Elder Aaron Hall:
Good evening. We extend a very warm welcome to each of you attending, as well as to those watching this broadcast at young single adult gathering places throughout the Utah Area.
We are blessed to have Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles with us today. We love and sustain him wholeheartedly. This meeting is taking place under his direction. We also welcome Elder Kevin W. Pearson of the Quorum of the Seventy and Utah Area President, and Sister Sharon Eubank, the Director of Church Humanitarian Service and former First Counselor in the General Presidency of the Relief Society. I am Elder Aaron Hall, a Utah Area Seventy, and I have been asked to conduct this meeting.
The purpose of our gathering and the focus of our discussion today is the religious responsibility and spiritual blessings of higher learning and education. We will begin by watching a short video. This video was recorded at one of the Layton, Utah, young single gathering places. We look forward then to receiving counsel and instruction from Elder Christofferson, Elder Pearson, and Sister Eubank. At the conclusion of our meeting, we’ll be blessed to hear from Elder Christofferson.
We thank all of you tonight for your attendance and invite you to participate each week in the young adult gathering place at the location nearest you. Let’s watch the video.
Male 1:
We’re here with YSAs, talking about their educational goals and the different paths that they’ve had in education. Who are we here with today?
Male 2:
I’m Ryan Crawford.
Male 1:
Did you attend college or go through any vocational training?
Male 2:
Yeah, I did my bachelor’s in arts with an emphasis in architecture, and then my master’s in architecture. From the very beginning—seventh grade, I met the architect of the Rome Temple. And that’s kind of what got me interested in architecture.
Female 1:
I went to Ogden-Weber Technical College. So I actually did my training in high school. So I did it first semester, senior year, and then I was done by the time I graduated high school. I just got right into it.
Female 2:
So I just returned from my mission in Fort Worth, Texas. Before that, I did a year at Utah State. I was just doing general studies, and then a couple days ago I started back at Weber State, and I’m going to be studying rehabilitation sciences.
Female 3:
I graduated in professional sales. When it came to professional sales—my dad was actually in sales, and so I was able to join him on a couple of his business trips. And so I was able to kind of meet some people, network, and also kind of see what he did. And I just kind of loved the idea of working with people.
Female 4:
Right now, I am just finishing my generals, but I will be doing zoology courses so I can get my zoology degree.
Male 3:
Currently I’m attending Roseman University of Health Sciences. I’m in pharmacy school.
Male 2:
I am so grateful for the gospel in my life to be able to guide me in my education. One of the classes I took was Prophetic Answers and Prophetic Questions. And to be able to learn from our prophet today and teach me ways of the modern world helped me answer so many questions of where I need to be, where I need to go—and it just helped me to find the career path I’m on today.
Female 3:
My patriarchal blessing says that knowing where I would study and what I would study would be a big testimony builder. And so I think for me, I was waiting for an “aha” moment. Throughout my education, as I kept the Lord involved, and as I prayed and I took steps forward when I seemed a little blind of just something I wanted to do, I would feel peace. At the end of the day, looking back, you can see the Lord’s hand.
Female 4:
I’ve always wanted to be a veterinarian. I would always think, “Oh my gosh, it would be so cool to work with all these animals!” since I have always loved animals, and I’ve just had a soft spot for them.
Male 3:
I actually really struggled in school. I had to meet with my mentors and advisors to get back on track, and so it’s been a really tough road. But also I’ve been really blessed by the opportunity to pursue education.
Male 2:
Sometimes I felt really alone. I lived by myself. I was doing online school, and so sometimes you didn’t know who to turn to. But being in the gospel, being able to turn to my Heavenly Father, reading my scriptures, knowing that I had friends around me and institute classes at church really showed me the direction and path that I needed to take in my life.
Female 1:
Meeting all sorts of different people and different clients, I see glimpses of Him through everyone. Yeah, it just has brought me a lot closer to the Savior.
Female 2:
I really struggle with time management, and I definitely struggle with procrastination. I think school was just never really naturally easy for me. If I can put my trust in the Savior and realize that He can help me to become who I want to become, that I can be a good student—and it’s not who I am, but it’s something that I can grow into.
Male 3:
I’m in my final year, so we’re doing rotations. So I actually just finished six weeks in the emergency department at Intermountain. So it’s been really intense. I’ve always felt like Heavenly Father can’t really steer the ship unless it’s moving. And so I just put what I can into the direction I want to go and then just follow where Heavenly Father wants to take me.
Female 3:
I think probably the biggest challenge for me was starting university. I didn’t have a ton of women in my life or my family who had completed college. I had kind of anticipated taking the same course, but in my patriarchal blessing it said that I would complete a higher education.
Female 2:
My mom is someone that I look up to probably more than anyone else besides, like, the Savior, of course; but she’s a great example of Him. I just have always wanted to be like her. She works hard, she has the strongest testimony, and she helped me to come to know the Savior. And she worked hard at her education, and she helped me see the value of that and how that’s such an important part of our lives. And so my parents have been huge role models to me, and showing me how important hard work is and how important learning is.
Female 4:
When I was in high school, I did take an internship at a vet clinic, and the doctor who I was shadowing was amazing, and I absolutely loved working with him.
Female 3:
I love institute. So at Weber State, it’s a commuter school, and so it’s really, really hard to get involved and get to know people. And one of the biggest worries I had about attending there was having a social life. And the institute is where it’s at. That is where the social life is. So I was able to get really involved in the institute. So I consider it one of the biggest blessings in my education. If I could go back and do anything, I would totally go back and relive my institute experience.
Male 2:
Brother Wardle was at the University of Utah, and he truly led me in my education, because I knew I could go to him to receive answers. I just knew that he was someone that was in my court and rooting for me.
Female 2:
I took three institute classes at Utah State, and I really loved them. I felt like they helped me to understand that the gospel applies to so much more than just church on Sunday—that it really is the whole purpose of why we’re here on earth, and that it can help me not only in my institute classes but in my other classes, and that learning is such an important part of Heavenly Father’s plan for us.
Male 3:
It can be really hard at times. You don’t know what’s going to come up in your life, but if you give the time to the Lord—to go to institute, to prepare lessons, to serve in a calling—then He’s going to support you.
Female 3:
I could not be happier or more fulfilled in my career, and it’s blessed me with countless opportunities for financial stability—but also missionary opportunities. And so I’m just really grateful for the experiences that I had and the ways that I was able to grow and where my path has led me at this point.
Elder Hall:
It’s so great to be with you here tonight. And we just had the opportunity to watch this wonderful short video of six young single adults, who are all in a unique and wonderful journey of education and higher learning.
As I watched that, I took away maybe a couple of key thoughts. One of them was that some of them initially started knowing the path that they were going to go on. Others were learning it as they went. And some were still trying to figure it out. No experience was the same.
What I was delighted to see is that they all involved the Lord in their effort. They went to prophetic teachings. They went to scripture, prayer, patriarchal blessings, and drew upon spiritual power. Some had mentors. Some, of course, had parents’ and friends’ support, and we also had those that followed role models along the way.
They all mentioned the struggle is real, as well as that it can be a tough road, and that taking the first step can sometimes be the hardest. And I was so delighted to see that part of their education journey was a spiritual journey. It was learning those things that are secular but also, so important, spiritual.
Sister Eubank, as you had a chance to watch this video tonight, what resonated most with you?
Sister Eubank:
It’s a great video, and I’m going to tell a tiny little story on Elder Pearson—I hope you won’t care. But we rode together—Elder Hall and Elder Pearson and I—from the Church Office Building to come. And when we plugged in the coordinates and we drove, and we got off the freeway, and we kept going, and we got to a chapel and there was nobody in the parking lot. And he said, “This is really bad.”
We went around to the other side—“Maybe the cars are over there.” No, that was the totally wrong chapel. And when we called, we called the Church operator, and we called the administrative support, and all these people, and they said, “No, you’re at the wrong building. And Elder Christofferson is at the right building, so hurry over there.”
So we came blazing back over here. But I thought as we were getting out of the car, I thought, “Oh, this is so typical of an educational journey—of anything in life. You make a plan, you think you know what you’re doing, you’ve got your resources, you show up, and you realize, oh, this is the wrong thing, and other people are waiting for me at the other thing.”
But instead of feeling embarrassed, you use the resources, and then you turn around and you just fix it. And so much of our life is that switching-around journey, and it’s so easy to get feeling bad of “Oh, I made this mistake and I’m off track.”
And so many of the people in that video said, “I was off track. I didn’t have good time management, but I had an advisor who helped me get on track,” or, “I had a terrific institute teacher,” or, “My mother was a great support to me.” And I thought that was key that those young adults said, “I had resources. I had people who could help me.”
Elder Hall:
Yeah. And not necessarily knowing where to start, they found their way. Elder Pearson, what struck you?
Elder Pearson:
Did you mention I was driving?
Sister Eubank:
Yes, I did mention that.
Elder Pearson:
Well, what impressed me—and I’ve watched the video several times now—was that each of the six individuals had developed a level of competence and focus. I don’t think they started out with that, and some of them mentioned that, but a level of confidence and focus. And it caused me to remember a wonderful quote from President Nelson that he gave to you several years ago, when he said you have the capacity to be wiser and smarter and to have more impact on the world than any previous generation—you have the capacity to be.
And I’ve often thought about how do you—how does one realize capacity? And clearly, hard work reveals capacity. And you could see that in each of those participants. They had worked hard and taken the course they thought was best—some of them changed course—but they kept moving forward. And that hard work not only revealed capacity, but it revealed confidence in themselves.
And I think that’s what education does for each of us. It gives us a level of confidence in ourselves and our ability to make a difference in the world, and to be smarter and wiser than previous generations.
Elder Hall:
I love that thought. One of the quotes that was in this short video is that the Lord can’t steer the ship if the ship isn’t moving. We’ve got to be moving. Elder Christofferson, what came to your mind?
Elder Christofferson:
Did you mention I came to the right chapel?
Elder Hall:
You did!
Elder Christofferson:
Thank you. Well, I thought it was interesting that they pursued such a variety of paths in furthering their learning. And sometimes we don’t make it clear that there’s not just one course that fits everybody, and not just one endeavor, or field of endeavor, that is appropriate for 100 percent of the people.
And so I hope that you, as you think about moving forward—some of you, many of you, I guess, are already on a path—remember that there are options. There are choices. Some people go into professions. Some people go into the military. Some people go into the arts. Some people go into the vocations and the crafts and the trades—and all of those are excellent choices.
It’s just that we need to grow from where we are as young people, as youth, and continue, as President Nelson talks about, in lifelong learning. We have to prepare ourselves. We need to prepare ourselves. It’s a religious obligation, he says, so that we can be of service to other people. It’s not just for our own edification or our own income. Those things matter, but really we want to be of service in society, in the Church, and in the broader society.
So I want to emphasize there is no one profession, no one occupation, no one training that’s best for 100 percent of all of us. But each of us chooses a path, and we can, as you said, we can change it as we go along and we learn. You’re not expected to know everything at the beginning. You know, you don’t see the end from the beginning. And sometimes it’s just, “Give me this day my daily bread,” you know. “I need this day. And I’ll move to that step and then see where we go after that.” But that’s OK. You don’t have to know it all.
Elder Hall:
Well, that brings great comfort, especially to me, as I think about my journey starting on one path, realizing that what I was studying, I needed to change. I actually went into something entirely different.
But I loved the counsel that you’ve just given us, that this all leads to an end. We begin with the end in mind, as President Nelson has taught us so beautifully, and there are so many options to do that.
Elder Christofferson:
End in mind, but not always defined.
Elder Hall:
Amen, amen. That’s part of that journey that we go through. Sister Eubank, as you consider about perhaps the options that are available to us, and even that spiritual aspect of being involved—not from secular opportunity, but spiritual—what comes to your thoughts?
Sister Eubank:
So I brought a visual aid. This is a gift bag that you’re going to get because you got invited to a party. When you get invited to the education party, you get this gift bag in the very beginning, and you don’t have to wait to open it until you graduate. All the stuff that you need is already in this bag.
So, you saw some of those things that came out in the video. You have all kinds of resources. You have patriarchal blessings. You have the temple. You have your parents. You have the scriptures. You have institute. We talked about education specialists that are available in the stakes, and mentors, which are some of the things right here on the top that you can’t see.
But the bag is stuffed full, and if you wait to open it until you have the same experience that Ryan had, of “I’m in seventh grade; I know I want to be an architect. The Rome Temple, you know, just sparked me”—some people have that experience, but most people don’t.
And the way that you find out what it is you’re meant to do is by getting into the messy middle of it, and it—and then using your bag to figure out prayer, and Heavenly Father, and patriarchal blessings. You got to use what’s in the bag and start the work, and then you find the answer.
And that was true in my life. I never thought I would be a humanitarian director of the Church. I didn’t study for that, but it came because of opportunities that grew out of the education that I had. And the Lord made a path for me that I would have never made for myself. So don’t forget, you have a bag, and everybody’s going to walk out of here with their party bag, and just don’t forget to open it. That’s my thing. Yeah. Right there.
Elder Christofferson:
Any chocolate in there?
Sister Eubank:
Yeah, it’s at the bottom.
Elder Hall:
Always important for any journey, for sure. Elder Pearson, what would you add to that?
Elder Pearson:
I just hope that you don’t fear the journey. As I watch those videos, I thought back on my own educational experience. And I thought about those, you know, those nights and weekends when I was working three jobs and trying to make it through school at the University of Utah, just thinking, “I’m never going to make it.” You’re just grinding out one quarter at a time and thinking, “I don’t really like these classes. They’re not doing anything for me.”
I got back from my mission, and I thought “I should know exactly what I’m supposed to do, but somehow that revelation eluded me, and I’m just not enjoying school.” So it became work and a bit of a grind. But I think for me, that was part of the journey of self-discovery. If anything is worthwhile, young friends, it’s going to be hard work.
There are going to be setbacks. You’re going to feel like throwing in the towel. You’re going to feel like, “I can’t afford this. It’s too hard. It’s taking too long. I’d rather get on with my life.” But do not be distracted by the difficulty of the journey, because it’s not just an educational journey, I think, as was demonstrated, it’s a spiritual journey.
And those difficult times and difficult situations can draw us to the Savior, where we can recognize we really do need help. But we can also find out there really is a plan for us, and that Heavenly Father and the Savior have already prepared a way, and They want to help us. We just need to reach out for Them. But don’t be afraid of the journey and the work.
Elder Hall:
I love that thought. One of the quotes I’ve heard used is, “Hard is not bad. Hard is just hard.” And going through this journey can be hard. And I think it’s OK—that it’s normal—that we all experience that opportunity to maybe go through the wilderness before we make it to the promised land. And what a blessing it is to enjoy the journey and to have faith and hope in that experience, recognizing that the Lord will lead us by the hand.
Sister Eubank:
Can I make a comment on that before you go on?
Elder Hall:
Please.
Sister Eubank:
When we sang the opening song, we sang that third verse of “How Firm a Foundation,” that “Fear not, I am with thee.” And it reminded me of an experience that I had. I was working in a retail store, and I wasn’t making enough money, and I was short on being able to pay my bills and pay my tuition.
And I remember locking the door to the store, going behind some of the shelves, and kneeling down and saying, “I’m in so much trouble. I just don’t have the finances to pursue my dream. I want to do it. I have the determination, but I just don’t have the money.” And the words to that song came into my mind: “Fear not, I am with thee. Be not dismayed. I am thy God; I will still give thee aid.”
And He did. He opened up a way for me to do that, even though I didn’t see it at the time. So I knew from that experience Heavenly Father is my biggest cheerleader. He’s the one cheering me on, opening up the paths even when I don’t see it. And that was real in my life.
Elder Pearson:
And it’s really that hard work that reveals capacity in a physical sense and in a spiritual sense. The harder you work at something, the more your capacity to do it expands—whether that’s learning how to run or in spiritual matters as well. And that’s part of what Heavenly Father is hoping for: that the hard work will allow Him to reveal unto us what our capacity is for difficult things and hard tasks as we go forward in our life.
Elder Christofferson:
Sharon, you made a point that was made in the video a couple of times, which is to involve the Lord in your path, in your educational pursuits, in your learning, in all aspects of your life, obviously. I don’t know what it is about us as mortals in a fallen world that we sometimes forget that. I mean, it seems so real, so natural, so obvious that sometimes we forget.
So I would encourage all of you, myself included, to make each day, and your efforts, a matter of prayer. Look to the Lord for the help you need that may not be obvious or available—obviously available to you in a given moment. I’ve had the same kind of experience where you don’t see the path, but the Lord opens a way, and sometimes it’s just enough for a little while, and you have to come back and get more help. But I don’t think that’s bad.
If you learn to call upon the Lord and rely on Him day by day, you get to know Him better. If you feel like you’re totally independent, you don’t need any help, you don’t need Him, you don’t need anybody else—it’s probably wrong, number one. But you forgo an opportunity to really come to know your Heavenly Father and the Lord, because you have to turn to Them.
You don’t have, in the end, anything but your faith to sustain you. So don’t shortchange yourself by thinking, “I have to do it all myself.” The Lord wants to help. You’re doing what He has asked. You’re doing what He’s counseled you to do through the prophet. So why wouldn’t He help?
If you’re on the path He’s asking you to be on, of course He’s going to give you the help you need through others, and sometimes directly. But we have stake—somebody mentioned earlier—stake specialists, education specialists, and mentors in the wards. And you’ve got a lot of places to turn: to your own parents, and mentors, and friends. You’ve got a lot of resources. But the most important one is the Lord Himself.
Elder Hall:
I love that. “Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings.”
Elder Christofferson:
That’s a nice phrase.
Elder Hall:
I’ve heard it from somewhere. What a blessing it is for our education, and, of course, for everything that we do in life. Elder Christofferson, as an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, you also serve as the chair of the Church Board of Education. As you think about final thoughts that you would give these wonderful soon-to-be graduating high school seniors, as well as the young single adults here gathered tonight, what else would you share?
Elder Christofferson:
Well, I want to put in a big plug, as some of the people on the video did, for institute and institute classes. That one young woman, I noticed, mentioned the first benefit was the social life, and the sociality that comes in that setting. That’s important, but I don’t know if I’d put that as the first thing.
But remember, lifelong learning needs to involve lifelong spiritual learning, not only intellectual or training in a trade. It’s lifelong learning of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And you can’t get to the bottom of all there is in the richness of the gospel in one life. So don’t worry about running out of opportunity to study in the scriptures and know what the Lord is like and what you can become.
So to me, institute just has so many blessings—ancillary blessings and direct blessings in terms of the knowledge you receive and the opportunity of association and the way it lifts you up and strengthens you to go forward.
I would add too—and is this my last time, chance to comment? I mean, this is it, OK?
Elder Hall:
You can go on as long as you need on this.
Elder Christofferson:
I was thinking, as we talked about things being hard, of a video I saw a while ago—it’s been a while now—of a young boy in India. He was 14, and it was a little bit of a documentary. It was just kind of a day in his life. But he has two jobs. He works in the morning delivering things on his bike and in the evening in a little storefront pharmacy. In between he goes to school. So he’s got a full day: work, school, work.
He gets home in the dark. He puts in about three hours of homework. And at 11:00 p.m., he kind of falls into his bed, which is really just the floor, a blanket and cushion on the floor with his siblings, and gets up and goes at it again.
I was just proud of him, really. I don’t know him. I’ve never met him and probably never will. His name was Amr. But he just kept going, and his income was crucial to the welfare and the well-being of the family. And I said, “I admire that. That really is something all of us can do.” And I would say that there are so many opportunities for all of us.
I don’t want to fail to mention the Church Education System: BYU, BYU–Idaho—which is essentially open enrollment—and Ensign College, and BYU–Pathway. We have across the world 80,000 students in BYU–Pathway, if you can imagine—a lot in Africa and other places.
But we have many here in the US—about 15,000 are in degree and certificate programs with Pathway. Some are in what we call Pathway Connect, which is a preparation for college studies—college level, post-high school education and learning experience and skills, which would help me. I am very sensitive to the one who talked about procrastination, you know. Well, I’m not going to confess anything else.
But there’s so much available in the Church system, and then outside that system—several have been mentioned in this video. So there are a lot of opportunities that you, fortunately, at this time, in this place, and in this era of the last dispensation, have in front of you. Take advantage of them.
And, brethren, if I could just say a separate word to you. We need to be men that women can trust, that children can trust, that the Lord can trust. In this point of the Lord’s rolling out of the last dispensation and preparations for His return, we can’t have men who are drifting, who are undisciplined. We’ve got to be the leaders that the Lord needs and intends us to be.
Learning is part of it, and I hope—I invite you tonight to make a commitment to yourself and to the Lord that you will prepare for the temple and receive an endowment there, that you will be a lifelong learner, which is part of your discipleship of the Lord Jesus Christ, so that you can serve others of His children.
I’m so delighted to be with you and the spirit I feel among you, and I invoke God’s blessings upon you that you’ll have answers to your prayers, that you’ll have the help you need when you need it, that you’ll have guidance; and that hard work will produce positive outcomes, and that you can move forward in life, making a real contribution to His work, to those around you, to those you love most.
I bear you my sure witness of His reality, the living reality of Jesus Christ. And all of these promises we speak about, and opportunities, are real because He is real, because He is resurrected, because He has the power—all power in heaven and earth. And I give you that assurance and this blessing with great joy, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Elder Hall:
Amen.