Speeches by Topic Topics | Conversion
My friends, I commend each of you for taking time in your busy lives to consider the things of eternity. May the Lord bless you for it.
I was originally scheduled to speak at a devotional in March, but two weeks before that day, I had a heart attack. While having three titanium stents put in my heart, I went into cardiac arrest and experienced what doctors call “clinical death.”
Alas, I did not see a tunnel of light, nor was I asked about whether I wanted to stay on earth. If asked, I think I would have said, “I do miss my parents and grandparents, but my children and grandchi
Diane and I are thrilled to be in Provo, where we met 39 years ago. We are always edified by the spirit of BYU. Thank you for your kindness and gracious hospitality and for what you will teach us during our brief time with you.
We love and respect President Samuelson, a valued colleague and friend, and his dear Sharon. As we consider the intellectual, leadership, and (most important) spiritual abilities of President Samuelson and those who administratively assist him, we know you are extraordinarily well led at this university. We love BYU. It is a lustrous jewel in the crown of the
I am honored to speak to you today. I am most grateful to Brigham Young University for giving me the privilege of working for almost 30 years in an environment of both faith and scholarship where I have been allowed to teach about Latin America and assist in the development of the library—not the library building, but a collection of more than three million books and other media that makes it feasible to research and study almost any topic one may desire. The collection of the Harold B. Lee Library is a genuine treasure of this university and the Church. My responsibility in that collection
I wish to speak about a unique and inspiring chapter in Church history. It took place in recent years among the beautiful people of Africa. Too often we have misconceptions about Africa and its people. Africa is referred to as the Dark Continent, and the media usually portrays Africans as primitive, starving, or at war with each other. One African official observed that the darkest thing about Africa is America’s ignorance of it (see James H. Robinson, in African American Quotations, ed. Richard Newman [Phoenix, Arizona: Oryx Press, 1998], p. 18). When I was in Africa several years a
To you student body officers who have just taken upon you the oath of office to uphold the constitution of the Associated Students of Brigham Young University and to sustain and promote the standards of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I compliment you. With that promise and commitment, may I remind you of the tremendous impact that your example can have as you bring honor and recognition to this great institution and the name Brigham Young University.
Premortal Commitments
This year will provide for each of you a time to magnify measurably your
I am delighted to be with you brothers and sisters today. It is not difficult for those of us who have admired President Holland for so long to anticipate joyfully the things he will bring to this new assignment. Among them will be his personal, small-town warmth, which will shrink the size of this big campus, and I foresee that his literacy will prove to be as contagious as is his laughter. If Mark Twain, one focus of Jeffrey Holland’s graduate work, could have experienced Jeffrey’s effective teaching of the Book of Mormon, Twain would not have made his uninformed and unkind remark about t
Brothers and sisters, it is great to be with you on this wonderful campus—a few acres of land which are made most sacred by the lives of those of you who occupy them and especially by the lives of those who manage and teacher here. I’m painfully aware of the fact that normally during this hour you are instructed by one of the Lord’s anointed, one of the Brethren, each of whom we love and honor so very much. I can’t possibly match or seek to match them in power or wisdom, but I can speak from the heart and pray that the Spirit will give utterance. I hope that we can seek the spirit of a fire
