BYU-Hawaii was privileged to welcome President Henry J. Eyring, Vice President of Advancement at Brigham Young University Idaho, and, son of LDS Church First Counselor in the First Presidency Henry B. Eyring, as the devotional speaker this past Tuesday, February 10. Brother Eyring's talk, titled, “Where You’re Going,” was inspired by past experiences and a unique question and answer session held entirely on Blackboard, BYUH’s internet classroom system. Brother Eyring commented, “As I read your online messages and look into your faces now, I think of the missionaries with whom Sister Eyring and our children and I served in Japan … . It was a blessing to know them and see them grow.”
Brother Eyring focused his address on maintaining spiritual strength when faced with unique challenges and temptations. “We feel joy when we meet all of our returned missionaries,” he said, speaking of his and Sister Eyring’s mission to Tokyo, Japan. He expressed the importance of spiritual growth: “Many have retained the spirit of the mission field. They are making great progress in life, serving in the Church, gaining education, marrying and having children, and starting careers.” He used dress standards as a metaphor for how hard these things can be to attain when the challenges of the world overcome the challenges of the mission field:
“... [T]he elders’ suits and the sisters’ dresses that everyone wore in the mission field aren’t so mainstream at school. It feels much more natural to stick with the kind of casual, comfortable wardrobe you brought to school as a freshman.” He continued, quoting a student from the online Blackboard discussion: “It sometimes tempts you to act the way the world or others think is right.”
“But life is more complicated at college than it was in high school or on the mission field,” he explained, noting that managing time, academics, secular, and spiritual goals is a balancing act. “For example, you face academic pressure... You also need to make money ... [and] you’d also like to enjoy some of the fun things ... that are off-limits to missionaries but ever available in Laie.”
Brother Eyring offered perspective on life’s balances with two types of interviews: A Job Interview and Life’s Interviews. In order to succeed in either interview, the interviewee must feel comfortable. “The question, though,” he went on to say, “is whether you’ll be comfortable in that professional attire.” He summed up by stating that the clothing we chose matched our essential internal qualities, and showed whether or not we would be truly prepared for that final interview.
His personal experience on both sides of the interview table fed into his devotional address; he could tell which candidates he interviewed were ready and comfortable, as opposed to the candidates, including himself in the past, who were ill-prepared and uncomfortable wearing professional attire. He recalled those attributes as being very obvious and important.
He spoke of other, more important, interviews; the life interviews with bishops, stake presidents, and mission presidents. “You were glad when you had been living so that you could give the right answers. It hurt when you couldn't. ... [A]s much as you wanted to declare your worthiness, you knew that your actions hadn’t prepared you to.” He noted that there would still be more interviews in the future, and preparation and personal worthiness was something to be grateful for. In addition, we may be able to interview others, seeing them as God sees them, acting in offices of bishop, mission president, visiting teacher, or good friend.
Brother Eyring then addressed the concerns that youth have of growing old too quickly by making a distinction between growing old and growing up. “Growing up-as opposed to growing old-is more fun than it looks,” he said, adding, “It’s also the happiest way to live.” He summed that full time missionaries make the point of giving up old hobbies and personal time as they work and face discomfort and danger all the time. “Yet they look back on those years as the happiest of their lives to that point.” He continued, noting that the addition of structured scripture study and service to others also added to their joy as missionaries. He then quoted from the online Blackboard discussion: “One of you said it this way: ‘When you put the kingdom of the Lord and His glory first, then the sacrifices you make for others are not going to be much of a sacrifice, because the Lord will bless you tenfold’.”
The Final Interview, according to Brother Eyring, is the main reason for growing up. Quoting Jacob in 2 Nephi 9:41, he said that while we may not know the dress code of such an interview, we do know that “the Lord, the Holy One” will be conducting the interview. He then stated, “We also know what it will take to be prepared for this interview,” inferring the essential principles of faith, repentance, baptism, and honoring temple covenants. He promised that if we upheld these things, we would hear the words we wanted to from such an interview: “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.”
Brother Eyring closed with a testimony of the Savior, the First Presidency, and the truthfulness of the Gospel, and then said with purpose, “May we all remember where we are going and hasten to prepare for life’s important interviews. The sacrifices are not as great as they seem ... we know that giving away our sins and committing to live consecrated lives is the way to grow up and become like our Savior and His Father, our Father in Heaven. As we do that, our joy steadily grows.”
–Photo by Monique Saenz
Click here for a transcript of this devotional address