My dear brothers and sisters, it is a great blessing to be with you on this very happy day. Every time I stand at this pulpit in this place I feel the love of the Lord and His great power. I hope you feel that today too.
You stand at the beginning of a new phase of your lives. Wonderful experiences involving family, the Church, perhaps additional schooling, and work lie ahead for you. And yet, you also face some uncertainty and perhaps some concern as you head off into a very challenging world.
Some of that concern and that uncertainty are real! We live in the latter days. It is a time of great change in technology, in the relationships between countries, in social relationships, in economies, and in society’s values and standards. It is a time of much darkness, but also of much greater light. In fact, you and I are blessed to live in these days. This is the dispensation of the fulness of times! There is a Prophet in Israel. Temples dot the earth. The Lord is moving in power to prepare His Kingdom and His people for His return. These are the best of times.
In that spirit I want to encourage you and give you hope.
Sister Clark and I travel a great deal, and everywhere we go we meet the faithful graduates of BYU-Idaho and see the fulfillment of a remarkable prophecy made by Elder Henry B. Eyring in 2001. Speaking of the graduates of this university, he said:
They will be natural leaders who know how to teach and how to learn. . . . [They] will become legendary for their capacity to build the people around them and to add value wherever they serve. [1]
The graduates of BYU-Idaho are fulfilling that prophecy and so will you.
And so, I say to you today: go forward, unafraid, with confidence in the Lord. This promise of the Lord in the 121st section of the Doctrine and Covenants is your promise:
Let thy bowels also be full of charity towards all men, and to the household of faith, and let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God. . . [2]
If you are true and faithful to your covenants, three things will happen to fulfill this promise in your lives:
1. You will be in the temple of the Lord as often as you can.
You will be in the presence of the Lord in His Holy House, and your confidence in Him, in His love, and in His power will wax strong. You will leave the temple, “armed with [the Lord’s] power. . .[His] glory [will] be round about [you], and [His] angels [will] have charge over [you]."[3]
2. The Lord will be with you wherever you go.
His Spirit will be in your hearts, and His angels round about you to bear you up. [4] Through the power of the Holy Ghost you will be in the presence of the Lord. You will feel His love, and you will experience His light. [5] He will bless you, and your confidence in Him, in His love, mercy and grace, and in His power will wax strong.
3. In a coming day you will stand before Him and see Him in all His glory, majesty and power.
You will recognize Him, and your confidence in Him will wax strong. He will say to you: well done, thou good and faithful servant. Enter into my rest. [6]
This is your promise. This is your destiny.
My dear brothers and sisters, I know that is true because I know that God our Father lives. His Son, the great Jehovah, the Lord Jesus Christ, lives! He is our Living Savior and Redeemer. He watches over His Church, and He watches over you. If you put your trust in Him and keep your covenants, your confidence will wax strong in the Lord, and you will build others and add value wherever you serve. I so testify and leave you with my love in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Notes
[1] Henry B. Eyring, “A Steady, Upward Course,” Brigham Young University-Idaho devotional, Sept. 18, 2001; byui.edu/devotionalsandspeeches.
[2] Doctrine and Covenants 121:45.
[3] Doctrine and Covenants 109:22.
[4] Doctrine and Covenants 84:88.
[5] Doctrine and Covenants 50:24.
[6] Alma 12:34; Alma 13:6, 16; Matthew 25:21, 23.