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Elder Ronald A. Rasband of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles speaks during BYU's annual University Conference held in the Marriott Center in Provo, Utah, on Tuesday, August 26, 2024. Photo courtesy of BYU Photo.All rights reserved.This story appears here courtesy of TheChurchNews.com. It is not for use by other media.
By Rachel Sterzer Gibson, Church News
How will Brigham Young University become the “Christ-centered, prophetically directed school of prophecy” it is destined to become? “Look to our Prophet,” Elder Ronald A. Rasband of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles declared to roughly 3,000 BYU faculty and staff.
Speaking in the Marriott Center on Monday, August 26, for BYU’s annual University Conference, Elder Rasband testified that President Russell M. Nelson is the Lord’s Prophet on the earth and encouraged university leadership to follow President Nelson’s prophetic counsel. “Let me say this strongly: The prophetic governance of BYU is its comparative advantage in the whole world,” Elder Rasband said.
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Elder Ronald A. Rasband and BYU President C. Shane Reese address BYU employees during the annual University Conference held in the Marriott Center on Tuesday, August 26, 2024. Photo courtesy of BYU Photo.All rights reserved.During the University Conference, held just a week before BYU’s fall semester begins, Elder Rasband also issued a three-fold invitation to the campus community. Noting President Nelson’s upcoming 100th birthday, Elder Rasband invited listeners to honor that milestone by asking themselves: First, “How can we amplify the teachings of President Nelson, particularly those teachings he has shared with young adults?”
Second, Elder Rasband invited listeners to consider, “How we can better recognize and support the prophetic direction President Nelson is providing this university and its leadership?”
And third, Elder Rasband invited BYU faculty and students to give President Nelson a gift. On June 1, President Nelson wrote on his social media platforms, “At age 99, I have no need of physical gifts. But one spiritual offering that would brighten my life is for each of us to reach out to ‘the one’ in our lives who may be feeling lost or alone.”
Said Elder Rasband, “Let’s give President Nelson that gift.”
Rasband-BYU-University-Conference
Elder Ronald A. Rasband of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles speaks during BYU's annual University Conference held in the Marriott Center in Provo, Utah, on Tuesday, August 26, 2024. Photo courtesy of BYU Photo.All rights reserved.A Prophetically Directed University
Citing BYU’s mission statement, Elder Rasband, who is the vice chair of the executive committee of the BYU board of trustees, noted that “everything done at BYU should help students become covenant disciples of Jesus Christ.”
Thus the spiritual foundation of BYU should be built upon the Savior, he continued. “As the senior Apostle, President Russell M. Nelson represents the Savior as the head of Christ’s Church on the earth. Access to prophetic guidance is at the very design of this university.”
Elder Rasband noted that BYU is founded, supported and guided by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and its board of trustees is led by the First Presidency — with the Prophet, President Nelson, serving as chairman.
“Our prophetic governance is more than a boundary constraint that lists things we can and cannot do at Brigham Young University,” Elder Rasband explained. “In fact, when properly understood, our prophetic governance is a strategic asset that should allow us to do things unique in all of higher education.”
Rasband-BYU-University-Conference
Elder Ronald A. Rasband and BYU President C. Shane Reese address BYU employees at annual University Conference held in the Marriott Center in Provo, Utah, on August 26, 2024. Photo courtesy of BYU Photo.All rights reserved.Prophetic Teaching to Young Adults
Since becoming the President of the Church in 2018, President Nelson has taught about covenants, including the call to make temple covenants one’s spiritual foundation. In addition, he has taught about the meaning of covenantal love through the Hebrew word “hesed” and invited individuals to “think celestial.” President Nelson has also taught Latter-day Saints to “let God prevail,” seek revelation, and be peacemakers, Elder Rasband said.
Specifically to young adults, President Nelson taught during a BYU devotional about the dual nature of the love and laws of God. In a worldwide devotional in 2022, the Prophet also taught Latter-day Saint young adults the truth about their identity as a child of God, child of the covenant and disciple of Jesus Christ.
“The prophetic instruction President Nelson has provided to young adults should invite us to amplify those messages in our own instruction and counseling with students,” he said.
Elder Rasband then explained that a tower enabled the watchman of a kingdom to see further out on the horizon and to warn of oncoming dangers to the people. “[President Nelson] is our watchman on the tower, and that role provides us unique understanding as we in turn minister to and support our students.”
In conclusion, he testified: “Brothers and sisters, I witness to you that President Russell M. Nelson is the Prophet of God. He represents the Savior whose Church this is, even The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. President Nelson is a prophet, seer and revelator and is our watchman on the tower in these tumultuous times.”
BYU faculty and administrators can look to the Prophet’s teachings in confidence as they strengthen the young adults they work with at the university, he assured.
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Elder Ronald A. Rasband of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles blows a kiss to the audience after offering the keynote address during BYU's annual University Conference in the Marriott Center on Monday, August 26, 2024. To his right are his wife, Melanie, and Church commissioner of education Elder Clark G. Gilbert and his wife, Christine. Also pictured are BYU President C. Shane Reese and his wife, Wendy. Photo courtesy of BYU Photo.All rights reserved.7 Areas of Emphasis
Also attending the 2024 University Conference — during which awards and recognitions were given to several BYU faculty and staff members — were Sister Melanie Rasband; Elder Clark G. Gilbert, a General Authority Seventy and commissioner of Church education; and BYU President C. Shane Reese.
In his remarks, President Reese noted that as the university nears its sesquicentennial — the second half of its second century — “our campus is charged with becoming ‘the Christ-centered, prophetically directed university of prophecy.’”
He then outlined seven areas of importance:
- Strengthening the student experience
- Retaining a focus on undergraduate teaching
- Exemplifying BYU’s “double heritage”
- Cultivating the courage to be different
- Building a covenant community
- Investing in mission-inspired scholarship
- Focusing on mission-aligned hiring
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