Elder Ronald A. Rasband from the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles addressed the BYU student body at the devotional on Sept. 23.
Rasband opened his devotional by condemning the assassination that happened on the UVU campus two weeks ago and sending love to those affected.
Rasband encouraged students to “commit your heart, hand, mind and strength” to be “the light that reflects the love of Jesus Christ.”
Rasband continued with a story about when he dedicated the Bangkok, Thailand temple, and received revelation to include several prophetic messages in the prayer regarding celestial thinking, letting God prevail and the call to be peacemakers.
Rasband encouraged students to “follow the words of the prophet.”
Rasband recognized and celebrated the 30th anniversary of the release of "The Family: A Proclamation to the World."
“The proclamation helps us, as disciples of Jesus Christ, to recognize that our lives, our daily choices, distinguish us from the ways and advocacy of the world around us," he said.
Rasband described the proclamation as a “revelatory voice” that, through the Atonement, can “succor us, lift us and draw us closer to Him and to our Father in Heaven.”
After discussing the significance of the proclamation as a whole, Rasband focused on specific words that he found special: family, creator, eternal destiny, children and happiness.
Rasband talked about each of these words as a “strength, power and blessing” in our lives.
1. Family
Regarding the family, Rasband said “we stand together, brothers and sisters in the hard times as well as the good ones, because that is what families do.”
He encouraged students to put Christ at the center of their family, giving ideas to read scriptures and pray together. He warned students not to “let building a career take the place of building a family.”
He mentioned the uncertainty with mortality and family, but reminded listeners that “you have the agency to choose your path forward. Let it be the covenant path.”
2. Creator
Despite busy schedules and exams, Rasband reminded students that “following and becoming Christ-like is the real test of this life.”
3. Eternal destiny
Rasband connected that to the next phrase, “eternal destiny,” mentioning that our lives continue after death.
4. Children
After talking about the importance of following God’s plan, Rasband continued with the word “children.”
“He loves us. Every one of us — no exceptions. He knows us,” Rasband said.
He shared a story about receiving his unexpected placement in the Eastern States mission. He opened up about how that experience confirmed to him that God knew what He was doing.
“We are the children of a Father in Heaven who has a place in His plan just for us,” he said.
5. Happiness
The last word Rasband discussed was “happiness.”
“The answer to finding happiness is always Jesus Christ,” he said.
He noted that the family proclamation is the Lord’s plan, and promised that it will continually inspire us, “if we are faithful to its words.”
Rasband closed with an apostolic blessing.
“I bless you in these difficult and tumultuous times to feel encircled in the loving arms of the Savior. May you draw upon His Atonement to soothe and heal your soul. May you feel He is there for you now, more than ever."