REXBURG, Idaho — For BYU–Idaho student Kaley Serpa, Thursday’s devotional with Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and his wife, Sister Susan Bednar, filled her with gratitude for her education.
On Thursday evening, Oct. 8, Elder and Sister Bednar — who served as the president and first lady of Rick’s College when it transitioned from a two-year college to a four-year university — sat down with BYU–Idaho’s current leader, President Alvin F. Meredith III, and his wife, Sister Jennifer Meredith, on the rostrum of the I-Center in Rexburg, Idaho, and answered questions, shared experiences and offered counsel to the school’s current cohort of students.
The Bednars’ discussion “felt so personal,” commented Serpa, a junior studying fine art, despite the more than 15,000 students and faculty filling the auditorium. “I felt like I was part of the conversation.”
The evening was at times nostalgic and lighthearted, “yet I felt the Spirit,” said Serpa.
The Bednars spoke of the faith in Jesus Christ, challenges and miracles that accompanied transforming a junior college into a full-fledged university and encouraged students not to take for granted the blessings of attending this special school.
Their words were “a reminder to me how special BYU–Idaho is to me,” said Serpa. “There’s a spirit on this campus that I haven’t felt anywhere else. I’m grateful for that reminder.”
This semester marks the 25th anniversary of the first semester of classes held as BYU–Idaho. The anniversary celebrations began more than a year ago in June 2025, the 25th anniversary of the press conference where then-Church President Gordon B. Hinckley announced the intent to transform Rick’s College into BYU–Idaho.
“How lucky are we that we are all attending this school at this time?” said Elsie Malone, a sophomore studying communications, following the devotional. “There is so much building and so much growth in this town and this school. We are so blessed to reap the benefits of all the sacrifices of those who came before us.”
BYU–Idaho’s 25th anniversary: ‘A miracle’
To start the devotional, President Meredith, who also serves as a General Authority Seventy, introduced a short video featuring interviews with past presidents of the school. These included Elder Bednar, president from 1997 to 2004; President Henry B. Eyring, first counselor in the First Presidency, president of Ricks College from 1971 to 1977; Elder Kim B. Clark, an emeritus General Authority Seventy, president from 2005 to 2015; and Elder Clark G. Gilbert of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, president from 2015 to 2017.
In the video, President Eyring observed that “President Hinckley had it right.” The creation of BYU–Idaho was “a prophetic moment in the world to create a four-year university unlike anything we’ve ever seen.”
In an interview for the 20th anniversary of the university, Elder Clark, who also served as the Church commissioner of education, explained that higher education in the Church Educational System has grown significantly over the past few decades and most of that growth has come through BYU–Idaho.
Besides more than doubling the number of students on campus, BYU–Idaho is also the birthplace of BYU–Pathway Worldwide, which served close to 89,000 students in 180 countries in 2025. More students are being offered the opportunity for a Church education than ever before, “and it’s all because the Prophet of God, Gordon B. Hinckley, was inspired by the Lord to make Ricks College become BYU–Idaho and to set it on a path,” Elder Clark said.
That growth has been enabled through a variety of innovations at the school, including its three-track calendar system. The university is also unique for its learning model, which encourages students to teach one another and be accountable for their own learning, and for its focus on students and teaching, as opposed to other universities that are focused on research.
In the 20th anniversary article, Elder Gilbert noted, “I learned more about innovating with less from my time serving at BYU–Idaho than in all of my years studying innovation at the Harvard Business School.”
That BYU–Idaho has grown to be “one of the larger institutions in the Church Educational System, without coming off its moorings at all, it’s a miracle. It’s just a miracle,” said President Eyring.
In the video, Elder Bednar summed it up this way: “The biggest miracle is that so many of the fundamental things that are hallmarks of rethinking education are still in place, and they have gotten better. The Lord found this unusual, out-of-the-way place called Rexburg, drew and enticed by the power of the Holy Ghost some remarkable people to go there, and that combination of those people in that place and the Spirit of the Lord has brought about innovations that have blessed people all over the world, and you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.”
‘One by One’
One highlight of the evening was the performance of the song “One by One” — with lyrics written by Elder Bednar — by the BYU–Idaho concert choirs. The words of the song detail how the Savior’s love, ministering and power are all expressed “one by one.” The third verse includes the words:
One by one, one by one.
He intercedes for each daughter and son.
One by one, one by one.
Strength from His grace gives us pow’r to become,
One by one.
As she listened to the choir sing those words, Sister Bednar said she thought of the remarkable strength that comes from the Savior, Jesus Christ. “He is our strength, and He’s there.” She testified that there is power associated with the Savior’s atoning sacrifice that helps individuals to do hard things.
When Elder Bednar was asked by President Meredith about the song, the Apostle said he hopes people will understand that the expression “one by one” is not simply lovely language. “He does His work one by one. … Each of us is a ‘one.’”
Members of the Church can sometimes hear the doctrine of Christ taught, accept it, believe it, but struggle to know that it applies to them personally, Elder Bednar noted. People need to soften their hearts sufficiently “to understand that when He talks about one by one, He’s talking about every single ‘one.’”
Elder Bednar testified that the Savior’s Atonement is personal. “As you study, as you ponder, as you pray, as you strive to be good, you will know that what the Savior did was for you as a ‘one,’” he promised.
Counsel to the next generation of students
Elder and Sister Bednar answered questions about principles of discipleship and leadership and spoke to students about using their education as well as their spiritual gifts to bless the lives of others.
“Leadership is not what you do; it is what you leave behind,” Elder Bednar taught. Righteous leaders are “always focused on meeting the needs of other people, and appropriately seeking for spiritual gifts and capacities that can enable [them] to do so.”
Being a disciple leader is about being worthy, “so that God can use us. He will give us those gifts, but not for us. If you want to make sure you never have a spiritual gift, try to get it for you, because there can be no self-centered motive in wanting a spiritual gift. It is so that if the gift comes to you, it goes through you to bless somebody else,” said Elder Bednar.
That principle stood out to Michael Laigo, a junior studying communication. “It reminded me that following Christ isn’t just about what we learn, but also about how we use what we’ve learned to help those around us. I want to be better at recognizing the needs of others and being an instrument in God’s hands,” he told Church News.
Malone also said she was impressed by the thought that her education and gifts are not for her alone. “I think this speaks a lot about our purpose here on earth,” she said. “Yes, it’s to learn and grow but we have to help each other along the way as well.”
At the end of the devotional, Sister Bednar related how soon after they originally arrived in Rexburg, they spoke in a campus devotional where she told students, “I just wish that I could take all of you home and feed you ice cream.” The following Monday, a group of students showed up on the Bednars’ porch for home evening with ice cream and cookies.
Thus began a weekly tradition for the Bednars during their tenure as leaders of the university. What started as a group of about 30 quickly grew as more and more young adults participated each week. In a BYU–Idaho devotional in March 2025, Elder Bednar estimated they hosted approximately 80,000 students at their home over eight years.
In honor of that tradition, following Thursday’s devotional, university food services provided ice cream for the thousands of attendees.
Besides the devotional with the Bednars, 25th anniversary festivities this week have included service projects, a rodeo, the Night Light Parade, the university torch lighting ceremony, a drone and fireworks show, a blue foam slide, and other activities.
