Sister and Brothers, Aloha! Mary and I are grateful to be with you on this beautiful campus. As good as the sun has felt on our faces over the last couple of days, we have basked even more in the Spirit on this campus.
We are grateful to be here with President and Sister Haws and join you in celebrating the joyful news that President Kauwe is expected to return in July and that President Haws will stay on as the academic vice president, replacing Dr. Isaiah Walker who has done magnificent work. Before I share my primary message, I want to express my gratitude for the important role BYU–Hawaii plays in the Church. As you know, the mission of BYU–Hawaii is “To prepare disciples of Jesus Christ who will live and lead in Oceania and the Asian Rim.” President David O. McKay in his address at the groundbreaking of this great school, said this school would produce “noble men and women” whom the world needed. He added:
“One man said the world needs men who cannot be bought or sold, men who will scorn to violate truth, genuine gold. That is what this school is going to produce. More than that, they’ll be leaders. Not leaders only in this island, but everywhere.” [1]
I know firsthand that this prophecy is being fulfilled. Mary and I had the opportunity for three years to serve in the Area Presidency of the Asia North Area of the Church. The Asia North Area includes Mongolia, South Korea, Japan, Micronesia, Guam, Palau, and other islands of the sea—beautiful countries from which some of you come. During my service I saw firsthand how President McKay’s prophecy is being fulfilled. I remember calling a young new stake president in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. After praying alongside his wife, he recommended two counselors. The next morning, when we gathered the new stake presidency and their wives for orientation and training, I learned that all six of them were BYU–Hawaii graduates. In faraway Mongolia, I ended up training in English. This pattern was repeated elsewhere. Some of the greatest translators I worked with in Korea and Japan were women and men who had graduated from BYU–Hawaii. In Guam, our temple president and matron, the Area Seventy, and the stake president had all attended BYU–Hawaii. Everywhere I went, I found impressive BYU–Hawaii graduates—leaders, in President McKay’s words, of genuine gold. I trust President McKay’s prophecy because I have seen it. And I expect great things to come as you go forth as leaders in your nations, communities, and especially in your homes.
One reason that I know graduates of BYU–Hawaii will go on to be leaders is that learning by study and by faith naturally produces leaders. To help explain why this is so, I’d like to spend time today considering one of the Savior’s teachings recorded in John chapter 8. Speaking to some of His followers, Jesus taught:
“If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. … Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” [2]
There is much to consider in the Savior’s words, but let’s focus on His teaching that “the truth shall make you free.” This is a profoundly important teaching that helps explain part of the reason your Heavenly Father is surely pleased that you are pursuing an education here at BYU–Hawaii. He wants you to learn truth so that you can be free; so that you can be powerful leaders; and, in Lehi’s words, so that you “might have joy.” [3]
Sometimes when we talk about being free, we may think too narrowly about the meaning of freedom. Sometimes we think that freedom simply means the absence of any restraint. No one can tell me what to do. This sort of freedom is important but incomplete. We know that God has given us agency so that we may choose good from evil. [4] God will not compel our choices. [5] The spirit of the Holy Ghost must flow without compulsion. [6] But if the only freedom we enjoy is freedom from someone else telling us what to do or dictating our choices, we are not very free. When the Savior talked about being “free” in John 8, He was teaching a much richer conception of freedom.
To explain this richer idea of freedom, let me start with an example. Imagine that I find myself at Ehukai Beach with a surfboard, looking out at the Banzai Pipeline on the day of a big swell. Now, despite the fact that I grew up only 200 yards away from the ocean, I’ve only surfed a couple of times in my life—and neither effort was particularly successful. (My excuse is that the northern California coast of my childhood is rocky and cold.) Standing next to me on Ehukai beach and looking at the waves is an experienced surfer with an identical surfboard—say it’s Vice President Walker or President Kauwe who are excellent surfers. There we are on the same beach, both holding the same surfboard, and both absolutely free to paddle out and try to surf Pipeline. But who is really more free? In the abstract, I’m free. I can paddle out. No one is restraining me. But the reality is that I’m not really free to surf Pipeline. But the expert surfer is free. He has practiced over many years and thus knows how to maintain balance on a big wave; he knows the etiquette of how to share the wave with other surfers; he knows what waves might close out too quickly and what waves will be good to ride; and he knows the shape of the reef and where it is safe or unsafe to go. It is his knowledge of all these truths that make him free to ride one of Pipeline’s famous waves.
In the same way, your education, and the truths you are learning here at BYU–Hawaii, are meant to free you for a joyful and purposeful life. Let me share a couple of simple examples.
I will start with one that is near and dear to my heart as a former English major. A critical part of any education is learning to write clearly. Sometimes, learning vocabulary, usage, and grammar can seem so confining. (Parenthetically, can I just say that I am in awe at how many of you are learning about writing in English even though it is not your first language?) Although learning the rules of English writing may seem confining, the truth is that it is liberating. Someday—indeed, almost every day in the modern workplace—you will be facing a situation where you want to write a persuasive letter to convince someone about a project or idea that is important to you. Again, imagine two people sitting side by side, both with the same paper and the same pen, and both completely free to write a persuasive letter. One has learned, as part of their schooling, how to write beautifully; the other never had the benefit of an education. Which of the two is really free to write a convincing letter? [7]
An education frees you in so many ways. Learning about statistics and probability frees us from being manipulated by anecdotes or misunderstandings about risk. Suppose, for example, you read a headline that says, “Medication X will prevent a certain disease, but medication X doubles the risk of hair loss.” Sounds worrisome, particularly to your generation. But a person with some education in probability might immediately ask, “The risk of hair loss doubles from what to what?” Imagine that the real numbers show that, with medication X, the risk of hair loss moves from a background rate of 1 in 100,000 to 2 in 100,000. Technically, the risk of hair loss is doubled, but the absolute increase is only 0.001 percent. Without understanding probability, someone might not take a medication that could help them avoid a much more significant harm.
The same principle applies across every discipline you study. Truth enlarges capacity. It helps us avoid deception, exercise wiser judgment, and serve others more effectively.
Unfortunately, what is sometimes less clear—at least to the world—is that gospel truths, including our Heavenly Father’s commandments, work the same way as secular truths. Gospel truths are intended to make us free, powerful, and joyful.
As one example, consider the Lord’s command in the Word of Wisdom that “tobacco is not for the body.” [8] Knowing and following this truth makes us free from life-threatening diseases; it frees us from an addictive, daily dependence on a costly and dangerous substance. Smoking is just one illustration of the types of addictive behavior about which God’s prophets have so often warned us. Recall President Russell M. Nelson’s counsel from a couple of years ago: “As you think celestial, you will find yourself avoiding anything that robs you of your agency. Any addiction—be it gaming, gambling, debt, drugs, alcohol, anger, pornography, sex, or even food—offends God.” [9] As the Savior said in John 8, “whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.” [10]
The devastating health consequences of smoking are almost universally acknowledged today, which may have caused you to think, “well, that was an odd example to use Elder Rasband. We all know that.” But imagine you were a Latter-day Saint in the 1930s or 1940s and trying to decide whether to follow prophetic guidance against smoking. Most of the men and women you knew would have smoked cigarettes. When you watched movies, the glamorous stars smoked. Sports stars smoked. World War II heroes smoked. And advertisements everywhere proclaimed the benefits of smoking. Babe Ruth liked Old Gold cigarettes. They were not only “smoother and better,” but there was “not a cough in a carload.” Cigarettes were good for digestion. Cigarettes helped you to keep a slender figure. In fact, cigarettes were “just what the doctor ordered.” And more scientists and educators smoked Kent because of its extraordinary “Micronite filter.” Even dentists recommended smoking.
Sometimes the current state of knowledge can make it challenging to understand how obedience to God’s commandments increases our freedom and promises greater joy. Trusting God can be even more difficult when the culture insists so confidently that certain conduct is appropriate or beneficial, as was the case with smoking 80 years ago. It is not easy to be different. Yet the Lord has always expected His covenant people to be peculiar from the world. [11]
When we face uncertainty, the safest course is to trust in prophetic counsel. President Eyring once taught:
“If someone you trusted handed you what appeared to be nothing more than sand with the promise that it contained gold, you might wisely hold it in your hand awhile, shaking it gently. Every time I have done that with counsel from a prophet, after a time the gold flakes have begun to appear and I have been grateful.” [12]
Surely, smoking was a case where, in President Eyring’s words, it would have been better to follow prophetic counsel and wait for the gold flakes of truth to appear.
Sometimes, we need to be like Adam and Eve. Remember that, as they left the Garden of Eden, they were commanded to “offer the firstlings of their flocks, for an offering unto the Lord.” [13] This must surely have seemed like an odd commandment. Why would one needlessly sacrifice the economically precious firstlings of the flock? Yet, even when it may have seemed unwise, the scriptures inform us that “Adam was obedient unto the commandments of the Lord.” We find out why in the next two verses:
“And after many days an angel of the Lord appeared unto Adam, saying: Why dost thou offer sacrifices unto the Lord? And Adam said unto him: I know not, save the Lord commanded me. And then the angel spake, saying: This thing is a similitude of the sacrifice of the Only Begotten of the Father, which is full of grace and truth.” [14]
These verses make it clear that Adam and Eve’s answer about why the commandment had been given did not come quickly. It did not come as soon as they may have had questions. Rather, it was “after many days” that the angel appeared. Sometimes discipleship requires faithful obedience before complete understanding. President Dallin H. Oaks recently observed: “Overcoming doubt—resolving conflicts between the evolving understanding of science and the sometimes incomplete teachings of religion—can be a lengthy process.” But he counseled us to “wait upon the Lord” and to “[trust] in His timing as well as in His promises.” [15]
Sadly, sometimes we think the commandments are designed only as rules to test us or trip us up. Return with me to Ehukai Beach and imagine me standing on the beach in front of this sign warning about the dangerous waves and currents. Remember, I am not a surfer, and I am not a powerful swimmer—at least not anymore. What would you think if I turned around to carefully look at the highway, scanned the trees across the street, and then looked up and down the beach before asking my surfing companion, “See any cops?” Surely, you’d think, “Why in the world is Elder Rasband concerned about the police? He should be worried about the waves.” Yet, sometimes, this is how we see the commandments. We view them as limits imposed by a cosmic police officer who is looking to catch us and make us an offender. But what Heavenly Father is really doing is helping us avoid drowning.
As the Psalmist once said, the Lord’s “word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” [16] And in section 59 of the Doctrine and Covenants, the Savior says the faithful are “crowned with blessings from above … and with commandments not a few.” [17] Are we really “crowned” by commandments? I trust that we are.
I also trust that freedom derived from keeping commandments applies not just to “thou shalt not” commandments but also to commandments to go and do. The second great commandment to love our neighbor as ourselves is a good example. [18] When we “bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light” and “mourn with those that mourn,” we, step by step, create a community of friends who will strengthen and lift us when we may be hurting. [19] Referring to the Savior, the Apostle John wrote, “We love him, because he first loved us.” [20] This same principle surely applies to other relationships. Those we love and serve will come to love us, and that love is a source of strength, comfort, and freedom. Of course, the Lord would not have us serve only those who have served us, but He wants us to understand that we too will be blessed when we serve. As Proverbs teaches, “He that watereth shall be watered also himself.” [21]
In sum, just like the academic truths that you are studying make you free, so too do the gospel truths you are learning in your religion classes, in your scripture study, and through your experience of striving to live the gospel. Both secular and religious learning are important. That is why we are to “seek learning, even by study and also by faith.”[22] But, of the two, our gospel learning is the most critical. Joseph Smith once said, “Could you gaze into heaven [for] five minutes, you would know more than by reading all that ever was written on the subject.” [23] Joseph’s teaching about the particular power of learning by revelation may help us understand why President Oaks recently emphasized President Russell M. Nelson’s teaching that “in coming days, it will not be possible to survive spiritually without the guiding, directing, comforting, and constant influence of the Holy Ghost.”[24] President Oaks taught:
“One of the many reasons you will need the constant influence of the Holy Ghost is that you live in a season in which the adversary has become so effective at disguising truth that if you don’t have the Holy Ghost, you will be deceived.” [25]
Stated another way, we need the truth because the truth makes us free. And to know the truth, we need the guiding, directing, comforting, and constant influence of the Holy Ghost.
As I close, may I invite you to be diligent in your pursuit of truth—by studying in your classes, by studying the scriptures, by experimenting on the word of God, and by prayerfully striving to be guided by the Holy Ghost. The truths you learn will make you more free, more powerful and more joyful. And if the blessings from some truths are not immediately apparent, may I invite you to follow President Oaks’s counsel to wait patiently upon the Lord, trusting that our Heavenly Father’s plan really is a plan of happiness.
Finally, it is important to recognize that, as much as we may want to understand “the truth of all things,” [26] we will fall short in both our comprehension and our behavior. But Jesus’s teaching in John 8 reminds us that all is not lost. Recall His words:
“And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. … Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” [27]
As Jesus taught His disciples, there is one truth we need to understand above all other truths: that He can make us free. No matter how shackled or imprisoned we feel because of our ignorance or our sins, through the Savior and His atoning sacrifice, we can be made free indeed. I testify this is true. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Notes:
[1] David O. McKay, “Groundbreaking and Dedication of CCH/BYU–Hawaii” [Brigham Young University–Hawaii foundational speech, Feb. 12, 1955], speeches.byuh.edu.
[2] John 8:31–32, 34–36
[3] 2 Nephi 2:25; see also Doctrine and Covenants 93:36
[4] See Helaman 14:31
[5] See Moses 4:3, which states, “Wherefore, because that Satan rebelled against me, and sought to destroy the agency of man, … I caused that he should be cast down”; see also Doctrine and Covenants 121:41–42
[6] See Doctrine and Covenants 121:36–37
[7] Now, I suppose one could respond that, by using AI, an unschooled individual can do just as well. But knowing how to write helps one to think about the right prompt and it helps one to discern whether the chatbot’s beautiful turn of phrase really conveys the meaning the person intends to convey.
[8] Doctrine and Covenants 89:8
[9] Russell M. Nelson, “Think Celestial!,” Liahona, November 2023, 118
[10] John 8:34
[11] See 1 Peter 2:9; see also Titus 2:14, which says, “Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.”
[12] Henry B. Eyring, “Finding Safety in Counsel,” Ensign, May 1997, 26. Smoking is an obvious case of the truth making us free, but other parts of the Word of Wisdom—such as the prohibition on drinking coffee and tea—may not yet have such a clear outcome. Regardless of our current understanding, and frankly regardless of the ultimate health effects, we can trust the Lord that this guidance is designed to make us free and joyful. Such commandments, for example, are also a powerful reminder that we are part of covenant Israel and a peculiar people. On its own, the reminder of our covenant relationship with the Father and the Son—the promise of hesed and Their loving kindness—is enough to bless and empower us.
[13] Moses 5:5
[14] Moses 5:6–7
[15] Dallin H. Oaks, “Coming Closer to Jesus Christ” [Brigham Young University devotional, February 10, 2026], 4, speeches.byu.edu
[16] Psalm 119:105
[17] Doctrine and Covenants 59:4
[18] See Matthew 22:39
[19] Mosiah 18:8–9
[20] 1 John 4:19
[21] Proverbs 11:25
[22] Doctrine and Covenants 88:118
[23] Joseph Smith, in History, 1838–1856 (Manuscript History of the Church), vol. E-1, 1750, josephsmithpapers.org. President Dallin H. Oaks, at his recent BYU devotional, made a similar point: “We are grateful to know that there are two methods of gaining needed knowledge: (1) the evolving disclosures of man discovered by the scientific method and (2) the truths disclosed by the spiritual method, which begins with faith in God and relies on scriptures, inspired teaching, and personal revelation. There is no ultimate conflict between knowledge gained by these different methods because God, our omnipotent Eternal Father, knows all truth and beckons us to learn by both methods” (Dallin H. Oaks, “Coming Closer to Jesus Christ” [Brigham Young University devotional, February 10, 2026], 3, speeches.byu.edu).
[24] Russell M. Nelson, quoted in Dallin H. Oaks, “Coming Closer to Jesus Christ” [Brigham Young University devotional, February 10, 2026], 2, speeches.byu.edu.
[25] Dallin H. Oaks, “Coming Closer to Jesus Christ” [Brigham Young University devotional, February 10, 2026], 2, speeches.byu.edu; emphasis added.
[26] See Doctrine and Covenants 93:26–28, which states, “He that keepeth his commandments receiveth truth and light, until he is glorified in truth and knoweth all things.”
[27] John 8:32, 34–36