F O R T H E Y O U TH O F THE C H U R C H O F J E S U S C H R I S T O F L A TTE R - D A Y S A I N T S

THE

DECMEBER 2010

COVER STORY: MISSIONS CHANGE LIVES P. 42 CAN I BE FORGIVEN? P. 10 DONT MONKEY AROUND WITH STANDARDS P. 24

They who know the truth are not so great as they who love it.

GRATITUDE:
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And they who love it are not so great as those who live it.

Protection Against The SpiritOf Entitlement

By Kim B. Clark President, Brigham Young University-Idaho
hank you brothers and sisters. Sister Clark and I are grateful for the privilege of participating with you today at this devotional assembly. President Thomas S. Monson and his counselors as well as my associates in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles extend our love and greetings to each of you. We and all members of the Board of Trustees express our gratitude to members of the faculty and the staff of this institution. You are dedicated and devoted leaders. And to the students, we express our deep affection and best wishes. We love you! The youth of this Church are part of a chosen generation. You have been foreordained to be leaders in the Church of God. We are honored to be with you. Tonight Sister Clark will speak at the Womens Meeting and I will get to listen to her message. The assignment for me to speak to you this afternoon has come from the First Presidency. If I had my preference, I would hear from each of you. I would like to get to know every one of you. I would like to learn of your faith, of your goals in life, and of your challenges. Not knowing how I could make that happen, I had better be obedient to my leaders and do as they have asked. Please accept my virtual handshake as a sign of my love for each of you. I am still thinking about your opening hymn. Thank you for your meaningful musical prayer: As I Searched the Holy Scriptures, loving Father of mankind, may my heart be blessed with wisdom, and may knowledge fill my mind. From my heart and mind to yours, I address you on this occasion. Please be true to yourself. Honoryes, even demandhighest expectations from yourself. Pursue your education as a priority of the highest order. Gain all the education you can. With us as Latter-day Saints, education is a religious responsibility. The glory of God is intelligence (D&C 93:36). Your personal intelligenceyour personal identityis everlasting and divine (see D&C 93:29). I believe that Thomas Jefferson must have felt that dignity and divine nature of the human spirit when he wrote, I have sworn upon the Altar of God, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.

Seek The Lords Guidance

Your mind is precious! It is sacred. ThereD E C E M B E R 2 01 0

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fore, the education of ones mind is also sacred. Indeed, education is a religious responsibility. Of course, our opportunities and abilities will vary a great deal. But, in the pursuit of ones education, individual desire is more important than is the institution you choose; personal drive is more significant than is the faculty. Our Creator expects His children everywhere to gain an education as a personal endeavor. He issued this commandment: Seek ye diligently and teach one another words of wisdom; yea, seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom; seek learning, even by study and also by faith (D&C 88:118; emphasis added). When you leave this frail existence, your material possessions will remain here, but the Lord has declared that the knowledge you acquire here will rise with you in the resurrection (see D&C 130:1819). In light of this celestial perspective, if you impulsively drop out or otherwise cut short your education, you would not only disregard a divine decree but also abbreviate your own eternal potential. Each one of you may have had or will yet have your own day of personal commitmentyour own scholastic Sacred Grove equivalent. I still remember my moment of resolution. Many years ago, as an untrained teenager, I secured temporary employment at Christmastime. The work was dull, repetitive, and monotonous. Each hour of the day passed slowly. I resolved then and there that I would obtain an education that would qualify me for more meaningful work in my life. I determined that I would become a doctor of medicine. Many years later, when I was serving both as a medical doctor and a stake president.

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