It is truly an honor for me to be here today. I love this university and I love being associated with the students, staff and faculty here. I pray for the power of the Holy Ghost to be with us here today. May we all be taught by the Spirit.
From where I stand, I have a great view of this magnificent building. It is likely that I see this building much differently than most of you. I see through the eyes of a builder. I have spent much of my life either on a construction site building or teaching about construction processes. I come from four generations of builders. As a young boy I remember my grandfather, who was a retired builder, coming to our home early in the morning to take me along with him to visit construction sites. We would sit together on the tailgate of grandpa's pickup truck watching some of the big buildings in Salt Lake being built. Just like a big-screen action movie, we watched together the heavy machinery digging and lifting and the workers moving up higher and higher, week after week. My father, also a builder, took me along at an early age to clean up job sites and then to work along with his construction crews. I grew up loving construction.
For over 20 years, I have followed and watched closely the new construction on this campus. This building and the nearby temple are two of my favorites. I remember discussions years ago of how wonderful it would be to have a building on campus large enough that the entire student body could gather to be taught. At that time, the enrollment was about 7,500--half of what it is today.
Our prayers were answered on May 22, 2006, when President Hinckley announced that a building capable of holding 15,000 would be built and construction would begin as soon as possible. Quickly design work began with professional architects, engineers, and construction managers working closely with Church and university leaders. Shortly after the groundbreaking ceremonies on October 31, 2006, construction began. We all watched with excitement the construction process, winter and summer, from excavation to concrete foundations to the erecting of the giant red steel beams that made up the structural framework. I toured the job site many times, having been invited by past graduates who were part of the construction management team.
As I look out today, I think back on the sights and sounds of hundreds of construction professionals, large cranes and equipment digging, lifting and hauling. I remember the excitement as the building began to take shape as it slowly rose out of the ground. I continued to watch this building until it was finished and dedicated. Sister Puzey and I were serving our mission in the Philippines so we watched by way of video stream.
Now standing here with almost x-ray like vision, I can look out and see the giant air handler tunnels just below the floor of those of you sitting in front of me. I see electrical and mechanical systems within the walls and the equipment that supports the lighting, sound, security and the comfortable temperature we enjoy as we sit here today.
We are truly blessed as we gather together in such a magnificent building where every person on campus can now meet comfortably to learn and be inspired. On December 17, 2010, as President Henry B. Eyring dedicated this building to the Lord, in his prayer he stated, "We invoke Thy blessing upon these structures and upon all who will enter them." That is you and I.
Now consider with me the fundamental principles that were applied in the construction of this building. The BYU-Idaho Center is built on a strong, firm foundation that supports the great loads that are placed upon it. Each phase of the work comes in a sequence that must be well planned and organized. There is order in all phases of the work and installation of materials and equipment. All materials and control systems are designed and engineered to carry the proper loads, stresses and spans required.
Directly over my head is a 258-foot steel king truss weighing tons that is carrying the beams and roof over your head. It allows for a clear span that creates an unencumbered view of the entire stage area. I'm confident that it was properly engineered and installed or I wouldn't dare be standing here.
Today I want to take four of the principles that we use in the construction of a building like this and apply them in the building of our own righteous lives.
First: As with this building, our personal desires direct us to who and what we will become.
Second: Discipline and hard work are required in the building of great things.
Third: In the building process, be prepared for difficult challenges.
Fourth: Dedicate yourselves to the Lord.
Now, what do we really desire to become? We do not build strong and beautiful buildings without strong desires and commitments that carry us to completion. The desires of our hearts and our day-to-day following and building on those desires eventually make us who we are.
In the April 2011 General Conference, Elder Dallin H. Oaks stated, "Desires dictate our priorities, priorities shape our choices, and choices determine our actions. The desires we act on determine our changing, our achieving, and our becoming."
What are the desires of your heart? Consider them deeply and prayerfully. Write your feeling down, especially the promptings of the Spirit so they will not be lost. You may begin with what you want to ultimately become and then working backwards, making plans on how you will achieve your desires. Just as with Alma's teachings on faith, "If ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you."[1]
While serving as a mission president in the Philippines, my oldest grandson Tanner, who is seated on the stand with us today, was asked to give a talk in his sacrament meeting on how to prepare to become a missionary. He was 13 years old at the time and had some questions himself on how best to prepare. He quickly sent off an e-mail to me for my advice.
I decided to ask my 160 full-time missionaries. In a weekly letter to all my missionaries, I explained the situation and asked what they thought was the very most important thing Tanner could do and teach others on how to prepare to serve a mission. The next week all of my missionaries responded. I was a bit surprised that the number one preparation recommended was to have a sincere desire to serve. Becoming begins with desire.
The prophet Nephi has always been a hero of mine. In his early years he acts upon his desire to know the truth and the knowledge he receives from the Lord becomes a foundation for his righteous life.
I often wonder what life was like for young Nephi and his family in the great city of Jerusalem. I imagine him to be a few years younger than most of you. He's a good young man having been taught by goodly parents. I see Nephi as a popular high school student, handsome, large in stature, and happy. He's likely strong and maybe on the starting team of East Jerusalem High's soccer team or whatever sport is popular at the time. He and his brothers are enjoying life and are happy in Jerusalem. Father Lehi and mother Sariah are likely prominent figures in the community living in a very lovely home with much land, gold, silver, and precious things. I imagine their lifestyle to be comfortable and that they are able to afford and enjoy the pleasures of life.
There is contention in the city between those who are righteous and seek to follow the prophets and those who are wicked and seek to fight against and even kill the prophets. Nephi's father, Lehi, being troubled by all of this conflict, goes to the Lord and receives a marvelous vision. Lehi, following the instructions of the Lord, begins to prophesy and warn his friends and all the people of the city. Most turn against him, mocking him and threatening his life. It is then that the Lord commands Lehi in a dream to leave all his possessions and take his family and depart into the wilderness.
How would you react when Dad announces in family home evening that he has had a dream and that the family will be leaving everything and moving into the desert? After a few long weeks in the desert, in a hot, smelly, camel-skin tent, the older boys begin to complain and murmur against their father even to the point that they seek to kill him.
At this time, Nephi needs to know what to do and what to believe. The good life seems to be gone and his own family is fighting and having trouble. Right now he needs to know the truth; he needs a testimony. The scriptures say:
"having great desires to know of the mysteries of God, wherefore, I did cry unto the Lord; and behold he did visit me, and did soften my heart that I did believe all the words which had been spoken by my father; wherefore, I did not rebel against him like unto my brothers."[2]
Shortly after Nephi's visit with the Lord, Lehi asks him and his brothers to return to Jerusalem for the plates of Laban. As you know, his brothers complain and murmur, but Nephi with great faith goes to his father and says to him: "I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know the Lord giveth no commandment unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commanded them."[3]
What changed for Nephi? His great desire to know was transformed into a great desire to willingly serve the Lord. "I will go and do." Some of us have had times in our lives when we were searching for the truth and may have drifted into a state of "wishes and whatevers" following whatever comes along.
I remember when I was about 11 years old. I delivered the local weekly newspaper in our town, which paid me a few dollars each week. I remember considering all the wonderful things I could buy with my money. One evening while thumbing through a magazine, I came upon an advertisement for a Lucky Leprechaun. It was a solid silver figure of a leprechaun and the ad told of its magical power and how it was known to bring luck and good fortune to those who processed it. The cost was $7, which seemed like a lot but the leprechaun in the picture appeared quite large and I was sure the pure silver alone was worth the money. All my desires and thoughts turned to receiving wonderful luck, wealth and happiness from my silver leprechaun. It took me several weeks of earnings before I could send off my order, and it seemed like forever in coming, but finally the package arrived that would change my life. When I opened the envelope, I was surprised at how small the little figure was.
I resolved in my mind that the size didn't matter. It was the luck it would bring to my life that was most important. I took the little leprechaun everywhere with me, but after a few weeks my excitement faded as I realized nothing had changed in my life. I had paid too much for the small silver leprechaun. However, it did teach me some valuable lessons. I learned to be more careful as to my desires because many things in the world draw us away from what is most important. I also learned that often things are not as they first appear and that luck has much more to do with hard work than just looking to luck.
Prayerfully consider your personal desires and what drives you forward each day. In modern revelation the Lord declares: "For I, the Lord, will judge all men according to their works, according to the desire of their hearts" (Doctrine and Covenants 137:9). Now the second principle: developing the discipline to work hard. Certainly this building stands as an example of years of hard work. The work was organized, planned, and inspired. Hard work is always difficult, but if we are motivated by strong personal desire and commitment, we can achieve nearly anything.
When my son, Monty, was young, he had a strong desire to become an Eagle Scout. In his early years of Scouting he worked very hard and it appeared that by the time he turned 16 he would have his Eagle. Well, once he began driving and became interested in sports and girls, his desire to become an Eagle Scout began to fade.
About a month before turning 18, when he would no longer be eligible to receive his Eagle, he had one more required merit badge to finish. I remember one evening he came to me and said, "Dad, I only have one more merit badge to finish my Eagle and only one month to do it in. How can I make me do it?" Monty did receive his Eagle Scout award after some hard work and disciplined effort. Over the years I have thought many times of that statement: "How can I make me do it"?
Oliver Cowdery was rebuked by the Lord and not allowed to translate for Joseph for a period of time because, as the Lord described, "And, behold, it is because you did not continue as you commenced when you began to translate." Are there things physically, mentally and spiritually that we do not "continue as we commenced?" If you are like me, I often have good intentions but weaken when those intentions become difficult or other things seem to interfere and distract. For example, most of us have had the desire to get in better physical condition or lose weight, but weaken as eating less and exercising more becomes difficult.
What about your desire to become a better student? The dedicated faculty and staff here at BYU-Idaho are working hard to make available resources and opportunities to help you become a disciple-leader in your family, in your community, and in the world. Are you taking charge of your education by applying the Learning Model? What are you doing daily to always have the Spirit with you? Do you struggle to consistently read your scriptures or have regular prayer because of a busy schedule?
Just as with the construction of this building, we must have a plan and a schedule to follow daily and weekly of what we desire to achieve and then stick to it. Little by little we grow and build into the person we hope to become. We must discipline ourselves to follow and work hard to achieve what we truly desire. The author Aldous Huxley stated: "The most valuable of all education is the ability to make yourself do the thing you have to do, when it has to be done, whether you like it or not."
Third: prepare for challenges. During the excavation of this building, the contractor encountered thick layers of lava rock. Heavy equipment digging, hammering, and controlled blasting was required. One by one, large boulders were broken apart and hauled away. Excavation was much more costly and difficult than expected.
I love Nephi's example of not complaining and just going to work when he and his family had traveled in the wilderness and been through many trials. In 1 Nephi 16, we read how their family had camped in order to hunt for food. As you remember, Nephi broke his bow and Laman and Lemuel's bows had lost their spring and they could not obtain food. As the scripture relates:
"And it came to pass that Laman and Lemuel and the sons of Ishmael did begin to murmur exceedingly because of their sufferings and afflictions in the wilderness; and also my father began to murmur against the Lord his God; yea and they were all exceedingly sorrowful, even that they did murmur against the Lord."[4]
Nephi, being as hungry and fatigued as the rest, does not complain, but goes to work to solve the problem. Out of a piece of wood he makes a bow and from a straight stick he makes an arrow and then goes to his father for directions on where to hunt. When Nephi returns from a successful hunt we read: "and now when they beheld that I had obtained food, how great was their joy!"
When challenges come, and you can expect they will, don't waste your time complaining. Get to work to solve the problem. In 1997, during the 150th Sesquicentennial Anniversary of the arrival of the pioneers in the Salt Lake Valley, Sister Puzey and I were invited to ride our horses along as outriders for the wagon train that would be entering the Salt Lake Valley. We rode with the wagons and teams of horses in case there were problems.
One morning as we were working our way up a steep mountain pass, we came to a riverbed that was muddy and difficult to travel through. I moved up alongside the wagon that was about to cross the muddy riverbed and asked the experienced teamster driving what I might do to help. He calmly turned and assured me he would be fine and then added, "Always remember on a difficult trail to keep encouraging your horses on and never say 'whoa' in a mud hole." I have always remembered that wisdom in difficult times in my life: "Never say 'whoa' in a mud hole."
Fourth, dedicate yourselves to the Lord. At the completion of this great building, the BYU-Idaho Center, it was dedicated to the Lord. After Nephi received his testimony from the Lord and pressed forward through many difficult trials, he proved to the Lord that he would truly go and do the things he was asked to do. Nephi was ready in spirit and determination when the Lord called him to the mountain and gave him instructions on how to build a ship. I wonder if Nephi had ever seen a ship having been raised in the desert areas of Jerusalem. Again, among the mocking and threatening of his brothers, he stood to testify in word and deed as he had before: "If God had commanded me to do all things I could do them."
My young brothers and sisters, I know we have a Heavenly Father who loves us and knew well that the building of righteous lives on this earth would be difficult. He sent his Son, the Master Builder of the universe, the perfect example for us to follow to help us along on our journey. I testify that our Savior, Jesus Christ, lives and answers our prayers. In name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Notes
[1] Alma 32:27
[2] 1 Nephi 2:16
[3] 1 Nephi 3:7
[4] 1 Nephi 16:20