The Best Smith Family Blog

Hey! Pretty exciting stuff happening for us Coombses... Aaron spoke as Valedictorian in his graduation on friday the 23rd. I don't know how to attach things, so I'll just copy and paste his speech. So, if you're interested in knowing what words of wisdom he had to share, continue reading.


A sign on the border of campus states a fundamental assumption of our BYU education, “Enter to learn, go forth to serve”. This statement helps us understand why President Holland once said, “BYU is not here to help you make money. Any university in the land can do that. We hope your education brings income sufficient for your needs, but . . . BYU has been established to extend to you the very glory of God, his intelligence, his light, and his truth.”[1] The purpose of our education at BYU was not just to gain knowledge, but to amplify service. By increasing our intelligence we have increased our capacity, capability, and responsibility to serve. The Glory of God is intelligence and He uses that intelligence for service.
I hope that all of us will unyieldingly persist in learning, studying, and increasing our intellectual capacities in any way we can, but I also hope that we will unfailingly persevere in service. The greatest man in history did not change the world through a great political act, victoriously violent rebellion, or imperial power. In fact, historically, aside from the personal testimonies o f His followers there is only one historical reference to Christ, and even it is believed to be an interpolation by a later scribe.[2] Christ was not remembered, recognized, or received by the powerful or popular of His time. He was remembered, recognized, and received by those He served, loved, and taught daily, hourly, and minute to minute. Indeed, a loving remembrance can last longer than historical reference.
Now, why am I speaking about service at the Commencement for the School of Family Life? Maybe some in the audience think a better topic would be how a bow-legged pigeon-toed farm-boy from Fountain Green Utah became a Valedictorian. In answer to that, I don’t know, but now I really do know how to use a stoplight, and I know where animals go after they leave the farm, Macey’s.
The truth is I am speaking about service because it is essential to family. In our education we have had the opportunity and privilege of learning about family. Not only have we learned about family, but our family education has been unique. As Elder Maxwell said, “This University and its College of Family [Life] act from an entirely different point of view [than the world’s], and even though the form may parallel the academic form elsewhere, the operating assumptions and the theological foundations produce a deep and pervasive commitment to the family.”[3] It is that commitment to and knowledge of the family that I believe we can use to best serve the world. Whether we continue on to be therapists, counselors, researchers, or community leaders we will all to some extent be parents, siblings, or children, and we will all be able to use the knowledge we obtained here to serve and improve the lives and families around us, especially our own. The service and knowledge we can provide is what the world is in most need of because as Elder Maxwell also taught, “Too many governmental programs . . . attempt abortively to substitute a less efficient system of helping humans than the home; it is the home that we must rescue, repair, and sustain. Only when homes are full of truth, warmth, and trust, can our other institutions perform their tasks, and when too many homes are defective, then the deterioration becomes contagiously interinstitutional, affecting schools and governments.”[4] Family truly is the fundamental unit of society[5], and I would encourage all of us here to do all we can to strive the rest of our lives to lose ourselves in service to the family, particularly our own. Because as we all know “The most important of the Lord’s work that [we] will ever do will be the work [we] do in the walls of [our] own home.”[6] Thank You.


[1] Holland, J. R. (1982, February). The inconvenient Messiah. Speech presented at BYU, Provo, UT.
[2] Josephus, F. (1999). The new complete works of Josephus. (William, W. Trans.) Grand Rapids, M. I.: Kregel Publications.
[3] Maxwell, N. A. (1974, January). Family Perspectives, Speech presented at BYU, Provo, UT.
[4] Maxwell, N. A. (1974, January). Family Perspectives, Speech presented at BYU, Provo, UT.
[5] (1995).The family a proclamation to the world, Salt Lake City: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
[6] Lee, H. B. (1973). Strengthening home, Salt Lake City: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints