PROVO, Utah — It was Brigham Young's profound faith that was at the very heart of his success as a great leader and colonizer, said President James E. Faust Aug. 21.
Speaking to thousands of Church members gathered in the BYU Marriott Center for the school's annual Campus Education Week devotional, President Faust, second counselor in the First Presidency, memorialized Brigham Young as "a bold prophet."
With faith, President Faust said of President Young, "came a sense of confidence, not only in the rise of the Church and the growth of the kingdom, but also in his own role as a prophet and leader."
President Faust's address followed the theme of Education Week, "Brigham Young: An Example of Faith and Service," commemorating the 200th anniversary of Brigham Young's birth.
During the conference, held on the BYU campus Aug. 20-24, more than 1,000 speakers addressed the theme and a variety of other subjects, including self-improvement, family relations, religious education, history, science, youth interests and literature.
President Faust's devotional address — along with other Education Week presentations — was telecast to thousands of Church members around the world via the Church's satellite system, and in Utah on KBYU-TV.
President Faust said he chose to focus his address on the source of Brigham Young's absolute self-confidence and the complete certainty he had in his own judgment.
Clearly, President Faust explained, Brigham Young was sustained by inner strength and spiritual gifts.
"I know of no other explanation for his boldness and audacity in thinking of moving a whole people, more than 60,000, by wagon and handcart across much of the North American wilderness to the Great Basin, . . . " he said. "His certainty that the valley of the Great Salt Lake and the Great Basin was the right place rested upon the higher intelligence which he received in the vision before they started."
Brigham Young believed the saints' journey West was the Lord's errand, President Faust said. "Therefore, they could not fail. But being the practical sage that he was, he knew that success had a price. It could only come with diligence, sacrifice and hardship. And he understood that even with their best efforts, they could not do it alone — they would need God's help."
President Faust said part of Brigham's unwavering confidence came because he knew that the plan to move West was not his own.
Quoting the Journal of Discourses, President Faust said, "As he told the saints nearly ten years after their arrival in the valley, 'I did not devise the great scheme of the Lord's opening the way to send this people to these mountains. Who did? It was the power of God that wrought out a salvation for this people.' "
President Faust said Brigham Young recognized that his leadership was not flawless. "The assurance that he felt was not that he would make no mistakes or always know what was best, but that, in the end, God oversees the essential," President Faust said. "He quickly abandoned what did not work well for something that might work better, but his ultimate direction and destination remained unchanging. Long-term goals based on revelation provided a balanced consistency in his day-to-day decisions and gave him the confidence to press forward regardless of the obstacles or even the errors."
President Faust said understanding Brigham Young's religious conviction, and the religious context within which Latter-day Saints responded to him, is essential to an understanding of his leadership.
"As one visitor to his office recorded and others noted, Brigham Young had amazing self-confidence and 'absolute certainly of himself and his opinions,' " said President Faust. "This certainly stemmed from his conviction that he was doing God's work. He believed that if he and other mortals did all they could to establish the Kingdom, God would see to the rest. This makes understandable his firmness and calm, unshakable optimism in the face of seemingly impossible circumstances."
Brigham Young was a firm believer in faith and works, continued President Faust. "Man was to use all his skills and effort and energy for the Kingdom and if that were not enough, then he might ask for God's intervention."
President Faust closed his address by adding his witness to the great prophetic leadership of Brigham Young and by honoring the Church's second president for a final trait — loyalty.
"In the early days of the Church, many fell away because they would not sustain Joseph Smith as the Lord's anointed, . . ." he said. "Brigham Young died with the name Joseph upon his lips. He spoke of him and his work in these words, 'I honor and revere the name of Joseph Smith. I delight to hear it; I love it. I love his doctrine.' "
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