Brothers and sisters, aloha. Each week during the academic year, something remarkable happens at BYU–Hawaii. Nearly every department, from classrooms to offices, meetings to operations, pauses. Not for a holiday, not for a break, but for something far more sacred: a devotional. This isn’t just a tradition. It’s a deliberate, spiritual investment.
The Mission of BYU–Hawaii
The mission of BYU–Hawaii as you all know, “...is to prepare students of Oceania and the Asian Rim to be lifelong disciples of Jesus Christ and leaders in their families, communities, chosen fields, and in building the kingdom of God.” [1] Weekly devotionals are a living expression of that mission. We don’t just talk about putting Christ at the center, we integrate Christ into all that we do.
The Power of Pausing
When we stop everything, classes, meetings, emails, projects, we create space for something eternal. It’s a moment for all of us—students, faculty, and staff—to refocus on the spiritual aspect of our campus. It’s a reminder that the Spirit plays a pivotal role in both our education and our employment. The speakers vary from church leaders to university employees to outside guests. This allows us to hear different perspectives which add valuable insight into the education that a BYU–Hawaii degree provides.
A Significant Investment
Think about it: every classroom goes quiet. Offices close. Meetings are scheduled around it. That’s not just a logistical challenge, it’s a sacrifice. It’s a weekly investment into the spiritual growth of our campus community. And it’s an invitation, for each of us, to listen by the Spirit. Devotional is an act of devotion.
Imagine you were leading a team of 3,000 employees. And you told your boss, “Every Tuesday, I want to pause our work process, not for a meeting, not for a deadline, but to focus on something other than work.”
That would be a bold proposition. And yet, that’s exactly what BYU–Hawaii does every week.
We prioritize and integrate spirituality into what we do. This is another huge example of BYU–Hawaii investing in our present and future. Let’s take advantage of it.
My Journey
I’ll be honest, I haven’t always had a perfect record when it comes to devotional attendance. I attended BYU, and I understand how tempting it can be to use the devotional hour for studying, grabbing lunch, or catching up with friends. We can even convince ourselves that streaming the devotional while continuing to work is “good enough.” While that is beneficial, I think the scripture Matthew 18:20 explains it well, "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." [2] There is something sacred about gathering together, physically, as a community, to be spiritually fed.
Years ago, while I was sitting in my office in the bookstore, a friend stopped by and invited me to attend devotional with him. I told him I was too busy, but every week he kept asking me to join him, so I finally did.
Looking back at that invitation from my friend, it felt a lot like inviting someone to church, something I had done many times, especially as a missionary. And yet there I was, working at one of the Lord’s institutions, and though I was given an hour to break away from my responsibilities to be spiritually uplifted, I was making the choice not to attend. It took an invitation from a friend to get me to take advantage of the opportunity to attend devotional.
That helped me to realize that devotional isn’t just a meeting, it’s a benefit. Similar to vacation days, health insurance, retirement plans, one of the benefits of working or attending school here is that we get an hour every week to break away from our daily tasks to attend devotional. A chance to meet together as a campus community to be uplifted and spiritually fed.
I realize that I’m preaching to the choir. All of you are here attending devotional, and I’m telling you the benefits that you already know. So, I invite you to be that friend, and to invite others to join you in attending devotional.
When I finally committed to attending devotional, I started taking notes on some of the points that stood out to me. I’d like to share a few with you today.
The first devotional I’d like to touch on is Second Counselor in the Primary General Presidency, Sister Tracy Y. Browning on May 20, 2025. Her devotional was titled "The Difference Is You".
Sister Tracy Y. Browning spoke beautifully about the uniqueness of each of us, how our differences are not just acknowledged by the Lord, but celebrated. She said, “Heavenly Father didn’t send you into mortality to create a copy of someone else’s life. He sent you to discover the individual gifts and talents that have been given to each of you.” [3]
She shared that she realized that her mind relates things differently than others but it’s been helpful to utilize her creativity in her life. As I listened, I reflected on my role as the Director of Career Planning and Placement, and I realized something important—students are not defined by their majors. Yes, you study accounting, music, biology, or history, but your education is so much more than a checklist of courses. The skills you gain, critical thinking, creativity, discipline, and collaboration, are not confined to one career path.
Not every accounting student will become a Certified Public Accountant, but you will think more analytically. Not every music student will perform professionally, but you will bring harmony and creativity into every space you enter.
This devotional helped me see more clearly that each student is on a unique, divinely guided path. And as someone who helps students prepare for their futures, I’ve learned that I can’t simply say, “This job is only for business majors”. God prepares His children in ways we don’t always see on paper. Each student applies what they learn in their own way, and the Spirit can guide them to opportunities that align with their gifts, even if those paths look different than what I expected.
I really connected with the devotional talk by Heina Hanohano where she mentioned how our work can sometimes pull us away from the things that matter most. Before coming to BYU–Hawaii, I worked at Target as what was essentially an assistant store manager. Like many in the retail and hospitality industries, I worked long hours, weekends, holidays, especially during the busy Christmas season. From November to February, it wasn’t unusual for me to work 120+ hours a week. For most of the Christmas season, from the moment I walked in the door of my home, I only had five hours before I had to turn around and drive back to work. A lot of times that’s what the job required, but a lot of times I chose to stay at work in order to advance my career. Things at work were going well, I had received several promotions, and my career was going in the direction that I had expected.
However, my family life was suffering. My wife told me that she often felt like a single parent. One day, I was sitting in the driveway with my wife, and for the first time ever, I saw my oldest child ride her bike all around the driveway. I was amazed and said to my wife, “Wow, I can’t believe how quickly she’s learned to ride her bike. How long has she been practicing, a week?”
My wife looked at me and gently said, “Actually… she’s been riding that bike for over six months. Where have you been?”
That moment hit me hard. I realized I had been so focused on work, on climbing the ladder, that I was missing out on spending time with my family.
A few months later, my father was diagnosed with terminal cancer. My family and I decided to move from Hawaii to Utah to care for and to spend time with my father.
About eight months later, my father passed, and instead of going back to Target, I felt it was a good time to change careers.
I want to clarify that I’m not saying that working long hours is a bad thing; it’s usually part of the journey. Many of you will be going into careers that require that kind of work ethic, especially at the start of your career. That experience was important for my career at that time in my life.
However, it is critical that we make time for the things that matter most.
As David O. McKay once said, “no other success can compensate for failure in the home.” [4] Heina said, “As I reflect on my career in the hotel industry, I can see the Lord’s hand in the details of my experiences that prepared me specifically for the opportunity to be here speaking with you today.” [5] Heina’s devotional talk helped me to remember the blessings of each stop along the way of my own career path.
Some of the speeches that I remember the most are about when the speaker shared about overcoming adversity. It helps to learn how others have gotten through difficulties and have risen above them.
Advancement Vice President, Laura Tevaga, shared in her devotional titled, "Confidence in the Presence of God".
“Our heartfelt prayers are never wasted words. He hears every plea, every whisper, every silent ache of our hearts. Sometimes answers come quickly, as in Enos’s case. Sometimes they come after long seasons of waiting. But the assurance is the same: Heavenly Father always hears.” [6]
The thought that came to me was, “what is the purpose of getting a BYU–Hawaii education”. It isn’t just about academics and the ability for students to provide for their families. We want all students to “come closer to Christ” and to leave with an understanding of the power of prayer. That thought hit me deep. I’ve been thinking about that ever since. If you, as a BYU–Hawaii student, leave BYU–Hawaii without a stronger testimony, have we done our job? As employers of this university, have we done our job to make the most of the facilities, and the upgrades that are currently being done to this campus to not just educate, but to bring our students closer to Christ. As [nearly 3000] current BYUH students, you are taking up a seat that thousands of other students wished they had. Have you done your job to not only prepare for your career, but to genuinely seek to become a lifelong disciple of Jesus Christ?
Prior to hearing Vice President Laura Tevaga’s talk, I had prepared an entirely different talk for this devotional. But as I sat there, I felt the spirit [during her talk,] and I’ve done my best to integrate those promptings into my talk today.
I’d like to share with you a story about an experience I had with integrating prayer into my work life.
As President [Kauwe] mentioned, I’ve been blessed to work at BYU–Hawaii for over ten years, most of which I spent in the bookstore. When I first started at the bookstore, there was only one other employee there, and she was preparing to retire in just a few months. That meant I needed to hire someone quickly to fill a critical role.
I knew exactly who I wanted to hire. She lived here in Laie, I had known her my entire life, and I trusted her. At the time, she was working in the retail industry, and although the position at BYU–Hawaii would mean a pay cut, I shared with her the many blessings of working here. I brought up how her commute would be shorter and shared the educational benefits, among others. The job was to take care of buying all of the textbooks for campus, to which she wasn’t at all interested, but I told her that she could do both the textbooks and help me with the retail side. Eventually, I convinced her that this job was a good idea.
Even though I already knew who I wanted to hire, HR required me to interview at least two candidates. I decided to interview her and a student who had been working in the bookstore who was about to graduate. On paper, she was the clear choice. She had over a decade of retail experience, and even though this position was over the textbooks, her retail experience would be helpful to have in the office.
I went ahead and went through the motions of doing the interviews. As soon as we were done, I sat down at my desk, and I was logging in to submit my decision of who I wanted to hire. I had my mouse on the “Submit” button but right before I clicked, I paused and thought, “I work at BYU–Hawaii. If there’s ever a place to seek spiritual confirmation, this is it.” So, I said a prayer. I did not expect a dramatic answer; I just wanted to do what seemed like the right thing to do.
But to my surprise, in the middle of the prayer, I received a clear and strong impression. But the impression wasn’t to hire who I expected, the impression was that I needed to hire the student.
I was stunned. I had already made up my mind. I had spent time convincing my friend that this job was perfect for her, but I was being prompted to go in a completely different direction. I even extended the prayer a few extra minutes, hoping the impression would fade. But it didn’t.
So, after sitting at my desk for an hour trying to figure out how this would work out, I just decided to follow the prompting, and I hired the student. My friend was fine with the decision, and she continued working at her job in town.
A couple of months later, I realized that the bookstore had an open part-time position that I had not been aware of. I ended up hiring her for that part-time position.
Looking back, I can see how the Lord’s hand was in every detail. The student excelled in the textbook role and made lasting improvements. My friend thrived on the retail side, where her talents were best used. She later told me that after seeing what the textbook position entailed, she would have hated it, and she would have quit anyway. Also, one of the biggest incentives for her was being able to finish her degree. Full-time employees are limited to taking six credits a semester, but as a part-time employee, she was able to take more credits and complete her degree much faster than if she had been working full-time. As soon as she graduated, she found a great job at the Polynesian Cultural Center, where she continues to work today.
This experience reminded me that the Spirit knows more than we do about people, timing, and outcomes. It reminded me that the spiritual aspect of our lives shouldn’t be partitioned into just Sundays or just when we pray before a meal, but that we should fully integrate the Spirit into our lives, including our professional decisions.
I hope we all take advantage of the blessings the Lord has in store for each of us by seeking the Lord’s guidance in all aspects of our lives, by putting ourselves in places where the Spirit resides. When we do feel the Spirit, I hope that we will all have the faith to act on the promptings we receive.
As President Nelson once said, "Pray in the name of Jesus Christ about your concerns, your fears, your weaknesses—yes, the very longings of your heart. And then listen! Write the thoughts that come to your mind. Record your feelings and follow through with actions that you are prompted to take. As you repeat this process day after day, month after month, year after year, you will 'grow into the principle of revelation.'” [7]
I know the Lord is deeply involved in the details of our lives. I’ve felt His hand guide me in my career, in my family, and in the quiet moments when I’ve paused to listen. I know that when we make space for the Spirit, whether in a devotional, a prayer at work, or a decision we’re unsure about, the Lord will give us direction. I testify that Jesus Christ is at the center of this university. I know that each of us has a responsibility to help build the Lord’s Kingdom throughout this part of the world. I know that if we seek His counsel, He will shape us into the disciples and leaders He needs us to be.
I know the Lord is intimately involved in the details of our lives. I’ve felt His guiding hand in my career, in my family, and in the quiet moments when I’ve paused to listen. When we make space for the Spirit, whether in a devotional, a prayer at work, or during a decision we’re unsure about, the Lord always provides direction.
I testify that Jesus Christ is at the center of BYU–Hawaii. [It] is not just a place of learning; it’s a sacred space where spiritual growth is not only encouraged but essential to help build the Lord’s Kingdom. And if we seek His counsel, He will shape us into the disciples and leaders He needs us to be. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Notes:
[1] BYU–Hawaii Mission Statement
[2] Matthew 18:20
[3] Tracy Y. Browning, “The Difference Is You” [Brigham Young University–Hawaii devotional, May 20, 2025], speeches.byuh.edu
[4] Teachings of Presidents of the Church: David O. McKay [2011], 154
[5] Heina Hanohano, “Trials Are Necessary for Mortality To Work” [Brigham Young University–Hawaii devotional, January 21, 2025], speeches.byuh.edu
[6] Laura Tevaga, “Confidence in the Presence of God” [Brigham Young University–Hawaii devotional, September 18, 2025], speeches.byuh.edu
[7] Russell M. Nelson, “Revelation for the Church, Revelation for Our Lives,” Ensign or Liahona, April 2018, 95