Learning Eternal Truths Through Our Relationships with Others | Rae Jeanne Memmott | 2008

Rae Jeanne Memmott shares her own experiences and those of her students to show that eternal truths are taught as we develop relationships with others.

This speech was given on July 8, 2008.

Read the speech here:
https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/rae-jeanne-memmott/learning-eternal-truths-relationships-others/

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"Good morning to all of you in attendance today. I am most honored to be here, but I must admit that picking the topic for today and preparing this talk have not been easy tasks. My concerns and prayers have been that I will be able to talk about things that will strengthen testimonies, both yours and mine.

During spring term I was with a group of Study Abroad nursing students in Australia. I asked them what kinds of devotional speeches were most memorable to them. They said, “Talks with stories.” They know I tell a lot of stories as I teach and may have given that answer to make it easy for me. Nonetheless I decided to act on their advice and tell stories. In fact, some of my stories are going to be about nursing students.

Much of my time here at BYU is spent teaching students how to build therapeutic relationships. Over the years I have come to realize that there isn’t much to do with the gospel that isn’t about relationships—either our relationships with Heavenly Father and the Savior or with our fellowmen. So today I want to talk about learning eternal truths through our relationships with others.

Some years ago I was called to teach the four-year-olds in Primary. After a few months of teaching, I began to be somewhat frustrated. The bottom line of every lesson, regardless of the title, was “You are Heavenly Father’s child, and He loves you.” I thought, “I have given the same lesson a hundred different ways. Surely there is something more these four-year-olds should know.” However, as I have grown older and wiser, I have come to realize that the message being taught was the most important lesson they could learn. We don’t emphasize that message in Primary only, but in every organization of the Church and in documents available to the entire world. President Henry B. Eyring beautifully explained how our relationship with our Father in Heaven provides the sure foundation for relationships with others in the introduction to his book Because He First Loved Us. President Eyring said:

The first and great commandment is this: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy might, mind, and strength; and in the name of Jesus Christ thou shalt serve him” (D&C 59:5). The restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ through the Prophet Joseph Smith brought many blessings. For me, none is more precious than a knowledge of the loving nature of our Heavenly Father and of His Son, Jesus Christ. When the Holy Ghost confirms that knowledge to us, our hearts are prepared to keep that first and great commandment.

Keeping the first commandment always leads to keeping the second, because to love the Father and the Son is to serve those They love. In answer to our prayers for guidance, They send the Holy Ghost to tell us how to help others and to feel at least a part of God’s love. So in that service, our love of God increases and the keeping of the second great commandment leads us back to the first, in an ascending circle. In time, our very natures change. We are filled with the love of God, which, even in a world with so much misery and despair, brings us happiness and hope. [Henry B. Eyring, Because He First Loved Us (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2002), ix]

Most of my growing-up years were spent on a ranch in a remote area of Idaho. The two most important dances of the year in our high school were the Christmas formal and the junior prom. When I was a freshman I was asked to the Christmas formal by a very nice boy named Jerry. Even though Jerry was nice, I didn’t consider him to be one of the “cool” guys at our school and wasn’t sure I wanted to go with him. Luckily it was Friday afternoon as I was hurrying to catch the bus home from school when he stopped me to ask me to the dance. I quickly explained that I had to ask permission from my Dad and would let him know later…."