The late President Jeffrey R. Holland believed in good things to come. The former president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, who died Dec. 27, 2025, was well known for his teachings on faith and optimism, often testifying that Jesus Christ is the “High Priest of Good Things to Come,” recounted Brigham Young University President C. Shane Reese.
The current Prophet, President Dallin H. Oaks, also shares “this same sense of prophetic urgency for good things to come,” President Reese said, continuing that “President Oaks, the living Prophet, an oracle of the living God, believes in you. Jesus Christ Himself bled and died because He believes in you.
“So please believe in yourself. Believe in Him who is mighty to save. Believe in and work for those good things to come.”
President Reese’s remarks came during BYU’s opening devotional for winter semester on Tuesday, Jan. 13, at the school’s campus in Provo, Utah.
His address paid tribute to Presidents Oaks and Holland — “back-to-back presidents of Brigham Young University from 1971 to 1989” — as well as encouraged students to trust God and have hope for the future.
President Reese was joined at the devotional by his wife, Sister Wendy Reese, who spoke before her husband. She also testified of the need to trust in God, pray for guidance and live according to covenant promises.
“Trust in God with all your heart this semester,” Sister Reese said. “I promise it will make a difference. I promise that He will help direct your paths as you exercise good judgment and move forward with faith. The destination that God has in store for you is far greater than anything you could imagine.”
An ‘immeasurable and ongoing’ influence
During his address, President Reese shared stories from Presidents Oaks’ and Holland’s lives that demonstrated their powerful faith and resilience.
For instance, President Holland spent weeks in a coma after the July 2023 death of his wife, Sister Patricia Terry Holland. During that time, he had a sacred experience in which he received an admonition to return to his ministry with more urgency and with greater focus on the Savior; upon waking, President Holland did exactly that until the end of his life.
President Oaks, too, has overcome his share of challenges. President Reese recounted President Oaks’ childhood experiences of losing his father, being bullied in school and struggling academically before his family stabilized and a wise teacher helped him achieve his potential. President Oaks went on to stand out among “the most respected legal minds in the world,” so much so that he was once considered for a U.S. Supreme Court appointment.
If there were ever “patron saints” of BYU, President Reese said, they would surely be Presidents Oaks and Holland.
“Their influence on this campus during this second century is immeasurable and ongoing,” President Reese said. “It will endure forever, and equally important for you students, they both sat where you sit. They walked where you walked. Their paths, like yours, were not paved for them. Their households weren’t picture perfect, but their faith in the Lord was and is extraordinary. …
“They entered this school to learn, they went forth to serve, and they never once stopped serving.”
‘Your future holds everything for you’
President Reese closed his address by inviting students to consider two questions: “What is God revealing to you personally that asks for more urgency from you?” and “What have prophets, seers and revelators taught with urgency that invites you to act with an equal urgency?”
He noted President Oaks’ “masterful” October 2000 general conference talk titled “The Challenge to Become,” in which President Oaks said that while the world teaches people to know something, the gospel of Jesus Christ challenges them to become something.
“Become something. Become a disciple,” President Reese said. “Make the most of this winter, this semester, this week, this day.”
He also testified that Jesus is the Christ and He lives. Because of His atoning sacrifice, everything unfair in this life will be made right — “not only in the eternities, but much of it in the here and now.”
Like Sister Holland once reminded President Holland, “Your future holds everything for you, because of Him, even Jesus Christ,” President Reese said.
