A Time for Planting

A Time for Planting

W. Steve Albrecht

Brigham Young University–Idaho Devotional

April 5, 2005

Good afternoon. I am very pleased and excited to be here today. This school is a major part of my life. Years ago, my wife, LeAnn, then a new convert to the church from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, came to what was Ricks College to attend school. She had only been a member of the church for a few months and it was at this school that she formed her first knowledge and testimony of the Gospel. She can still recall those professors who made indelible impressions on her. While she was a student, she served as Vice President of Activities and was involved in the program bureau as a baton twirler. Now, LeAnn and I are the parents of 5 boys and 1 girl. While our daughter is leaving in a month for a mission to Switzerland, each of our five sons has already served and is now married. And guess what. All five of their wives are graduates from this school. So, even though I went to BYU-Provo as an undergraduate, every time we get together as a family, all the girls in our family talk about their fond memories in Rexburg. And, to top that off, our son was a quarterback on what was the Ricks College Football team about 10 years ago. You see, our family just can’t get enough of this outstanding school.

 As was noted in my introduction, I have now been teaching for over 30 years at three major universities. During that period, there have been several hundred instances where young men and women have come to me seeking advice about careers, job opportunities, graduate school, marriage and other major decisions. In each case, I have tried to give the best, Gospel-based counsel I could. For my few minutes today, I’d like to assume that you are a student who has come asking for advice. In our own way, I’d like to think of this presentation today as a one-on-one conversation with you, hopefully providing some practical guidance that will be helpful as you make major decisions in your lives.

 The Bible states that there is a time and season for everything. In Ecclesiastes 3:1-2 it states: “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven; A time to be born, and a time to die, a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted.” Right now, most of you are fully engaged in preparing for your future—you are in the planting stage of your lives. This is a very important time of your life. In fact, much of the happiness or sorrow and the success or failure you will experience throughout your life will be a result of the preparation and planting you do now and the options and opportunities you create for yourself while you are in this planting stage. You will reap only what you sow and so your goal should be to plant the best crops possible and to create as many opportunities as you can for yourself.

 I am a great believer that we can have much more success and happiness if we have more opportunities or choices or more of what I call options. People without options have no freedom. I personally believe that Heavenly Father wants us to use this planting stage to create as many and the best options we can for us and our future families.

Let’s talk about what an option is for a moment. Webster defines an option as a choice; the power, right or liberty of choosing; something that is or can be chosen; and the right, acquired for a consideration, to buy or sell something at a fixed price within a specific time. I’m sure you’ve all heard of stock options or the option to purchase a piece of land. A stock option is the right to buy a share of stock at a specific price. For example, if you hold the option to buy a share of stock at $5 and the market price rises to $15, you can buy the stock for $5 and immediately sell the stock for $15 on the same day, making $10 per share.

 We know that one of the reasons Heavenly Father sent us to this earth was to see if we could make good choices. This life is a testing ground. A pre-requisite to making good choices is having alternatives from which to choose. In fact, it is the ability to make choices that gives us freedom. A very important success and happiness strategy in this fast-changing world is to do everything possible to maximize your options and choices and, hence, freedom.

 While we live in a free country and have few, if any, externally or politically imposed constraints, many of us lose or limit our freedom by the actions we take and by the choices we make or fail to make. When the future is uncertain, as it is today, it pays to have a broad range of options available. Option theory rewards flexibility. In fact, your future successes and failures will largely depend on what options you provide for yourself while in this planting stage of your life.

 Let me give you a simple, but obvious example. Assume that two young women start BYU-Idaho on the same day. During their first three years, one studies harder than the other and earns a 3.6 cumulative GPA. The other, either explicitly or by default decides that school is a time for play as well as studying and does not work as hard as her friend. As a result, after 3 years of college, her cumulative GPA is 2.8. During their junior year, the two young women decide that they will apply to graduate school. Upon getting the applications, they realize that the minimum GPA for applying is a 3.0. Unfortunately, only one of the two young women can even apply. Because of her 2.8 GPA, the second young woman has lost an option.

 It is the same with life. In a rapidly-changing world, you should create and keep open as many options as you can so you will be nimble and can move quickly and take advantage of these options. As long as you keep your options open, you have more choices and freedom and will be more successful and happy in the future. There are several things you can do to maximize your options and keep yourself nimble and ready to act. Today, I would like to talk about eight. Hopefully, our discussion of these option-granting ideas will constitute practical advice that will bring you greater happiness in the future.

 Option producing strategy #1: Do everything you can to build a good reputation.

People with tarnished reputations, lose options in life. Sometimes this loss of options occurs at work and sometimes it happens at home. Let me give you a couple of examples. In the play, “All My Sons” written by Arthur Miller, there is a place where a son sees his father cheating in the business world. Up until then, his dad has been his hero. When he confronts his dad, his father says, “Son, everybody does it. You have to cheat to be successful.” The son replies, “I know dad, but I thought you were better than everyone else.” This father just lost options with his son. In another example, I am aware of a woman who worked for a corporation for 37 years. We believe she was honest for the first 34. During her last three years, she started embezzling and eventually stole $686,000. When caught, the company took her home, her cars, her retirement account and most of her other assets. Through seizing all these assets, the company recovered about $400,000. She lost her reputation for honesty and the respect of her friends and was sentenced to serve one year in a federal prison. She is now out of prison but must make monthly restitution payments of $333 per month to the company. If she misses one payment, she violates her parole and goes back to jail. In other words, she must spend the rest of her life either working or in jail. She has lost options. And, to make matters worse, since stolen money is taxable in the U.S., the IRS came after her and told her that she had $686,000 of income she didn’t report on her tax return. When she finished negotiating with the IRS, they called the $400,000 she repaid the company a loan but assessed taxes on the $286,000 she will never repay (at $333 per month, she’s not even paying the interest) With fines, penalties and interest, she owes the IRS over $200,000 and has entered in an agreement to make tax payments to the IRS of $540 every month. She is a now a convicted felon who works in a fast-food restaurant at close to minimum wage. She is 70 years old and has no home or other assets. This lady has lost not only her reputation, but the freedom to live where she wants, work where she wants, buy what she wants, travel where she wants, and even marry who she wants because her husband divorced her. You will have many more options in the future if you build a good reputation and name. As it says in Ecclesiastes 7:1 “A good name is better than precious ointment.”

 So how do you gain a good reputation? I believe there are three keys, all of which we learn about in the temple: (1) have integrity in all we do; in other words, be honest, (2) be a finisher, and (3) return and report. We have already discussed the role of integrity—the lady who stole money lost her reputation because of her dishonesty.

 Let’s now discuss being a finisher. Throughout our lives, each of us will be given stewardship assignments. We will be stewards in our jobs, in our homes, in our wards and stakes, as students and in many other settings. As stewards, we are the ones who have taken on or been given assignments—to be a father or mother, to be an employee, to be a Bishop or Relief Society President, etc. We have been called, selected, applied for or have been given assignments. We know what is expected and we have made commitments about how we will perform. Our reputation will largely be determined by how we perform in those responsibilities. I believe we have two responsibilities: (1) to be a finisher and get the job done (whatever the assignment) and (2) to return and report. Let me illustrate the finisher concept by using a story that President Monson tells often. This is a story he first told in 1972 (Ensign, July 1972.)

  

On sunlit days during the noon hour, the streets of Salt Lake City abound with men and women who for a moment leave the confines of the tall office buildings and engage in that universal delight called window shopping. On occasion, I, too, am a participant. On Wednesday, I paused before the elegant show window of a prestigious furniture store. That which caught and held my attention was not the beautifully designed sofa nor the comfortable-appearing chair that stood at its side. Neither was it the beautiful chandelier positioned overhead. Rather, my eyes rested upon a small sign that had been placed at the bottom righthand corner of the window. Its message was brief: “Finishers Wanted.” The store had need of those persons who possessed the talent and the skill to make ready for the final sale the expensive furniture that the firm manufactured and sold. Finishers wanted. The words remained with me as I returned to the pressing activities of the day. In life, as in business, there has always been a need for those persons who could be called finishers. Their ranks are few, their opportunities many, their contributions great.

 It was Napleon Hill who said: “There is always room for those who can be relied upon to deliver the goods when they say they will.”

 In my positions as a dean and stake president, I often make assignments—assignments to serve on committees, to fulfill assignments, to complete research, and to teach classes. There are some people I ask often and others I never ask, especially when I need a job done well. I absolutely hate it when I get no response or feedback and I have to search to find out what has been done. I will pay a lot of money for someone who will complete a job; I will pay even more for someone who will complete the job and return and report.

 In most cases, living the Gospel, being a parent or employee and completing stewardship assignments is not a team sport. It is very different from basketball or baseball. Rather, it is like wrestling. We are on our own (with limited help from others.) We pray alone. We plan alone. We often work alone. And, we, alone, decide whether to be a finisher and whether or not to return and report.

 From the very beginning of our lives, a fundamental question remains to be answered by each of us who runs the race of life. That question is: “shall I falter or shall I finish.” On the answer to that question await the blessings of joy and happiness here in mortality and eternal life in the world to come. Let’s look at some examples of finishers and non-finishers from the scriptures.

 David was not a finisher. He rode the crest of popularity. He slew the giant. As he achieved fresh victories, the women greeted him with a new song: “Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands” (1 Samuel 18:7). Power he won; peace he lost. It happened one evening when David was walking upon the roof of the king’s house that he saw from the roof a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful. “And David sent and inquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this Bathsheba,…the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” So “David sent messengers, and took her” (2 Samuel 11:3-4). The gross sin of adultery was followed by yet another: “…Set ye Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retire ye from him, that he may be smitten, and die” (2 Sam. 11:15). Lust and power had triumphed. David commenced well the race, then faltered and failed to finish his course.

 Another non-finisher was Judas Iscariot. He commenced his ministry as an apostle of the Lord. He ended it a traitor. For thirty paltry pieces of silver, he sold his soul. At last, realizing the enormity of his sin, Judas, to the patrons and tempters of his crime, shrieked: “I have sinned in that I have betrayed innocent blood” (Mathew 27:4). He then threw down the pieces of silver and went and hanged himself.

 A finisher was Job. Pious in his conduct, prosperous in his fortune, Job was to face a series of tests that would tempt any man. Shorn of his possessions, scorned by his friends, afflicted by his suffering, and even tempted by his wife, Job was to declare from the depths of his noble soul:“…behold, my witness is in heaven, and my record is on high” (Job 16:19); “…I know that my redeemer liveth…” (Job 19:25) Job did not falter; he became a finisher.

 Paul was also a finisher. Some of his last words were “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7).

 And, the greatest finisher of all was Jesus Christ. While the task was almost impossible, he followed through to the bitter end. He said something to the effect of “Father, if it be possible let this cup pass from me. However, not my will, but thy will be done.” Think how our lives would be different if Jesus hadn’t been a finisher.

 So, the most important thing you can do is be a finisher. Here’s a poem about finishers—the author is unknown:

  

i.Stick to your task, til it sticks to you; ii.Beginners are many, but enders are few. iii.Honor, power, place and praise iv.Will always come to the one who stays

  

v.Stick to your task til it sticks to you vi.Bend at it, sweat at it, smile at it, too;  vii.For out of the bend and the sweat and the smile viii.Will come life’s victories after a while.

          Author Unknown

 Another important element in building a good reputation is to learn to return and report. Remember, no assignment is complete until you have reported. Think how great it would be if you could teach your children to report back. I have tried hard as a parent to teach my children that the last step in any assignment is to report back. If I have them deliver something, they report back. If I assign them to mow the lawn, they must report back. Learning to report back is a great skill that is highly valued in the business world. If there is one thing you learn today, please commit that whatever you are asked to do, you report back to the person who issued the assignment. As home and visiting teachers, you should not only visit but report back. Your

leaders shouldn’t have to call you to see if you’ve completed your assignment. The temple provides a great example of the power and necessity of reporting back.

 I’m sure you have heard the phrase, “if you want something done, give it to the busiest person you know.” Nothing could be truer and the reputation that busy person has earned him- or herself will create tremendous options for him or her during his or her life.

 So the first option-granting strategy is to do everything possible to earn and keep a good reputation.

 Option producing strategy #2: Get as Much Education and Learning as You Can

A second option- and freedom-maximizing strategy is to get as much education and learning as possible. You must become life-long learners if you are going to succeed in the future. With the fast-paced changes we are experiencing, the content knowledge you acquire in college probably won’t be relevant very long. You must get as much education and learning as you can throughout your life. Consider the following quote by Brigham Young: “We might ask, when shall we cease to learn? I will give you my opinion about it; never, never......We shall never cease to learn, unless we apostatize from the religion of Jesus Christ” (Brigham Young, JD 3:203).

 Personally, I am a Certified Public Accountant or CPA. When I graduated from BYU with a bachelors degree and sat for the CPA Examination in 1971, there were only 15 professional standards that I had to learn to prepare for the exam. Today, most of these standards have been superseded and aren’t relevant anymore. In addition, we now have almost that many new standards being issued every year. The accounting profession, like all other professions, has had to change and become more dynamic to keep up with faced-paced changes in business and the world. If I had to rely on what I learned at BYU to practice as a CPA today, I would be sued for malpractice. Indeed, the purpose of college is not to learn facts, but to learn how to learn.

 The first presidency recognized the value of education in creating options. In the For the Strength of Youth pamphlet, the first presidency state: “Education will help you to better provide for yourself, your loved ones, and those in need…You live in a competitive world where a good education opens the doors of opportunity (another way to say creates options) that may otherwise be closed to you.”

 To help you understand the value of an education in monetary terms, consider the following census statistics from the year 2003:

  

Median Earnings                    Unemployment Rate                Education Attained

$20,592                                8.8%                                         Some high school, no diploma

$28,808                                5.5%                                         High school graduate

$32,344                                 5.2%                                         Some college, no degree

$34,944                                 4.0%                                         Associate degree

$46,800                                  3.3%                                         Bachelor’s degree

$55,328                                  2.9%                                         Master’s degree

$67,964                                   1.7%                                         Professional degree

$70,148                                   2.1%                                         Doctoral degree

 Option producing strategy #3: Maintain Good Health

The third option-maximizing strategy is to maintain good health. When you lose your health or you become addicted to harmful substances or habits, you lose freedom. Personally, I am not quite as fit as I would like to be. I exercise regularly but have trouble watching what I eat. As a result, I have lost some options that others have. I remember one day riding motorcycles with my boys on the Boulder Mountain in Southern Utah. We were riding up a very rough and steep trail. Because they were all young and physically fit, all four of my older boys cruised right to the top on their motorcycles. I tried to follow them and tipped over. I tried again and tipped over a second time. After the third attempt and crash, I laid the bike down, hiked to the top and told my sons to go back down and bring my bike up for me. Because I wasn’t as physically fit as them, I had lost an option. Section 89 contains a promise about these health options if we live according to the Word of Wisdom:

  

And all saints who remember to keep and do these sayings (meaning maintaining good health and following the word of wisdom), walking in obedience to the commandments, shall receive health in their navel and marrow to their bones.

  

And shall find wisdom and great treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures;

  

And shall run and not be weary, and shall walk and not faint (In other words, you will have more options) (Doctrine Covenants 89:18-20).  

  

I recently listened to a very successful, retired corporate executive talk about lessons he had learned in his life. He said that he believed the four most important things we can do are:

  

1.  Take care of our health

2.  Take care of our family

3.  Surround ourselves with good people

4.  Don’t take ourselves too seriously

 Option producing strategy #4: Preserve Your Financial Freedom

A fourth way to maximize your options is to preserve your financial freedom. We now live in a world where everyone borrows–in fact, in the U.S., for every net saver, there are approximately 19 net borrowers. After graduating (and probably even now), almost every day in the mail, you will get solicitations from finance and other companies wanting to extend credit to you. They will use glowing terms and phrases about giving you financial freedom but what they really want is for you to enter into financial bondage to them. When you take upon yourself debt, you lose freedom and options and the ability to act quickly and independently because someone else tells you how to spend your money. If you are burdened with too much debt, you may not be able to change jobs, move, make an investment you should, or even to serve when called upon by the church. Debt is probably okay for your education, buying a home, buying a first car for work, or making investments in such things as real estate. But, debt is not okay for most other things. Let’s consider even school debt for a minute. When you get loans, you don’t pay taxes on them. So, when you pay them back, you don’t get a tax deduction. This means that if you make $50,000 per year after you graduate, you will be taxed on the full amount you make but will have far less cash because you will be repaying non-deductible loans. As a result, you should try to minimize the amount of school debt you must use and work wherever possible.

 Credit card debts are even worse than school loans. They carry higher interest rates and using them to spend money defers the agony of having debt. They almost give you the feeling that you can have something for nothing. Let me give you an example of the perils of credit card debt. Let’s assume you have a credit card balance of $2,400 and an interest rate of 19.8% If you pay the minimum suggested monthly payment of $48 (65% of all people pay the minimum payment), it would take 43.6 years to pay the debt off. If you skip December/Christmas payment (an allowable gift from Master Card), it will take you 85.2 years to pay the debt off. My counsel to you is to avoid credit card debt wherever possible and if you do have credit card debt pay it off as soon as possible.

 If you want to be happy and successful in the future, work hard to maintain your financial freedom. There is something very comforting—even spiritual—about living well within your means. Many scriptures warn us that debt takes away our freedom. Consider Proverbs 22:7 for example, “the rich ruleth over the poor and the borrower is servant to the lender.”

 Option producing strategy #5: Stay Free from Guilt and Live so the Spirit is Your Constant Companion

A fifth option-maximizing strategy is staying free from guilt, maintaining a clear conscience and living your life so the Spirit is your constant companion. It is impossible to feel guilty and be happy. I remember a number of years ago, one of our children was shooting his bow and arrow in the back yard. As parents, we had told him several times not to get his bow and arrow out unless we were in the mountains, especially when we were not at home. He had some friends and a younger brother with him and they started messing around. He got his fancy new bow out. He thought he was aiming at the target, but instead, he shot the arrow over our fence, across the road and right through our neighbor’s new garage door. This happened early in the day. He asked his friends and brother not to say anything about what happened. He lived with the guilt until about 10:00 p.m. that night when he could no longer stand it. Finally, he came into our bedroom crying and admitted what he had done. I immediately got out of bed and got dressed and, hand-in-hand, we went to the neighbor’s home and he told him what he had done and we offered to pay for a new garage door, which we did. While our son still felt badly about doing something he was told not to do, he was a lot happier facing the consequences of his actions because he didn’t have to harbor that guilt and know that until he told his parents and the neighbor, inside himself, he was a liar with a guilty conscience and he had even made his younger brother and friends be dishonest too. I personally don’t believe you can ever reach your potential, have freedom of peace of mind, or be happy if you are harboring guilt. The scriptures make it clear that we cannot live in sin and be happy.

 A person I highly respect once stated that for someone to be happy, they must have the following three things:

  

1.  A clear conscience

2.  Someone to love

3.  Work to do

  

Let’s talk about having the Spirit as your constant companion. How many of you are returned missionaries? How many of you loved your missions? How many of you thought your missions were hard? Isn’t it amazing that we all loved our missions but they were hard and, as a matter of fact, we were doing things like going door to door that we wouldn’t want to do the rest of our lives? I believe there is a reason we all loved our mission and I don’t believe many missionaries understand why. I believe that for 2 years or 18 months or however long we served, we had the Spirit with us on a daily basis. And, I believe two things happen when we have the Spirit in our lives. First, we are happy. I don’t believe it is possible to have the Spirit in our lives and be unhappy. And, second, when we have the Spirit in our lives, we don’t think of ourselves but we think of others. Now, do you think you will have more options if you are a happy person or a sad person? Do you think you will have more options if you are a selfish person, always thinking of yourself, or a selfless person, always thinking of others? When we were missionaries the others that we thought of instead of ourselves were our investigators and the people we served. But, after our missions, who is it? I would say it is our coworkers, our spouses and our families? Let’s assume for a moment that you are married. Don’t you think it would be great for your marriage if (1) you always put someone else (your spouse) first and (2) you were happy? So, if having the Spirit in your life gives you options, how do you get it and keep it? The scriptures tell us that to have the Spirit, we must have a soft heart (Helaman 6:34). So, how do we get and keep a soft heart? Certainly, missionaries have figured out how to do it, so let’s think for a minute together about what missionaries do. Do missionaries ever pray? How many times a day? Our lives must be full of prayer. Do missionaries ever read their scriptures? Do missionaries ever serve other people? You see, praying, reading scriptures, serving others, going to church, attending the temple and other similar things soften our hearts which allow us to get the Spirit which makes us happier and which leads to having more happiness and options in life. As a stake president, when I counsel young people who are getting married, I tell them to look for opportunities to serve, to pray, read their scriptures, and to become engaged in other heart-softening activities.

  

Option producing strategy #6: Marry Someone who will Make You Better

The sixth option maximizing strategy I want to discuss with you today is marrying someone who will be a support to you and who will make you better. A farmer friend of mine always tells his children to marry up so they improve the gene pool. The truth is, it is tough to go through life and make progress when you have a

spouse who is holding you down or causing problems. Marrying a project, say someone with an addiction, is usually not wise and only leads to lost options in the future. I know a woman who was divorced and remarried three or four years ago. Her new husband, who is also divorced, has a great job, but they have to pay $2,500 per month in child support and alimony—a huge drain on their monthly income. Their divorces have caused them to lose the option of spending the $2,500 per month how they want to. You’ve heard the saying that “behind every good man is a better wife” and the converse is also probably true. Marrying someone who lives by the spirit, has a strong testimony and who will work together with you will bring you more options in your life. As you think about who to marry, the most important thing is to look for someone of faith. Too many of you look mostly at how physically attractive someone is when choosing a mate. That is the wrong criterion. I can guarantee you that physical attraction is very temporary and that, especially that man that you women are looking for, won’t be nearly as attractive when he is 50 or 60. Rather, he will be bald, overweight or look different in some other dramatic way. Since finding someone of faith is the most important criterion, how do you know if one is a person of faith? I believe there are three way. You look at (1) what they do, (2) what they say and (3) what they wear and how they look. If you just analyze those three things carefully, you can tell whether someone is a serious person of faith.

 Option producing strategy #7: Build a Big Network of Friends

The seventh option maximizing strategy is to build as big a network of friends as you can. There are two ways to get ahead in life: (1) by earning what you get and (2) by knowing people who can help you. Only about 510% of all new jobs are posted in classified ads or on the Internet. The rest are filled by people who know someone. In the business world, a referral is much more productive than cold calls whether one is selling goods or services, creating business opportunities, or trying to get someone hired. An example of the value of networking is my own two children who are still undergraduate students at BYU. Both have their current parttime jobs because they knew the person who was hiring, not because they were the most qualified for the job.

 Option producing strategy #8: Think Big—You Are a Son or Daughter of God

The last option granting strategy we’ll discuss today is to think positively and big. Too many of us limit ourselves by what we think is possible. Remember, with God, all things are possible. Some of us do to ourselves what Satan tries to do to Moses in Moses 1 of the Pearl of Great Price. In Chapter 1, Moses was caught up in an exceedingly high mountain where he talked with God. In verses 4, 6, and 7, God tries to show Moses what is possible. He repeatedly says, “Moses, my son.” He wants Moses to know what his possibilities are. He wants him to think big. Then, starting in verse 12, Moses is visited by Satan. What is the first thing that Satan tries to do? He tries to get Moses to think little. He says, in verse 12, “Moses, son of man.” Too many of us do the same thing. We limit ourselves internally by thinking things are too hard for us or that we could never do that. Let me just say to you all, “you are all sons and daughters of God.” Anything you work hard enough for is possible. Let me tell you a story of one of our sons.

 Our third son is Tyler. Of our six children, I wouldn’t rank Tyler as the smartest or maybe not even near the top of our kids’ smart chart. In high school, he never got quite as good of grades as most of our other children. When he got to college, because of his less-than-superior high school academic experience, he realized that he was behind. In some ways, he hit a brick wall. Tyler could have done two things. He could have given up, or he could try to climb the wall and get over it. Fortunately, he did the latter. He decided that he needed to work extra hard to make up for lost time. He did and, while his grades weren’t all straight A’s, his GPA rose considerably. When it was time to take the Dental Aptitude Test (he wanted to be a dentist), he studied 12-15 hours a day for three months and ended up scoring in the 99th percentile in the country. He has now finished dental school and this summer will start a pediatric dental residency at one of the most prestigious hospitals in the country.

 Just like he did to Moses, as recorded in Moses 1 of the Pearl of Great Price, Satan tries to convince you every day that you are just a son of man. He wants you to believe that you are just an average person. And, if you insist on being a member of the true, restored church, he wants you to be just an average Mormon. He wants to convince you that you can lie a little, cheat a little and sin a little and still be okay. But, we know differently. For, example, I know that I am a son of God, just like I know that you are. I am one of Heavenly Father’s boys and he loves me just like I love my children. You, too, are Heavenly Father’s boys and girls. And, I know that if I live appropriately, I can be just like Him. In fact, as it says in the Oath and Covenant of the Priesthood in section 84 of the Doctrine and Covenants, if I am worthy and magnify my Priesthood, all that He has shall be given unto me and unto you. I hope I never lose sight of who I am and I hope you don’t either. Satan will use every tool in the books to confuse you and try to get you to forget who you are and to limit your vision and goals. He knows your weaknesses and vulnerabilities.

 Anything is possible if you think big enough and work hard to accomplish the goals. As one other piece of evidence to show that anything is possible, think back to 1961 when John Fitzerald Kennedy was president. At the time, the U.S. and Russia had started exploring space.

 On May 25, 1961, President Kennedy stood before a joint session of Congress to declare it “time for a great new American enterprise—time for this nation to take a clearly leading role in space achievement, which in many ways may hold the key to our future on earth.” First,” he said, “I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth.” Kennedy’s goal was realized on July 20, 1969 (8 years later). Apollo 11, of course, was the mission that put men on the moon, with its astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins. The 238,000mile trip to the moon took four days. Apollo 11 fell into orbit 60 miles above the moon's surface, and on July 20 at 1:45 p.m. EDT, the Eagle with Armstrong and Aldrin inside separated from Columbia. The Eagle crew then put themselves into a 60-by-9-mile orbit. Neil Armstrong’s quote is now famous: "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind." President Kennedy knew that with a firm goal and hard work, anything was possible.

As another example of the value of having big goals, the 1952 graduating class of one of the Ivy League schools was surveyed to see how many had specific goals at the time of graduation. Only three percent of the class did. However, 50 years after graduation, it turns out that that 3 percent with goals had earned more money than all the other 97 percent added together.

 Considered together, these eight activities of (1) building a good reputation, (2) engaging in continuous learning and education, (3) maintaining good physical health, (4) maintaining financial freedom, (5) staying guilt free and having the Spirit in your life, (6) marrying wisely, (7) building networks and (8) thinking big will bring you choices and opportunities in the future that others won’t have and will allow you to act quicker than others to seize upon opportunities that will come your way in this fast-paced world.

 So how do you use this option-giving framework in your life? Every time you have a decision to make, whether it is big or small, you should ask yourself this question: Which alternative will give me the most and best options? And, for some decisions, the question will be in deciding how not to have options taken away. For example, being immoral on a date, skipping class to go skiing or engaging in other negative behaviors will reduce and can even eliminate options. With the raising of the bar for missionaries, participating in certain activities can eliminate the option of ever serving a full-time mission. Personally, I take this option approach to life very seriously. Sometimes, the decisions are easy and require very little thinking to decide what to do. Other times, they are difficult. For example, a couple of years ago, I had a potential career-changing offer given to me. That decision required much prayer, fasting and going to the temple. In the end, I decided that given our family priorities, turning down the opportunity actually provided more and better options.

 In conclusion, I promise you that if you will always make choices and decisions that give you more options you will be happy and will have a great life. I also want you to know that I know that decisions that are consistent with the Gospel are always option-increasing decisions and that decisions that are inconsistent with the Gospel are also option-decreasing decisions. Any decision that is not consistent with what Heavenly Father wants for us will only bring heartache and sorrow, not increased options. I have a strong testimony that Heavenly Father wants us to be free and to be successful. He wants us to make good choices. Living the Gospel is the only way to have true happiness. That you may use this preparatory or “planting” period of your life to create options for the future is my prayer in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.