President Uchtdorf speaks to UVU students...and I was there!!!

So, I just posted this on the Mickelsen Moments blog, but I really want to be able to find it again...I remembered a lot of stuff I wasn't able to put in my notes...so here we go!


"So, President Uchtdorf came and spoke to UVU today. I was pretty fortunate to be able to hear him. I was in the choir. They had the Chamber, Master Works, and Latter-Day Celebration choirs combine for this. It was really neat to hear what he had to say about and to the UVU students. I just want to share some o what I learned.
First of all he told us that President Monson and President Eyring, during their presidency meeting, asked President Uchtdorf to send his love from them when he spoke to the UVU students. I thought that was pretty amazing!!!
UVU has a pretty great aviation program. President Uchtdorf talked about that a couple times. First he said that (and all the singers loved this) if the aviation program must be pretty amazing if it's anywhere near as good as the choir! hahahahaha...we loved that!!! He also said that UVU has two great programs, aviation and Institute. He said that both programs are good because they can bring people closer to heaven! hahahaha...it was way funny!
He talked about how UVU is one of the most international schools out in the West. He told us that we are all at home somewhere, but by the same token, we are all foreigners somewhere else. He read trough the UVU mission statement a lot which says, "Utah Valley University is a teaching institution which provides opportunity, promotes student success, and
meets regional educational needs. UVU builds on a foundation of substantive scholarly and creative work to
foster engaged learning. The university prepares professionally competent people of integrity who, as lifelong
learners and leaders, serve as stewards of a globally interdependent community."
He told us that the things found in this school mission statement can help and are noticed by the church.
He mentioned the globalization of the world through business, online networks, speed of transportation, etc. He told us to take our personal morals and religion out with us wherever we are, whether it be at school, in our professional lives, everywhere.
He told us that we live in a world of integration and that this integration comes in the form of "www." or the world wide web. Globalization and understanding bring the world together. He told us that the further we go with globalization and understanding the closer we will be able to get to things like world peace and stuff. We are currently far from that right now though.
One of the reasons we are far from our international goals is the shift the world has had from respecting traditional morals to the idea of "situational ethics". He said that globalization makes everyone feel connected but no one really takes any responsibility.
There were a few things that he said that I just loved and was able to write down fully. As he was telling us about all the problems we have let globalization cause, he reassured us saying, "Today is the day for the best of our hopes, not the worst of our fears." I really like this quote because he was telling us about all these scary things that can happen if we're not careful, but when you go out into the world with your morals high and the Spirit to guide you, you can reach your goals. Just imagine what it would be like if all big corporations and politicians and stuff did that! Wow, huh?
It was really cool, he talked about how because of globalization, corporations etc. have character. That made me think about how the big, really successful things like that are the ones who are honest and moral. If the people in a business are trustworthy and good, the business will prosper. I also noticed how this sort of thing is seen throughout history and the scriptures! (Pride cycle ring a bell...I found it interesting.)
He talked about how our relations in this life will continue into the next. This kind of hit me hard. I'd always heard and known that, but in this context of business, globalization, online networking etc. it was so different! I was reminded of a conversation I had with grandpa about how the world has become extremely tech based. With all the instant messaging, facebook, texting, etc. it made me think how even our technologically based relationships will go with us into the next life. If you think about it like that, it makes what you say and do online mean a little more and makes you think before you do whatever it is you do online...I think it's pretty amazing.
He quoted the 11th and 13th articles of faith. With all the globalization we, especially as members of the church, need to remember to not only be kind and loving toward everyone, but also to be tolerant and respectful of their practices, especially religious practices (11th article of faith). We also need to remember to be guided by the all encompassing principles found in the 13th article of Faith.
He reminded us that our right to help decide the fate of our country is not only a right, but a responsibility as well. It is our responsibility to find out as much as we can about what we can vote for and then decide on what would be the best choice to vote on using the Spirit to guide us.
Culture, government, and religion are all very different and separate things. Our church is not an American church. No state, no country, no political party stands as a representative of God. We need to be guided by the Spirit of God, it is the only thing that has eternal truths.
He ended by reminding us that Christ is the perfect example of everything. Christ didn't just show us the way, he provided us the way.
One last quote that I loved: "Fear not to do good." As I wrote this I realized that we are being commanded to not fear to do good. That's pretty intense.
I'm so grateful I was able to be there! I am so glad that I decided to attend UVU. It reaches out to the community more than any school in the world (that's what they told us today). UVU's push to get people registered to vote and out voting is the second largest push in the nation...that's pretty cool! I love my school and I am so grateful that the First Presidency of the church loves my school too! I think it's so cool that we were able to hear what the Lord wants UVU students (specifically) to hear!
Well, after the whole thing was over and people were getting up and leaving President Uchtdorf stood up and turned to where the choir was sitting and gave us all a big two thumbs up...we were all happy about that! It was awesome!
So, that's my day today! I'm now going to take some daytime cold medicine and head off to work! I really love you guys so much!
~Manda "