President James E. Faust urged more than 2,500 BYU graduates Aug. 6 to solve life's problems spiritually. Those who prayerfully seek answers with faith, nothing wavering, will reach their potential, he promised.

President Faust, second counselor in the First Presidency, presided over and offered brief remarks at BYU's fall commencement exercises, held in the university's Marriott Center.Elder David B. Haight of the Quorum of the Twelve also spoke after he received an honorary doctorate of Christian service for his "wisdom, gentleness, goodness and graciousness."

The commencement services were conducted by Elder Henry B. Eyring of the Quorum of the Twelve and Church commissioner of education. Also in attendance were Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve; Elder Merrill J. Bateman of the Seventy and BYU president; Elder John M. Madsen of the Seventy; Elder Hartman Rector Jr., emeritus General Authority; Relief Society Gen. Pres. Mary Ellen Smoot; Young Women Gen. Pres. Margaret D. Nadauld; and Primary Gen. Pres. Patricia P. Pinegar.

Before giving his address, President Faust asked the audience to stand in honor of Elder Oaks and in memory of his late wife, June Oaks, who died July 21 of cancer. Elder Oaks was seated in the audience with his family. Reverently, the more than 10,000 people in attendance stood.

During his remarks, President Faust told the graduates that they will see, in their lifetime, an unrolling of the Lord's work - just as foretold by the Prophet Joseph Smith in 1842.

"The Prophet Joseph wrote to Mr. John Wentworth

Chicago newspaper editorT, `No unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; . . . the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished.' "

President Faust told the graduates that in their remarkable lifetime, "the blessings of heaven will be upon you, . . . peace and joy and happiness will attend you."

During his address, Elder Haight counseled the graduates to establish a firm foundation based on the commandments and then reach out to help others.

Elder Haight related an incident that occurred during the construction of the Salt Lake Temple.

"

The templeT was to be built to last through the millennium," he explained, noting that one day Brigham Young discovered workers putting sandstone blocks in the future building's foundation. "He had them remove those sandstone blocks, even though it was most difficult and it delayed the construction a long time, and replace them with granite blocks. The foundation has to be right."

Elder Haight said that one can build a strong foundation for themselves by following the commandments to love God and to love others. "If you don't get these two in place then a lot of the other things that we think are important may not count very much," he noted. "Love God and love people. If you are going to love people you are going to be involved in serving them in some way."

And above all, Elder Haight counseled, "know that you are representatives of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We bring goodness and hope and salvation and eternal blessings to the people of the world, to all who will listen."

Awarded an honorary doctorate of humane letters was Muhammad Yunus, who discovered 20 years ago that extending credit to the poor was one way to fight the cycle of poverty. The founder of the Grameen Movement - whose bank operates more than 1,000 branches in 36,000 rural Bangladesh villages, offering credit to 2 million of the world's poorest people - told the graduates to never give up dreaming.

"Be a dreamer," he said. "And keep on trying to make the dream come true. Dream about the world you would like to have. If we all dream about a better world, I can guarantee you we'll create a better world."

Graduate Windy May Steele knows what it means to have dreams. After taking nearly a year off from school to recuperate from cancer surgery, she set a goal to graduate.

Just prior to her junior year at BYU, Sister Steele experienced an irregular lump on her foot. The lump turned out to be a tumor, and she was diagnosed with synovial cell sarcoma or soft tissue cancer. Two surgeries were performed to remove the tumor from her foot.

Teachers, friends and family helped Sister Steele endure and succeed. "My last semesters were emotionally exhausting," she said, "but I knew I had other things to do in life besides dwell on the cancer."

A degree was also awarded posthumously to Richard Andrew Young. He had completed four years of a five-year combined bachelor's and master's degree in public policy when he died of cystic fibrosis May 21.

His mother, Denise Young, said college played an important role for her son. "He put all of his efforts into

schoolT because he thought it was a goal he could attain."

BYU political science professor Valerie Hudson, whose own son was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis, admired Brother Young's tenacity and helped persuade BYU officials to award him, posthumously, a bachelor's degree - the portion of his education he had completed.

"I thought if my son grew up to be half as wonderful as

Brother YoungT, he would lead a full life and influence many for good," Sister Hudson said.