LDS Life Launch-2, a seminar for members of the President’s Leadership Council and other donors, was held Friday and Saturday, March 25 and 26, on the BYU–Hawaii campus. “The seminar exceeded our expectations,” said Dr. Mark Matheson, seminar director. “The presenters came at their own expense and shared deeply moving stories of how God loves his children and cares for them through using people just like us. Many participants expressed that they won't be the same after this weekend.”
Dr. Matheson commented that G.K. Chesterton said, “The chief object of education is not to learn things but to unlearn things. The old retirement paradigm was: ‘work, work, work, stop at 65, play, die.’ So with Chesterton’s quote in mind, we tried to start to un-learn the old retirement.”
BYU–Hawaii has a very successful entrepreneurship program based out of the Willes Center for International Entrepreneurship and this was an interesting addition to the program. Over the course of two days, participants had a chance to meet five of the most successful LDS social entrepreneurs who have launched ideas into the world today.
The seminar was geared towards the 40-70 age range and was initiated to help participants create milestones, goals, and good ideas to pursue now, while they have the means and the time they did not have when they were younger.
This goal did not deter younger participants from coming to the conference. Many students attended with hopes of being inspired to create their own ventures and to change the world. Those in attendance learned to count their blessings, analyze their unique talents, and think of new ways their time, talents, and blessings could be used to accomplish good in the world. Matheson summed up the feeling of the conference with a quote by Albert Schweitzer: “I don’t know what your destiny will be, but one thing I know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who will have sought and found how to serve.”