To the largest cohort of graduates in Ensign College history, Brother Gabriel W. Reid, second counselor in the Sunday School general presidency, offered a heartfelt “congratulations.”
“You did not just earn a degree. You proved that you could do hard things. You learned to adapt, adjust and not give up. You learned to finish,” Brother Reid said.
Those lessons were reiterated to Brother Reid by his teenage son, Adney, who accompanied Brother Reid and his wife to Australia when the two were called as mission leaders.
Adney soon discovered that Australians don’t play American football — his great passion. Instead, they play rugby. So Adney decided to try out for the rugby team.
During his first game, Adney dropped a pass and caused a knock-on, or a turnover. On the drive home, Brother Reid said he asked Adney how he felt, knowing it hadn’t been the best performance of his athletic career.
He told his dad: “I actually loved it. I stayed in the game. I got involved. And I finished.”
It is a message, Brother Reid told graduates, he hopes they remember: “Stay in the game and finish.”
Brother Reid was the featured speaker during Ensign College’s winter 2026 commencement on Friday, April 17. Graduates from 114 countries and their loved ones gathered in the Salt Lake Tabernacle on Temple Square in downtown Salt Lake City — or watched a livestream of the event online — on a chilly but sunny spring morning.
As graduates move forward, Brother Reid encouraged them to anchor everything — their careers, families, leadership, opportunities and adventures — in Jesus Christ.
“Stay connected as you build. Stay grounded as you rise. Stay faithful as you lead,” he said.
The secret to success
When Brother Reid first walked into his biology class on his first day at BYU in Provo, Utah, he realized his entire high school in his village in American Samoa could fit inside the classroom with seats to spare. He thought, “I cannot do this.”
But he stayed, and he graduated.
“This lesson to stay and finish is not just true in sports or education. It will prove to be true in every stage of your life, every future endeavor, and success,” Brother Reid told graduates.
Looking back on his own graduation, Brother Reid said whatever success he has experienced has flowed directly from one source: “My discipleship and my relationship with Jesus Christ.”
In the Book of Mormon, Ammon describes the difficulty of his mission, saying: “Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about to turn back, behold, the Lord comforted us, and said: Go amongst thy brethren … and bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give unto you success" (Alma 26:27).
Said Brother Reid: “When we turn to the Lord, He will comfort us. He will strengthen us to bear our afflictions with patience, and in His own way and timing, He will grant the success He desires for us.”
Abide in Him
The Savior invites His disciples to abide in Him (John 15:4), Brother Reid noted.
Like loaves and fishes, “the Lord desires to take what you have and multiply it beyond what we could accomplish alone. That is the promise of staying with Him,” Brother Reid taught.
Jesus Christ offered the perfect example. In Gethsemane, He stayed. On the cross, He finished the course. “Move forward knowing you do not walk alone. When life stretches you — stay. When faith is tested — stay. When the outcome is uncertain — stay and finish.
“Your future is bright not because it will be easy, but because it will be purposeful,” Brother Reid promised.
Because of Jesus Christ, there is hope ahead. There is opportunity ahead. There is purpose ahead. There is light ahead, he testified. “So stay in the game. Stay with Him and finish.”
In his remarks, Ensign College President Bruce C. Kusch quoted the lyrics of a beloved hymn, “Put Your Shoulder to the Wheel,” (“Hymns,” No. 252). While graduates may not be pushing pioneer wagons or pulling handcarts, “the Lord needs willing men and women to move the gospel cause forward. The world desperately needs you to be a light of faith and integrity,” said President Kusch. He added, “Your helping hands can reach out to lift God’s children. Your helping hands can be raised to sustain those called to serve.”
Two Ensign College graduates — Barbara Alves and Cameron Kohutek — also spoke, in addition to Michael J. Christensen, a senior director in the office of the Church commissioner of education.
