I want to take just a couple of minutes this afternoon to give you some words of encouragement at the start of this new semester. President Clark and I often get questions from students regarding the Spirit and how to effectively use the guidance of the Holy Ghost in our lives. All of us seek to feel the sustaining power of the Holy Ghost when we are making big decisions or seeking specific blessings; but it is also the case that we can have the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost and know that we have the guidance of the Spirit in everything we do! In D&C 121 we read these words of revelation:
"And let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God; and the doctrine of the priesthood shall distil upon thy soul as the dews from heaven"
"[And] the Holy Ghost shall be thy constant companion."[1]
Elder Bednar once answered a student's question in home evening about how to get guidance from the Spirit by saying that you just have to "be good--live the commandments and be good!"
In April conference of 1990, Elder Wirthlin taught:
"When we are doing what is right, we will not feel timid and hesitant about seeking divine direction. We will know the Lord will answer our prayers and help us in our need."[2]
People who do what is right have integrity. They do what they say they will do. They live the standards they have committed to live and are firm in keeping covenants they have made. That is why Elder Bednar could say to a student at BYU-Idaho: "just be good, keep the commandments, and the Spirit will guide you."
We all have the opportunity to live lives of integrity, lives of personal honor. To live a life of personal honor, we must be true at all times.
I would like to read to you part of an e-mail President Clark received from a student recently. This student was at work at a business here in Rexburg and was approached by a Bureau of Land Management employee. The following conversation took place between the BLM employee and the student:
"I have a question--Are you a student at the University?" I told him I was, and then he seriously asked, "What is a typical student like there?" I wasn't sure what he was getting at, so I paused to think how to answer him. He then explained that he had had to kick out a group of about 50 students who had built a bon fire in the wrong part of the sand dunes. He told me with slight awe that not one of them yelled or swore at him or made any sort of fuss (apparently that's what usually happens to him when he tells people they have to leave a place where they shouldn't be). They [the students] quickly obeyed and promptly put out their bon fire.
I told him that experience pretty much describes BYU-Idaho students--they probably just felt REALLY bad.
He said that was exactly the impression he'd gotten. I could tell this man had been quite impacted by this experience. It seemed like he couldn't shake off how honest and simply nice the students had been.
I felt proud to be a BYU-I student, that's for sure. What if those students HAD been rude? What kind of impact would they have had on the man then?"[3]
I am grateful that those students did what was right. They were true at all times. They had integrity.
President Faust said:
"Integrity can be defined as a firm adherence to a code of moral values . . . and is the light that shines from a disciplined conscience. It is the strength of duty within us."[4]
A great blessing of a life of integrity is the companionship of the Holy Ghost. Elder Wirthlin taught:
"[A] reward of integrity is the confidence it can give us in approaching God. When virtue garnishes our thoughts unceasingly, our confidence is strong in the presence of God."
"The consummate reward of integrity is the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost does not attend us when we do evil. But when we do what is right, he can dwell with us and guide us in all we do."[5]
I am grateful for these promised blessings. I am also grateful for the Spirit we feel on this campus because each of us seeks to be true at all times and to live lives of personal honor. Living lives of personal honor provides protection and is a preparation for the future. May we all seek to have integrity in our actions every day so that we can have the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost, I pray, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Notes
[1] D&C 121:45-46
[2] Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin, "Personal Integrity," Ensign, May 1990, 30
[3] Keli Washburn, E-mail to President Kim B. Clark, September 10, 2010
[4] Elder James E. Faust, "We Believe in You!" BYU Fireside November 1998
[5] Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin, "Personal Integrity," Ensign, May 1990, 30