Speeches by Topic Topics | Time Management
Thank you all for coming. I feel the weight of saying something that will help you this morning. I want to share a message from my heart. I want to tell you some things that have helped me. Let me start with a story.
Although I grew up in Provo, right before my junior year of high school, my family moved to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. President Spencer W. Kimball, the prophet at the time, called my father to serve as a mission president, so my family packed up and off we went.
When I moved back to Provo for my freshman year of college, I came alone and saw the BYU campus through
Elder Holland, President Worthen, distinguished guests, faculty, and fellow graduates, I am honored to address you today. It is truly humbling to speak to an audience of such talented and accomplished individuals, many of whom are my dear friends. I am especially happy to have my family here with me. I can honestly say that I would not have made it to this point if not for their presence in my life, which brings me to my chosen topic: the importance of being present, both for our own happiness and for the good of others.
It has been said that “80 percent of success is showing up,”
I feel privileged to be in Provo for the August 2017 commencement exercises of Brigham Young University. My dear wife, Diane, deeply wished that she could be here, but a long-planned family obligation prevented that. Diane and I met on this campus forty-six years ago. I had just returned from my mission to England and was resuming my studies here. Just a few weeks into the fall semester, I was asked by my mission president—who was still in England—to speak at his home ward in Bountiful. I had so recently returned from my mission that perhaps I was uncomfortable without a companio
Good morning, brothers and sisters. It is a pleasure to be with you.
Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote:
If the stars should appear [only] one night in a thousand years, how would men believe and adore; and preserve for many generations the remembrance of the city of God which had been shown [in the heavens]!1
Gazing upward into the blazing splendor of the night sky, we see thousands of distant stars and even more distant galaxies. This is truly amazing—and our reaction to it is equally remarkable. Think about what we do when we stargaze. See
It is an honor to be with you. I pray the Spirit may dwell with all of us.
Today I would like to share some thoughts about time. To illustrate some aspects of time, I wish to tell you about a few of my heroes—one from the Book of Mormon, one from the field of science, and one who is very personal. I, like you, have many heroes: the great coaches and teachers I have had, my PhD advisor, my colleagues, my brother and sister, my great parents, my sons, my sweetheart, and many, many others. These people have believed in me and have given me a chance. I will be forever in their debt, for
My dear brothers, sisters, and friends, I am grateful to be with you this afternoon. May I begin by expressing my deep feelings of respect and admiration to all who are graduating today. We are profoundly grateful for your righteous and exemplary lives. For the past several years you have devoted long days and seemingly endless nights studying and preparing, both academically and spiritually, to enter a world that, quite frankly, needs you desperately. By your work and your faith you have qualified yourselves to be recognized by this unique university and by The Church of Jesus Christ of La
President Samuelson, honored guests, parents, family members, graduates, my dear brothers and sisters—Sister Uchtdorf and I extend our congratulations, commendation, and deep love to all of you whom we honor on this happy day. Even nature seems to be honoring you with the beauties of springtime as we mark the culmination of many years of hard work and study.
It is a great privilege for us to be with you today. And we are pleased to be with Elder and Sister Nelson, who are wonderful friends and true servants of the Lord.
I love this university. During my years as an airline cap
The most significant academic talks I heard during my service at BYU had one common characteristic. Instead of providing new facts or advocating a particular position, as many lectures do, the most significant talks changed the listeners’ way of thinking about an important subject. Though I am a devotional speaker rather than a lecturer on an academic subject, I am going to make that same attempt today. I will attempt to change some listeners’ ways of thinking about an important subject—the matter of timing.
I begin with a story I heard many years ago at the inauguration of a
I’m grateful, brothers and sisters, for the privilege of being on this campus and participating in any way in the mission of this university and your part in it as you accept the opportunity to learn and prepare to go forth and serve. The thoughts I would like to share with you today I believe fit under the title “What Will You Make Room for in Your Wagon?” It might be considered a self-talk message for my benefit as well as for yours.
A number of years ago, when I was a beginning teacher in elementary school, I had the superintendent’s daughter in my fourth-grade class. She had some
I am grateful for the music, the prayer, and the opportunity to be here with you tonight. Before this meeting I had the chance, along with my family, to visit with your stake presidencies, their wives, and a number of your leaders. I was struck with how much they care about you and the high hopes they have that I might be able to help you tonight. I can’t do that, of course, unless I am given utterance by the power of the Holy Ghost. I hope you will add your faith to mine that I may be given that blessing.
You need to know I am deeply grateful that you are here and that you are givin
My dear brothers and sisters, BYU means a lot to our family. When our oldest daughter recently graduated from here, she became the fifth consecutive generation to hold a degree from BYU, joining her mother and father, her grandmother, her great-grandmother, and her great-great-grandfather who served for many years as the president of BYU. I love and appreciate this institution and hope you do as well.
I ask for your faith and prayers that what is said today will be spiritually edifying to all.
Wise Investing
This morning I would like to speak about the importan
My beloved brethren and sisters—President Oaks, this outstanding faculty, and you wonderful students—I feel highly honored to be here on this beautiful campus of Brigham Young University. I love and esteem and respect this great University for the wonderful ideals that it teaches and promotes in the world today. I pray that I may have that same spirit that my beloved friend and brother Milton Backman asked for in his beautiful prayer.
You have all heard, I suppose, about the Guinness Book of World Records. It tabulates all sorts of unique and amazing things ranging from the ri
