Elder Dallin H. and Sister Kristen Oaks spoke to at a CES Devotional on Sunday about eternal truths of the gospel. Sister Oaks spoke about the challenges relating to marital status, while Elder Oaks spoke on absolute truths relating to tolerance.
Sister Oaks counseled single members to worry less about getting married and more about being disciples of Christ.
“Life is a challenge, but it will always be a challenge — single or married,” she said.
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“Delight in the life you have,” she said.
Heather Miller, a senior from Poway, Calif., who is double majoring in recreation management and youth leadership and German said it is easy to feel the pressure to get married, especially at BYU.
“I think it can be pretty easy to become bitter when it feels like eveyone around you is getting married,” she said. “It’s easy to think, ‘Why am I not married?,’ or ‘I need to get married right now.’ It was really cool how Sister Oaks said if you can’t handle the challenges when you’re single, there’s no way you can handle the challenges when youre married. Instead, we need to focus on being the best you can be.”
Miller said the message she felt sums up Sister Oaks’ message was to make the most of the stage of life you are in.
“No matter what, life is going to be hard,” she said. “Just make the most of what you have and choose to be happy. No matter if you’re married or single, just choose to have a positive attitude.”
To the single men, Sister Oaks said the world teaches that education and work come before marriage and family.
“The Lord teaches otherwise,” she said.
Caleb Flint, a sophomore from Bayfield, Colo., studying business management, said Sister Oaks’ message was a good reminder.
“It’s a good reinforcement to what we’ve always been taught — to always place family and God above career and finances,” he said.
Sister Oaks ended her talk by reminding students that the Lord is aware of all his children.
“Draw near unto the Lord and in his own time and in his own way, he will draw near unto you,” she said.
Elder Oaks spoke about truth versus tolerance.
“We believe in absolute truth, including the existance of God and the right and wrong established by his commandments,” he said.
Elder Oaks said that tolerance and mutual respect toward others is something all members should do. Although we are required to be tolerant of others, this does not mean that we condone unrighteous actions.
“We do not abandon the truth and our covenants,” he said. “We are not required to respect and tolerate wrong behavior.”
“I felt like his take-home message was to strike the right balance between standing up for the truth but also being tolerant of other people,” Flint said.
Elder Oaks said that members of the Church have a responsibility to stand up for what they believe, but do so in a kind way.
“One of the things I liked the most was we need to have kindess in communication but firmness in the truth,” Flint said. “Obviously we alwasy have to stand up for the truth and not back down from it but at the same time the way we communicate is very important.”
