Sister Wheelwright and I are honored to be with all of you today. We have received so many blessings through being a part of this wonderful University. One of the most cherished of those is the time we can spend with each of you. We love living in the center of campus and daily witnessing the gospel in action in your lives. We think of you not only as sons and daughters of God, but as a part of our own family.
As I've thought about what I might say that would be appropriate and useful to each of you who are graduating today, I've decided to share two of the most important lessons my mother taught me and my five brothers and sisters. I share these as a loving parent, colleague and brother. And because they are based on eternal truths, I can promise you that if you will embrace and apply these lessons throughout your life, you too will be richly blessed.
The first lesson might best be summarized by two scriptures from the New Testament: Mark 9:23, "All things are possible to him that believeth" and Luke 1:37, "For with God, nothing shall be impossible."
My mother had unlimited faith in the future — in my future. As one of her children, I can never remember a time when her expectations of us and what we could accomplish, were anything less than amazing. But she always made it seem so natural and achievable. She taught us that we could take charge — could better ourselves and make a difference for others.
Whether assisting us in our efforts at learning to swim, playing an instrument, getting ready for college, or writing a paper, the message was always consistent: if we desired it and worked at it, we could achieve it. Not only did she help us see the possibilities, but she taught us to be doers - to achieve those possibilities. As she so often said, "lf you don't like it, do something about it."
She taught us not to be intimidated by what others might see as a lack of talent or skill, or the absence of resources, circumstance, or prior experience. Equally important in teaching us that all things were possible, was teaching us that failure was never in doing, but only in quitting. With Mom, quitting was not an option. Setbacks or what others might consider failure, were simply the price of growth and development, and a chance to reflect, regroup and then proceed with renewed vigor.
But one of the things that made this first lesson so effective was the direction my mother gave each of her children as to what types of things we should seek to pursue. Thus, this first lesson was inseparably linked to a second.
That second lesson can also be summarized by two scriptures, these from the Doctrine and Covenants; From section 93, verse 36 "The glory of God is intelligence, or in other words, light and truth." And from section 58, verse 27 "Men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness."
My mother had a love of learning and a love of the truth that was unquenchable. But perhaps even more important, when Mom shared with her children her love of learning, it was not a passive concept, but an active one. For her, learning truth always carried with it the responsibility to act, and to act with a righteous purpose.
My mother discovered at a very young age, that learning was fun and exciting, and when coupled with doing, made all things possible. Not only did she quickly begin to thrive in her school classes, but she decided that she needed to learn Gospel truths as well. With little direction or encouragement from her less active parents, she decided that to learn the things of God, she needed to go to church. When still a young girl, Mom would take her roller skates on a Sunday morning, and head across the hills of San Francisco, jumping the trolley tracks as needed, in order to make her way to church. She truly loved going to church and learning the truths of the gospel.
Not only did Mom instill in each of her children this love for eternal truths, but she also taught us that the purpose of learning was to do what was right and to make the world a better place - both for us and for those around us. She taught us that learning should broaden our minds and perspective, eliminate misunderstanding, and leave no room for prejudice. The purpose of learning was always to uplift and improve — allowing us to achieve greater possibilities.
Like the Savior, my mother was focused on teaching us how to seek first the things of God and His righteousness, by learning and putting into practice those principles that lift us and guide us to be the best that we can be, and to serve and bless those around us. I am grateful for a mother and father who consistently taught me the most important lessons in life.
My hope and prayer is that each of you will take those lessons you have learned while at BYU–Hawaii — including the lesson that with God nothing is impossible and the lesson that learning is a lifetime endeavor that should bless and enrich not only our lives, but the lives of all of those around us — and apply those in building His Kingdom. As you do so, always putting the Kingdom of God first, I can promise you that your life will be filled with immeasurable blessings as sons and daughters of God. And I so testify in the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.