BYU President Emphasizes Importance of Education, Faith to Young People in Asia North Area

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Originating from the Ibaraki, Japan, meetinghouse, on May 12, 2024, Brigham Young University President C. Shane Reese spoke to the youth and young adults of the Asia North Area of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints of the importance of obtaining an education.

“Being an educated person can change so much about your present, and perhaps more importantly, your future circumstances,” President Reese said. “Unseen and less tangible benefits to obtaining an education are deepened moral and spiritual character, ability to build and lift others and increased capacity to serve in the Church.”

President Reese shared what Church President Russell M. Nelson had to say about education to young adults: “In the Church obtaining an education and getting knowledge are a religious responsibility, we educate our minds so that one day we can render service of worth to somebody else” (“Focus on Values,” New Era, Feb. 2013, 4.).”

“This is the point when you should all wake up!” he continued. “The Lord’s mouthpiece, the Prophet of the living God has said that education and seeking knowledge are a religious responsibility!”

He said that we should “pursue an education with the faith that the Lord will provide us opportunities and use us as instruments in His hands to accomplish his work.”

“Have faith that God knows your potential. Involve the Lord in your education by adding daily scripture study and daily prayer.”

President Reese then spoke about the power of attending institute for students and working young adults alike, quoting President Nelson’s promises for those who choose to attend:

“‘Attending institute will help you live the Gospel, and to feel more joy right now. If you want to know the truth about who you really are, attend institute. If you want to know the purpose of life, attend institute. If you want to stay on the covenant path, attend institute. If you want to learn how to let God prevail in your life, attend institute. If you want to be a peacemaker, attend institute (“Personal Invitation to Attend Institute”).

President Reese addressed the way belonging within the Church Educational System can help foster belonging and combat loneliness. “The entire world and particularly the rising generation, is facing one of the most threatening epidemic that we have ever seen,” he said. “Now you might think that I’m talking about an epidemic caused by a virus that affects your respiratory system. But no, tonight I’m talking to you about a virus that can be much more serious. It is the epidemic of loneliness.

“We are finding more and more evidence that loneliness is sharply increasing and that some human habits are reinforcing this epidemic of loneliness. While there are many causes of this epidemic, some obvious contributors are social media, which replaces factual truth and blurred and inaccurate claims. Video games that replace things as they really are with alternate realities. Artificial intelligence that attempts to mimic human thinking and feeling. These inventions have made our epidemic of loneliness worse and not better. The recent COVID-19 pandemic also contributed to the epidemic of loneliness but was not the root cause.

“We humans need connection with one another, we need a place to belong. We need to feel the peace and

joy and safety that comes from the fellowship of saints. One of the sweetest places for that joy to be felt is in congregating with others who can provide you with love and strength and encouragement. And I want you to know that there is such a place for each of you in the Church and in the Church education system.

“We have BYU in Utah ... and it is remarkable that there is an institution of higher education established for the Saints all within the sound of my voice in BYU–Hawaii. You have a place of belonging in the Church education system.”

As a presiding authority, Elder Takashi Wada, General Authority Seventy and President of the Asia North Area, spoke to those gathered across the area about how he learned about Jesus Christ and then later about The Church of Jesus Christ as a young man.

While in his junior high school English class, the teacher handed out Bibles that were Japanese on one page and English on the opposite page and told them to use it to learn English. At the beginning of the book there was a list of questions about the soul, and the one that attracted him was answered with Matthew 11:28-30: “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give ye rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

“I felt someone speaking to me very kindly and with love,” Elder Wada said. “I kept reading and I found the words of Jesus to be so enticing and loving and inspirational. I learned who I was, I learned I came from a loving Heavenly Father, we are all sons and daughters of God, we are all brothers and sisters. You are my brothers and sisters!”