Elder Jose A. Teixeira offered a message of hope and encouragement to the approximately 4,000 BYU-Idaho graduates who are beginning a new chapter in their lives.
“Our Heavenly Father knows each of you and has a purpose for you,” a General Authority Seventy testified during the 2026 Winter Commencement on Friday, April 10. “Even when the sky looks gray, there is always hope through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. If you remain faithful and remain in the fields of the Lord, He will bring light into your life in ways you cannot yet imagine.”
Speaking to graduates and their loved ones gathered at the BYU-I Center for an afternoon ceremony in Rexburg, Idaho, the elder Teixeira spoke about his decision to enroll in a digital photography program offered online through the East Coast university.
As part of his assignment, the elder Teixeira had to choose a location, plan a photo shoot, and capture images worthy of a portfolio, all within a tight schedule.
“We ended up choosing a location along the Great Salt Lake with a small island in the distance,” the elder Teixeira recalls. “If the conditions are right, the water here can mirror the sky, and if everything works perfectly, it will be a beautiful sight.”
But when he left his office on the day of the shoot, the sky was gray and featureless. There are no colors or clouds.
Before driving to the site and after setting up his equipment, the elder Teixeira considered packing up and heading home.
But as the sun set, something unexpected happened. The water was still. Subtle blue tones appeared, then delicate pastel colors. “For a moment, it seemed like heaven and earth had become one,” Elder Teixeira recalled, capturing the scene on camera.
The experience taught him something he’ll never forget, he said. “The most important and beautiful moments of life appear only to those who stay a little longer.” In other words, “faith often requires us to remain in place even when the sky still seems gray.”
He then shared three lessons.
Lesson 1: “Don’t leave the field too early.”
“Dear graduates, there will be moments in the coming years when circumstances will not be ideal. Plans may not unfold as expected and progress may seem slow to you,” Elder Teixeira said.
Preparation does not guarantee success, but it can set an individual on the path. “If I hadn’t set up my equipment, if I hadn’t driven to the lake, if I hadn’t stayed until the last moment, that photo would never have existed.”
Lesson 2: “Goals lead us on the right path”
The elder Teixeira’s goal that night was to complete a class assignment, but he said he had something bigger in mind.
“Sometimes the goals we set in life don’t bring us the results we expected. But they bring us something just as important: they lead us on the right path.”
Graduate education will work in much the same way, he noted. “The degree you receive today will open doors you cannot yet see. Some of the most meaningful chapters of your life will unfold in places you never originally planned to go and with experiences you never dreamed of.”
Lesson 3: “Live a life that reflects heaven.”
For a brief moment that evening, the lake’s surface reflected the sky so perfectly that the horizon was almost invisible. Elder Teixeira said the image reminds him that “each of us has the opportunity to live a life that reflects heaven. … When we follow Jesus Christ, our lives begin to reflect something higher than ourselves.”
Elder Teixeira reminded the graduates that there will be days when the skies look gray and moments when progress seems slow. “But remember the lessons we learned on the shores of the Great Salt Lake.
“Stay in the field. Don’t give up. Believe in the importance of your preparation. And most importantly, live a life that reflects heaven,” he said.
BYU-Idaho President Alvin F. Meredith III and Church Education Commission Senior Director Michael J. Christensen also spoke during the graduation ceremony.
In his address, President Meredith told the graduates, “As you begin the next phase of your lives, we wish you success in all your pursuits. But our greatest hope is that you leave here as committed, lifelong disciples of Jesus Christ—true peacemakers, as President (Dallin H.) Oaks has encouraged us to do.”
