Suzanne Tuttle

“Living with intention requires conquering the natural man and seeking to become a saint” was the council of Margaret Wheelwright, BYU-Hawaii’s First Lady as she spoke at the February 28 Devotional in the Cannon Activities Center.

Students and faculty filed into the CAC to hear Gary Cornia’s devotional centered on measuring one’s life as a child of God. Gary C. Cornia, Dean of the Marriott School of Business at BYU Provo, explained that there is a lot expected from each of God’s children. While nobody is perfect it is important to strive to live up to one’s potential.

John C. Dalton, the Mission President of the Honolulu, spoke about the importance of each individual in his devotional address on November 8, 2011. He focused on missionary work and the worth of each person in the Lord’s work. He started by putting into perspective how many people are on the earth, demographers have recently discovered that there are over seven billion people in the world, then he reminded us that Heavenly Father sees each of his children; he loves them and expects great things from them.

Elder Craig Olson, an Educational Missionary from the Department of Religious Education, spoke at this week’s devotional on “How to Dress for the Second Coming.” He began by describing his home town, Vernon, Utah, and an experience he had one evening while enjoying a family dinner. A bright light ascended above the mountains and illuminated the room he and family were in. His first thought was, ‘this is the Second Coming of Jesus Christ’ and then, ‘I’m not ready, and I’m in trouble.’ Olson continued, “I will never forget the feeling and the thoughts that went through my mind at that time as I quickly examined my life and found myself lacking in too many areas. Fortunately, it was not the Second Coming of the Savior, but a rocket that was launched into the sky from the Nevada testing site."

Students, faculty and staff of BYU–Hawaii filled the Cannon Activities Center on Tuesday, September 20, to gather for the semester’s first campus devotional with President Steven C. Wheelwright and his wife Margret. After Sister Wheelwright’s introduction emphasizing how much education can impact a person’s life, President Wheelwright welcomed everyone to the University and encouraged everyone to make weekly devotional attendance a priority in their schedules (Devotionals are held each Tuesday at 11 AM in the Cannon Activities Center).

President H. Ross Workman, the President of the Laie temple, began his devotional address with the story of a young man preparing to graduate. President Workman’s August 16th devotional was entitled, “They Rejected the Heavenly Gift, Would You?’ The young man wanted a sports car for his graduation present. When his graduation day came, he was expecting the present because of his father’s wealth. He opened a small box and saw a bible. He rejected the gift from his father and was angry with him because he did not get what he wanted. He had not seen his father for many years and had a family of his own. His father passed away and he went back to the house. He saw the Bible that he had been given and noticed that Matthew 7:11 had been highlighted. A key to the sports car he had asked for then fell out of the Bible. He had rejected the gift that he had wanted without knowing it. He had felt a tremendous amount of regret because he had also rejected his father.

Ronald L. Johnson’s August devotional was entitled, "What Part Will You Play on The Stage of Life?" Johnson, and his wife are service volunteers at BYU–Hawaii. He began his devotional by speaking about the peace that Christ brings to people’s lives. He said, “The gospel of Christ is the gospel of peace.”

Students crowded into the McKay Auditorium for Elder Richard Draper’s talk, entitled, "My Five Top Least Favorite Scriptures and What They Teach Me." The July 26 devotional was so full in the auditorium that more than 200 students had to watch from the Aloha Center Ballroom since the Cannon Activities Center is closed for renovations. Draper is a service missionary who teaches Religion on the BYU-Hawaii campus. Draper taught for 22 years at the BYU Provo Department of Ancient Scripture. He is the author of 7 books and over a hundred articles.

Elder Jerry Wilson’s devotional entitled, “The Character of God,” focused on the characteristics of Heavenly Father and the “Lectures on Faith.” Elder Wilson began his July 5th devotional by advising students to, “be careful of what you allow in your knowledge bases, from the world…Please know that you have plenty of examples of those who sought advanced degrees all the while deepening their faith in God in the process.”