Brother David LeRoy Beck, currently serving as the Young Men general president for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is the commencement speaker for graduation in August.
Beck has spent the past three years teaching the young men of the Church about their role as priesthood leaders and fathers. Often, Beck refers to his own experiences with his callings and family as examples of how young men should behave.
Although he serves in a general presidency position for the Church, in an interview with the Mormon Channel, Beck said the most important calling in life for men is to be a husband and father.
“We magnify our calling when we minister in our home,” Beck said. “That is the first order of magnifying our calling.”
Beck married Robyn Ericksen in the Salt Lake Temple September 1976. He and his wife presided over the Brazil Rio de Janiero North Mission. They are the parents of four children and five grandchildren.
In his interview, Beck said it was important to consciously avoid temptations at all costs.
“If we start losing the discipline of the religious observances in our lives, then we open ourselves up to the rationalization that would allow us to get into situations or behaviors that would cause us to not cleave to our spouse and to God,” he said.
He also addressed unavoidable circumstances and how one should react to them.
“Those are conscious decisions that need to be made beforehand,” Beck said. “We need to prepare ourselves. Take something like pornography … you’ve got to think beforehand how you are going to avoid this.”
As part of his calling, Beck has traveled and met many youth. In an address to them, he urged the young men of the Church to prepare for their role as fathers by completing their Duty to God, a program implemented specifically for young men. He said if they would do so, it would strengthen their home and family.
Beck served as a missionary in the Brazil North Mission, which has subsequently been named the Sao Paulo North Mission. He was familiar with the Brazilian culture from his experience living there when he was ten years old as his father served as the mission president of the Brazilian Mission in 1963.
Beck graduated from the University of Utah with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and a master’s degree in engineering education.
He will be speaking at BYU in the Marriott Center at 4 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 9. The ceremony typically lasts two hours and guests are encouraged to arrive in their seats by 3:15 p.m.
