Brothers and sisters, malo e lelei.
It is indeed a humbling experience and I have grown so much in preparation for this. I sure am grateful for the opportunity that I now have to speak before you. I wish to thank my wife for that introduction and also wish to continue on in the same spirit that Janelle started off in. I pray that the Spirit of the Lord will be with me today so that the message I will share may edify us all. I will share with you some dear personal experiences that I have had since my arrival here at BYU-Hawaii. I hope to clarify that I do not share them to boast, but merely to share principles I have learned, hoping you will learn the same principles as well.
As I was pondering on what to speak on today, unity came to mind. After much prayerful consideration, I felt the need to speak today about being in unity with the Spirit. Not so much on how to be in Unity with the Spirit, but why we need to be in unity with the Spirit, with the hope that upon realizing the blessings which come with this unity, we will seek after them. As we seek after these things, we will become united as a university.
There are countless reasons why we should strive to be in unity with the Spirit, but for my purpose for today, I will focus on two main reasons that directly relate to why we're here at BYU-Hawaii. First, I will talk about the role of the Spirit as a teacher of all truths and why this is important to us. I will then talk about the Spirit being a guide and how this can make a difference in our lives.
First, we need to be in unity with the Spirit so he can "teach us all truths." One of the well known roles of the Spirit is that it is a teacher of all truths. The Savior, before ascending to heaven, told his disciples:
"The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you" (John 14:26, emphasis added). Moroni, in the Book of Mormon, taught the same principle when he said: And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things" (Moroni 10:5, emphasis added).
On my mission, these scriptures were my closest allies. I shared them with many investigators and was able to witness the fulfillment of this promise. The powerful influence of the Holy Ghost on the conversion process is real and I testify that it is true. But at the time, I thought that was all there was to it. I thought this promise was only referring to spiritual matters. It wasn't until just recently that I realized that I have been overlooking a very important word. That word is "all." Having noticed this word, these two scriptures take on a new meaning to me. I realized that these scriptures were not only teaching us that the Holy Ghost will teach us truth essential for salvation, but it will also teach us truth about science, mathematics, engineering, biology, chemistry, philosophy and more. That is what the word "all" denotes.
I have experienced this promise both spiritually and academically. Last semester I took two philosophy related courses. In these two courses, we studied about a philosophical view that questions our existence. This view claims that it is possible that none of you exist, but you are rather an imagination of the mind. It asks this question, "How do you know that I am real or that I exist? It is possible that you are being deceived by your imagination that there is an existence but in reality there is not"
Some of you are probably thinking, 'What kind of a question is that?' Or you are thinking, 'Is it not obvious that I am here because I am here?' But to me this was a legitimate question with a legitimate point, and therefore needed to be answered. The answer provided in class did not fully satisfy my curious mind. I started searching for an answer but was unsuccessful. One day I was preparing for a different assignment and came across the answer that I had been looking for. It was found in one of the well known teachings of Alma about faith (in Alma, Chapter 32). After explaining about [how] the seed of faith starts to grow and how the mind is being enlightened and the heart starts to swell, Alma then asked a question in verse 35, which to me was my answer. He said:
"O then, is not this real?" (Referring to the feelings that the listener to the words of truth is feeling.) "I say unto you, Yea, because it is light;" (Alma 32:35, emphasis added). Alma is saying that anything that is made up of light is real. Upon further study of this subject, an explanation by the Lord to the prophet Joseph Smith makes this principle clearer. To the prophet the Lord declared:
"The light which shineth, which giveth you light, is through him who enlighteneth your eyes, which is the same light that quickeneth your understandings 'the light which is in all things'" (D&C 88:11, 13).
Light exists in all things. Word or teaching of truth "is light" and this light enlightens the mind that hearkens to it. I remember the excitement that came over me when I made this discovery. Through the Spirit, Heavenly Father taught me truth that I would have never found elsewhere. Brothers and sisters, this is a promise to us. That we will be given great and hidden treasures of truth, but only after we put ourselves in unity with the Holy Spirit, the teacher of all truth.
The second reason why we need to be in unity with the Spirit is because it will guide us to where we need to be. But before it can guide us, we must be willing to listen and submit. One of my favorite hymns is a hymn that portrays commitment to following the will of the Lord. It reads:
"It may not be on the mountain height or over the stormy sea. It may not be at the battle's front my Lord will have need of me. But if by a still, small voice he calls to paths I do not know, I'll answer dear Lord, with my hand in thine: I'll go where you want me to go. I'll go where you want me to go, dear Lord, over mountain or plain or sea; I'll say what you want me to say, dear Lord, I'll be what you want me to be" (Hymn 270).
These words deliver the message that the Lord will call us, but we need to listen.
I remember my first few days here at BYU-Hawaii. To some degree, I was disappointed. BYU-Hawaii was not what I had imagined it to be. I remember thinking that this was not like other American colleges I have seen on TV. After sometime, I realized that this school was indeed not like the other American colleges on TV. There was something special about this place. In the classrooms, math was not just math. Chemistry was not just chemistry; rather, they were principles that contained truth which in turn strengthened my belief that there was a God. My spirituality grew as I attended my classes. Being overwhelmed by these feelings, I decided that I wanted to commit my life to the Savior. I remember kneeling in the tiny space of my hale dorm room, promising my Heavenly Father that I will give up my life to do His will. Not long after, I was sitting in the Stake Center listening to President Shumway give his last devotional talk as the President of the University. On the back of one of my notebooks in my broken English I wrote the following entry as a result of my experience on that day:
"May 31st, 2007: As I was seated in the congregation, I was somehow impressed that I need to inspect and see the impact of [the] changes that [will] happen when there is leadership change, and strive to implement them into my life for I will need to use them many, many times."
A few days later, I was seated here in the CAC. It was the day President Wheelwright was announced as the President of the University. During the event, President Hinckley made some remarks. He first thanked President Shumway for his service and dedication and went on to say that President Wheelwright was to take BYU-Hawaii to "new heights." In that instant, I felt an overwhelming feeling. It was the Spirit of the Lord testifying to me that what President Hinckley was saying was true. That this school was going places and I felt honored to be part of it. Since this experience, I have allowed the Lord to take me wherever He wants me to go. It has been quite an interesting journey. I have been to places I've never thought of, I have met people I never thought I would, including my wife, and, I have done things that I never imagined myself doing, including standing here today.
I come from a very poor family. My father's education was limited to the primary school level. With not so much of an education, sustaining a large family was a challenge. His dream, like any other father, was for us to do better than he did, which was in his case, to graduate from High School. To come as far as I have come is a miracle. I contribute it not to any worthiness or effort of mine, but the result of obeying a simple principle taught in our humble home: Follow the Spirit.
Now I wish to bring to your attention some prophetic statements about you and me. The Apostle Paul in his letter to the Saints at Corinth said, "God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to
confound the things which are mighty" (1 Corinthians 1: 27). As a university we are considered weak and simple because of our size and number. But many servants of God have declared that this is a special place. In other words, this is a chosen place. And because we are part of it, that makes us special too. God chose you and me out of millions of youth in the church in the world today to be prepared--for what purpose? "[To] break down the mighty and strong ones, to proclaim the fullness of his gospel unto the ends of the world, and before kings and rulers."
Our promises are great. We are entitled to a source who can teach us truths that the world has never known. We are entitled to a source who can guide us to places where we will have the most impact. All we have to do is unite ourselves with it. That source is the Holy Spirit.
Brothers and sisters, it has been an honor and a privilege for me to be a devotional speaker today and I wish to bear with you my testimony that I know that God lives, that Jesus is the Christ, and that He is our Savior, that he guides us today and that he would never lead us astray. I bear you my testimony that Joseph Smith was indeed the prophet and that through him the fullness gospel was restored. I bear you my witness and these things I leave with you in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.