Voi Ray Taeoalii, Stake President of the Makakilo Hawaii Stake, addressed the BYU-Hawaii faculty, staff, and the student body with an inspirational message, titled "Sustenance of Hope," at the Tuesday, March 3, 2009, devotional. He began his speech with a reminiscent thought: "Being here reminds me of the years that my wife and I lived in married student housing, drove a car that broke down regularly, and accounted for every penny, nickel and dime we earned. It was a time in our life that was challenging as you very well know." He recounted the difficulty of balancing school, family, work, and church callings; yet, the aftermath of experience taught him the need for these difficulties because "it is the power and patience of hope that can sustain us as we pursue our goals in life."
"It is hope that builds us individually and also collectively as families and as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints," said Taeoalii. He continued with the apostle Paul's counsel of a hope coupled with patience: "For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it." Taeoalii quickly moved into the purpose of his talk, focusing on three definitive "aspects of hope that are pertinent in our lives: 1. Patience of Hope, 2. Protecting Hope, and 3. Christ, our Perfect Brightness of Hope."
He started with the definition of 'Patience of Hope,' sharing personal insights he has accrued as a software engineer: "We live in a fast paced world. We are not required to wait long for what we want or need. Being a software engineer, I know the importance of speed and performance for computer programs to be user friendly and acceptable. Processes are measured in the milliseconds and performance is constantly being enhanced to meet the needs of computer users. While the coding and implementation of an application requires a lot of functionality and error handling, if performance and through-put are not acceptable, that computer program will not likely be used. Since we live in a world that expects immediate response and results, we need to cultivate patience." Quoting the apostle Paul, he summed: "tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope." Continued patience, one of the byproducts of tribulation, naturally leads to an accruement of hope.
Next, he moved on to 'Protecting Hope,' again quoting the apostle Paul's admonition to "put on … for an helmet, the hope of salvation." He made the idea of protecting hope concrete by further stating: "I think of a helmet as a hard shell covering that protects the head. We can think of hope as something that is sustained in our visionary minds. We can have hope because we can envision righteous desires. When heavy objects or blows are thrust on a helmet, we may feel the pressure but our heads are protected. That helmet or hope protects our righteous thoughts and vision." He emphasized that hope can shield us not only from wickedness, but from the pressures of life--depression, loneliness, or negativity because "having the protection of a helmet or hope gives us the courage to go on, even when we might not see the end."
He shared a personal experience about the struggles during his collegiate years: "After being in college for about four years, I remember not being able to pass one of my classes. It was a requirement for my major and there was no way around it. It was a discouraging time. At that point, I was working full-time, going to school, and raising a young family. I was already into my career as a computer programmer, and obtaining a degree didn't seem as necessary as it did when I first began college. It was hard to envision getting beyond that trial." Yet with steady encouragement from his wife, he was able to renew his hope and faith in finishing school. Though it took eight years, he completed his bachelor's degree.
"Protect yourself with hope," he admonished. "That very hope that encouraged you to apply for school, that very hope that propelled you to make the sacrifices necessary to come here. You will see much clearer and have greater vision despite the obstacles and pressures that may come your way. That very hope will see you through your college years. That very hope will get you over your fears and times of despair. That very hope will sustain you as you fulfill your earthly mission and what you were foreordained to do in this life." And that very protection of hope leads to the need for a hope in Jesus Christ.
He began his third and final point, ‘Christ, our Perfect Brightness of Hope' by stating, "If there is anything that I want you to remember from this talk, it is this one statement: There is nothing more lasting and more enduring or has greater sustenance than having hope in Christ." He continued with an admonition from the prophet Nephi to "press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men," and that if we continued on this path, "[we] shall have eternal life." He then asked a rhetorical question: "If [Christ] is our source of hope, how then can we obtain that perfect brightness of hope?"
He answered simply by explaining the technological progress he has been able to experience: "Much has changed in the field of computer science since I was a student. My first full-time job was as a computer operator while going to college. The system I monitored took up an entire room.… Information stored on one of those reels was 800K or less than 1 megabyte, which is less than what your cell phone can hold today.… As a computer programmer, you would write your code and sometimes submit it as a batch process to compile overnight because the compilation process could take hours.… Today, compiling a computer program takes seconds or milliseconds. Today I can carry my entire office in a briefcase and work from anywhere."
He contrasted technological progress with truths that have not changed in his field of work: "I remember those stressful college days of creating a program by the assigned deadline. Most of the time the program worked, but sometimes it didn't. Most of the time I turned in my work on time, but sometimes I turned in my work only minutes before the deadline. A few times my assignments were turned in late. I learned that my schoolwork required my best effort, discipline to stay focused on the task, and perseverance. Those learned qualities have not changed over time. They are required to an even greater degree in my line of work today than it did twenty years ago when I was in your shoes."
He continued: "As a student, a late project might cost one letter grade. That might be a concern to someone striving to maintain a particular grade point average. But in the field of computer programming, being an hour late on a project may cost the company a million dollars or more. The stakes are much higher and the pressure more intense. I remember the time as a student, when I worked for three days and nights with no sleep on a computer programming assignment for my Computer Graphics class. I was exhausted and yet I completed and turned in the project on time. I contrast that with the time when I worked in a hospital when our system was down and it took me three days and nights with no sleep to get the system back up and running. Both were challenging and required about the same amount of time and effort from me. However, of the latter, there was much more at stake with many individuals involved and especially the quality and lives of patient care. I was the one programmer that knew how to troubleshoot and find the problem to get the system back up, and all eyes and hopes were on me."
To his experiences and to hardships that we all face, he counseled: "Sometimes you will feel stretched to new limits and wonder if you can handle all the demands placed upon you. Be comforted in knowing that your Heavenly Father knows you individually." He then challenged students "to increase [their] brightness of hope and balance [their] secular studies, … [and to] study the scriptures and build … spirituality."
In closing, Taeoalii testified: "It is through our hope in Christ that will allow us to become like Him and be allowed return to His presence…. I testify that we will be sustained with this perfect brightness of hope as we come unto Him, who is our Lord, Savior and Redeemer of the World. In His holy name, even the name of Jesus Christ, amen."
--Photo by Monique Saenz
Click here to see a transcript of Voi R. Taeoalii's talk