Institutional Efforts to Amplify Prophetic Messages
June 2024 CES Religious Educators Conference
Brother Kelly Haws: Elder Gilbert, thank you very much. Thank you for choosing to be a little personal, and thank you for teaching. We’re grateful to be led by you, and we’re grateful to be led by the board and are glad to be here with you today. Thanks. Thank you very sincerely on behalf of all of us. We’ll all read and reread your remarks and Elder Renlund’s remarks tonight, of course, and commit ourselves to continuing to improve in these ways. Thank you.
Now, presidents, we’re so glad to be here with you. I don’t know how it’s possible to get comfortable up here, but do you mind if I kind of slide around here so I can see you a little bit—and Chad, if you can maybe slide so I can see you? I wasn’t expecting to see President Kauwe up here. Oh, there he is. President Kauwe, can you hear us? Yes. Hi, Keoni. Nice to see you.
We’re here on a on a cold summer morning in Salt Lake and Provo, and you’re in Laie. Maybe one of these years, we’ll all gather there, President Kauwe. On behalf of all of you, could I say how grateful we are for you and your remarkable leadership, for your faith, for your strength, for your willingness to stand true and bear testimony and lead on days when it’s easy and days when it’s hard. And on behalf of everyone here, we love you. And on behalf of these presidents, you know everyone here. I think one of you will know everyone in this room, and you’ll know most of the people who are watching this broadcast. And on behalf of you presidents, could I just be voice and say how deeply grateful I know that these leaders are for you? And as Elder Gilbert just said, for the difference you’re making for the lives that are being changed because of your teaching, because of your service in and out of classrooms, and your ability to invite the Spirit of the Holy Ghost to testify of the Lord. And so on behalf of these presidents—and that doesn’t do it justice, but—thank you.
We’re so glad to be here and get to visit for a moment as a panel about amplifying prophetic priorities. And I’m very much looking forward to your thoughts. Could we begin—President Reese and Brother Webb, could I pick on the two of you? Maybe, President Reese, if you don’t mind going first, and then Brother Webb. Do you mind sharing any experiences, any thoughts you have, any things you’ve seen on the impact, the growth, and miracles that you’re seeing in religious education—in students because of religious education in their families? Thoughts that you would share with us as we begin here on that difference and impact that you’re seeing and have seen. President Reese? Thank you to all who have presented earlier, and welcome to Brigham Young University.
President Shane Reese: Sure. First of all, I just want to know if President Kauwe is wearing shorts down below the camera angle. I don’t know.
President John S. K. Kauwe: I even have some real shoes on.
President Reese: Wow. It’s a big day. We’re grateful to be here. And, Kelly, thank you for your leadership within the commissioner’s office. Elder Gilbert, we’re grateful for you and for your leadership. And I think, Kelly, where you started out was important. I’m grateful for our religious educators, for the difference that they make in the lives of our students. As I thought about this question, just in the interest of full disclosure, Kelly did share these questions in advance, so we’re not taken by surprise.
I kept thinking back to the important charge that we received here at Brigham Young University, the charge from Elder Christofferson for this university to be the flagship university for the Church Educational System, but perhaps more importantly, the charge for this university to become what prophets, seers, and revelators have foretold it would become. We talk at this university about becoming BYU. We talk about the importance of what that means, that it literally means becoming the Christ-centered, prophetically directed university of prophecy.
And lest there be any misunderstanding about the two uses of the word “prophetically directed” and then “of prophecy,” President Kimball gave a remarkable address on this campus. It’s called the “Second Century Address.” And when we talk about the university of prophecy, it is with direct attention and focus on President Kimball’s remarkable vision for the future of this university and its second century.
And then “prophetically directed” describes what it means to have a board of trustees composed of those we sustain as prophets, seers, and revelators. And as we talk about what it means to become that university for us and for the religious educators at BYU, for all of the faculty at BYU, that means in part to embrace our double heritage, to be as conversant in the things of our discipline as we are in the things of the Spirit, and that those two things—we have to have an ability to be conversant in those two things.
And so I’ve thought about this, and unfortunately you’re going to get the answer from a statistician. So I’m going to get all geeky on you. I’ve thought about that as we measure students’ perceptions because it begins and ends with students in mind. I know that’s true for everyone in this room or else you wouldn’t be in this room. That the rising generation mean so much to each one of us. So as we look at their perceptions of what happens in the classroom, and we look at how they feel about the intellectually enlarging portion of the class on one dimension and the spiritually strengthening aspect of the course in another dimension. And if I were to plot each class for every single discipline on this campus on a big scatterplot, it fills in kind of a banana shape, and the goal really is for all of our classrooms. If I were to number the quadrants of this scatterplot, the lower left, which is “You’re not very spiritually strengthening and you’re not very intellectually enlarging,” and I number that one “one,” and if I get up to the upper-right quadrant, which is “You’re very spiritually strengthening and you’re very intellectually enlarging.”
I’m so grateful to the religious educators on this campus. And I’m sure that extends to those of you who teach throughout the Church Educational System. That, without exception, they fall into that upper quadrant. Now, that’s a remarkable outcome to me because it shows that you’re stimulating them. You’re leading them to ask the questions that Elder Gilbert talked about in terms of testimony formation, taking charge of their testimony, and doing that in a way that stimulates their intellect. For we know that the glory of God is intelligence, but you also strengthen their faith in the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. And what a remarkable outcome that is. I see that not only as impact and not only as growth, but I see that as a miracle.
I also see remarkable miracles—and Chad, I’ll be done with my stump speech here in just a second—but I see remarkable miracles in the responsiveness of our religious educators to the invitation of Elder Gilbert to emphasize prophetic messages. I see it happen as they develop their curriculum for their classes, where they’ve amplified the words of prophets, seers, and revelators through the curriculum; in their syllabus; as they talk to their students on a daily basis in class. I see it happen as they’ve responded to the invitation of President Nelson to make the temple the center of their lives.
And if I could take just a short moment to share—what was one of the most tender experiences of my life was the day that I met with the officers of our board of trustees and to have President Nelson completely changed the course of the discussion as he invited my wife and I to serve in this sacred capacity. And he said, “I want you to look out the window. And what you see there is the foundation of the temple being strengthened. You need to have these students strengthen their foundation by focusing on the temple.”
And I’ve seen the religious educators on this campus point our students to the temple. I’ve seen them respond to a prophet’s invitation to strengthen their ability to receive personal revelation as it relates to their own personal lives and for me, more importantly, how it relates to their students and how they can bless their lives. So I’m grateful to our religious educators and their responsiveness to the invitations they’ve received.
Brother Haws: Thank you, President Reese. That is a really insightful and inspiring comment. And for what it’s worth, I was on campus recently—I think you and I were having a meeting together—and I was here early and stopped in the office of one of your religion faculty, and it was about 30 minutes before they were going to have class. And as I popped in on her, she was buried in her scriptures and took a few minutes to tell me how deeply committed she is to helping her students take charge of their testimony. It was an evidence of the miracles that are happening and in religious education here. So thank you, Brother Webb.
Brother Chad H Webb: Yeah, thank you. Just two quick thoughts. The first one—I feel like I want to emphasize something Elder Gilbert referred to—and Kelly, you did a minute ago too. I feel there’s a miracle happening in the unity that’s happening in Church education. There is something powerful about being a system, not six entities. And you know, we’ve expressed our love for you. You’ve expressed your love. I feel the same way. I love these presidents, and I like them, too, and Elder Gilbert, and just the direction he’s giving to create this system. I just think there’s power in that—not just across organizations but for every single person who participates in Church education to be united in a common cause, a common goal to bless Heavenly Father’s children.
I think of the great Intercessory Prayer when the Savior prayed in John 17 and says that we might be one, right? The Father with me, and you might be one with me. The reason He gives for His plead for unity and oneness is that the world might believe that the Father sent Christ to redeem the world. It’s a prerequisite to having the power that we need, to have the Spirit that we need, to change lives and to bear testimony in a way that changes people. And I think that unity is increasing, and I’m just grateful to see the miracle of it together in this roundtable, in our Religious Educators Committee that Elder Gilbert referenced, and in every faculty in the world. As people set aside their own desires and agendas and focus on the core mission of Church education, there is unity and there is power and it’s increasing. I can see it.
Brother Haws: Thank you.
Brother Webb: The other one, just quickly—I think you could refer to any religion faculty and seminary and institute faculty in the world, but miracles happen every day. I’m going to talk a little bit, in the opportunity I have, about the reach and the growth in seminary and institute. But equally impressive is the impact that’s happening. There are people going on missions because they were in your classes, going to the temple, being married in the temple, choosing to stay active in the Church, choosing to follow prophetic teachings, to love people, to follow the Savior. It happens every day. It’s almost, you know, taken for granted—this sleeping giant in the Church that is Church education that’s blessing people.
Just this morning I got a text, a quick little story of a student in the Philippines who, in an institute class, was asked if he was serving a mission, and he said, “I’m the only member in my church. I’m not sure. My family wouldn’t want me to go. I’m kind of fifty-fifty.” And another student in the class said, “I have the same circumstance, but I really want to go on a mission because it’s going to bless my family and be an example to them.” And the first student said, “Well, maybe I’m sixty-forty.” And the young lady said, “I just got home from a mission. It was such a great experience.” And he’s like, “Well, maybe I’m seventy-thirty.” He just went all the way until he said, “Man, I’m going to really study and pray about this. I think maybe I do want to go on a mission.” And you could replicate that a thousand times every week in the world as people come together, study the scriptures, support each other, learn from loving teachers filled with the Spirit and filled with faith that are blessing their lives every day.
Brother Haws: You can almost close your eyes any day and imagine that somewhere in the world, there’s a class from a campus to online to a some building somewhere in the world with a seminary class where that very thing is happening. And we agree with you on your comments about unity. We’ve all learned across the pulpit of general conference and other pulpits, we’ve all learned in scripture, and we’ve all learned in other sacred places that the Lord requires unity in order for us to gain the full advantage of the Holy Ghost’s influence in our classes. And thank you for commenting on that and inviting us all to continue on that path. Thank you.
President Ashton, you and I, over the time we’ve known each other, have often sat down and opened the scriptures together. And I love talking with you about the scriptures and doctrine, and I know that it just is in your DNA as it is in each of yours. But would you mind sharing, President Ashton, as we introduce this subject today of amplifying prophetic priorities, and as we listen to Elder Gilbert and now as we’ve listened to President Reese and Brother Webb, as we respond to this call, as we think about how to and why to respond to this call, what’s the doctrine of this? What’s the doctrinal foundation underpinnings? And you only have three minutes, because I know you have an hour’s worth of thoughts, but do you have thoughts that you would share with us?
President Brian K. Ashton: Well, I wish we did have an hour. There’s so much here. But just a few thoughts.
First of all, obviously when the prophet speaks the words of the Lord, we have Doctrine and Covenants 1:38. You know, “by mine own [mouth] or by the [mouth] of my servants, it is the same.”
You know, there’s Doctrine and Covenants 43. This is verses two through three:
“For behold, verily, verily, I say unto you, that ye have received a commandment for a law unto my church, through him whom I have appointed unto you to receive commandments and revelations from my hand.
“And this ye shall know assuredly—that there is none other appointed unto you to receive commandments and revelations.”
So if we want to hear the word of the Lord, one of the key things we have to do is listen to the prophet. I mean, there’s just no way around it. Then there’s a whole bunch of blessings. I mean, if we just go to Doctrine and Covenants 21, speaking about the Prophet Joseph Smith and all of his successors, the Lord said, “For his word ye shall receive as if from mine own—” Sorry. Let’s start in verse four. “Wherefore, meaning the church, thou shalt give heed unto all his words and commandments which he shall give unto you as he receiveth them, walking in all holiness from me.” It’s a commandment to follow the prophet. “For his word ye shall receive, as if from mine own mouth, in all patience and faith.”
Sometimes we don’t know. You know, sometimes it takes patience and faith to learn that what he’s saying is the word of the Lord. But I testify that it is. And then the blessing: “For by doing these things the gates of hell shall not prevail against you.” Of course, if we don’t do those things, does that mean the gates of hell prevail against us? If we don’t share the words of the prophets with our students, do the gates of hell prevail against them? “Yea, and the Lord God will disperse the powers of darkness from before you”—who doesn’t want that?—“and cause the heavens to shake for your good, and his name’s glory.” Right?
The glory of God is intelligence, or in other words, truth and light. And truth and light forsake that evil one. On top of that, “this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.” If we’re following the words of the prophet, we’re helping our students do that. We’re helping God to help them to attain eternal life.
And then, finally, let me just close with this one. And by the way, we could go on forever. But this is Doctrine and Covenants 90:5: “And all they who receive the oracles of God.” Both the revelations and the prophets. The prophets are the oracles; so are the revelations. “Let them beware how they hold them lest they are accounted as a light thing.” If we don’t teach the words of the prophets, especially the words of the current prophet, to our students, we hold them as a light thing. And listen what happens: “And are brought under condemnation thereby, and stumble and fall when the storms descend, and the winds blow, and the rains descend, and beat upon their house.”
It’s not just our students who have to deal with that if we don’t teach them. If we don’t teach them as religious educators, we take the Lord’s word as a light thing, and then we are under condemnation, and we will stumble and fall when the storms descend and the winds blow and the rains descend and beat upon our house. Let’s bear witness that we can’t help our students obtain eternal life if they don’t have the words of the Lord. You can’t be a disciple of Jesus Christ if you don’t have His words.
Brother Haws: Thank you, Brian. President, I mean. We all have the opportunity to be with the board, everyone, and we wish you could be there with us. But when you get to sit with the First Presidency directing the Church Educational System, it is a sobering and inspiring thought to think that his words you should receive “as if from mine own mouth.” So, so glad you said that. And this idea that you shared of if we will link ourselves to the prophet, it will protect us from the adversary, is a brilliant and really important point of doctrine. I’m so glad you shared it.
Knowing, as President Reese said, I’ve kind of distributed some questions—and forgive me for going off script for a second, but as we talk about the doctrinal underpinnings of this and Brian so eloquently turns to two or three verses, does anything occur to the rest of you that want to share by way of a thought regarding a doctrinal underpinning, some doctrinal point that’s fundamental and foundational to us having a commitment to this—and of course, speaking to the choir, right? Because it burns inside of all of them—but any other thoughts you want to share?
Brother Webb: I’ll just quickly add we actually chose a theme for this conference, which is from Ether about seeking this Jesus of whom prophets testified. I think the world—well, a lot of people aren’t interested in seeking Jesus. Some are interested in seeking one that they fashion after their own desires and hopes. We are to seek this Jesus of whom prophets testify so we know His true nature, His true attributes and characteristics, so we can have true faith. It’s really great. It’s just a significant role that prophets play in the entire plan to teach us the true nature of God.
Brother Haws: Thank you, thank you.
President Bruce C. Kusch: You know, we’ve just read in Come, Follow Me about Alma the Younger giving up the judgment seat so that he could preach. And he talks about rescuing these wayward Saints by “bearing down in pure testimony.” And so some of those we work with may be wayward, but others may be seeking. But the power of bearing pure testimony and what we know and what we felt can have a powerful impact, I think.
Brother Haws: Thank you, President Kusch. Would you keep going with this next question? So knowing that we’re all committed to this, do you have thoughts on how you as presidents, leaders, as well as us in our various roles, might improve our ability and desire to amplify the teachings of the prophet?
President Kusch: Yeah. So I think ability and desire are two interesting words. Elder Gilbert powerfully taught us about exercising agency. And I think the desire that we have to amplify the words of prophet will cause us to exercise our agency and do it in righteous ways. I also believe that the righteous exercise of our agency will qualify us for the spiritual gift of increased ability to amplify the words of the prophets. I think that will come as a result of sincere effort to exercise our agency.
The 68th section of the Doctrine and Covenants. The Lord gives us wonderful revelation to Orson Hyde and others who are preparing to go preach the gospel. And He said:
“And this is the ensample unto them, that they shall speak as they are moved upon by the Holy Ghost.
“And whatsoever they shall speak when moved upon by the Holy Ghost shall be scripture, and shall be the will of the Lord, shall be the mind of the Lord, shall be the word of the Lord, [and] the voice of the Lord, and the power of God unto salvation.”
So we can, I think, infer from that and conclude from that that the words of living prophets are spoken under the influence, and by the influence and power of the Holy Ghost, and therefore they’re scripture. And we should study the words of living prophets as we study the scriptures. They are a companion to our study of the scriptures, and they should not be an afterthought, or “I’ll get around to conference addresses or things that they’ve taught,” but it should be an integral part of our study of the gospel as we have those words in our hearts, in our souls, and things that we can share freely.
I also think it’s vital to continue to remember and to deepen our understanding of the role of prophets and their unique calling and ordination. I love the encounter between Ammon and Limhi, where they’re talking about the virtues of prophets and what Mosiah can do and Limhi’s concern about the translating. But this verse in chapter eight:
“A seer can know of things which are past, and also things which are to come, and by them shall all things be revealed, or, rather, shall secret things be made manifest, and hidden things shall come to light, and things which are not known shall be made known by them, and also things shall be made known by them which otherwise could not be known.”
So that makes the words of living prophets so very important and so vital as we study them, as we apply them, recognizing that we learn things that we could learn and know no other way. And then, finally, I think it’s important for us to look for every opportunity we have to share what we know with those that we have influence with—our families, those we teach, those we work with—to share our experiences and to share our testimony of what prophets can do and the importance of their words.
Brother Haws: Thank you, President Kusch. That’s really fabulous. Thank you. We know this from Elder Gilbert’s messages to the Church Educational System over the last couple of years and these prophetic priorities. Elder Meredith, you and I have talked, and would you share your thoughts on why this message—why Elder Gilbert is feeling a necessity to—an urging or a prompting to repeat this message, and any other thoughts you have on the idea of identifying prophetic emphases?
Elder Alvin F. Meredith III: Well, not to speak for Elder Gilbert, but I think he’s very intentional about using repetition.
President Kauwe: He’s following a prophetic pattern of teaching.
Elder Meredith: I tell my children all the time, repetition is the mother of learning. And I usually follow that up by saying it twice. Several of the brethren here have taken us to the Doctrine and Covenants. And in the first section of the Doctrine and Covenants, the Church is described as being both “true and living.” And there are multiple elements of the Church being a living church, but one important one is that revelation is continuing and ongoing. In fact, the Restoration is ongoing. And so because of that, I think what Elder Gilbert is—one of the reasons he emphasizes this is—in fact, I think he used the phrase—he talked about it not being important to memorize these messages, and I think he said exactly that “certainly they will change.” And it’s far less important for us to have our students memorize these messages, because they will change. And it’s much more important for us to help them build the spiritual muscle memory to turn to the counsel of living prophets, to pay attention to what they’ve taught and to what they’ve taught recently, and develop in them a conviction to follow the counsel of living prophets.
Brother Haws: Thank you. As Connie and I were driving down here today, she said, “Now, tell me what you’re talking about.” And I talked to her about prophetic emphases. And she said, “Well, in the last conference, there’s just one.” And she said, “It seemed like everything they said in conference was pointing us to the temple and covenants and ordinances.” And what a huge blessing that is to have not only these prophetic emphases identified along with Elder Gilbert’s invitation for us to include them, but to develop the muscle memory to listen and look for and learn to identify prophetic emphasis and use them. Thank you. Thank you, President Meredith. President Kauwe, can you hear us?
President Kauwe: Yes. Thank you.
Brother Haws: All of this being said, President Kauwe, knowing that we’re trying to develop that muscle memory, knowing that we’re trying to listen to the prophet, would you share your thoughts on why is this so important for the young adults today on our campuses and our classes with the challenges they face and the realities of the world in front of them?
President Kauwe: Yeah, as I think about that, what comes to my mind is essentially kind of thinking about how we teach people how to serve, and I guess I’m a very practical person, so I think about practical examples. Often when you’re talking about surfing with someone or teaching a child how to surf, they can’t direct the board. And it’s complicated to think about how they would direct the board. And you look at what they’re doing and you think, “Oh, your feet are in the wrong place, or your hips are too high, or your shoulders aren’t facing the right direction, or your hands aren’t in the right place, or your weight is not distributed properly on your toes or your heels.” It can be a very complex prospect.
And when it comes to our young adults, they’re facing this variety of complex challenges. The adversary is eroding their capacity to be physically and mentally and spiritually healthy. And as parents, teachers, and leaders, we do our best with the realm of all of our temporal and spiritual knowledge to help them know what to do so to know what to teach them. And we often provide them with the best we can, right? The equivalent of how to place your feet, where to hold your hands, those kinds of details.
But prophetic direction can be very different. The prophetic direction that we receive cuts right to the key points. It’s exactly what the Lord wants for those people in our stewardship. And if you look at the surfing example, you can often take the one who’s surfing, and instead of fine-tuning every little detail, you can tell them, “Look the direction you want to go.” And when they have that key principle, they often can make all those little changes that we were noticing that needed to happen in a much simpler and more natural way.
And our prophets say exactly what our young adults need to be taught. They bring in messages that outline exactly what they need to learn and what they need to do. And it’s often very, very direct. So as we think about how to fulfill our stewardship, we can serve and benefit our young adult by listening to those messages, amplifying them, and repeating them in ways that are accessible to those within our stewardship. And I’ve had that in my role at BYU–Hawaii.
You think about President Nelson’s address “Choices for Eternity” and President and Sister Oaks’s address called “Stand for Truth.” Each of these talks addressed issues that I was already keenly aware of and concerned about for my students, but they provided clear and correct patterns for how our students need to be taught and what key messages would direct them the way they need to go. And so it became a responsibility for Monica and I to learn the messages, ponder them, and figure out how, in our stewardship, we could teach them in a more precise way for our student population—how we could remind them of the messages, and especially how we can help them understand that we chose those messages because of prophetic direction, because of our desire to help them learn and live, because of our prophets. So for me, I think that’s a significant portion of our stewardship—is understand those words and figure out how we can teach them to those whom we’ve been entrusted.
Brother Haws: I love you saying, President Kauwe, that you and Sister Kauwe choose intentionally your messages growing out of what you’ve heard emphasized by the prophets and apostles. And I’ve heard every one of you—presidents and administrator—do. Thank you for that remarkable example. As we ask the question of “Why does this matter to students?,” I remember an old statement from President Henry B. Eyring in a setting just like this, speakin to all of Church education. And he said this, and this is a little bit—you’re not prepared for this, but I’d like to ask you if you have a thought to respond. President Eyring said it this way, and it’s connected to something you said, Brian:
“Now I bear you my testimony that your young people can be deeply affected by the way you tell them what prophets are like. If, when you read the words of the prophets, and if ,when you describe your experiences with the words of prophets, you [will] tell them the joy you felt and the joy you feel from knowing that God speaks to [us] by living prophets, I bear you my testimony that you will be building power in [your students] to resist temptation and to resist persecution.” Elder Meredith.
Elder Meredith: My wife and I had a three really strong impressions since we’ve received this assignment to be up at BYU–Idaho. The first is to point the students, this rising generation, to the Savior. The second is to encourage them to follow the counsel of living prophets and apostles. And the third is contingent on doing the first two, which is teach this rising generation that living the gospel of Jesus Christ is joyful. If we do not teach joy to this rising generation, we’re going to lose them. And if you, in the spirit of Elder Gilbert saying pay attention to when the prophet is repetitive and when he pleads with us, go back and look at how much President Nelson talks about joy. We’ve got to exhibit that, and we’ve got to exhibit that in our words and our actions, particularly when we talk about the role of prophets.
Brother Haws: Thank you. And your students see that. Thank you very much. President Reese, can we keep going? And let me ask you—as a president, I’ve watched and listened to you quote and draw from and emphasize the words of the prophets as leaders in the Church Educational System. Are there settings that you would like to emphasize? Situations, opportunities where we as leaders have the chance to amplify these words?
President Reese: So it’s a great question. Fundamentally, I think that when we understand deeply that Russell M. Nelson is the Lord’s mouthpiece. I think we seek for whatever opportunity we can to share the teachings that he has shared and in such remarkable ways, specifically directed at our young people. To take the very first event that happened kind of post-COVID, the flocking—I was stuck on I-15 for an hour trying to get to the Conference Center—the flocking of our young people to listen to a prophet’s voice because they recognize who he is, that he speaks for the Lord, and that by following his teachings, it’s going to bring them joy. I think it’s every opportunity we can get for us. And I’ll just say that I have watched with admiration, appreciation, and respect all of these fellow presidents that we have up here for the way you have done that. And so I’m just going to share a couple of thoughts from us, but I can just tell you that I think I’m just echoing what I’ve seen in my colleagues. First, I think it happens n in our leadership meetings. So this might be in a faculty meeting. It might be as you gather with your fellow teachers, it might be—I hope it’s in our homes, that it starts there in intimate gatherings. Sometimes we as presidents have an opportunity to do it in a more public-facing fashion.
And I will tell you that much like President Kauwe just talked about he and Monica having a commitment to doing that in their devotional addresses, my wife and I have spent time talking about where are our opportunities to amplify the words of prophets, seers, and revelators, and in particular today, President Nelson. And we’ve tried deliberately to infuse our messages with the words of prophets and to have those be the guide for the themes of what we want to speak about. It’s an amazing opportunity. I try, whenever possible, when I’m conducting a meeting to just grab one small element from something President Nelson has taught recently. It’s like Elder Gilbert has talked about. We’ve talked about these five prophetic emphases, and they are not set in stone. President Nelson is going to give a talk in the very near future, and maybe it’s just going to be a thought in social media, but that becomes what we need to emphasize. And candidly, some of you have amazing social media followings. I have like three followers. But for those three followers, I hope that they see that emphasis come through in my social media posts, because that’s a deliberate effort. So I just view this as something that’s part of my stewardship as the president of Brigham Young University, is to emphasize and amplify the words of prophets.
Brother Haws: Thank you. That’s beautiful. And you do, and we see it. I must be one of your three followers.
President Reese: Thanks, Kelly.
Brother Haws: Chad, with a worldwide faculty, do you have thoughts on opportunities that you think of to amplify the teachings of the prophets?
Brother Webb: Yeah, I really love what President Reese said. You know, faculty meetings and devotionals and things. When I think about the level of a teacher, we have curriculum and we have opportunities to teach lessons or create learner experiences in the scriptures. I think we could always be looking for opportunities to look for whatever principle we’re teaching—what have prophets said about that? We can’t always keep up-to-date with our curriculum. It takes a few years to write it and translate it and publish it. So to be current with living prophets will require a teacher to immerse himself or herself in living prophets’ teachings, and then it’ll just come out of them. I go to faculty meetings and there are teachers who can’t comment without saying, “That reminds me of a general conference talk; that reminds me of what President Nelson said.” You know they’ve immersed themselves in teachings of living prophets. And probably for me equally, if not more important, when we immerse ourselves in the teachings of prophets, when a student has a question—could be in a class, it could be in an office, a really important moment for that young person who came into your office with a heartfelt question—if we can turn them to prophets, if we can answer their questions with teachings of prophets, we will bless them deeply.
Brother Haws: That’s beautiful. Thank you.
President Kauwe: Can I just add that you know who models this perfectly? It is President Oaks, President Eyring, and the entire Twelve.
Elder Meredith: Look at how often they quote President Nelson.
Brother Webb: In fact, an example of that—I hope this is appropriate, but serving in Correlation, I heard Elder Neil L. Andersen say once, “When I have a talk to give, whatever the topic is, I look to see what President Nelson has taught, I see an example of the Savior, and I bear my testimony.” That’s a pretty good pattern.
Brother Haws: Thank you. Connie said that to me again as we were driving. It seems like everyone is quoting President Nelson more than I ever remember before. And yeah, that’s a beautiful comment. Would you allow this quick? We have ten minutes. That’s all we have left. In one of Elder Gilbert’s addresses on this, I wanted to call your attention to this line: “One of the ways we can say, ‘Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth,’ is to listen to and carefully study the words of the Lord as revealed through His living prophets. We can become”—and then those next three words have really resonated with me—“a prophetic echo.” Whether it’s in devotionals, whether it’s in faculty meetings, whether the curriculum can’t keep up with us and so we assume the obligation, the opportunity to keep ourselves up-to-date, and then no matter our topic, we become a prophetic echo.
Thank you for those comments. I do wish we had more time and know that we have lots of time ahead of us, just not here on this stage. We love you. We’re grateful to you. We’re grateful for your examples. We’re grateful for your leadership. We’re grateful for your leadership on this principle, for the remarkable way you set an example for us and encourage the rest of us to be a prophetic echo. Could we conclude by asking two of you to share any concluding thoughts you have and bear your testimony? President Ashton, do you mind going first? And then Elder Meredith, would you share your concluding thoughts and bear testimony? Thank you.
President Ashton: Just a thought, and then my testimony. We’re privileged as presidents to have a CES advance once a year with the Executive Committee of the Board. And last year, Elder Rasband spoke to us and talked about—in fact, he invited us to bear testimony of the Lord’s prophet in every instance. And I’ve tried to do that. And I can tell you that it’s changed how I think about things. It’s changed how my kids think about things. It’s changed, I hope, how the people at BYU–Pathway have thought about things, and I feel bad when I don’t do it. Yesterday I had some concluding remarks in a meeting, and I forgot and I sat down and the Spirit said to me, “You messed up.” And so I got to repent. But I can bear witness that it’s important.
Now my testimony: salvation comes through the Lord Jesus Christ. Elder Gilbert bore a powerful witness of that today. But faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is connected to belief in His words, which come from prophets. Listen to these words of the Lord. This is in Ether 4:12: “He that will not believe my words will not believe me—that I am.” Let me read it again: “He that will not believe my words will not believe me—that I am.” The word of the Lord comes in large part through President Nelson today and through other prophets, seers, and revelators. If we don’t amplify their words, we make it difficult for our students and for us as teachers to have the kind of faith that leads to exaltation, to believe that Jesus Christ lives.
That quote from President Eyring that Kelly read—what struck me about it is the blessing, is if we can bear our testimony of how prophets have changed, how studying the words of the prophets and applying them in our lives has changed us, then we can help our students to believe Christ’s words, and then they will know that He lives and that He is the only source of salvation. I bear testimony that we are led by prophets and apostles. President Nelson is the Lord’s mouthpiece. I’ve applied his word in my life. I know it’s the word of the Lord, and it has brought me great blessings, both to me and my family. I bear witness that the Savior lives, that He is the source of all salvation and all blessings. And I leave that with you in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
President Kauwe: Amen. Thank you.
Elder Meredith: Right after the Words of Mormon, Alma sent out teachers, and in the early days of the Church, Joseph sent out elders. And in both situations the command was the same, which was to teach nothing except those things that have been taught by prophets and apostles. Now, those were, in both settings, were in the early days of the Church. There will be times that we need to teach other things, but the principle holds. If we anchor ourselves to the teachings of living prophets and apostles, then we will find safety in that they stand as watchmen on the tower.
Now, I want to mention that I am an eternal optimist. I think that there’s great things happening not only in the Church but in the world. That being said, we do live in the perilous times that Paul prophesied of, and the deeper we get into those perilous times, the more important it is going to be for us to anchor ourselves to the teachings of living prophets and apostles. And I appreciate President Ashton’s testimony and the scripture that you took us to in Ether, because it answers the why—why that is so important. It’s because following the counsel of living prophets and apostles will point us to the Savior, and it is through Him that redemption and salvation and exaltation come.
We are blessed to be led by prophets today. We thank God for a prophet. I’ve had opportunities to be with President Nelson sometimes in settings like this, and other times in much more intimate settings. I just leave my witness with you of him—that he is the Lord’s living prophet on the earth today and that if we will abide by his counsel and point this rising generation to him, then we will be able to partake of the fulness of the joy found in living the gospel of Jesus Christ. I leave that witness with you in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.