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A Successful Life, Guaranteed

Much better than a promise, James Ritchie gave a guarantee for a successful and happy life during his devotional address October 21. Ritchie, the director of the BYU-Hawaii Willes Center for International Entrepreneurship, said following his six-step formula—which includes working hard, getting up early and preparing for Church service—is secured by scriptures and prophets alike.

The guarantee, Ritchie explained, comes from two well-known scriptures: King Benjamin’s address in Mosiah chapters two through five of the Book of Mormon, and the Lord’s promise in Doctrine and Covenants 82:10.

And moreover, I would desire that you should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God” shared Ritchie. “So, if we keep the commandments, my young friends, we can expect to be kept in a blessed and happy state. And it gets better as it goes on.”

For behold, they are blessed in ALL things, both temporal and spiritual.”The things of the world, your worldly opportunities, and the things of the spirit, are guaranteed by King Benjamin that we will be happy if we will keep the commandments.”

If they hold out faithful to the end, they are received into heaven that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never ending happiness. My friends, there is no better promise nor guarantee, that only if we will keep the commandments and endure to the end will we not only be blessed temporally but also spiritually and also have a blessed state in this life and a never ending happiness in the next. What more could be better than that?”

Expounding on D&C 82:10 Ritchie said, “If you do what He says, He is bound to give you everlasting happiness, endless happiness and temporal and spiritual success in this life and, of course, in the next.”

He then shared that his formula for success came from combining the formulas of J. Paul Getty, a wealthy oil tycoon of the early twentieth century, and David B. Haight, Ritchie’s mission president and a former member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. When combined, the two formulas make an all-encompassing recipe for temporal and spiritual success. The final formula given by Brother Ritchie is:

1) Get up early. “I don’t know of anyone in my life that was a great success that aren’t early risers. You missionaries learn that for two years, and shame on you if you have forgotten that habit. If you have somehow discovered that you think you are a night person, you need to repent.”
2) Work hard.
3) Get your education. “Get all the training you can get... Get an education so that in the middle of your education you will be trying to find your oil.
4) Find your oil. “You have to find something that you are passionate about, that you can really find you have a niche in, something you can become the best in the world at, or one of the best. You have to find your oil.
5) Make your mark. “Do something of which you can be proud, which can make a contribution to society and your life.
6) Get prepared to be used. Help build the kingdom. “This is by far the most important thing, which ties all this together and for which the whole formula is given. The formula is not important without number six –number three of Elder Haight’s formula– because this is the part that should impact your life, and should be the behavior change in your life if necessary when you hear this.”

After giving the formula and the guarantee, Ritchie gave the students his personal guarantee. He said, “Brothers and sisters, the Gospel is true. The formula works. It really works, I promise, and it will work for you. It starts tomorrow at 5:30a.m.... you need to be on your knees asking Heavenly Father to help you live it, because someday the 2,500 of you are going to be asked to fill some important roles. You have no idea what is to become.”

He admonished the students to respect and appreciate the position they have as students at BYUH. “Every convert we ever had in Africa or all over the world, all of our young people would kill to have an opportunity to be here... And for you to be here, one of the privileged of a handful of people, it is a great responsibility because you have to make the most of your education. And with it, you must make your mark. And you better be able to use that education in real life because the Lord is counting on you in all those target countries we represent, to be able to make a difference, to be the leaders, and to be used to build the Kingdom and usher in the latter-day reign of our Savior himself.”

When Brother Ritchie was younger, he spoke with a stutter, and it wasn’t cured until he served a mission in Scotland. He told of how another missionary, Terri Walch, asked Elder Ritchie, a week-old missionary in the field, to accompany him on a speaking tour around the mission for six months. “Every Sunday I had to get up and give a five-minute talk. The first three months they were terrible, terrible talks... Nobody but my mother and best friend knew I had a problem. And yet, somehow, the Lord put me together with Terri Walch in Dumbarton, Scotland, for six long months, forcing me to stand at a pulpit until one day I finally gave a talk that somebody understood. I’m telling you, my friends, that that didn’t happen by accident.”

“I want you to know that the Church is true. God runs this Church. It is the Savior’s church. It is His name on it and He runs it. When He wants a Terri Walch to be by your side, at some pulpit in some lowly village in Scotland, He’ll find a way to do that. If He’ll do that for a chicken farmer’s son, who limps when he walks and stutters when he talks, if He’ll do that for me, what will He do for you?”

-Photo by Ian Nitta

:: For a complete transcript of Brother Ritchie's devotional...

:: Watch video clips from Brother Ritchie's devotional...