Last Tuesday, thousands of students gathered in the Marriott Center to listen to a campus-wide devotional by Elder Steven D. Shumway and Sister Heidi Shumway. Elder Shumway, a former chemical engineer and current investment professional, recently returned from the Illinois Chicago Mission, where he and Sister Shumway served as mission leaders. His address focused on simplifying our lives and rooting our conversion in Jesus Christ.
Before the Shumways spoke, attendees were greeted by the vibrant voices of the BYU University Chorale singing “I’m Gonna Live So God Can Use Me.” Their enthusiastic chorus was followed by a powerful impromptu testimony by Sister Shumway. Elder Shumway, without informing his wife before the devotional, asked Sister Shumway to share her testimony of Jesus Christ. Inviting all in attendance to listen closely to her words, Elder Shumway sweetly remarked, “Heidi sounds a whole lot like the Holy Ghost.”
Sister Shumway testified to the reality and loving design of the plan of happiness. With encouraging words, she concluded that “God will walk with us” as we allow the pinnacle part of the Father’s plan, the Atonement of His Beloved Son, to transform us and enlighten our lives.
After Sister Shumway’s spirit-inviting message, Elder Shumway began his message, emphasizing three central lessons. The first lesson Elder Shumway taught was the importance of removing the unnecessary and filling our lives with the eternal. At the beginning of his remarks, Elder Shumway spoke on the simplicity of the gospel and posed a searching question: What matters most? In the eternal view, Shumway added, many of the things we thought were so valuable will turn out to be of little import. He then encouraged all in attendance to simplify their lives, sacrifice lesser endeavors, and consecrate their time to that which is eternal.
The second lesson Elder Shumway taught was that even “good pursuits of life” can become problematic if they are not rooted in Jesus Christ. He compared these good pursuits and our covenantal relationship with Jesus Christ to the branches and roots of a tree. Like the olive tree of Jacob 5, Elder Shumway noted that the weight of the upper branches can “overcome the roots” if they “grow faster than the strength of the roots.” Similarly, good pursuits can imbalance our life, crowding out our relationship with Jesus Christ. To avoid this disharmony, Elder Shumway cautioned that we must deepen our heavenly relationships as we continue to explore and take on new responsibilities.
Elder Shumway also spoke on the transforming power of those heavenly relationships. In a world that overvalues what it can see and undervalues what it cannot, these often unseen relationships make all the difference. As we rely on our covenant relationship, Elder Shumway taught, we allow God to change our nature and transform our wild branches into tame ones.
Concluding his address, Elder Shumway invited all to consider the power of prayer and patience. Like the last person in the crowd of 5000, or the final Nephite to behold the wounds in the Savior’s hands and feet, sometimes we patiently wait on the Lord before His hand is revealed in our lives. So, in the meantime, Elder Shumway stressed the importance of coming to the Lord through prayer and trusting Him as we continue to move forward. Like those kneeling at the foot of an olive tree to prune its unnecessary branches, as we kneel before the Lord, He can refine and strengthen us.
Elder Shumway’s message called on all to make the most of our covenantal relationships. For students struggling to balance the weighty demands of life with their commitment to discipleship, his message beckons weary travelers on the covenant path to simplify and focus on what matters most.
Cover Photo Source: https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/steven-d-shumway/simplicity-that-is-in-christ/
