President Thomas S. Monson, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, encouraged Brigham Young University students to be lights to the world Tuesday while speaking at the BYU devotional.
President Monson told what he called “one of the most marvelous audiences in the world” of 17,788 at the Marriott Center that one of the chief ways to share the gospel is through righteous example.
“Our opportunities to shine are limitless,” President Monson said. “They surround us each day, in whatever circumstances we find ourselves. As we follow the example of the Savior, ours will be the opportunity to be a light, as it were, in the lives of those around us – whether they be our own family members, our coworkers, mere acquaintances or total strangers.”
To gain this light, President Monson said we must be an “example of believers,” as the Apostle Paul penned, by gaining a testimony of truth, especially a testimony of The Book of Mormon.
He shared the story of how Clayton M. Christensen, a professor at the Harvard Business School and world-renowned business scholar, gained his testimony of The Book of Mormon.
Christensen decided one day while he was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford that he would spend from 11 p.m. to midnight every day studying The Book of Mormon and praying to ask if it was true until he had a confirmation.
One evening during his prayerful study, that confirmation came to Christensen with an intense feeling of peace and love that caused him to cry. Christensen said the feeling was so marvelous he did not want to stop crying.
To read Christensen’s own account of his experience while at The Queen’s College at Oxford, click here.
“May I suggest, as Brother Christensen did, that you set aside time every day to find out for yourself if the Book of Mormon is a true book,” President Monson said. “For it will change your heart and change your life. If you seek this knowledge with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, I promise you will receive an answer.
“Such a personal testimony is essential if we are to safely navigate the sometimes treacherous paths of life, with the adversary attempting to deceive us at every turn,” he continued.
As he concluded, President Monson passed along a message borrowed from the popular Disney movie, “The Lion King,” in which the father figure, “Mufasa,” addresses his grown son “Simba.”
“Look inside yourself. You are more than what you have become,” he said. “Remember who you are. Remember.”
And then President Monson added: “You are a son or a daughter of our Heavenly Father.”
Other quotes from President Monson’s address:
“I want you to know that I can feel your collective goodness here today. You are choice sons and daughters of our Father in Heaven. Just think how much good can come to the world through our collective lights.”
“We know where we came from, why we are here and where we will go after this life. We know that we are children of our Heavenly Father and that he loves us. We know we want to return to him after we leave this earthly existence. We know what we do and don’t do here in mortality is of the utmost importance.”
“Remember, faith and doubt cannot exist in the same mind at the same time or one will dispel the other.”
“May we always be known as followers of Christ and as such become as lights in the world.”
“My friends, may we be as the apostle Paul admonished an, ‘example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.’ May we all be known as followers of Christ.”
