By Natalie Clark
Students should work on developing testimonies as strong as a New Zealand kauri tree and share this testimony and experience with the world, said Vernon Heperi, in Tuesday?s Devotional.
?It is clear that a constant effort and dedication over an extended period of time is required to graduate from this institution,? said Heperi, BYU dean of students and a native of New Zealand. ?It is also clear that BYU has a personal interest in the development and graduation of good leaders who have strong testimonies and who will make meaningful contributions in the church, in their homes and in their local communities.?
Heperi told of Elder Matthew Cowley, who served a mission in New Zealand and later become the mission president there before being called as an apostle in 1945.
?I mention Elder Cowley because he was much loved by the Maori people of New Zealand,? Heperi said. ?They loved him because of his testimony and the tremendous spiritual power that his testimony gave them.?
The Maori people often compared Elder Cowley to the kauri tree. This tree takes hundreds of years to grow to maturity. The Maori people consider the auri tree to be wise and sacred because of the things it is able to observe while growing, Heperi said.
? knew that Elder Cowley had an unshakable testimony and they believed him, especially when he proclaimed as witness of Jesus Christ, the living prophets and the Book of Mormon,? Heperi said.
As students work on academic efforts, they should also work on their spiritual development, Heperi said.
?Your spiritual development, particularly the development of a firm kauri-like testimony will be a great value to you in perilous times,? Heperi said.
Heperi shared Elder Bruce R. McConkie?s three great truths of a valid testimony: Jesus Christ is the son of God and the Savior of the world, Joseph Smith is a prophet of God through whom the gospel was restored in this dispensation and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the only true and living church upon the face of the whole earth.
?What a wonderful blessing a testimony can be,? Heperi said. ?Personal security and happiness is dependant upon the strength of our testimony. Our view of troubling world events will then be tempered by the quiet assurance that comes from actually knowing that God is in charge of the program.?