We pay special tribute to President and Sister Shumway and all of their associates on the faculty and in the administration. I also give high commendations to you who are fortunate enough to be students at Brigham Young University-Hawaii. This is a very special institution that has been established under the inspiration of the Lord and continues to be supported, guided and lifted up by the leaders of this great Church.
You should understand that my admiration for you is not based on an assessment that I believe you are better than anyone else. I do not think this is so, as good as you are. My compliments are based on the love that I am sure the Lord has for you and the tremendous responsibilities that you will shoulder in the years ahead. Happily, most of you will make important differences in the world, in the Church and in your families. Equally wonderful is the fact that you will not have to do what you do alone. We all have much more help and support than we may initially appreciate.
It is not a coincidence that has brought you here. You have been guided in your desires to attend BYU-Hawaii, and those having the authority to admit you to this very competitive institution have also been guided by the Spirit to help you come here. None of this is a matter of chance and it is important that we not only believe that this is true, but also understand why it is the case.
There are many dimensions or criteria having to do with your being chosen to study here. You will immediately think I am speaking of your previous grades and test scores. Those are important and tangible, but are not among those measures that I will address today.
I try to listen very carefully whenever prophets speak and I know you do as well. I wasn't here when President Hinckley recently came to graduation but some of you heard what he said and I hope all of you have read or considered his words. If you have not yet done so, please do at your earliest convenience. It is a serious thing to have a prophet speak directly to us and then for us to take his counsel lightly in any way. I know you will not ever do so. President Hinckley has also spoken in general ways about the matter I wish to address today.
Immediately after the session of General Conference over ten years ago where I was sustained as a General Authority, I was congratulated by one of the Senior Brethren who knew that Sister Susan Lillywhite Warner, who had also been sustained that day as a member of the General Primary Presidency, is my first cousin. After saying some nice things like several others had, he then said something like this: "Don't think that this blessing has come to you because of anything special you have done. It is likely the result of the faith and faithfulness of your people who have gone ahead to the other side of the veil." The spirit told me that day that what he said was true and I testify of its truthfulness today.
In that same context, I would suggest that for virtually all of you, the same could be said about your presence here at BYU-Hawaii. For those of you who come from distinguished Church pedigrees and whose parents, grandparents and others have been obviously valiant in the testimony of Jesus and have lived lives to advance the work of the Church and Kingdom here on earth, it is probably easy for you to accept what I say is true.
But what of you who are first in your families to embrace the Gospel or come from homes and families where you were not always taught correct or true principles or were not the beneficiaries of positive examples? I will testify to you that what I have said is still true and applies to you. What if you are adopted or do not know about those who have gone before or have any other complication that causes you to doubt that what I have said applies to you? It does apply to you and part of your assignment in mortality is to find out how and why. As important as our family lines are, and they are more important than any of us can currently imagine, there are other lines or linkages that are also important for us to consider and treasure. I speak of influential Church teachers and leaders and also those who have helped shape the rich traditions of this and other nations that allow us to be here in relative comfort and security.
Let me share some of the doctrinal underpinnings for the assertions that I am making as I challenge you to understand these principles better. The first revelation, in terms of chronology, that we have in our current edition of the Doctrine and Covenants is Section Two. It is also one of the shortest sections. It was given to the Prophet Joseph Smith during the evening of September 21, 1823, by the Angel Moroni. Joseph was still seventeen years old, younger than most of you here. You will recognize the words because similar ones are found in the fourth chapter of Malachi and in sections 27, 110 and 128 of the Doctrine and Covenants as well as in Joseph Smith's History (JS-H 1:39) . The Lord teaches the lessons included here in six different places! On that basis alone, the message must be very important. Let me read Section Two:
"Behold, I will reveal unto you the Priesthood, by the hand of Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord,
"And he shall plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers, and the hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers.
"If it were not so, the whole earth would be utterly destroyed at his coming" (Doctrine & Covenants 2:1-3).
If you are like I, you would think that these verses in this section refer to Family History and Temple work. You would be right. Today, I will submit to you that as fundamental and essential as these matters of sealing ourselves to our ancestors and posterity are, there are other dimensions as well that deserve our consideration.
The matter that I would like to address is the regard and gratitude we should each have for those who have gone before and have especially blessed our individual lives. I speak not as an advocate for some eastern religions that have ancestor worship as a basic tenet. We do not worship any ancestor, save God the Father Himself. We must, however, hold those who have gone before in the greatest respect and appreciation for what they have done for us. Let me return to verse two as my text:
"And he shall plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers, and the hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers" (Doctrine & Covenants 2:2).
What are the promises made to the fathers? Do they apply to our day? What was Father Abraham promised? What might have been promised to those of our ancestors who have gone before? What does it mean that our hearts will be turned to our fathers? Does it have to do only with Family History and Temple Work? Are there other applications?
You will be able to think of other, similar questions. You will also be able to answer some of them in the scriptures and in the statements of the apostles and prophets. Some you will probably continue to wonder about for a long time before answers are clear and some will require that we move beyond the veil ourselves to have the enlightenment that we desire.
Years ago, President James E. Faust told a group of saints in Wales that they were "drinking water from wells that [they had] not dug." What did he mean? What does this mean to us?
Let me give you some examples hopefully to assist your considerations. Please try to think of your own experiences and circumstances as I share some of mine with you. Because families are personal and distinct, even sometimes idiosyncratic, you might not relate directly to what I will now say, but if you search, think and pray, in due course your appreciation for your predecessors will increase and your understanding of their service and sacrifice will expand before you, whatever their backgrounds, shortcomings, and circumstances.
As a young man preparing for my mission call, I understood that I would serve wherever I was called. Still, although I had not studied foreign languages in high school, I hoped that I would be called to Sweden where my Samuelson roots derive or to another country where I might learn a language. When I finally received my letter of call from President David O. McKay, who was the prophet of my youth and also in many ways the prophet of BYU-Hawaii, I was called to the North British Mission. Candidly, I was initially a little disappointed that I was going to serve in an English-speaking mission. At that time, I did not understand that "Utah English" is not the same as "Scottish English." Quickly, however, I realized that Scotland was part of that mission and was the homeland of my maternal grandfather. I also remembered that the then-young David O. McKay and my Grandfather Mitchell had served in Scotland together!
In the days before entering the Mission Home, as we called the MTC in those ancient times, I had the opportunity to read my grandfather's missionary journal and first became familiar with towns and cities where I myself served in the following two years. I also learned a great deal about my grandfather whom I had not really known since he died before my third birthday. As I read, he seemed to me to be a very remarkable man then and I'm even more impressed now that I am much older.
Did it take me very long to get over any disappointment? No! Was my assignment a mistake? Not at all! I didn't believe in coincidences then and I don't now. I also had the unique experience of seeing President McKay personally three times during my mission.
The first was while still in the Mission Home in Salt Lake City. I was able to introduce myself to the Prophet and tell him that I was Joseph Mitchell's grandson. He wrapped his arms around me and told me that my grandfather had taught him how to be a missionary. My grandfather was in his late 30s with an expectant wife and little boy when he was called on his mission and Elder McKay was closer to the usual missionary age. Nevertheless, they were not only missionary companions but became lifelong friends.
The second experience happened when I had been in Scotland for only a few weeks. Our group of missionaries was fairly small and President McKay spent an hour or two teaching us about missionary work. That was a day I'll never forget.
The third experience was when President McKay returned to Scotland in August of 1962 to organize the Glasgow Scotland Stake. I had been on my mission for 19 months but this was the first stake conference for me as a missionary because this was the first stake created in that country. Many interesting and spiritual things happened at that conference. One was an electric moment for me. While President McKay was speaking, he began to talk about his first mission of 65 years before. He then said something to the effect that all of his companions had now passed to the other side of the veil but he felt that some were in attendance at conference that day and of the three names he mentioned, Brother Mitchell, my grandfather, was one of them! (An account of this speech given 26 August 1962 can be found in the Church News a week or two later.)
Can you imagine the thrill I felt? Do you think that I would ever have wanted to serve in any other mission? Ever since, I have felt a close and special relationship with this grandfather who died when I was just a toddler. I have felt his influence and frequently reflect on his example, his goodness and my desire never to embarrass him. I have felt my heart turned to him and feel that I now understand better that his heart has also always been turned to me.
Through all of these experiences and some others, I also developed and have retained special feelings for President David O. McKay, the prophet of my youth just as President Gordon B. Hinckley is the prophet of your young adult years. You might now understand better my counsel that you gain all you can from the experience you recently had with him here on campus and that you learn all you can when you see him and listen to him. Through the miracles of technology, as well as when he personally visits, you can have special relationships with the Lord's prophet and he is speaking directly to you.
I had a wonderful second Church assignment to the Europe North Area in the late 1990s and learned even more about my family, myself and our special roots. Among other remarkable experiences, including several assignments in Sweden where my paternal great grandfather joined the Church, I was able to visit the grave in Scotland of my maternal great grandfather Mitchell who joined the Church and faithfully fulfilled his duty but became ill and died before he was able to leave Britain and join the body of the saints in America. My heart has been turned to the fathers with a power I could not have imagined beforehand. This was true when I visited my ancestral homes in England, Scotland and Sweden, and it continues today as I reflect on and study those who have gone before.
Yet another example that I hope is not too personal to share. Because I have been blessed to be born into a multi-generational Church family and because most of the Family History and Temple Work was done for close ancestors long before I was born, I always have felt a little jealous of converts and others who have had the opportunity to take their ancestors to the Temple and do their work for them. Their accounts of special spiritual manifestations and the feeling of nearness to their progenitors seemed wonderful but remote to my own experience.
In 1997, I was serving as the President of the Europe North Area of the Church and was living in England. Elder Monte J. Brough, then of the Presidency of the Seventy and the Executive Director of the Family History Department, was assigned to come to England and together we were charged to go to the Public Records Office in London and there discuss our Church's work with the 1851 British census. We needed to show them what had been accomplished and also conduct some negotiations for some future Family History research work that we, as a Church, wished to do.
Elder Brough demonstrated how to access these data on the CDs that our people had produced. He then asked the several professional English genealogists present if any of them had an ancestor living in 1851 in any of the counties where the census had taken place. None could think of anyone to search for.
Elder Brough had anticipated such an event and so he said that he knew of a man living in England at that time. His name was Isaac Haight, incidentally a great uncle of Elder David B. Haight then a member of the Twelve. The name was entered into the computer and sure enough, it was in the data base. He was identified as an American missionary living in lodgings in the city of Birmingham. Again, Elder Brough asked if anyone had a name that they would like to search. Again, there was no response. I had not seen the data before, but remembered that my great-great grandparents, John and Mary Godsall, should have been living there at that time. I therefore asked that their names be searched and immediately, they were identified. I knew with certainty that these were my ancestors because as I looked at their children, I was able to identify my great grandmother, Susannah, who later was to become a pioneer traveling in the wagon train that accompanied the Martin handcart company.
Not only did I find their names, I learned that my great-great grandfather was a leather worker, something I didn't know, and also the address where they lived in Birmingham, just a few miles from where I was then living. In addition, I learned that there was a missionary lodger living in their home. His name was Isaac Haight! I am sure that our British friends thought that this was orchestrated. I do believe it was arranged for us to learn these things, but it was not done by Elder Brough or by me.
I visited the address we found in the census information and the old, old house was still standing. In the Church records at our English headquarters, I was able to find much about my ancestors' service in the Church before they emigrated to America in the 1850s that I had never known. Again, my heart has been turned to the fathers as the scriptures foretold.
What about "fathers" who may not be closely related to us, at least genetically? I will now share an experience that is both personal but also available to every single one of us. I understand that my experiences in Scotland and England may be somewhat unique. Each of you here at BYU-Hawaii should be able to have the kind of experience I will now relate. It requires some work and effort in a kind of genealogical research but is different than what you will experience in doing family history research on your own family lines.
Prior to my appointment at BYU, I had never been a student there. I have always been grateful for my education elsewhere and for my mentors, but I never had thought of them in the way I will now describe. Because I was new, I felt a strong desire to learn all that I could about the history of BYU and its illustrious founders and early day leaders. In virtually everything that I read, the name of Karl G. Maeser appeared. This name was not entirely new to me and I knew that he had been an early president and had a campus building named for him. I began to realize, as I learned more, that I owed him a great deal. This is true not only because of what he did institutionally in getting the great university that I now have the privilege of trying to lead off to a good start, but also because of what it has meant to me personally. You might know some of what I will now share, but some will likely be new.
President Maeser took a keen interest in his students and was personally involved with many. One was a young man who early on demonstrated brilliance but also was a little rough around the edges in terms of his self confidence and also his academic preparation. His name was James E. Talmage, who later became a great teacher and university president himself and lastly a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Brother Maeser was his mentor and helped him at Brigham Young Academy and then also assisted him in being admitted to Lehigh University and then Johns Hopkins University.
Brother Talmage returned to Utah and in turn became a mentor for J. Reuben Clark, Jr., who had a successful law career and was United States Ambassador to Mexico before being called to the First Presidency of the Church. Among those that President Clark mentored was a young apostle named Harold B. Lee who went on to become the eleventh President of the Church.
President Lee mentored and groomed a young educator by the name of Neal A. Maxwell who became Church Commissioner of Education and a member of the Twelve. Elder Maxwell was one of several who took an interest in me and served as one of my special mentors as he has done for so many over the years.
I have often wondered what might have happened if any of these mentors had failed to do his best for a student needing special attention or guidance. Hopefully, someone else would have emerged. I also wonder what the sad tale might have been if Brother Talmage or Brother Clark or Brother Lee might not have taken advantage of the mentoring and attention offered them by their devoted teachers. In my case and in my current assignment, I express gratitude that none of them failed. I also express gratitude for the service of those who have never known nor thought of me, but have still so enriched my life immeasurably.
I think often of you and the students in Provo, Rexburg and on other campuses. How are you doing with identifying those who wish to help and mentor you? I hope that you are finding ways to recognize the contributions that have been and are being made for you. I hope that you are taking time to reflect on the sacrifices that your parents, grandparents, other relatives and teachers have made and are making for you. I know that your teachers look at you and see your potential for greatness just as Brother Maeser did with young James Talmage. I doubt that Brother Maeser knew for sure that James E. Talmage would be an apostle. I am sure that he knew that young James had more potential than this young student could then imagine.
Some of you have been on missions and have the benefit of having your hearts turned to your mission presidents and their wives. Some of you have had special teachers, coaches, bishops and others who deserve your hearts being turned with gratitude toward them. How can you appropriately thank them? Let me share some advice with you that I received from one of my mentors.
While I was in medical school preparing to become a physician, I had an advisor or mentor who helped me decide that I wanted to be a teacher as well as a practitioner of medicine. He was helpful with his counsel and opened some doors for me that required extra effort on his part. I recognized what he had done and tried to thank him. I was sincere but said I didn't know of a way to compensate him adequately for the service he had rendered me. He said, "The only way you can really thank me appropriately is to become a good teacher and an excellent doctor yourself." Most of you may not choose to become doctors, but the principle and counsel are the same, whatever career path you follow. The only way we can appropriately thank those who have gone before us is to be the best that we can be and help those who follow us do and be their best also.
Think of how Elder Talmage was able to thank Karl G. Maeser. Think of how Brigham Young was able to thank his mentor, Joseph Smith. Think of how President Hinckley has been able to thank his father, who he mentions frequently, by being not only a great Church leader but also by being a model father and grandfather. Think of how President Shumway has been able to thank his great mission president and influential teachers by the service that he has rendered. Think of all of those in your own life who deserve not only your praise and thanks, but also your emulation.
Please know that I recognize that the most important crowning blessings our Father in Heaven has to offer His children relate to those of being sealed to our ancestors and to our own posterity. Please know also that the special relationships that have been caused to occur in our lives are often orchestrated in the Heavens and are blessings in their own right to help us achieve all that we have come to earth to accomplish. Our hearts must be turned to all of the fathers and mothers that have helped us in any way and also to the children and others who will look to us to in turn help them on their way. May this be so for all of us I pray. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.