Brothers & Sisters Aloha,
I am so grateful for my sweet wife. She is the love of my youth and the love of my life and is my greatest example. Because of her, our life has been enchanted as we have strived to live after the manner of happiness. It is an honor to speak with her today.
I pay tribute and honor to you, the rising generation. You are resilient, loyal, and confident. Your future is bright, and your potential is limitless.
I have observed that among the greatest challenges facing your generation is dealing with unexpected changes in life and overcoming the fear of making mistakes as you move forward with many big and important decisions. Today, I offer some thoughts about these very real challenges.
From the time I was very young, I have had a fascination with construction. I loved working with my father and siblings framing homes, completing remodels, or otherwise creating something that was not previously there. I love to stand back after a project is finished and marvel upon the process and effort required to create something from seemingly nothing. There are many lessons to be learned through the process of building that may give insight into some of the challenges you face.
One year ago, from this pulpit, President Emily Belle Freeman made the following observation:
“I love that you are on a campus right now filled with the sounds of building. I hear them going on behind this building, and I bet that is a sound that you are going to hear for this whole next semester, and it sounds like for the next five to seven years.
That could be in some of our minds a distraction, or it could be an anthem depending upon how you want to look at it. I love that your mission statement says that part of your role here is to build the kingdom, and so I am not sad that the music you will hear in the background is that of construction taking place every day.” [1]
The sounds of construction have always been an anthem to me and her words resonated with me in a profound way. In our Heavenly Father’s eyes, each of us are “under construction” and His beloved Son is the “Master Carpenter.” Sometimes in construction, things are moving along great and falling perfectly into place, while at other times construction can be unpredictable, messy, and seemingly impossible. As we face our own construction at various stages along the covenant path, remember that “pace or placement on the path are not nearly as important as the progress.” [2]
For years, our family has had this oft quoted C.S. Lewis observation hanging on the wall in our home:
“Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on: you knew those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently he starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense.
What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of—throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace.” [3]
Our Heavenly Father wants the very best for us and he wants the very best from us. As we allow Him to design and construct our lives into a masterpiece, we have no need to fear the future or worry about making mistakes or dealing with unexpected change.
As I draw comparisons between the building process and our own lives, please bear in mind that I am not talking about physical characteristics. I am talking about changing and refining ourselves as a disciple of Christ, so that at some future point, through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we become as He is.
Consider one of the beautiful new buildings on our own campus, or one of the buildings that will soon be on campus. The initial impressions are captivating. When we first encounter a carefully designed building, we tend to admire it for its seeming perfection.
However, we can’t always tell from the outside what is happening within.
The "perfect" building may be in the midst of renovation with unfinished rooms, exposed beams, and utility lines, revealing the need for further labor and adjustments that contribute to the final product. Sometimes we compare the construction projects of our own lives with others we see around us or on social media, without realizing it is a completely unfair comparison. What appears perfect and complete on the outside is often the result of a continuing process on the inside. We just simply cannot compare where any of us are in the construction process because each person’s blueprint has a different focus at a different time.
In some cases, complete demolition of certain aspects or behaviors in our lives may be required as we strive to become more like Jesus. When we recognize that some parts of our lives need to be removed in order to progress, repentance can give us a clean slate, just as demolition will give this project a fresh start.
Here are some interior renderings of the future McKay building here on campus.
This state of finish has not yet been achieved; it has only been conceived through design. Our Heavenly Father knows the end from the beginning. He is already fully aware of how these buildings will look when complete and he is fully aware of you and what you will become in the grand designs He has for you.
The Book of Mormon prophet Alma once asked this:
“Have ye spiritually been born of God? Have ye received his image in your countenances? Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts?” [4]
My hope and challenge to each of you is that as you observe the construction going on around campus, you will reflect on this mighty change of heart going on within yourself and within those around you as we all come unto Christ. Please be patient and kind with every person you interact with because we are all under a mighty transformation and none of us can even imagine how glorious the finished product will be. Because God is the architect, we have no need to worry about the future or the changes that come into our lives that will be for our own eternal glory.
Now, is there a way for us to embrace changes as they come to us in our lives in such a way that we are not completely derailed if things do not seem to go the way we have planned, or our agenda gets all messed up, or we don’t know the correct or “best” decision to make in the important decisions of life?
President Boyd K. Packer said the following:
“It is not expected that you go through life without making mistakes, but you will not make a major mistake without first being warned by the promptings of the Spirit. This promise applies to all members of the Church.” [5]
If we are listening and feeling, the Holy Ghost will steer us in the right direction. I have found in my life that the Lord often works with me in the way referred to by Nephi of old.
“…And the Lord did show me from time to time after what manner I should work the timbers of the ship.” [6]
Most often for me, if the Lord sees that I am going in the right direction, He does not intervene. However, if I am headed off course, or He sees a great obstacle looming in my path, He will help correct my course if I will listen to and trust Him. Sometimes these changes are small and other times terrifyingly large. At three separate times our family had to sell almost everything we owned in order to move as part of a Church assignment. In each case, what we moved on to has enriched our lives and drawn us closer to Christ. Each brand-new beginning has been a tremendous blessing in our lives. As we trust the Lord and are willing to make the changes He prompts us to make, no matter the inconvenience or effort required, He will direct us for good.
At other times, we may not even realize the Lord is intervening on our behalf until we look backwards. It is just a natural process of circumstances that place us where we need to be. I will illustrate with one example from our life and one example from the life of my parents.
Example from My Own Life
Back in the 1900’s, before many of you were born, we received a work assignment to move across states. We prayed about where exactly we should live in the new area, and found a place that we thought would work as a temporary rental. We set up an appointment with the owner to walk through the house before signing an agreement. When the owner arrived to meet us, he discovered that the key to this house was missing from his key ring. He was very embarrassed and told us that the key was always on his key ring and that he never took it off for any reason. He was absolutely puzzled as to why it was missing now. He apologized as he excused himself to return to look for the key, which would be about a 45-minute trip. While the owner was gone to retrieve the missing key, our family grabbed lunch, and just happened to spot an advertisement for a home for rent located just a few minutes away. We were able to make an appointment to look at this advertised home during the time we were waiting for the other missing key to show up. The second we walked into this nearby home we knew with absolute certainty that this was where we were supposed to be. We did not even have to think about it because it felt so right. Due to a mysterious “missing key” we ended up moving into this other house in a different ward where contacts were made that started my employment with the Church a short time later. Being in this ward and meeting a single pivotal person changed the entire trajectory of our lives and has blessed me and my family for more than 22 years now with Church employment. The Lord knew all along where we needed to be, and it just took a simple missing key to guide us in the right direction.
Now, an example from My Parents’ Life
My own parents are amazing life examples of trusting the Lord and are currently serving a mission at the Heber Valley Youth Camp in Utah. My father is the greatest priesthood leader I have ever known. He relates the following about how the spirit helped him embrace unexpected change in his life through inspiration from heaven…
“Five days after I graduated from high school, I started basic training with the U.S. Army. After basic training, I was transferred to the Mojave Desert in California. I was being trained to be a tank commander. On one occasion we were doing a night drill in our tanks in total darkness. Most of the tank commanders were positioned with their bodies part way up out of the tanks to facilitate clear vision of their surroundings. We traveled with our main gun to the front, projecting about ten feet out in front of the tank. As we were moving along in total darkness, I felt the impression to tell the tank driver below to stop immediately. He instantly stopped the tank and when the dust cleared, my main gun was six inches behind the head of the tank commander in the tank in front of us. If the Spirit had not prompted me to stop the tank, my gun would have most assuredly taken his head off. I felt then, a clear message from the Spirit that my chosen path in life was going to be different than what I had planned. Shortly after this experience I received word that my father back home on the farm in Idaho had been in a serious accident where he lost all his fingers and thumb on his right hand to a corn chopper. With family hardship leave issued, 24 hours later I was back home taking care of the farm, and shortly thereafter I was honorably released from the military. Looking back now 60 years later, my life has not only been different than what I had planned, but it has been far better than I could have ever imagined.” [7]
In a dramatic way, the Lord altered my father’s chosen path to allow him to accomplish many different things than he had originally planned. 60 years later, he can see how the Lord put him precisely where he needed to be to find the right spouse and raise his children in the right place. My father and mother are the parents of 14 children, all sealed in the temple to their spouses, with 69 grandchildren and 27 great-grandchildren. Had the Lord not intervened, my father’s life most certainly would not have allowed him to meet my mother nor led him to his profession in building, which in turn affected me and now this campus today where we are all engaged in the work of building buildings, relationships, and each other.
When the Lord intervenes on our behalf, we often are unaware because things just flow in a natural process of events. We can trust that as we make the best life decisions we can, with the information we have, the Lord will either intervene to cause a course correction, or He will bless our decisions, and we will feel at peace. All the Lord asks of us is to just make a decision and move forward in one direction or another. He will take care of the details, but He cannot help us if we are not moving, or if we are paralyzed with fear. Take that leap of faith and know that the Lord will not allow you to go off course if you stay close to Him and heed the Spirit. Not only will the Lord, through the Spirit, help you avoid mistakes, but he will help your future to be amazing. He has said:
“Ye cannot behold with your natural eyes, for the present time, the design of your God concerning those things which shall come hereafter.” [8]
My friends, I bear witness that the Savior lives. I know Him, and I love Him. He was all about change, and through his magnificent, eternal, and infinite Atonement, mighty change is possible in each of us. I know that as you follow His teachings and counsel with Him as you make life decisions, you have no need to fear. He will help you build a life more beautiful than anything you can now imagine. He will not only help repair and “cleanse the inner vessel,” [9] but He will build your life into a masterpiece, and He will treat you with kindness and love as you work through your life’s construction process. May we all have a desire to keep growing and progressing so that His light may “grow brighter and brighter in us until the perfect day” [10] when we are complete and finished on the inside as well as on the outside.
I so testify in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Notes:
[1] Emily Belle Freeman, "Building the Kingdom," [address at BYU–Hawaii Ohana Meeting], BYUH Speeches, August 29, 2023
[2] Emily Belle Freeman, "Walking in Covenant Relationship with Christ," Ensign or Liahona, October 2023, 79
[3] Marvin J. Ashton, "Progress Through Change," Ensign or Liahona, October 1979, 61; Lewis, C. S. (1960). Mere Christianity, Macmillian Co.
[4] Alma 5:14
[5] Boyd K. Packer, "Counsel to Youth," Ensign or Liahona, October 2011, 18
[6] 1 Nephi 18:1 (emphasis added)
[7] B.F. Cluff Interview, August 2024
[8] D&C 58:3
[9] Ezra Taft Benson, “Cleansing the Inner Vessel,” Ensign or Liahona, April 1986, 4
[10] Doctrine & Covenants 50:24