journals about the hopes we have for this semester. We could also write of the gratitude we feel for our Father in Heaven, who has allowed us to be where we can see the stars and feel His love.
Let’s have a wonderful semester together. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
[1]You’ve Got Mail, Nora Ephron, Warner Brothers, 1998.
[2] Chris Bentley, “2 Weeks After Hurricane Michael, Homeowners on Florida’s Panhandle Begin to Rebuild,” WBUR, Oct. 25, 2018.
[3] John 16:33.
[4] “Chapter 3: Cultivating an Attitude of Happiness and A Spirit of Optimism,” Teachings of the Presidents of the Church: Gordon B. Hinckley, 2016, p. 77.
[5] Joshua 1:9.