Thank you for the kind introduction. I am very grateful to be here today with you, and only wish that my wife, Mary and our family could also be here to see your faces and feel the Spirit that is here today. During the October 2014, general conference, I had the opportunity to say the prayer at the beginning of the final session on Sunday afternoon. Let me tell you what happened. As I was praying, I meant to express gratitude that through General Conference our faith had been strengthen. Instead, in my prayer, I expressed that we were “so grateful for this opportunity to have our strength faithened.” I quickly corrected myself; however, I soon found that once something is said in a digital format, one can never take it back. As soon as I got home after general conference and opened up Facebook, I had a post from one of our former missionaries who had a picture of me. His post read, “And just that fast, you’re a meme.” Here is the picture that was attached to the post.
This experience has taught me, and it should teach you, something about the things you say that are sent out to the world in a digital form. Not long after this General Conference, I had a meeting at Church Headquarters that included Elder David A. Bednar. At that time, he said to me, “David, you should write a talk about what you prayed for.” He then said that “the grammar is not correct, but the thought is right. Often it is our strength that needs to be “faithened” in order for us to become what God has always intended and to be able to do those things that He has always known that we were sent to do.My prayer today is that not only will your faith be strengthened, but that we will, together, determine to add faith, that is, to “faithen” the many strengths God has given you and that you have developed. As I look at you, I see so many strengths. I see intelligence, diligence, personal discipline in study, faith, and a persistent desire to achieve more, and have more, than what was available to your parents and earlier generations.
To these wonderful personal strengths, I also see the blessings and strength of learning and education, which are always accompanied by opportunity and mobility. With each of these strengths comes the temptations to misuse the very gifts, or strengths, that God has provided. President Oaks once gave a talk entitled, “Our Strengths Can Become our Downfall.”[1] In this remarkable message, President Oaks stated, “…weakness is not our only vulnerability. Satan can also attack us where we think we are strong—in the very areas where we are proud of our strengths. He will approach us through the greatest talents and spiritual gifts we possess. If we are not wary, Satan can cause our spiritual downfall by corrupting us through our strengths as well as by exploiting our weaknesses.”[2] Today I focus on three areas where we would all be blessed to have our strengths faithened as we move toward the important decisions that will shape our lives and determine our destiny.[3] The first area of strength to which the addition of increased faith would be a blessing is the achievement of academic and other personal goals. We know that “Goals reflect the desires of our hearts and our vision of what we can accomplish. Through goals and plans, our hopes are transformed into action. Goal setting and planning are acts of faith.”[4] In a talk to young adults, President M. Russell Ballard said,“I am so thoroughly convinced that if we don’t set goals in our life and learn how to master the techniques of living to reach our goals, we can reach a ripe old age and look back on our life only to see that we reached but a small part of our full potential. When one learns to master the principles of setting a goal, he will then be able to make a great difference in the results he attains in this life.”[5] We are also taught that “goals are a means of helping you bring about much good among Heavenly Father’s children.”
How can Satan use this remarkable strength to bring about our downfall? Academic excellence and the achievement of financial and other goals can be accompanied by either an ever-increasing sense of gratitude for the blessings of God in our lives, or, in many cases, a sense of pride that “I have accomplished this”, coupled with gradual separation from God and the Spirit. In too many cases, the person who has accomplished great things becomes convinced that he or she is truly self-sufficient and that it was all done without the blessings, assistance or guidance of God. Too often there is a failure to recognize the many blessings of God that made it possible. Prophets have long understood these natural-man tendencies. Jacob warned of those who “when they are learned they think they are wise, and they hearken not unto the counsel of God, for they set it aside, supposing they know of themselves, wherefore, their wisdom is foolishness and it profiteth them not.” He then added: “But to be learned is good if they hearken unto the counsels of God.”
Some who are striving to achieve personal goals and ambitions begin to act and believe as if this life is all about themselves and their own personal achievement and development. If we are not careful to acknowledge God, have humility and provide service, the strengths of diligence, focus, education and accomplishment will come with the unintended consequence of reduced empathy for and caring about others, excessive focus on personal development, and selfishness. This life is about so much more than that. Over-emphasis of personal development and personal achievement can lead one away from the true doctrine of Christ which teaches that the two great commandments are to love God and to “love thy neighbor as thyself.”[8] At a recent BYU Devotional, Elder Neil L. Andersen stated: “As disciples of Christ, we strongly reject the notion that our lives are all about ourselves. Rather, we follow the Savior.”[9] I hope that you are learning the important truth that Elder Andersen taught. King Benjamin said it this way: “And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.”[10] In the church today, we call this ministering.As we minister, we must also remember that the most important acts of ministry we will do are those that build and preserve faith. Usually these are done one-on-one. “You have the opportunities, as disciples of the Savior, to minister in a way that helps keep a friend’s faith from faltering.”[11]
To be this kind of friend, you will need to add faith to your natural strengths, and overcome the culture we find in so many places that teaches you to not reach out to those in spiritual need or interfere in someone else’s life. You will have to add faith and love to overcome this “hands-off” culture and go out and help someone who is struggling. As you do so, your life and the life of your friend will be blessed. In my life, I have been ministered to in many ways. There have been many acts of kindness shown to me and to my family. However, the acts of ministry that had the greatest effect on my life and my family have been those acts and expressions that have been given with faith, love and encouragement for me to do better, and sometimes, to be better. You can help a friend stay centered in the gospel and maintain or deepen their faith in the Savior and His restored gospel. You can be the friend who helps someone work through their personal questions about the Church or the gospel, all the while staying active, keeping their covenants, reading daily from the Book of Mormon and continuing to pray.
The second set of strengths to which the addition of greater faith would be a blessing relates to our personal commitment to serve God and our fellowman, and our willingness to move forward to temple marriage. You represent the very best of the rising generation in the Church. Each of you have been found worthy and endorsed by your local leaders before coming here. As a generation, you are focused more on service to community and helping those in need than any other generation of which I am aware. You love being together and appreciate how good gospel friends can help you keep the commandments. How would it be possible for the Adversary to bring on your downfall in such a setting? Life, including our time as students, is a time for us to learn to love God and our fellowman, and it is a time to learn and keep God’s commandments. One of the Lord’s commandments is for able, worthy young men to qualify for the Melchizedek Priesthood, receive their endowment and then go out and serve God as one of the Lord’s missionaries. As you were growing up, President Thomas S. Monson said it this way:“First, to young men of the Aaronic Priesthood and to you young men who are becoming elders: I repeat what prophets have long taught—that every worthy, able young man should prepare to serve a mission. Missionary service a priesthood duty—an obligation the Lord expects of us who have been given so very much.
Young men, I admonish you to prepare for service as a missionary. Keep yourselves clean and pure and worthy to represent the Lord. Maintain your health and strength. Study the scriptures. Where such is available, participate in seminary or institute. Familiarize yourself with the missionary handbook Preach My Gospel." He then gave“a word to you young sisters: while you do not have the same priesthood responsibility as do the young men to serve as full-time missionaries, you also make a valuable contribution as missionaries, and we welcome your service.”[12] For many of you, your time at BYU–Hawaii is a time to prepare to serve God and your fellowman as one of the Lord’s missionaries. In order to accept the call to serve, you will need to add faith to your remarkable academic strengths and goals. You will need the faith to know that it is not just community service that you choose that is valued by the Lord. Rather, at this time of your life, you will need to be sufficiently humble to accept His call to serve somewhere in the world in the manner He chooses. You will need to be willing to sacrifice some opportunities to accept the call to serve. What I can promise you is that if you are faithful now and after your mission, God will reward your obedience, faith, preparation and work with a mission that will influence everything you do in life for good.
-Let me tell you my personal experience. I grew up in California, away from the heart of the Church. But I never sensed that separation. I loved my ward in California. Going to Church and participating was simply our way of life. In those early years, the sacrament meetings I remember the most were the ones that involved missionaries either leaving on their missions or coming home. I so admired the faith and courage of those who left. I remember that we often sang, “I’ll Go Where You Want Me to Go.”[13] Sometimes, while sitting next to my mother in sacrament meeting, we would be singing, and she would whisper some additional words to the song:It may not be on the mountain height [“but, David, it might be”]Or over the stormy sea, [“but it might be”]It may not be at the battle’s frontMy Lord will have need of me.But if, by a still small voice he callsTo paths that I do not know, I’ll answer, dear Lord, with my hand in thine;I’ll go where you want me to go.As I watched the faith of those who were leaving on missions, and as I observed the purity and strength of those who came back, I knew that, someday, I wanted to be a missionary. I wanted to be like them – full of faith and goodness, and that feeling never left me. At the start of 9th grade, my family moved back to Salt Lake City and I began those wonderful high school years. There were new friends, new influences and new interests.
We had a large ward with many young men in the ward. There was also an escalating war in Vietnam that had an enormous impact on the ability of young men to serve missions. Because there was a draft, coupled with mandatory military service for those who were drafted, the Church entered into an agreement by which the number of missionaries that could be sent each year was limited to two missionaries per ward. Under the system where each ward could send only two each year, it would be many, many years before I would be able to serve.By July 1970, I had finished the first year of college and would turn missionary age in August. Earlier that year I had met Mary, and by July, we were very much in love.One hot, July afternoon, I returned home from work, and my mother said to me, “The bishop called. He wants to see you.” I asked “When?” and was told that he wanted to see me “now” at the ward. I went to the ward and found Bishop Matheson waiting for me in his office. I could soon tell that this was not an ordinary interview. After making the needed inquiries about me and my life, Bishop Matheson said: “David, it is very unusual, but we have been given the blessing of sending one more missionary this year. Because this was unexpected, as a bishopric we determined to ask the Lord who He would send now. David, what I can tell you is that ‘now’ is the time the Lord would have you serve your mission.” I had no idea that this is what we would be talking about. I had always wanted to go, but I was stunned at the statement that “now” was the time that the Lord would have me serve. I asked for a week to think about it. I left and got into the car and drove around for about an hour, ending back at the ward. Bishop Matheson was alone in his office. I asked him what he was doing, and he said that he was “waiting for me.”I knew I wanted to serve a mission but hadn’t thought I could. Do you ever feel that way? The thought that God was aware of me and that there was a time when He wanted me to serve, and a place and people He had prepared had never occurred to me. To the bishop I said, “Bishop, if ‘now’ is the time the Lord would have me serve, of course I will go.” That was July. In August, I received my call to serve in the Japan Mission.
On October 10, 1970, I entered the Salt Lake Mission Home (we didn’t have an MTC in those days) and after a period of studying Japanese here in Hawaii, I was soon on my way to Japan, arriving on December 10, 1970. During my mission, I grew. My testimony became sure. I came home clean and anxious for whatever the Lord would have me do next in my life.Gratefully, Mary waited, and three months after my mission ended, we were sealed in the Salt Lake Temple. Since that time, we have been blessed with eight wonderful children and 28 grandchildren.Through it all, we have been anchored and blessed by the gospel of Jesus Christ and the faith we gained during my missionary service. Together, our faith and testimony have grown as we have stood together and met life’s challenges. Together, we have the assurance and witness that God is our Father, that His Son is our Savior and that we are led by Prophets and Apostles. All of this, in one way or another, is the result of having made the commitment to offer to the Lord two years of my life as a missionary. Indeed, everything good that has happened in my life -- or our life -- can be traced to the decision to serve a mission for the Lord. Every strength we had together had to be “faithened” in order for me to accept the call, and for Mary to let me go. For many of you, it will be the same. It will be a time to decide to add faith to your strengths and choose to serve. When you return from your mission, it will take faith to choose to not just “hangout”. Some of you will need an addition of faith to allow yourself to fall in love and trust someone to be your eternal partner. You will need an increase of faith to believe that God’s plan for you includes marriage and children and not just personal accomplishment and self-improvement. It is through these acts of faith and love that the greatest work of your life will be done.[14]The final set of strengths that need to be faithened come with education, opportunity and mobility. With these great strengths, Satan can tempt us to forget the very purposes for which the Lord and His Church have made them available to you.
The Lord has given you these remarkable blessings so that you can learn and then return and build up His church in that place where He gave you birth, culture, language and nationality. With opportunity and mobility comes the temptation to not return and to not help build up the Lord’s church in whatever country you came from. President Nelson has taught, “Scripture foretells that the people ‘shall be gathered home to the lands of their inheritance, and shall be established in all their lands of promise.’ ‘Every nation is the gathering place for its own people.’ The place of gathering for Brazilian Saints is in Brazil; the place of gathering for Nigerian Saints is in Nigeria; the place of gathering for Korean Saints is in Korea; and so forth. Zion is ‘the pure in heart.’ Zion is wherever righteous Saints are. Publications, communications, and congregations are now such that nearly all members have access to the doctrines, keys, ordinances, and blessings of the gospel, regardless of their location. Spiritual security will always depend upon how one lives, not where one lives. Saints in every land have equal claim upon the blessings of the Lord.”[15]Some might say that if they return home, there will be no opportunity. I recently visited with several graduates of BYU–Hawaii who have returned to their homes in Mongolia, Cambodia, Hong Kong and Indonesia. Let me introduce them to you. Tserennyam Sukhbaatar from Mongolia went to BYU–Hawaii from 2010-2012 (yes, he finished university in two years) and graduated in Marketing and Supply Chain. He and his wife went back to Mongolia in 2012 with 2 daughters and worked as the marketing manager in a consumer electronic retailer. Then he went to Utah Valley University in 2016 for an MBA and a baby boy was born there. He graduated in 2017 and determined to go back to Mongolia.
Now, he works as the director of the analytics and innovation division in one of the largest companies in Mongolia. He and his wife are expecting another son in December. He served his mission in Seoul, Korea and is now the Stake President of the Ulaanbaatar West Stake.Jackie Chan from Hong Kong went to BYU–Hawaii from 2001-2005 and graduated in Psychology. He then went on to pursue his master’s degree, again in Psychology, before returning home in 2008. He and his wife knew each other from BYU–Hawaii, but it wasn’t until he went back to Hong Kong that they got together and pursued marriage. They were married in the temple in 2010 and now have a 7-year-old daughter and a 2-year-old son. While working full-time and raising a family, he also pursued a doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology, graduated this February. He now has his own practice in Hong Kong and teaches in the Elders’ Quorum. Coming back home also allowed him to share the gospel with his family. Wonderfully, his mother, younger brother and sister-in-law have been baptized and are members of the Church. Samnang Sea from Cambodia went to BYU–Hawaii from 2002-2006 and graduated in Mathematics. He had planned to go to BYU Provo for his master’s degree, but during his last year, he met his wife who then just starting as a freshman. They were married in Hawaii in 2006.
He went on to pursue both a master’s and Ph.D. degree and had a well-paid teaching job in a school which sponsored his work visa and later obtained permanent residency in the United States. Life was very comfortable, but because of the promptings of the Holy Ghost, he returned home in 2013 with his wife and three sons. That’s when he met his in-laws for the first time. He was offered a wonderful teaching position in Siem Reap but declined it as he felt that the Lord had a different direction for him. He is now a Bishop and works for the Church as the Service Center Manager for the Cambodia office. Their sons are now 11, 8 and 6 years old. Their youngest, a girl, now 2 years old, was born in Phnom Penh.Sesi Liningsih Suryono from Indonesia went to BYU–Hawaii from 2009-2014 and graduated in Teaching English as a Second Language. She also served a mission in Indonesia. She is the fourth of seven children and was the first in her family who attended university. Her family converted from Islam to Christianity and she was baptized at eight. She is single, now serving as a Sunday School Teacher, Institute Student Council Leader and Media Specialist in the Indonesia Public Affairs Council. She is now working as a translator for a private company that deals with Intellectual Property.I asked each of them several questions. The first question was, “What are your best memories and lasting impressions of BYU–Hawaii?” [Video 1 BYUH Life – 40 seconds]The next question was, “What were your greatest concerns as you decided to return home?”[Video 2 Difficulty of Getting Back – 2:39]The third question was, “Why did you decide to come back?”[Video 3 Reason of Returning Home – 2:11]The final question was open ended -- “What else would you say to the students at BYU–Hawaii?”[Video Words for Students – 2:00]I have thought a lot about what I might say after listening to these wonderful graduates from BYU–Hawaii who have returned home. The only common motivation for each of them was the impression of the Spirit that God wanted them to return home and help build His church there. For each of them, it took both faith and sacrifice. For each of them, their personal, remarkable strengths had to be “faithened” as they made the decision to return. For you, it will be the same. My testimony is that our Heavenly Father, who loves you, desires that you add faith to the gifts and strengths He has given you and that you return home and there be gathered with others as you contribute to the building up of His church and the spreading of His gospel in your country. Over many years, I have come to love and trust our Heavenly Father and His Son. With faith added to strengths, and as you choose to follow Him in all things, I promise that He will lead you where you cannot now see, but He can. As you look back on your life, you will be grateful to have been led by Him to do those things He has always known that you were meant to do. This will take faith – more faith – and more humility – but it will be wonderful. I bear witness of Him who church this is. I bear witness that President Russell M. Nelson is the Lord’s prophet today. I express gratitude for the direction and guidance that comes from both the Lord’s prophet and the Holy Ghost, and I do this in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.[1] https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/dallin-h-oaks_strengths-can-become-downfall/[2] Ibid[3] https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/thomas-s-monson_decisions-determine-destiny/[4] Preach My Gospel, page 146[5] Ibid[6] Ibid[7] 2 Nephi 9:28-29; emphasis added.[8] Matthew 22:39; Mark 12:31[9] https://www.lds.org/church/news/elder-neil-l-andersen-explains-what-mini...[10] Mosiah 2:17[11] https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/neil-l-andersen_a-holier-approach-to-mini...[12] https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2010/10/as-we-meet-together-again...[13] Hymns, 270[14] “The most important of the Lord’s work that you will ever do will be the work you do within the walls of your own home.”—President Harold B. Lee, Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Harold B. Lee (2000), 134[15] https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2006/10/the-gathering-of-scattere...