The following transcript is intended to aid in your study. However, while we try to go through the transcript, our transcripts are primarily computer-generated and often contain errors. Please forgive the transcripts’ imperfections.

===

[00:00:00] President Russell M. Nelson has said there is no shortcut to excellence and competence. Education is the difference between wishing you could help other people and being able to help them. End. Quote, elder Alvin f Meredith and his wife Jennifer, never anticipated receiving a call that would take them to Rexburg, Idaho, but because of the education they'd received both formally and informally, they were ready to.

Serve when the call came. Alvin f Meredith became the 18th president of BYU Idaho in August, 2023 after being sustained as a General Authority 70 in April, 2021. He continues to serve in both capacities. Elder and Sister Meredith served as leaders of the Utah. Salt Lake City, south Mission. The Merediths were married in 1998, and Elder Meredith's professional career has taken their family to Tennessee, Hong Kong, and Singapore as he previously worked for Urian, BCG and GE Capital.

They are the parents of six children.

This is all in an LDS Living podcast where we ask the question, what does it really mean to be all in the gospel of Jesus Christ? I'm Morgan Pearson, and I am honored to have President and Sister Meredith on the line with me today. Uh, president, should I call you president or elder? That was the question that I realized I forgot to ask.

Is, is it Tuesday? Yeah, president's the appropriate title on Tuesday. Okay, awesome. And, and Sister Meredith, I assume you go by the day for, for him as well? Yes. Sometimes. I dunno what to call him. Well, I'm so, I'm so excited to talk to the two of you and I loved. I love learning more about you. As I prepared for this interview, I wanted to start out, I understand that that president, you're originally [00:02:00] from Tennessee.

I wondered, and, and sister Meredith, maybe you can chime in on this as well, because you, you also grew up in the south, kind of the quote unquote mission filled. How did that influence the way both of you have approached your membership? Well, I felt it was a great blessing to grow up in Tennessee. I grew up in, I was born in Chattanooga, did grade school in, uh, Nashville, and then high school in Murfreesboro, and we moved back later on after we'd been married to Murfreesboro.

But, uh, Tennessee is not just the Bible belt, it is the buckle of the Bible belt, and there are good Christian. People there. I, I wanna be clear, we have the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ in the Church of Jesus Christ, of Latterday Saints. That being said, we don't have a corner on the market, on goodness, or even on Christianity.

And I, and I saw that growing up. You know, it's not uncommon to go into a restaurant. And Tennessee and see people bow their heads when their food is served to them. And it's not uncommon to hear people publicly express their love for and their belief in Christ. And it was, it was such a blessing for me to.

Grow up around Jesus believing people. And I think I learned early on that people that believe different than us are still good. And then I know your question was about Tennessee, but even more recently, my assignment before I came up to BYU Idaho was to be in the area presidency of the Middle East, Africa North area.

That area is, is the only international area in the church that was based out of Salt Lake. But, but Jennifer and I, we would take a couple trips a year over to the Middle East, [00:04:00] 95% of the people in that area. Are of the Muslim faith. And that was another opportunity that we had to have that concept reinforced, that people that believe different than us can still be really good.

In fact, in the Middle East, I would say that people that believe different than us, that look different than us and talk different than us are still children of God and people that we can learn a lot from. And I and I, I love your question, Morgan, because I do feel that that has really shaped. The way I try to lead is I interact with different people and different responsibilities I have in different geographies.

I would agree growing up and mostly in the south, my friends were from all different Christian backgrounds. They were Methodists, they were Catholic, they were Church of Christ Baptist, and they were really good friends. I'm really grateful for the people I grew up with and just in conjunction with, he said with what he said about being in the Middle East, I was so amazed and inspired by.

The people we met there, they were doing so much good. They were doing so much humanitarian work. They, I saw every couple we met were just loving, uh, marriages, husbands and wives who just adored their children. And I felt like we were amongst friends. We are, we are the same. And I was so inspired by that.

I loved our time there. I feel the same way about growing up in the South, so I appreciate you guys indulging me. I I wanted to touch on something in reference Sister Meredith, to your having grown up in, in a military family that lived in a few different places. You said this, you said that it taught you to learn as much as you can because you never know how long you're gonna have.

In any particular place. I think that that ability, especially when you know that you likely won't be somewhere very long, I think [00:06:00] that ability to be where your feet are can be so hard. So I wondered how do you think you were able to do that? How were you able to have that mentality? Well, first and foremost, I had parents that were very intentional.

Every time we made a move. We would get a, we would have a family discussion that first week before the first day of class at school, before we went to our, our first. Meetings, uh, our first sacrament meeting and our new ward. My parents were very intentional about teaching us to shake people's hands, introduce ourselves, and just really, and in fact, the, the phrase that comes to mind is something that Elder Gong taught during COVID to the missionaries.

When we were all in lockdown, he just encouraged all of us to bloom where we planted. And I feel like that's the concept that my parents were really intentional about teaching us. They were both raised in the Air Force as well, so they had lived that life and they knew that. To get, because we don't know how long we're going to be in any particular place.

We need to really maximize the time we have anywhere we go and our children have that experience. We moved to Hong Kong and we only, we thought we would be there three to five years. We ended up being there only one school year, about 10 months. And initially when we moved, there were a lot of, there was some crying and some sadness leaving cousins and.

Familiarities of home behind, but when we came to them after about seven, eight months and said. Guess what, we're moving back to Tennessee. Initially there were chairs, but within about five minutes each of them came into our room crying and saying, but what about my friends in Hong Kong? Will we ever get to come back?

And I think it was a really wonderful life lesson for them to understand that. That concept that we bloomer were planted. We don't know how long Heavenly father wants us in any particular place, but we're gonna make the most [00:08:00] of it and learn the most we can and contribute the best we can while we're there.

I love that approach. I think that as somebody that's lived in a couple of different places for short periods of time in the last few years, I have a lot to learn from that. Um, I feel like that is a weakness that I have and I would like to be better at it. I wanted to ask you two before we get too far into this conversation, how did the two of you meet?

Which version do you want? I want, I want the, uh, the most. Well, then she better tell the story. By the way, lemme let, lemme address the win really quick. We were, we, uh, we met and married, uh, married later, much, much later than my mother ever. I think my mother hope I would marry earlier. Hey, same. Is that right?

Yeah. Well we, we tell our missionaries and our kids that when it comes to marriage, it's better to be right than it is to be fast. And uh, and I certainly got it right though I was a bit older, so we both did. So we met on a blind date. Um, two of my roommates knew him and he had just moved back from New York and I was his first date back to Utah.

Uh, one of my roommates ran into him at a gas station. When they say the history swings on small hinges, I think that was one of those that. I don't know how else that would've happened, but we went out on a blind date and that first date was really fun. Can I tell that story? Sure. Okay. Just really quick, I was cleaning out my closet and I had this hideous outfit that I had worn on a prior date.

On that date, we had gone to Savers and picked out outfits for each other for $2 each, and then we went bowling in these outfits, so I was about ready to gift it back to di. Hideous is a little generous. I think it was what's worse than hideous? It was, it wasn't that bad. It was polyester bell bottom, fluorescent green, uh, bottoms, and then a striped top with [00:10:00] colors that should never go together.

I hope the person that originally donated this to di Yes. It's, it's the beginning of our family history, actually, that outfit. So, um, I asked my roommates if he had this trip, Meredith, if he had a sense of humor, and they said yes, why? And I explained what I, I wanted to show up at the door wearing this outfit and they said, oh, please do it.

So I did. And I was a little disappointed because he looked me straight in the eye, gave me. A nice firm handshake. Didn't look anywhere else, and I was so disappointed I wasn't getting the reaction that I had hoped. But I went upstairs and I, he was talking to my roommates and I said, I'm gonna run upstairs and grab something.

So of course I changed. I was not gonna go outta the house looking like that twice. And when I came back down. He said, wow, you look really nice. She'd set the Barlow. That was his nice way of saying thank you for changing. And he told me that about a half a dozen times that night. So we met on a blind date and dated on and off for um, about a year, and then got engaged and got married about a year and a half later.

Okay, present. Meredith, you were like probably relieved the entire rest of the night that you did not have a date wearing that outfit. If you saw his closet, it's all either blue or white. Super conservative. So this was a stretch. I'm wearing a little bit of green. You're wearing a green means, Hey, so can I say, you know, when the, the, the profit of our youth was President Benson?

He said on one occasion, talking to a group of recently returned missionaries. He said, when you find someone who makes you think your highest thoughts, aspire to your noblest deeds and makes you wish you were better than what you are. Then that's, uh, the relationship that you should cultivate. And it doesn't mean that, that it always ends in a marriage, but even though we met later, Jen does all of those things in just a really [00:12:00] sweet way.

And I knew from, I knew early on that she was a catch. And she's blessed my life ever since. Such a, such a high compliment, and I love that quote. As I was prepping for this, I loved reading a bit about your family, and I understand, and I may have to still this, I understand that you have a tradition of taking your kids to the temple at sunrise on the morning of their baptism.

I wondered if you could tell me a little bit about that and also just why righteous traditions have mattered in the Meredith household. I was just gonna say, when my parents joined the church, when I was a little girl, and we lived in South Carolina and the closest temple to us was Washington DC That was the only temple east of the Mississippi River, so that wasn't an option.

But my father would take, he started this with my two youngest brothers, that he would take them to a park in our town, it's called Swan Lake, and he would just watch the sunrise with them and talk about. The importance of the ordinance that they were about to participate in, but also about future ordinances.

And we were blessed that when we were having our, our children were that age, we were close to the Nashville Temple, which is about a 45 minute drive, and I'll let you take it from there. So we would wake the kids up early. It would still be dark outside. Because we didn't wanna get to the temple until the sun rose.

We'd, uh, wrap 'em in a blanket and then I'd take 'em, I'd put 'em in the, in the front seat of the car. We'd swing by the local McDonald's and get some pancakes. And then we would drive out to the temple and we would talk about how the, uh, the temple is a goal that we should have in our lives. But it starts reaching that goal starts with.

The ordinance of of baptism. And as we were driving along the road, we would talk about the lines on the road. We would talk about signs that were on the road. I would even veer off the [00:14:00] road just a little bit and uh, just so the car would hit the rumble strip and so they could hear that noise. And we would talk about how all of those things are in place.

To help us drive safely to get to our destination. And of course, in this case, the destination is the temple or in a higher holier way, even, uh, returning to be with Heavenly Father. And we would talk about the things that Heavenly Father has given to us along our journey, like the lines in the road, the signs and the rumble strips.

To help us arrive to him safely and we'd, uh, we'd get to the temple and then the sun would rise, and we would talk about how baptism is symbolic of, uh, of a new birth, of a new day. We would talk about how as the, the light comes over the horizon, that part of the gift of being baptized is receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, which can be a light to us in our life.

It's a light that often presents itself not in a big flash of light, but often in a, in a more subtle way, just like the sun coming up over the horizon. So it provided some great teaching opportunities, but. But most importantly, it was just a sweet little, as you referred to it, a righteous tradition that I do think are really important in families.

And so that's, that's one that we have. And Jen is so good about making sure that we have simple, righteous traditions that, that anchor us to eternal truths and remind us of things that are, that are most important. Well, I, I loved revisiting President Meredith, your general conference talk as I was, uh, preparing for this where you told a great story also about driving on roads.

So maybe we'll just continue the driving theme. You talked about learning to drive with your dad and him teaching you to look down the road instead of just [00:16:00] what's right in front of you. And you talked about being intentional in our discipleship, intentional about looking at the long term rather than just the short term.

And I, I couldn't help but think how applicable this is to young adults, especially university aged young adults. Um, and so I wondered how has that idea of looking down the road. Influence the way the two of you lead as president and first lady of BYU Idaho? Yeah, A couple thoughts. I, I think, you know, as we, uh, as we keep our eyes on where we wanna go, it'll be easier to get there.

And that's, that's a, that's an obvious point, but another blessing of. Of, you know, looking down the road. By the way, president, president Nelson, on multiple occasions has talked about the concept of beginning with the end in mind. In fact, his first message to college students as a newly ordained apostle, the title of his message was, begin With The End in Mind.

By the way, this was years before Seven Habits of Highly Effective People was published and made that a little adage, uh, comment in our lexicon. But, you know, having the end in mind for me anyway, often gives me the courage to do hard things. There was a, a, a story. Told years ago of Florence Chadwick, who is this excellent long distance open water swimmer, and she had set out to become the first woman to swim the Catalina Channel right off the coast of California.

And so she begins out on, you know, begins on this journey of what would be, you know, 15, 16 hours. And the water's just. Bone chilling, uh, frigid her, her mother and her trainer motor along beside her with a rifle to ward off sharks that were swimming around her. [00:18:00] Anyway, about 15 hours into her swim, she says, Hey, I'm done.

Her, her mother and her coach encouraged her to, to continue, and then after about another hour, she said, I, I, I, I just can't do it anymore. So they pulled her up into the boat and, uh, come to find out she was only a mile from the shore. The reporters af asked her after the swim. About her swim and why she had quit.

And she said, you know, I think if I could have seen the shore, 'cause you know that California coastline is just obscured with dense fog, she said, I think if I could have seen the shore, it would've given me, uh, the courage to continue. Well, she tried again, you know, a few months later. And this time she was successful and they asked what made the difference.

And she said, this time I swam with a vision of the shore constantly in my mind. And you know, if, we'll always be mindful of, of, of the end, sometimes the, the journey becomes more bearable. And then another, another story. 'cause there's, there's times that we're, you know. Swimming along through life, and there can be things that are tough.

Um, but if, if we remember what's in store for those that are faithful and then it gives us the strength to move on. So a couple years ago, Jen and I were at a, a state conference at an assignment in Draper, Utah. And we were getting acquainted with the state presidency. One of the counselors introduced himself and he confessed that he was just this rabid baseball fan.

And he said, I love the St. Louis Cardinals. And he said, I record every game that they, uh, that they play. He said, I don't watch it live. Once the game's over, I look at the score and if they lose, I delete the recording. And if they win, then I watch the game. So when I'm watching a Cardinal's game, and if [00:20:00] they give up a three run home run and the fourth inning, or commit a couple errors in the sixth inning, I don't fret because I know every game that I watch, they win.

And we know who wins. I mean, we're in a great battle of, of, uh, of life, but we know what the winning team is. We still have to choose which side we're gonna play on. And, and just having that end in mind, I think is, uh, beneficial. When we're doing tough things, when we're at crossroads of decisions in our lives and and so on.

So I think it's, you know, when President Nelson invites us to begin with the end in mind, you know, he talked about that in his message, think Celestial. And so I'll use that phrase, if we think celestial, then a lot of other things kind of fall into place for us. Those are such good examples. I love both of those stories so much.

Uh, funny enough, my dad is a diehard UNC fan and he has started doing that same thing. And my husband and I we're always like, do you think Frankie's watching live? Or should we text him? I don't know. 'cause he doesn't watch 'em live anymore. Just watch watching winning games. Yeah, it's nuts. Um, but I love that, I love that analogy that you drew and I think the reason that I wanted to ask you about Righteous Traditions is because we have two little girls and it's like, how, how do we instill in them a love for the gospel and we want to have some of those righteous traditions?

So I'm trying to, I'm, I'm, I'm selfishly using this conversation to be able to learn from you. I wanted to ask you, speaking of raising good kids, you both had to uproot teenagers and move them to Rexburg, including a senior in high school, which no one, I don't think anyone wants to move their senior year of high school.

But you said this sister Meredith, about their willingness. They had the best attitude. I think they've been through enough adventures with our family. They know that there's always something great ahead and as we cross. [00:22:00] The Idaho border on I 15, they just erupted in cheers, and I sat up front. They couldn't see the tears coming down my face, but I was just so grateful for their resilience and their ability to see that they can trust the Lord and trust his timing and even where he places them.

It kind of going back to what we talked about earlier, but I feel like that adaptability is such a rare trait. I wondered, obviously you all have lived all over the place, but it feels to me like being adaptable is something that begins in your home. So how have you two cultivated that in your home?

We're both a little teary eyed over here, just reliving that experience. Um. When I married my husband, when I married Trip Meredith, I knew that the Lord would always come first. And I was okay with that because I knew that if he put Heavenly Father in Jesus Christ first, that I would have my proper place and our children would have their proper place.

And I think our children have watched, I remember being seven months pregnant with our six son, our six child, and. A visit to Hong Kong and having three very distinct impressions on the flight home that we were to move to Hong Kong. We had. Our oldest was 10 at the time, so moving six children, 10 and under.

Our youngest ended, he was three months old when we ended up moving. That was crazy. I thought, who does this? We are seriously crazy, but we knew it was the right thing. We knew there were so many experiences that we had that the Lord made so clear to us that that's what he wanted us to do, and so we went with it.

We trusted him and. Though they were not initially, some of them were all in on that [00:24:00] experience, some of them were not. But by the time we left and we came back to Tennessee, I think all of them would've said, the ones that were old enough to respond would've said, I'm really glad that we did that. And then a few years later when we had an, he had an opportunity to move to Singapore with his job.

We went through a similar process. This time, we involved our children in that process and flew a, some of them out to Singapore to visit the school and to make sure it was a fit for those that would be in high school and involve them in the decision making. Well, in fact, our one son, our second oldest.

He, the school had asked each of our children to fill out a questionnaire to ask them on a scale of zero to 10 how they felt about moving. And he put a two, like meaning, like not, not excited at all. And when we, when we saw what his right, he said, what should I say? I said, you need to be honest. And so he was, and when we saw what his response was.

Our conversation that night was then we definitely need to do this, and we were feeling like we needed to, but he needs to learn again, that he can move and adjust and, and do something that feels really hard so that he knows when it's time for him to leave for college or on a mission that he, he knows that he can make those adjustments and he's gonna be grateful for those.

This was the same son that moved to Utah when he was called. We were called as mission leaders. We moved to Utah and it was his senior year of high school. And then COVID hit the, you know, the tail end of his senior year. It was just not at all what he was expecting to do his senior year, and then he spent his first year of college.

In a dorm, not going to class in person, no football games, no dances, no nothing, right and left on a mission and went to two missions. He was reassigned initially and then went [00:26:00] on to Chile. And if you were to ask him today, he would tell you. He was so grateful for those experiences. As hard as they were at the time, he learned to be resilient.

He learned to trust the Lord and. Now he's, he's thriving. In fact, he just left last week for an international internship, not knowing anybody when he got there and figuring it all out on his own. And I just thought, I can't believe this is the same child as 10 years ago. Like he has really. So I think.

We've tried to teach our children and model for them that we trust the Lord we trust where he places us and we look for all the good that he has in store for us. And when we do that, we find those things. And I don't know what you would add to that. No, I think that's, uh, I think that's well said. I think if I were to summarize that, put the Lord first, the second thing I would say is make the decision through the eyes of an 80-year-old.

As opposed to your current age. In other words, we had asked ourselves when we're 80 years old and look back, what decision would we wish we would've made? And then, uh, the third piece is then wherever you land, just bloom where you're planted because there's goodness everywhere. We've found it in Tennessee and Hong Kong and Singapore and Salt Lake City, and currently in Rexburg, Idaho.

Well, I, I admire that so much. And I have to tell you, when you were saying Sister Meredith, you know that your son had written the two on the, the survey. I thought a lot of parents, probably, myself included, would've looked at that and been like, we can't go. You know, but your, your reaction was the complete opposite.

And I think there's a lot to learn about that. I I wanted to ask you, speaking of Singapore and Hong Kong, uh, president Meredith's career has taken you both all around the world. And I have to imagine that this, this assignment, uh, to be president and first lady of BYU Idaho has to be a bit of an adjustment [00:28:00] from the.

Boardrooms, president Meredith, that you were in to even just culturally, um, Rexburg. And so talk to me about that. I imagine the weight of the, the ladder, the being president of BYU Idaho is probably just as heavy, but talk to me about kind of the differences there. Well, I, I, I, I loved my career, but we approached, and when I say we, because they were always we decisions, we approached my.

Career through the lens of when we had decisions, we, when we had career decisions to make, we made life decisions, not career decisions. So we were never trying to optimize my career. We were trying to optimize our life and our life experience and career was a big part of it, but it wasn't the, the, it wasn't the only part of it.

And I, and I worked for, uh, an organization. That had the intent to, uh, do well so they could do good. And, and that's, and I try to adopt that in my approach to my career and providing for my family that, you know, I worked hard, loved what I did, um, but. I try to do well, so that at some point I could do good with what we've been blessed with.

And, and, you know, now we have the opportunity to be, uh, here at BYU Idaho. We never had aspirations to live in Rexburg or even to work in higher education, but this has been the privilege of our lives. This is. An unbelievable place. Elder Bednar has a great love for this place. He calls it a special set apart and sacred place, and we found that to be true.

To be honest, when you know, we had heard President Irene reflect on his times at Rick's College and Elder Bednar refer to his times here, and we're good friends with Clark and Christine Gilbert. Were our predecessors up here and they all raved about Rexburg, and we thought that it was just a little bit of righteous hyperbole.

But this is an amazing place. I mean, it has a [00:30:00] special mission to develop disciples of Jesus Christ who go on to be leaders in their homes, the church and their communities. The education here is unbelievable. You know, it's just the university, it's just 25 years old. I mean, it is a new young. Four year institution.

But the quality of teaching and the opportunities that it provides, its graduates is just amazing. It is a fun, vibrant campus. And, uh, all those things are provided to students at a very, very affordable cost. And, and, uh, you know, before we came up here, several of our predecessors were in a loving but direct way.

Gave us instructions to not mess it up. And so that has been no pressure. That has been our objective and, and, uh, but we've, we've just come to love this place. I just wanna add, I have never seen him more. Fulfilled in any church, calling in any job, anything. It has just been so enjoyable for me to see it happened on our mission as well, to see him engaged with such a holy purpose and helping these young adults.

Strive to become disciples of Jesus Christ and help others, bring others to the Savior was so rewarding. And that has just continued here at BYU Idaho. And we feel like we live in a community where. We have a, the, the faculty, the, the, the staff here. Everyone is so consecrated. I've just never, in all the places I've lived growing up and all the places we've lived with our family, I've never found a community quite like Rexburg, Idaho.

It really genuinely feels like a little piece of heaven on earth. Even the teenagers are so welcoming and kind. We had, I've told the story several times, but we had only been in our. In Rexburg about two [00:32:00] or three days, and I had a knock on the front door at 10 30 at night. There were eight 17 year olds.

Asking if Ellie, who was moving into her senior year, if she could come out and roast marshmallows with them next door. And I just thought, where are we and who does this? And I'm so grateful, just to grateful. To be clear, there were, there were eight teenage boys asking our teenage boys and two, two girls.

It was charity with perhaps other motives, but it was charity with bitches. But it's just been such a privilege, like he said, to be working with this rising generation and to be with the entire community that are su supporting that effort. Amazing. Well, I will be honest and say I, I've always felt like Rexburg is probably a tougher sell simply because of the weather.

Um, but I loved, as I was listening to you all on the church news podcast, you, you told us. Story about being in an alumni event and, and asking a man, tell me your story. And he said, well, I graduated from BYU Idaho with the help of a professor. I got a job on Wall Street. I worked on Wall Street for a few years, then went to Harvard Business School.

You said, how have you done all of that with A BYU Idaho education? And he said, I couldn't have done it without A BYU Idaho education. And I think that that is profound. I think talking about consecration, wanting to be in a place with other latter day saints, I think sometimes requires sacrifice. And so for those that may be cold in the winter, I, I do think that there's a lot of value in that.

President, you said that at the beginning of your time. At BYU Idaho, you completed 100 days of listening before making any decisions. I think that this being feeling that they are being heard is particularly important to young adults [00:34:00] today. Why would you say that listening is so important before speaking or acting?

Well, any doctor will tell you you have to diagnose before you prescribe. And, uh, taking time to listen and to understand is critical. If at some point you in turn want to be understood, and so when I started at B OE Idaho, I had the advantage of knowing nothing. So it was easy for me to ask questions because people didn't expect for me to know anything.

The big challenge of my leadership will be two years from now, once I've been here for a while, am I still the listener then than I was in the first a hundred days? But we really believe here in counseling with our councils, and when you work with such great people, then it's obvious that you should take time to listen to 'em.

But your question was making the bridge from that to working with working with young people. This rising generation. What did, what did President Nelson say in this? Oh, he said the rising generation is rising up, rising in this most recent conference. And I tell you, they, they're amazing. I mean, their seminary and institute attendance is up.

The number of, um, missionaries is up, the number of baptisms. By those missionaries is up. The number of, uh, young people working in the temple is up. The number of young people attending one of the church schools is up. I mean, this is, this is an unprecedented generation that has much to add. And we will be, um, we will be much better as a church if we will listen to them and, uh, they will be better off if they feel that we as leaders really strive to understand them.

Well said Sister Meredith on the Church News podcast you quoted from a section in for the Strength of Youth that says this. Heavenly Father wants his sons and daughters to always [00:36:00] be learning. You have both temporal and spiritual reasons to. Seek and love learning. Education is not just about earning money.

It is part of your eternal goal to become more like heavenly Father. You emphasized in quoting that that parents should teach their children to always seek learning, and I, I feel blessed because my mom was really big on that. She talked about. Having a thirst for knowledge and wanting to have to always be learning, even if it wasn't for a test or, or, uh, some kind of formal academic, uh, situation.

So I wondered how have you done that in your home? How have you tried to, to teach your kids to always be learning? Well, I feel like just by necessity through moves, and he mentioned this, a little opportunities to. Our children have had opportunities to attend school with children who believe differently.

They speak differently. They come from different cultures, they come from different areas of the world. And that in and of itself has been an education and it's been very eye-opening. And to remember that not everything you read in the news is true about a particular part of the world or people. And because they have friends from those areas.

That has been an education I tried to be really intentional about. I, I feel that it's super important that spiritual education is the foundation for everything. So we try to be intentional about family scripture, study, family prayer. Home evenings and as we've been lived closer to temples, to, to be in the temple more frequently.

And I feel like that that priority is helpful in their secular education as well. So I don't know. What are other things that you feel like we've done is to, to facilitate [00:38:00] secular? No, I, I think those are the things, but we, we've really chosen to use family home evening as the, as kind of the learning forum or teaching forum.

Yeah. We, we, we have the craziest. Home evening lessons. No. Listen, we, we, we, we study the scriptures. We do come follow me. We study the words of prophets, but we have, our kids will tell you we have family home evenings on compound interest and artificial intelligence and study skills and leadership lessons learned from mistakes that I've made in my career.

And, and so those Monday nights are a sacred time for us, even etiquette. How do you introduce yourself and how, just little things like that, right? That that are life. Just life lessons, life learning. Not necessarily all book learning, but yeah. So I don't, I don't know that we've created new forums to emphasize education, but we have used existing, especially family home evening.

Mm-hmm. To take opportunities to teach, not just about spiritual things, but about secular things as well. It sounds like I need to come to a Meredith Family, family Home evening, but I'm glad you said that because I feel like Family Home evening doesn't get talked about as much anymore, and it's like, is it, it's still a thing, you know?

Yeah. It's so I think that's, I think that's awesome. I wanted to ask you, president, you've received your MBA from Booth and. I, my husband just received his MBA as well, and I will be honest, sometimes it's hard because it's like you pay a lot of money and you go and, and now people are saying for a lot of jobs you don't even need an MBA.

And you said this, you're gonna be hard pressed to find a bigger advocate of higher education than most. I think education is the key to opportunity. I think the quest, the thirst for knowledge, is the key to opportunity. So I wanted to ask you, why would you say in a world where some people are undermining any [00:40:00] kind of higher education, is it worth the sacrifices involved?

Well, the phrase education is, uh, is the key to opportunity. That's actually not my phrase. That is president, uh, Gordon b Hinkley. President Nelson has said that getting an education and gaining knowledge are a religious responsibility. That's pretty strong language to refer to it as a religious responsibility, but, um, at the risk of splitting hairs, I do wanna point out that the emphasis is on education and learning and less on the degree.

Now, that being said. I do think there is a tremendous value in the type of education that leads to degrees. In fact, you know, I, I think most experts ag, ag, agree that a four year education at a minimum is a million dollar proposition over the course of one's lifetime. If you look at the difference of earnings between those who have a four year education and those that don't.

It's pretty dramatic, but, but perhaps more important than that is those that have four year education, four year degrees are shown to be more active in their communities, more active in civic uh, opportunities. They tend to have better health outcomes, better mental outcomes. They have opportunities to interact with people in healthy, constructive ways.

I think the content that is taught in the classroom is important, but it's probably not the most valuable thing that you take away from your education experience, particularly in the world in which we live. When information is a commodity, like facts and data are at, you know, everyone carries those around in their pocket.

Now, but being able to work with people, be even being able to think critically, to have constructive disagreements in a, in a [00:42:00] peacemaking way. Those are things that you can pick up in, uh, in education and, you know, and when it comes to, when it comes to the degree seeking type of education, I would emphasize that.

Education is important for everybody, but the type of education really needs to be guided by the spirit. And for some people, a trade school might be the best opportunity. Others, a community college or an associate's degree and others a four year degree, a master's and uh, a PhD will be the right, uh, will be the right path for them.

But regardless of the type of education we receive. There are always opportunities to involve the Lord in our learning, and if you go to A BYU Idaho or A BYU or A BYU Hawaii or Enzyme College or participate in BYU pathway. Involving the Lord in your learning is part of the curriculum. But if you go to a state school or another private school, you still have opportunities to participate in institute and, uh, those in high school can participate in seminary.

So, so to summarize a very long answer to your question. Getting education knowledge or religious responsibility, the type of degree that you get, you really need to be guided by the spirit in that. And regardless of what type of learning you involve, uh, what type of learning you seek, you can always involve the Lord, the Lord in that learning process.

Can I just add something to that? President Nelson has encouraged gaining knowledge and getting an education so that someday we can be of service to someone else. So. I think that's an important element. Our 15-year-old son the other day with had written on a whiteboard. I came downstairs and I saw this written on the whiteboard.

He is for years has been talking about, he's just a little stressed about, what am I gonna do someday? Had written on a whiteboard, a few things to consider, and [00:44:00] kind of a Venn diagram type visual, which was what do I get? What can I get paid for? What am I good at and what will. What do I enjoy? What do I enjoy doing?

But then he had a, a fourth element that I thought was really helpful. He said, what does the world need? Where can I contribute? And I just, I love his heart and I love that he is already thinking about where is, where is a need and what can I do to help fill that need? It's, and it's exactly what President Nelson is teaching.

I think that's important to remember, and we see that with our students that are so anxious to contribute in a meaningful way in the world and our world. The world needs Christ-centered disciples of Jesus Christ that will are willing to go out and serve. I love that. I, it reminds me of Mr. Rogers, how he talked about needing helpers.

Yeah. And I think having that mindset of, I, I want to be a helper, I think is, is. So rare and also so valuable. You've said that there are three things that you feel are important in your presidency, and one of those things is modeling That living the gospel is joyful. And I loved the example that you gave president of, was it you that somebody said, if you're up on the stand, you need to look like you're happy?

Yeah. No, it was, it was Jennifer. I Okay, that's what I thought, but I didn't wanna miss No, no. I had a rough day as a bishop and I came off the stand and Jen met me at the. Bottom of the stairs and said, are you happy? And I said, yes. And she said, well, when you're on the stand, remind your face. I said it a lot nicer than that.

He makes me out to be so mean. No, I think that's so, it's so true. How many of us just, you know, look miserable while [00:46:00] supposedly living something that makes us joyful. And I think that that's important, especially as critics of our faith. Are becoming more and more loud. I think being, being loud ourselves, even if it's just through the way that we carry ourselves, that it is joyful and that it does bring us joy, I think is really, really important.

And so I, I wanted to ask before we get to our last question. How has the gospel of Jesus Christ brought you both joy? I am so grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm grateful that I, that my family found the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, that I've been baptized, and that I've been able to make covenants and I can repent daily, and I can, when I make mistakes, I can, I can keep moving forward with the Savior's help.

And I just, I, I honestly cannot imagine going through life. Without the knowledge and without the resources and the covenants that Heavenly Fathers blessed us with, I am so, so, so grateful for that. And. Hopefully we can continue to share that with more people so that they have those resources as well.

President, I'm gonna pause really quick before we move on. I've realized I meant to ask you this earlier, um, sister Meredith, how did your family come in contact with the church? Yes. My parents were, or my, uh, it was a coworker of my father who was a member of the church. He was a return missionary. My parents have been looking for a church, been raised in.

Two different Christian denominations and I was about to, they had christened me in one and my two brothers in another, and were just searching for answers. They had met with priests. They had met with ministers, trying to find the, the question that my dad had was, why is it that no one can tell me that I can be with my wife and my children forever?[00:48:00]

And so he would have these discussions with his coworker. And one day, Ken Curtis, before we left, we were living in England and he invited my parents to a discussion and a dinner, uh, with the missionaries. And the missionaries taught the plan of salvation and. I should say my mother knew, she said, this is the answer we've been looking for.

And my father was an attorney, and so he felt like he needed to read everything and be absolutely certain, but that's how they, they found the church, that's how they found the gospel through members that were willing to open their mouths and. There were so many families that just embraced our family. We moved to South Carolina and we were baptized, and then a year later, half the word traveled with our little family up to Washington DC to be sealed there.

And I still remember that. In fact, I was just helping my parents this last week, scan photos at the family search library in Lehigh, and I came across that little photo of our family. And I'm so grateful. I have four siblings that I wouldn't have today had that my parents not joined the church. And we all serve missions and we've just continued to be blessed so richly by members that were willing to open their mouth and share the gospel with our family.

Beautiful. Thank you. Okay, president, back to you on how has the gospel of Jesus Christ brought you joy? Um, I think my joy comes from hope. Optimism, optimism that comes to the atonement of Christ, hope and optimism in the midst of my immense personal inadequacies and hope and optimism and the perilous times that we live in, I just know that all will be well, that everything that seems confusing or unfair, uh, and this life will be made known and right in the next life.

And that gives me, uh, not only joy, but peace as well. [00:50:00] Beautiful. Okay. My last question for both of you, and I just wanna tell you, it has been a joy to learn from you and also you both have such a light about you, so thank you for sharing that with me. My last question for you is, what does it mean to you to be all in the gospel of Jesus Christ?

I've thinking about this question, and when I was in the temple a few weeks ago, it just really. Became very clear that for me, being a covenant keeper and being intentional in keeping and living my covenants and helping others do the same as what it means to be all in, regardless of what's going on.

Thank you President. That to be all in to me means that one, we believe in him. Uh, two, we believe what he says. What I mean by that when he says he is our savior and our redeemer, that his atonement is infinite. That um, though our sins be as scarlet, they can become white as snow. Um, that we need to believe him.

And then lastly, uh, it means to strive to do the small and the simple things. We'll invite him into our lives on a daily basis. I, uh, I have an undeniable witness that Jesus is indeed our savior and our redeemer, that he is the author and finisher of our faith, that he is the great repair of the breach, the great compensator and my favorite.

He is the high priest of good things to come. Thank you both so much. It's been, it's been such a delight to talk with you, so thank you. Thank you, Morgan.

We are so grateful to Elder and Sister Meredith for [00:52:00] joining us on today's episode. We're grateful as always to Derrick Campbell of Mix at six Studios for his. With this and every other episode of this podcast, and we're grateful to you for listening. We'll look forward to spending more time with you next week.