Every Day Disciples of Jesus Christ

Imagine an early morning on the Sea of Galilee. Ordinary fishermen are on the beach cleaning their nets after a long night of toiling without success. They are tired, frustrated, and ready to be done. The Savior approaches and asks to use their boat to preach a sermon to a gathering crowd. The fishermen’s belief in Him is so strong that after the sermon they follow His instructions to go back out fishing, despite their professional experience suggesting that this would be fruitless.

After casting their nets again, the fishermen “inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake.”¹ The haul is so big that it requires two ships, filled and nearly sinking, to bring their harvest to shore.²

As they sail back to the beach, the Savior gives a simple invitation to the fishermen: “Follow me.”³ “And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him.”⁴

Stepping onto this campus back in the fall of 1991, fresh off my mission to Toronto, Canada, was both exciting and overwhelming. It was the fulfillment of a lifelong dream to attend the university where my parents had met 35 years earlier, but it was also a time of anxiety about the future. I had not yet determined my career path, and everything felt new and uncertain.

On my first day of school, I went to the Traffic Office—back then a small house right next to the carillon bell tower—to buy a parking pass. There was a typical long line at the beginning of a semester. Fortunately for me, there was a vivacious young lady wearing a light blue shirt with white polka dots standing two people in front of me. And then, due to some strategy on my part, we were standing next to each other. She had been a student at BYU for a couple of years, so I started to ask her questions about how things worked, and she was ready to answer. We got lost in conversation for about a half hour as we worked our way to the front of that line.

When I saw that our time in the line was soon ending—and knowing how much I was already liking her—I tried to work up the courage to get her number with the hope that we could connect later. Unfortunately I never got the words out. We got to the head of the line. She paid for her parking pass and said goodbye. I paid for my pass and hurried out the door, hoping to see her. There she was, lingering over by her car.

Brothers, that’s a good sign! Sisters, you have no idea how much a gesture like that helps!

Do you know that feeling of coming up with the perfect thing to do or say? This was not one of those moments! I leaned down to tie my shoes, mustering my final burst of courage. When I looked up, she was getting in her car, and then she drove away.

I had missed my chance. I guess a girl can only linger for so long. Right, ladies?

All I had was her name—no glass slipper, just her name: Michelle Lundquist.

Later that day when I told my mom about my missed opportunity to get Michelle’s number, she was unfazed. She said, “What do you think BYU Information is for?”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

(Now, remember, this was the ’90s.) My mom told me that I could call the Information Office, give them her name, and they would supply her number.

“Really? They can do that?” I asked.

A couple of days later, I needed a date for a fun excursion up the canyon with my friends. I thought of Michelle. I called BYU Information and got her number—just as advertised by my mom.

Now for that last bit of courage! I turned off my brain and just called her. To make a long story short, we were married at the end of that school year.

Three years later, we left this place with a degree, a brand-new baby girl, and a job as a seminary and institute teacher. We have a lot to be thankful for in our time at BYU!

That last little bit of courage to call Michelle transformed my life. I love her with all my heart, and I can’t imagine my life without her. I am better in every possible way because of her love and support.

At our graduation, the commencement address was given by James Q. Wilson, a political scientist and professor of management at UCLA. He said some things that day that totally changed my perspective:

Commencement speakers are supposed to urge you to rise to the highest challenge, pursue the impossible dream, excel at the loftiest ambitions. I will not do that. It is too easy; it is too empty. The easiest thing to do is to support great causes, sign stirring petitions, endorse grand philosophies. The hardest thing to do—and it is getting harder all of the time—is to be a good husband, a good wife, a strong father, a strong mother, an honorable friend and neighbor.

The truly good deeds are the small, everyday actions of ordinary life. The employee who gives an honest day’s work . . . ; the stranger who stops to help someone in need; the craftsman who builds each house as if he were going to live in it himself . . . ; the father who wants the respect of his children more than admission to the executive suite; the mother who knows that to care for an infant is not an admission of professional failure . . . ; the hiker who carries his own trash out of the park . . . —these are the heroes of everyday life. May you join their ranks.⁵

As Professor Wilson concluded his remarks, all of us students here in the Marriott Center erupted into a standing ovation. Although he didn’t explicitly say it, I felt impressed that day that my greatest ambition should be to become an “every day” disciple of Jesus Christ in the simple, daily decisions of life.

Discipleship

A disciple is someone who not only believes in Jesus Christ but forsakes all and follows Him, as Peter and the other fishermen did.

Disciples of Jesus Christ seek to learn from Him and strive to live as He lived.

Discipleship is not an activity to be crammed into a busy schedule; it is who we are at the core.

Disciples don’t compartmentalize their lives. They strive to be the same whether they are at school, work, or church or are playing BYU intramurals or driving down the interstate.

Disciples do not just have paintings of the Savior on their walls; they bring Him into the center of their daily lives.

As the Utah Area plan suggests, disciples joyfully gather Israel one by one in Christ.⁶

Jesus Himself taught us the essence of discipleship in His response to a Pharisee’s question:

Which is the greatest commandment in the law?

Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

This is the first and great commandment.

And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.⁷

So, each day as His disciples, driven by our love for the Lord, we begin our day in prayer and study, focusing on how we can follow Him by keeping His commandments and loving and serving others—regardless of what we have planned for the day. We look to Him in all we do.

Those are the small, “every day” actions of life that I think Professor Wilson was talking about.

“Jesus Christ Is the Way”

Our beloved prophet, President Dallin H. Oaks, in his opening press conference after being announced as president of the Church, was asked what he would want Church members to remember. His answer was simple and profound: “Jesus Christ is the way.”⁸

When we find ourselves in those moments in which we are torn between our natural man desires and our acting as a disciple of Jesus Christ, it will help if we slow down the moment and remember those five simple words: “Jesus Christ is the way.”

His way will rarely be the easy way, but it will always lead to peace and joy. As you follow His way, you may decide to say I’m sorry; offer that ride; stay in an awkward conversation; do the dishes—again; let something roll off your back; call your mom; give yourself a break; let someone merge; show up to the activity; soften your opinion; hold your tongue; pause to pray; or make room for someone on your bench.

When we make Spirit-directed choices such as these, we will begin to understand the concept of why Jesus Christ is the way.

However, when we are filled with a love for God and a desire to come unto Christ and follow His path, it’s normal for some of us to get caught up in perfectionism and to over-rely on our own efforts. This happened to me as a teenager, and I know this can be discouraging. As we make mistakes, we may hear a negative voice in our head condemning us and making us feel hopeless. The danger comes when we mistakenly associate that voice with the voice of God. In those moments, it has helped me to pause and think about the true nature of our Heavenly Father and our Savior and to recognize that the belittling voice is a tactic of the adversary.

As Sister Tamara W. Runia said, “You are not the voice in your head or the mistakes you have made.”⁹

Consider the true nature of our Heavenly Father and our Savior as you watch this clip of my granddaughter Elle learning to pull herself up to the couch for the first time with her faithful dad, Taylor, cheering her on. [A video clip was shown.]

Can you relate to Elle’s pouty face when things didn’t go well? The journey along the path of discipleship is not overseen by a God who wants to condemn us or catch us doing something wrong. Rather, we are led by a Heavenly Father and a Savior who—like a parent rooting on their toddler to pull themselves up to the couch—love us and want us to learn, grow, overcome setbacks, and ultimately become like Them.

Listen to how President Oaks reminded us of this principle at the BYU devotional in February 2026: “We love you, young and old, men and women. So does the Lord! God is relentless in His loving pursuit of each of you.”¹⁰

Michelle used to teach her preschool students something profound about how we can progress even though we make mistakes. She would say, “Mistakes are how we learn.” I can still hear their little voices repeating those words.

Although we won’t always make the right decisions, when we choose to act as one of His disciples in the day-to-day moments of our lives, we will be filled with light and peace, experience deeper relationships, and be given opportunities to be part of the Lord’s miracles.

Gaining a Soft Heart

Discipleship is more than just obeying the commandments and loving others. It is the condition of the heart that leads us to want to do those things.

Elder Dale G. Renlund taught:

Our Heavenly Father’s goal in parenting is not to have His children do what is right; it is to have His children choose to do what is right and ultimately become like Him.¹¹

One day while talking to a recently returned missionary, I asked her how she had changed since I had last seen her before her mission. Her answer was memorable: “I have a soft heart now.”

She talked about how she was ready, willing, and excited to do anything the Lord wanted her to do. There was a conviction in her eyes that was powerful.

Her year and a half of study, prayer, service, obedience, and yielding herself to God had changed her. The Lord had given her that soft heart. She had become a true disciple of Jesus Christ.

She, like so many of us, had “felt to sing the song of redeeming love.”¹²

And now Alma would ask her and each one of us, “Can ye feel so now?”¹³

There are two choices that can make all the difference in developing and maintaining the soft heart of a disciple of Christ. Although they seem simple, the pulls of time, distraction, and the natural man inside of us will battle against us and try to stop us from consistently making these choices.

It helps to remember this: Disciples of Jesus Christ are intentional.

One simple choice is to take a daily morning walk with God. This includes carving out time to build a relationship with the Lord through heartfelt scripture study, prayer, and pondering so that He can teach and prepare us for whatever comes to us that day. This choice has less to do with the amount of time we spend and more about our intent to connect with heaven.

Have you ever wondered why Nephi was so responsive to the Lord’s command to return to Jerusalem to get the plates? A few verses prior to Nephi’s famous “I will go and do” statement,¹⁴ we read, “And it came to pass that I, Nephi, returned from speaking with the Lord, to the tent of my father.”¹⁵ It doesn’t say he was speaking to the Lord; it says he was speaking with the Lord.

Nephi’s relationship with God, developed in those quiet moments, prepared him for his discipleship moment.

There have been far too many times when, lacking intentionality, I have woken up late and rushed out the door without taking time for that daily walk with the Lord. I have felt my spiritual flame weaken on many of those days. If you have fallen into this pattern, there is good news! The gospel of Jesus Christ, through the Redeemer’s power, gives us the opportunity to learn from our mistakes and sins and to reset.

The second choice is to worship the Lord often in His house. There is no better way to get to know someone than by being with them in their house. These visits to His house—both on Sunday as you thoughtfully partake of the sacrament and during the week as you worship Him in the temple—will deepen your appreciation and love for the Lord and inspire a desire within you to join Him in His great work.

True worship experiences cause our inner discipleship to be driven by a relationship rather than by a task.

Our fresh, soft, disciple hearts—cultivated in those moments of intentional worship—will lead us each day to those who need to feel God’s love, will give us courage when we are asked to do hard things, will give us strength when confronted with tragic news, and will lead us to want to repent when we sin.

Disciples Walk with Him Each Day

The 2026 youth theme, “Walk with Me,” is found in Moses 6:34. Here the Lord is speaking to Enoch when he was feeling weak and vulnerable after being asked to do a challenging act of discipleship.

The Lord said, “Behold my Spirit is upon you . . . ; and the mountains shall flee before you . . . ; and thou shalt abide in me, and I in you; therefore walk with me.”¹⁶

“Walk with me.” What a holy invitation!

That is a clear definition of discipleship—to walk with Him through the everyday moments of life. We walk with Him when we choose to make and keep sacred covenants with the Lord. We walk with Him when we “look unto [Him] in every thought.”¹⁷

Why do we not need to doubt or fear when we walk with Him? Because He is almighty. When we walk in covenant with Him, He becomes part of us. Maybe that understanding is why “David hasted, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine,”¹⁸ and why Mary said to the angel, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word.”¹⁹

In Ether 6, the story of the Jaredites crossing the ocean to the promised land is a notable example of disciples of Christ choosing to walk with Him.

The Jaredites learned an important lesson about discipleship when they were invited to get on a boat without a steering wheel. If you remember, the brother of Jared built the boat “according to the instructions of the Lord.”²⁰

Why did the Lord design a boat without a helm or a steering wheel? I believe it was because He was not asking the brother of Jared to steer the boat. The Lord would do that Himself through the wind.

All of us like feeling in control of our lives.

The Lord set up the ultimate opportunity for the Jaredites to choose Him when He invited them onto that boat without telling them precisely where they were going or how long it would take to get there. He invited them to trust Him.

I’m inspired by the collective, soft-hearted response to the Lord’s command by the family of the brother of Jared in Ether 6:4: “When they had prepared all manner of food, . . . they got aboard of their vessels or barges, and set forth into the sea, commending themselves unto the Lord their God.”

Commend—what an interesting word. It means to trust someone or something. It invites us to yield ourselves and our wills to God. It’s a word that describes the soft heart of a disciple of Christ.

For disciples, those moments in which we will need to commend ourselves to God will come often. They may come in the form of things such as accepting a new calling you don’t have time for, making the decision to get married, or dealing with a trial of faith.

One of those moments came as Michelle and I began our service as mission leaders in Redlands, California. After about a one-hour orientation, the former mission leaders gave us the keys and the cell phone, wished us well, and went on their way. As they went out the door, I wanted to run after them and tell them to come back and tell us how we were supposed to do this job!

On the next day, my family all left to explore our new city, and I was left alone. I felt anxious and overwhelmed. I laid down on my bed, paralyzed—wondering how I could do what the Lord had called me to do. As I lay there, wallowing in my own self-doubt, I received a prompting to go to my computer and read the emails that were pouring in from our missionaries.

As I read their words of welcome and love and got a sense of their commitment to Jesus Christ and to their missionary purpose, the Holy Ghost filled my soul with deep love for them. A clear thought came to my mind: “This is not your work; this is mine.”

This reminder that the battle is the Lord’s and that we are His instruments changed everything. I couldn’t wait to start! I was ready to commend myself and our family to God.

When we each face our “commending” moments, it helps to remember whose work this is.

Elder Neal A. Maxwell said:

As you submit your wills to God, you are giving Him the only thing you can actually give Him that is really yours to give.²¹

Trusting in the Lord didn’t mean the journey would be easy for the Jaredites. But it did mean that, as His disciples, they would face every challenge with the strength of the Lord.

A wise therapist told me that many people he works with have anxiety partly because they are trying to avoid pain in their lives. He then said the reality is that pain and suffering are unavoidable. So rather than worry or fear, we would be better off spending our time and energy anchoring ourselves to the Lord. We can build our lives according to His instructions and then lean into those trials and find the Lord and His divine tutoring along the way.

It seems that in exchange for every trial we face while anchored to the Savior, we receive Christlike attributes in return.

And after all, isn’t that why we came to earth—to become like Him?

“I Felt like Myself Again”

In our quest to be His disciples—despite our love for the Lord, our soft hearts, and our good intent—we will all fall short at times. We will make choices that distance us from God. When our love for the Lord and our actions are not in harmony with each other, as disciples we will feel something is wrong. The Spirit might whisper some needed corrections.

As disciples, we will want to get rid of that heavy feeling that comes with being out of sync with who we really are.

One day Michelle and I visited a ward while we were on vacation, and we chose to attend a youth Sunday School class that was being taught by two young men who both had mission calls.

One of the young men described to the younger youth in the class the process he had just gone through to apply for his mission by visiting with his bishop and stake president. He described the results of his Christ-centered repentance in this way: “I felt lighter; I felt like myself again.”

Repentance truly is “a joyful choice”²² that is made possible by our Master, Redeemer, Exemplar, Teacher, and Savior.

We all have access to that redeeming grace, no matter what we have done. In his 2016 general conference talk “Repentance: A Joyful Choice,” Elder Renlund recalled President Boyd K. Packer saying: “The Atonement [of Jesus Christ] leaves no tracks, no traces. What it fixes is fixed. . . . It just heals, and what it heals stays healed.”²³

President Packer also said, “[The Savior] has promised that He would atone. And when He atoned, that settled that.”²⁴

What an honor it is to serve and follow a Leader, a Master, and a Redeemer such as that!

The Lord Needs Disciples Who Love Him

So if you’re wondering what the Lord needs from you and me in these latter days, remember the words of President Jeffrey R. Holland as he described what Jesus might have said to Peter by the shore of the Sea of Galilee after His Resurrection:

“Wasn’t it obvious then and isn’t it obvious now that if I want fish, I can get fish? What I need, Peter, are disciples—and I need them forever. I need someone to feed my sheep and save my lambs. I need someone to preach my gospel and defend my faith. I need someone who loves me, truly, truly loves me, and loves what our Father in Heaven has commissioned me to do.”²⁵

The time is now.

As C. S. Lewis said, “Meanwhile the cross comes before the crown and tomorrow is a Monday morning.”²⁶

May we embrace each day as our beloved Savior taught and exemplified, with a love for God and a love for our neighbor.

I know that our Savior Jesus Christ lives, that He is in our midst,²⁷ and that He is “on [our] right hand and on [our] left.”²⁸ He truly is the way. I’m grateful to know that the Savior has restored His gospel to the earth and that He leads His Church through His prophet, President Dallin H. Oaks.

Many “every day” disciples have gone before us. “May [we] join their ranks”!

In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

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