“Develop in yourself the character of Christ,” Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles told graduates of Brigham Young University-Hawaii during commencement exercises on Nov. 2.
“Remember that the most important thing is and will always be what you are, not what you have,” the Apostle taught.
The event, held in the Cannon Activities Center on the Laie campus, honored the 223 graduates from 22 countries around the globe. Some members of the Church’s educational board joined the apostle on the stand, and speakers included Elder Kim B. Clark, General Authority Seventy and Commissioner of Education, as well as BYU-Hawaii’s new president, John S. Tanner.
Drawing from President Thomas S. Monson’s October 2008 general conference talk, Elder Christofferson spoke to graduates about “three imperatives.”
“First, learn what we should learn,” he said. “Second, do what we should do. And third, be what we should be.”
“Learn what we should learn”
“What should we learn?” he asked. Expanded understanding comes through study, prayer and experience.
“We rightly rejoice in and express gratitude for all that God has revealed as He rewards both spiritual and scientific inquiry, but at the same time we must acknowledge how much more has not been revealed,” Elder Christofferson said.
It is important to be aware of ones divine heritage and destiny, while still remembering earthly limitations. Looking at the Lord’s definition of truth — “knowledge of things as they are, and as they were and as they are to come” — it is important to remember the role of the Holy Ghost in understanding truth. Personal revelation is critical to learning “what we should learn.”