It’s always a delight to be with you on
this campus.
My children and grandchildren have attended
this university, and I love it very much.
Thank you for your attendance today.
President Holland informed me that you would
probably all be sitting down, so I have decided
to do the same if you will permit me.
I know enough about your busy and hectic lives
to know that you sometimes get frustrated.
You might even worry a little bit from time
to time.
I know all about that.
You’re probably somewhere between midterms
and final papers, and the semester seems as
if it will never end.
Some of you may be farther behind than you
thought it was possible to be in a single
semester.
I’ve had semesters like that.
They pass.
You may not pass, but semesters do.
Now you know I’m kidding, don’t you?
You’re going to do just fine, even if the
bank has called to offer a special tutor in
balancing your checkbook.
My message to you today is to “fear not,
little flock.”
It is to encourage you to rejoice in the great
blessings of life.
It is to invite you to feel the great thrill
of gospel living and our Father in Heaven’s
love.
Life is wonderful, even in the hard times,
and there is happiness, joy, and peace at
stops all along the way, and endless portions
of them at the end of the road.
Sure, there are plenty of things to worry
about—some of them very serious things—but
that is why we speak in gospel terms of faith,
and hope, and charity.
As Latter-day Saints, ours is “the abundant
life,” and we try to emphasize our blessings
and opportunities while we minimize our disappointments
and worries.
“Search diligently, pray always, and be
believing,” the scripture says, “and all
things shall work together for your good."
I want to remind you of that promise.
Set aside any worries you may have long enough
to go with me to Independence, Missouri, where
we will observe the worries of another generation
of Saints.
The year is 1833; the Church is only three
years old and is struggling for its very survival.
On Saturday, July twentieth of that year,
a mob destroys the Church printing office
in Independence, Missouri, and tars and feathers
two members of the Church.
Three days later, Church leaders are forced
to sign a written agreement to leave Jackson
County by January first of the next year.
Upon learning of this from Oliver Cowdery,
who was sent from Jackson County to report
these unfortunate events to Joseph Smith,
the prophet calls a meeting to discuss the
matter.
It is decided that all “measures should
be immediately taken to seek redress by the
laws of our country."
Church leaders in Missouri approach the governor
of the state and are advised by the state
attorney general to seek redress under the
provisions of the law.
This does not please local nonmembers, however,
and mobs destroy several Mormon homes and
whip a number of men.
Four days later, on 4 November 1833, one Mormon
and two Missourians die in a skirmish on the
Big Blue River.
The violence continues, but local judges refuse
again and again to issue warrants against
the mobsters.
You know what follows.
The Church members faced death and difficulty
for well over a decade before they finally
fled to the Rocky Mountains.
Some survived these difficult times spiritually,
and others did not.
Those who survived knew and believed and did
certain things—things that those who fell
away did not know or do.
What they knew was the reality and divinity
and mission of the Lord Jesus Christ.
They knew that Joseph Smith was his chosen
prophet.
Later, they sustained Brigham Young in that
same capacity, then John Taylor, and Wilford
Woodruff, and so on.
What they did, knowing these things to be
true, was exercise their faith, in spite of
their worries and concerns.
They were believers, and there was peace and
joy and safety in the Church as established
and led by the Lord Jesus Christ.
Please remember this one thing.
If our lives and our faith are centered upon
Jesus Christ and his restored gospel, nothing
can ever go permanently wrong.
On the other hand, if our lives are not centered
on the Savior and his teachings, no other
success can ever be permanently right.
I commend to you the revelations of God as
the standard by which we must live our lives
and by which we must measure every decision
and every deed.
Accordingly, when you have worries and challenges,
face them by turning to the scriptures and
the prophets.
Let’s begin with your academic worries.
You do not need me to catalog the academic
challenges of this week or this month, or
to remind you how long and discouraging some
days can be.
You worry about papers and tests, about grades
and classes and graduate school.
For man of you, being here is a financial
sacrifice, but you are here anyway.
That’s a good sign.
It might help to remember that by laboring
here you are answering a divine mandate to
study and learn “things both in heaven and
in the earth, and under the earth; things
which have been, things which are, . . . things
which are at home, things which are abroad;
. . . and a knowledge also of countries and
of kingdoms."
In this connection, consider the oft-quoted
words of Nephi;
I will go and do the things which the Lord
hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth
no commandments unto the children of men,
save he shall prepare a way for them that
they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth
them.
The Lord will help you in your school work
if you give your own very best academic effort
and try to live worthy of his help.
The scriptures will not tell you what classes
to take from which professors, or what major
to choose, or what topic you should select
for the paper that is due Friday morning.
But what they do have to offer on the subject
of your university career is infinitely more
important.
They tell you how and why to learn; they encourage
you to prepare and grow.
You recognize these words:
Seek ye diligently and teach one another words
of wisdom; yea, seek ye out of the best books
words of wisdom; seek learning, even by study
and also by faith.
Whether the subject is scripture or sociology,
you cannot ignore study or faith if you wish
to succeed.
At least have faith that you can succeed,
that every semester eventually comes to an
end, that your righteous efforts will be rewarded.
Of course, no amount of faith will help you
pass this afternoon’s pop quiz if you haven’t
done the required reading.
When Ernest L. Boyer was on campus last year,
he said the only universal prayer offered
in school was, “Dear Lord, don’t let her
call on me today.”
So work hard, and pray, but do not worry.
While you study the world and its many problems,
resist the temptation a few have to be cynical.
Do not lose sight of the divine wonder all
about you.
Do not give yourself cause to share the regrets
expressed by the dying young man in Dostoevsky’s
The Brothers Karamazov:
The windows of his room looked out into the
garden, and [the] garden was a shady one,
with old trees in it which were coming into
bud.
The first birds of springs were flitting in
the branches, chirruping and singing at the
windows.
And looking at them and admiring them, he
began suddenly begging their forgiveness . . . , “Birds
of heaven, happy birds, forgive me, for I
have sinned against you.
. . . Yes,” he said, “there was such a
glory of God all about me; birds, trees, meadows,
sky, only I . . . dishonored it all and did
not notice the beauty and glory.”
Remember the Lord’s encouragement in these
matters.
Look at life and its wonders “with cheerful
hearts and countenances, . . . [for] the fullness
of the earth is yours, . . . Yea, all things
which come of the earth . . . are made for
the benefit and use of man, both to please
the eye and to gladden the heart; Yea, for
food and for raiment, for taste and for smell,
to strengthen the body and to enliven the
soul."
Wonder and reverence for God’s handiwork
is a form of worship, and the spiritually
attentive soul will find such wonders in one’s
studies, in the sky and the mountains, and,
believe it or not, in that most unique of
all creations, your roommate.
When you’re not worrying about classes,
you probably spend a fair amount of time trying
to balance your funds between tuition and
pizza and a little gasoline for the car, if
you have one.
Look to the scriptures.
You have a lot of company if you are poor.
You have read these verses;
And a certain scribe came, and said unto him,
Master, I will follow thee withersoever thou
goest.
And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes,
and the birds of the air have nests; but the
Son of man hath not where to lay his head.
You will find, as you follow Christ, that
the path to him often leads through poverty.
And if you are not struggling financially,
your trail may be the greatest of all—prosperity.
Whatever your financial circumstances may
be, there are some principles that apply to
you.
Pay a full tithe and be generous in your other
offerings.
Acknowledge that whatever wealth you have,
great or small, monetary or otherwise, belongs
to the Lord and is to be used as he directs.
Do not covet what you have or what you do
not have.
Brigham Young once said, “I am more afraid
of covetousness in our Elders [and sisters]
than I am of the hordes of hell."
Things eventually work out financially; hang
on and have faith.
I mentioned roommates a moment ago and heard
a few of you laugh a bit.
One of the more trying aspects of student
life can be living with your roommates—or
even if some cases, with spouses or parents
or children.
There is room in every home, however humble,
however temporary, for repentance and forgiveness,
for charity and service.
If something is wrong, it should be dealt
with, but “only by persuasion, by long-suffering,
by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned."
If you are inclined to be troubled about roommates
or spouses, try to remember to worry less
about your own welfare and more about that
of others.
If charity is what every apartment needs—and
what home doesn’t?—you be the one to initiate
and encourage it.
Read Mormon on the subject, who said, “Pray
unto the Father with all the energy of heart,
that ye may be filled with this love."
Someone has to begin, to try, to reach out.
Someone has to assume responsibility and make
good things happen.
Why not you?
Why not now?
Unless I’m seriously mistaken, many of you
also worry about courtship, marriage, and
starting a family.
You probably will not find the name of your
future spouse in Nephi’s vision or the book
of Revelation; you probably will not be told
it by an angel or even by your bishop.
Some things you must work out for yourself.
Have faith and be obedient, and blessings
will come.
Try to be patient.
Try not to let what you don’t have blind
you to that which you do have.
If you worry too much about marriage, it can
canker the very possibility of it.
Live fully and faithfully as one person before
having undue anxiety about living as two.
If you are married and struggling, your course
is the same: have faith, be obedient, and
trust in your covenants.
All can be well and will be well if you build
on true gospel principles.
We all struggle with health problems occasionally—others
do so constantly.
Illness and disease are part of the burden
of mortality.
Have faith and be positive.
The power of the priesthood is real, and there
is so much that is good in life, even if we
struggle physically.
It is a joy to know that there will be no
injury or disease in the Resurrection.
Some of our concerns may come in the form
of temptations.
Others may be difficult decisions pertaining
to education or career or money or marriage.
Whatever your burden is, you will find the
strength you need in Christ.
Jesus Christ is Alpha and Omega, literally
the beginning and the end.
He is with us from start to finish, and as
such is more than a spectator in our lives.
There is hope in the testimony of Paul;
For we have not an high priest which cannot
be touched with the feeling of our infirmities;
but was in all points tempted like as we are,
yet [was] without sin.
If the yoke under which we struggle is sin
itself, the message is the same.
Christ knows the full weight of our sins,
for he carried it first.
If our burden is not sin nor temptation, but
illness or poverty or rejection, it’s the
same.
He knows.
Alma saw his day, and testified:
And he shall go forth, suffering pains and
afflictions and temptations of every kind;
. . . he will take upon him the pains and
the sicknesses of his people.
And he will take upon him death, that he may
loose the bands of death which bind his people;
and he will take upon him their infirmities.
He suffered so much more than our sins.
He whom Isaiah called the “man of sorrows"
knows perfectly every problem through which
we pass because he chose to bear the full
weight of all our troubles and our pains.
Why?
“That [he] may be filled with mercy, according
to the flesh, that he may know according to
flesh how to succor his people according to
their infirmities."
Brothers and sisters, you have and will have
worries and challenges of many kinds, but
embrace life joyfully and full of faith.
Study the scriptures regularly.
Pray fervently.
Obey the voice of the Spirit and the prophets.
Do all that you can to help others.
You will find great happiness in such a course.
Some glorious day all your worries will be
tuned to joys.
As Joseph Smith wrote to the struggling Saints
from his cell in Liberty Jail:
Let us cheerfully do all things that lie in
our power; and then may we stand still, with
the utmost assurance, to see the salvation
of God, and for his arm to be revealed.
Fear not, little flock; do good; let earth
and hell combine against you, for if ye are
built upon my rock, they cannot prevail.
Look unto me in every thought; doubt not,
fear not.
Behold the wounds which pierced my side, and
also the prints of the nails in my hands and
feet; be faithful, keep my commandments, and
ye shall inherit the kingdom of heaven.
I know that God is our Father, and that we
are his spirit offspring.
I know that Jesus Christ is his Son, the Redeemer
of the world; that he came in the meridian
of time to provide the example of perfect
love and to perform the ultimate sacrifice.
I know that he rose from the tomb on the third
day with a resurrected, perfect body of flesh
and bone, and that he appeared to his prophet
Joseph Smith.
I know that this is his Church, and it is
led today by his prophet, Ezra Taft Benson.
I know that, as Nephi says, God “loveth
his children,” and “He doeth not anything
save it be for the benefit of the world."
May those words of Nephi help you to worry
less and enjoy life more, I pray in the name
of Jesus Christ.
Amen.
