PROVO, Utah — Amid a fast-changing and, at times, confusing world, there are some things that will never change: the importance of family, faith and service, the U.S. Secretary of Education told BYU's largest graduating class in history April 25.

Photo by Stuart Johnson

Elder Henry B. Eyring, left, Elder Merrill J. Bateman and Elder M. Russell Ballard, speak with Roderick Paige, second from left, U.S. Secretary of Education, at BYU commencement exercises.

"Strong families are the backbone of society," said the nation's top educator, Roderick Paige, during BYU commencement exercises held in the Marriott Center. "Home is where we learn the values that shape us. It is where we get the encouragement to set high goals and work hard to achieve them. It is in our families where we learn that being a good mom or dad is the most important job any one of us could ever have."

Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve presided at the event and addressed the graduating class, made up of 6,435 students from 50 states and 51 other countries. Elder Henry B. Eyring of the Quorum of the Twelve and the Church's Commissioner of Education, and BYU President Merril J. Bateman of the Seventy also spoke.

Secretary Paige told the students that their faith can give them purpose and strength in good times and in bad. "In all we do, we must let faith be the fire within us," he said.

Success, he added, is much more than just personal accomplishment. "Make serving, not receiving — giving not getting — an important part of your life. . . . No one wins if we don't watch out for each other. Everyone wins if we do unto others as we'd have them do unto us."

Photo by Stuart Johnson

Prior to BYU commencement exercises, Elder M. Russell Ballard, left, takes moment with grandson, Matt Ballard, and Matt's wife, Alina, and their baby, Anabelle.

As someone who has spent his lifetime in education, Secretary Paige said teachers are making a profound difference in the nation. "I urge each of you to follow the lead of those teachers. Mentor a child. Visit the elderly. Share your faith. Do whatever you can, wherever you are to make your community a better place for everyone to live. The opportunities to serve are limitless. So are the rewards."

Elder Ballard told the graduates to do everything in their power to make the world a more gentle and more peaceful place to live. "May your testimony . . . of the Lord Jesus Christ become ever more powerful in your life," he said. "That will happen as we serve Him."

Service, said Elder Eyring, is one way BYU graduates can achieve the purpose of their education — even at times when they are torn between the demands to provide and care for a family, to respond to the cries of a widow or orphan, or to meet the requirements of a Church calling. "Your key and mine to rising to our potential as servants is to know our Master, to do for Him what we can, and be content to leave the residue in His hands."

Remember, he told the graduates, "that you serve a Master who loves you, who knows you, and who is all-powerful. He has created not demands for your service but opportunities for your growth."

Elder Eyring said service brings blessings. "As you go to serve Him rather than being demeaned you will be lifted up. And, in the world to come, you will find yourself in His exalted presence."

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