Aloha. During the past 25 years that we have taught here, we recognize that, for each student, attending BYU–Hawai‘i was a significant step in your life. For many, you needed to leave home and family, sometimes for the first time, and travel long distances. You may be working on a degree in a second language, a task that seems almost too difficult for us to imagine, especially when the college courses we took in our own language were challenging enough for us.
But we also know that your being here isn’t by accident. In fact, it required the Lord’s hand, and also considerable effort, sacrifice, and a series of many steps on your part to prepare you for this experience.
As we consider your experiences here, we have outlined two outcomes that we hope you can immediately apply at the end of this devotional:
1. To examine where you are in your spiritual journey
2. To take the next step in that journey
We will begin with a few examples about students and their experiences in taking some next steps in their studies here at BYU–Hawaii.
Among our favorite things about teaching here on campus are the opportunities we have had to conference one-on-one with students in our classes.
I particularly cherish the time I spend with those in my family history class each semester. I usually have 20 individuals having 20 sets of unique family backgrounds and thus 20 different sets of needs and goals. So the one-on-one time is critical to become acquainted with them at the beginning of the semester and to help them get started in this great work.
In addition to researching their genealogy, another major project is writing a personal history with a minimum of a ten pages. While we have all been counseled to write a personal history, they probably haven’t written them because it’s too big of a task; almost “overwhelming” is the descriptor they use most often. In addition, students just don’t have the time to write a personal history in their busy student lives. But after ten weeks in the class, each student has not only drafted but also edited, revised and printed a personal history in final form, thanks to this age of computers—as you can imagine, it was not always so easy! A student’s personal history becomes the major component of a tangible Book of Remembrance which includes the final copy of their personal history plus photos, certificates, awards, as well as recently gathered family history records. My students also obtain letters from relatives who write about their early childhood memories of them, and they prepare an introductory letter addressed to their descendants.
How do they do all of this? The project is broken down into a series of doable smaller steps, and in this case, weekly assignments. They receive five sets of topics to write about for five consecutive weeks. Most students agree that the hardest sentence to write is the first one, but the second hardest one to write is the last one—M A N Y wish to write more and don’t want to stop! Once they start, they find their story just flows, especially with the outline of weekly topics. Often, some of these ten-page “required papers” turn into 15–30 (or more) pages of faith- promoting “masterpieces.”
After graduating one student shared with me that he left this campus with three things, a bachelor’s degree, a stronger testimony, and a Book of Remembrance to which he could add and look back upon in the years to come.
He seems to have applied President Monson’s counsel from the Oct. 2008 conference:
“We should make the most of today, of the here and now, doing all we can to provide pleasant memories for the future” (Thomas S. Monson, “Joy in the Journey,” Ensign, November 2009).
In summary, my students show semester after semester that what once seemed like a
gigantic task is doable--if completed step by step.
I also enjoy the one-on-one discussions with my students. Topics often revolve around a class assignment but as graduation draws closer and closer, the questions become more focused on what to do after graduation.
A few weeks ago, a student came to my office with a concerned look. He was an international student whom I had taught in my class a few semesters ago. He shared that he would be graduating in December and wanted to explore the possibility of an OPT (optional practical training) here in the U.S. before returning home. But he didn’t know how to pursue it.
After some discussion and a call to the career center, we outlined some of the next steps he should take to move forward in his goal: first refine his career objective so it was more specific, then update his resume, next make a list of potential employers, and also fill out the OPT application. He appeared relieved and much less stressed after outlining these steps.
Perhaps you can relate to one or both of these examples—the overwhelming task of completing a major project for a class or making a life decision about what to do after graduation. Some students become completely immobilized or they may procrastinate working on big projects like these. But in both examples, our students were able to move forward toward their goal by completing a series of smaller, incremental “next steps.”
These challenges of getting something done apply not only to student life but to professionals in the work world as well. There are several books in the market that guide professionals on how to be more productive. I found one of these in a bookstore recently and have recommended it to my colleagues and friends. It’s called, “Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity.” –I especially liked the “stress-free part.”
Briefly, the author, David Allen, recommends we make a list of all the things that need to be done—now, later, someday, big, little, or in between—and for each project identify the “next actions” or next steps that we can implement at any moment to move us forward to complete it. This is a simple, but effective, pattern.
For major projects that require many detailed steps, organizations hire “project managers.” These individuals prepare a project plan, determine due dates, costs, and outline a critical path in order to complete the project on time and on budget. The work of project managers may range from implementing a new computer system to building a bridge, a skyscraper, or even a house.
In many ways, Heavenly Father acts as a grand project manager for each of us in our lives. C. S. Lewis described it this way:
Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on: you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently he starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of--throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself. (Mere Christianity, 1943, p. 174)
At BYU–Hawai‘i we’re strive to achieve our secular and spiritual goals. So in my interview with my student, after discussing graduation plans, I asked him about his spiritual progress also. He told me that he had recently recommitted to paying a full tithing and had just received his patriarchal blessing, two significant steps in his own spiritual journey. We concluded our discussion by focusing on his interest and potential to serve a mission, another significant step that would provide additional growing experiences, spiritual experiences, beyond those he would receive working full time.
Latter-day counsel from President Spencer W. Kimball may be applied to all of us in taking the next steps in our lives. He counseled that the major strides in the Church depend upon the strides we make as individuals. He emphasized that we all, as members of the church, should move in our journey forward and upward: “Let us trust the Lord and take the next steps in our individual lives. He has promised us that He will be our tender tutor, measuring what we are ready for” (“Let Us Move Forward and Upward,” Ensign, April 1979).
He then quoted Doctrine and Covenants: “And ye cannot bear all things now; nevertheless, be of good cheer, for I will lead you along.” He stated that our individual spiritual growth is the key to major growth in the church. And the gospel gives purpose to our lives. It is the way to happiness.
Compared to writing a paper or finding a job, our spiritual goals can seem even more overwhelming. How do you prepare for a mission, prepare to attend the temple, find an eternal companion, or become more like our Savior? We read about examples in the scriptures and church history where individuals have been faced with a task that may have seemed beyond their capability, as mentioned by President Kimball; yet they were guided and inspired by a series of steps to move forward, and also upward, in their spiritual journeys.
They applied this important principle from Proverbs: “In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths” (3:6).
Scripture heroes such as Nephi, Captain Moroni, Mormon, Daniel, and Elijah followed the path the Lord had set; they all demonstrated faith and lived their commitment and made progress in the Gospel, step by step, moving themselves and the Lord’s people, forward, and upward.
The scriptures also include stories about prophets and heroes who made giant leaps before they could advance step-by-step. Alma the Younger in the Book of Mormon, and Saul, known later as Paul, in the New Testament, are two examples. These two men were initially enemies of the church; both persecuted those who believed and accepted Jesus Christ and His Gospel, and then, through individually guided circumstances and the Lord’s direct hand, their lives changed and they became truly converted. These changes were so dramatic that Alma eventually became a chief high priest and prominent leader in the Church in his time. Paul also became a valiant teacher and testifier, and tireless missionary during his church ministry.
Consider the progress of the church in this dispensation and its divine pattern of growth and progress. In this year’s study of the Doctrine and Covenants we have been tracing the steps from 1820 with Joseph’s first vision to the culmination of the organization of the Church on April 6, 1830. This decade began with the dramatic visit from Heavenly Father and His Son to a humble but prayerful farm boy in New York. Preparatory steps for him, though, were being raised in a family which was interested in religion and had been reading the bible regularly. Following his vision, young Joseph Smith received revelations and instruction throughout his teenage years, receiving annual visits from angel Moroni. Next, he was led to find, guard, and translate the gold plates. The Aaronic and Melchizedek priesthood were restored in 1829. And, then, miraculously he met supporters who provided monetary resources to publish the first edition of the Book of Mormon. All of these steps needed to occur sequentially before the momentous day the church was officially organized in Peter Whitmer’s home. Similarly, we each have our own individual spiritual journey. Do you remember when you first became interested in your spiritual progress? Our individual spiritual journey starts for many in the church when we are very young with family home evening and other experiences in the home where parents plant the early seeds of a testimony.
Our daughter, Lindsey, recently shared an experience she had with our six-year old grandson, Trevor. Trevor is at an age where his parents don't encourage taking toys to church. A few weeks ago on Fast Sunday, however, he took some paper and a crayon to draw with, but instead of pictures he chose to write his testimony. He wrote: "I know this church is true. I know to read the scriptures and say my prayers."
Then on the following Monday night they had their own family testimony meeting so he could read the testimony he had written , followed by three-year old Devin sharing his testimony, then Lindsey, and then her husband, John. She told us, “It was quick and simple, but something we should be doing more often. We also read scriptures. Trevor also took turns with us and did a great job.” His parents were helping him take his first step by writing his testimony, and then continuing forward and upward by sharing his testimony with his family and also hearing his parents’ testimonies.
You may relate to Trevor’s experience in his childhood, being raised in a family where the gospel is strong and testimonies blossom naturally. However, that is not the case for everyone, nor was it for us. President Hinckley once reported in conference about a gentleman who came to know and accept the gospel in a much different manner than Trevor. He related that the wife expressed to a relative that something was missing in her life. The relative suggested she call the missionaries which she did. But her husband was rude to them and told them not to come again.
After several months, a new set of missionaries came across their names and proceeded to make another visit. The friendly, smiling elder and his companion knocked on the door and asked if they could come in for just a few minutes. Fortunately, the husband consented this time. Line upon line the missionaries taught him. As he responded, his faith grew into greater understanding. Ward members befriended him and involved him and his family in their activities.
His choice to be baptized was described as a giant step of faith. Perhaps you’ve known someone like this. He received his first calling, and this led to other responsibilities, and the light of faith strengthened his life with each new opportunity and experience.
At the time President Hinckley gave this talk, the husband had become a capable and beloved stake president, and above all, a man of great faith.
President Hinckley concluded his story with this:
“The challenge which faces every member of this Church is to take the next step, to accept that responsibility to which he is called even though he does not feel equal to it, and to do so in faith with the full expectation that the Lord will light the way before him” (Gordon B. Hinckley, “We Walk by Faith,” Ensign, May 2002, emphasis added).
Dianna and I understand this challenge suggested by President Hinckley, as we reflect on our own conversion experience. Dianna was raised in a Catholic home and attended Catholic schools her entire life. I was raised as a Methodist and my grandfather was a Methodist minister. Dianna grew up in the city of Des Moines and I grew up on a farm in NE Iowa! Where we come from, they call that an intercultural marriage!
Six months after we were married, we moved to Virginia where I began working on my doctoral degree. Our understanding of the gospel grew after many, many steps over a period of the next four years.
a. The first step in our journey was that we resolved to attend church together. During that time, we attended several different denominations.
b. The second step was meeting the Litchfords when Bill was enrolled in graduate school. Coming from Utah, they were the first LDS members we had ever known. Through their friendship and examples, several misconceptions about the LDS church were dispelled. We gained an appreciation for their strong values, religious involvement, commitment to family, and their deeper understanding of life. They were not only member missionaries, but also patient friends.
c. This led to the next step. It was during one of our visits in their home that they shared a “Book of Mormon” with us which had their testimony written inside. “We would like to share with you one of things that we value above all others. It looks like a book, yet therein you will find the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ and one of the keys to our happiness. Love, Dan and Nancy.”
d. They also introduced us to the missionaries. In fact, for the next two years we met all the missionaries assigned to that community. Finally, upon accepting a position to teach at Utah State University, we felt it was important to hear the missionary discussions. Needless to say, this was a big jump—even a giant leap—several steps forward and upward. The missionaries taught us how to pray as a family and about the plan of salvation. They also taught us about the restoration of the gospel and about feeling the spirit to witness truth.
e. Another significant step occurred during our first year in Virginia where I received my first priesthood blessing, following a car accident which broke some bones in my hand. The doctor scheduled surgery when he learned I played the piano; during one of my final checkups, he commented that he was surprised that I was already playing the piano when another patient of his with a similar injury that occurred at the same time was still in a cast.
f. There were a series of other steps as well, including conversations with some of Bill’s curious and missionary-minded students at Utah State. As a nonmember, I was often asked by my second-graders about my membership in the church and I was invited to attend their baptisms. And we were blessed with supportive friends and neighbors. But when we learned we were expecting our first child, we knew we needed to make a decision—four years after meeting our LDS friends. We had procrastinated our spiritual progress long enough.
g. These final steps included going to Heavenly Father in prayer and fasting, meeting with the bishop in the ward we had been attending, and then, with faith, setting a baptism date. Soon after that huge step, I received the Aaronic priesthood. Six months later, Lindsey, the oldest of our four daughters, was born and I received the Melchizedek priesthood and was ordained an elder so I could give her a name and a blessing.
h. At that point, we both received our patriarchal blessings, outlining some of the plans the Lord had in store for us in this life and the next.
i. One year after our baptism, we prepared to go to the temple, received our endowment and were sealed to each other for time and all eternity. Then Lindsey was sealed to us.
You can see there were a series of many steps—some small ones, some giant leaps—that we needed to take and each occurred ... line upon line ... and each moved us forward and upward in our relationship with Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ.
But we soon recognized that we hadn’t finished our climb yet, in fact, we still had a long way to go and a lot to learn—some of that growth we attribute to the opportunity we’ve had to serve in various callings.
I’ve learned over the years that sometimes the Lord is ready for me to grow and take bigger steps when a member of the bishopric calls us in for an interview to extend a calling! Probably the one for which I felt least prepared was to serve as the family history consultant in my ward about 14 years ago.
The difference between what was needed to perform in that calling and my ability felt like a huge gap. But remembering that family history was mentioned in my patriarchal blessing and knowing the Lord would bless me if I accepted this calling and was set apart, I began a slow, step-by-step climb in the calling. I had little previous experience but it has now become a lifelong pursuit, my hobby, and without a doubt one of the favorite labors and loves of my life.
The skills that are needed in our callings rarely appear overnight! What a real surprise then, after Dianna served in this ward calling for about a year, that both of us were called by the stake president to direct the Laie Family History Center. As directors, we were asked to set up more computers in the center, establish an internal server and network, train and in-service about 24 volunteers, learn the software, become familiar with the holdings of the Laie Family History Center and meet the needs of our diverse community in helping them in their family history work.
One of the results from this calling was the great blessing of learning how to research. I found that by helping others I was rewarded by finding my own family records. For example, I never expected to find my English ancestors on the microfiche in the file drawers of this family history center or to find my immigrant ancestors’ names in a book on one of the shelves. But I did. Our interest and joy in this work grew.
I even began tracing my Croatian ancestors, though I soon learned that to obtain their records it would require us to travel to their homeland. So in anticipation, I became acquainted with a BYU–Hawai‘i student who had served her mission in Croatia. She helped me learn basic Croatian words and phrases and introduced me to maps of the regions we could visit. While the steps felt like they occurred slowly, the pace surely quickened in that long-awaited summer in 2006 when we arrived in Zagreb, the capital of Croatia, our first destination. Was it totally by accident that we ran into a set of English-speaking U.S. missionaries, our first morning there? We briefly chatted with them outside the building where church would be held. They described the culture and the city we would travel to next, Rijeka, along the Adriatic, where both happened to have served.
The next morning, we met a missionary couple from BYU–Provo who was familiar with the surnames of my ancestors that I was looking for. With their familiarity with the printed language, they pointed out that I had a two surnames spelled incorrectly.
We also met an assistant to the mission president who recommended we contact the branch president at Rijeka. The helpful branch president and his wife were another missionary couple from the US, and they coordinated the hiring of a translator for us.
These steps all happened very quickly!
With the aid of our new friend and translator (Sonja) we wound up the mountain roads and located the remote parish where Dianna’s grandparents lived before they emigrated to the U.S. I stood back and watched and recorded with these pictures what happened that day, which we regard now as a miracle. The priest there gladly shared with her the heavy, old books containing handwritten names and data of her Croatian ancestors. And with the aid of a state of the art copier in his office, the priest offered to make copies of these precious pages for her. I learned that the priest was probably one of my cousins as our grandmothers were both from the same tiny village down the road and since they coincidentally had the same maiden name! Translation of the copied records was another vital step in this endeavor, made possible through Sonja’s expertise.
Brothers and sisters, I learned that the Spirit of Elijah is real, and allows for the hallowed work of this dispensation to go forward, sometimes in leaps instead of just steps. And it has been a deep and fulfilling joy to help my Croatian ancestors vicariously in their next steps toward their own eternal progression.
Summary
It’s been our intent today to reflect on our relationship with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and ways in which we can draw even closer and to recognize his hand in our lives in His desire to strengthen that relationship. During our busy lives as student, faculty, and staff, we often get so involved in the day-to-day distractions that we may forget the importance of our spiritual progress.
Now as we’ve considered where we are in our own spiritual journeys, this journey may be symbolized in the pathway we take to our temple. Climbing the stairs toward our temple could represent our own spiritual journey as we strive to move forward and upward, leading to eternal exaltation in the celestial kingdom.
• As members of the church, we are each at various stages in our spiritual journey. Some of us are just beginning while others have progressed further along the path.
• Elder Marvin J. Ashton stated, “I am convinced ... that the speed we head along the straight and narrow path ... isn’t as important as the direction ... we are traveling” (“On Being Worthy,” Ensign, May 1989).
• There may be plateaus or we may pause for a while. But as one of our missionaries told us if we’re not moving forward, we’re moving backward since others continue their progress along the path.
• And some may even be move backward in their course, deterring their spiritual progress.
• We are blessed with missionaries, bishops, visiting and home teachers, quorum leaders, and ward members to help us in our eternal progression forward and upward in our journey.
• As we learn from Lehi’s dream, we should hold on to the iron rod which will guide us in our journey.
• As members of the church, we have a responsibility to teach the gospel to others and assist them in finding the path to happiness.
• We should strive to travel together with our eternal companion, equally yoked, and with our families to achieve eternal goals, so we can attain exaltation together.
• Also, as parents we have a special responsibility and opportunity to guide our children along the path and help them in their journey to return to Heavenly Father.
• However, sometimes our progress along the path is stalled or even blocked. But it's important to remember that sometimes we create our own barriers toward eternal progression.
• Ultimately with patience, faith, and commitment to the gospel principles we can reach our eternal destination, over time.
Let's return to the two outcomes we introduced at the beginning of our comments.
First, where would you place yourself in your spiritual journey?
Are you satisfied with your current location along the path?
Have you made spiritual progress during the past year?
Why or why not?
Where would you like to be in a week, a month, a year, or even five years from now?
Second, what is your next step to move forward and upward? Maybe you’ve already thought of something but some ideas could include:
• Removing any barriers that may be preventing your spiritual progress—music, media, or other distractions
•Studying your patriarchal blessing to discover direction that may apply in your decisions at this time in your life
• Praying with more intent and allowing time to receive answers to your prayers
• Responding to the spirit’s influence to serve and meet the needs of others
• Meditating upon and then applying the teachings you receive from the scriptures
• Living your testimony in your personal life and in your interactions with others
• Striving to magnify your calling to know what the Lord wants you to learn from it and how you can better serve Him and others
• Or even write a personal history to help your descendents learn about your own spiritual
journey
Marion G. Romney said: “While the Lord will magnify us in both subtle and dramatic ways, he can only guide our footsteps when we move our feet” (“The Basic Principles of Church Welfare,” Ensign, May 1981).
It’s our prayer that as you leave today, you consider where you are in your spiritual journey and identify your next step that will move you forward and upward to achieve the highest level of exaltation. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.