Two Apostles, the Relief Society General President, and two members of the Seventy spoke at the May 12 Devotional as part of the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees’ on-site visit to the Laie, Hawaii, campus. Students, faculty, staff, and members of the community gathered in the CAC to hear their message.
BYU–Hawaii campus welcomed Elder Russell M. Nelson and Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, along with Relief Society General President, Sister Linda K. Burton, Elder Donald L. Hallstrom of the Presidency of the Seventy, and CES Commissioner, Elder Paul V. Johnson of the Seventy for a special 90-minute devotional.
Elder Nelson entitled his talk “The Power of Faith,” and shared with the audience that faith needs to be strong enough to fortify us through our trials in life. He then invited each of the guests to share a brief message with the crowd, beginning with Elder Johnson.
Elder Johnson spoke about faith in relation to education. He addressed those who are facing obstacles in finishing their college education and invited them to “go forth with faith, work hard, and pray for Lord’s help,” so they can finish what they have started. In addition, he asked students to recognize the many blessings that will come when they finish college by looking forward with the eye of faith.
Sister Burton quoted from Doctrine and Covenants 38:30, “If ye are prepared, ye shall not fear.” She advised the audience that, with the combination of sufficient preparation and Lord’s help, fears can be overcome, and counseled the audience to keep their focus on the Lord as Peter did when he walked on water.
“Faith is moving forward, not standing still, and not looking around to compare with others,” Sister Burton added.
Following Sister Burton, Elder Hallstrom addressed the audience with the matter of faith in relation to service. He stated, “the foundation of our willingness to serve is based on the love we have for our Father in Heaven and His son Jesus Christ.”
Elder Hallstrom requested the audience to identify opportunities to serve and act upon it as a show of love and confidence in God’s plan. He concluded with an appreciation of the love of God for those who contributed in serving others.
The core of Elder Oaks’ talk was based in “the power of the doctrine of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.” He emphasized that it is faith in this doctrine that makes this university possible, and outlined the nine major headings in this eternal doctrine.
“[The] purpose of mortal life,” said Elder Oaks, “is to prepare the sons and daughters of God for their destiny.”
Elder Nelson concluded this devotional by urging the audience to focus on building and developing their faith, virtue, charity, fidelity, dependability, and trust, and become more like Father in Heaven.
Following Elder Nelson’s remarks, he continued with a special announcement that John S. Tanner would succeed Steven C. Wheelwright as President of Brigham Young University–Hawaii, effective July 27, 2015. Read more on this announcement at http://newsroom.byuh.edu/NewPresidentAnnounced.
BYU–Hawaii Devotionals are held each Tuesday at 11 AM in the Cannon Activities Center. Previous Devotionals can be viewed at http://devotional.byuh.edu/.
