September 25th, 2025, 2:37pm MDT
Brigham Young University – Hawaii has a special place in Elder Wang Lian Wu’s life, despite him not attending school. In fact, the first Directorate of 70 people on campus was prayer on Tuesday, September 23rd.
Still, Elder Wu was emotional as he raised an admissions packet from BYU-Hawaii, including a scholarship offer delivered to him as a young man decades ago. Elder Wu ultimately did not accept the scholarship. Because it was for one man, and he had planned to marry his lover, Sister Marcela B. Castellani Wu.
However, the offer of a scholarship is important to Elder Wu, who has “gracefully” it for over 30 years.
“And now, in His kind mercy, the Lord has brought us here to Hawaii and given us the great privilege of being with you,” Elder Wu said.
He particularly focused on the Raia Hawaii Temple, the Polynesian Cultural Center and the BYU-Hawaii Campus. These three places may seem independent of each other, Elder Wu said, but when combined there is a “unique and eternal purpose.”
Disciple’s Lesson: Strip Warrior
Elder Wu said that becoming a lifelong disciple was a deliberate and continuous process, not a series of isolated incidents. The process begins with faith in Jesus Christ and His tone sin, then repent, make and maintain the covenant, follow the commandments, and endure until the very end.
Elder Wu compared Alma’s books by 2,000 Stripling Warriors (see Alma 56) and Alma’s Sons (Mosiah 27).
Regarding the warriors of the Strip, Elder Wu pointed out that those young men were sons of parents who had undergone a strong-minded transformation and that they had contracted them to bury their weapons and not use them again (Alma 24:15-19).
A few years later, he fearlessly defended his family, saying, “If they had been taught by their mothers, if they had not doubted, God would save them” (Alma 56:47). In the end, none of them died in battle.
These young men were born into families with gospel knowledge and grew up in peaceful circumstances, Elder Wu said. Their parents knew the truth of the gospel, but the strip warriors knew it for themselves as well. “Like you, their testimony could have been obtained one at a time.”
If you live today, Elder Wu said you might see strip warriors praying daily, studying the Bible, attending the institute, attending the family home night, serving God and his neighbors. They constantly strived to maintain the commandments accurately, convinced that God was with them and that they would not let them fall.
“And they moved forward with incredible courage and they never fought with experienced warriors.
The Lesson of the Disciple: Alma the Young
Regarding Alma, about Moma’s sons, Elder Wu pointed out that these young men began their discipleship paths in “very different ways.”
After that angel-like visit, they were no longer in doubt, but how have they been lost so far in the first place? Perhaps they had forgotten to live the doctrine of Christ to experience their conversion, Elder Wu said. Thankfully, his great Lord of Mercy spread his arms and saved them.
“I testify that the forgiveness the Savior longs for us to give is as sweet as Alma,” Elder Wu said. “It brings light, peace and enormous joy to our lives.”
Ultimately, he continues, showing that both Mormon stories are not defined by the place where a person begins.
“To be a dedicated disciple of Jesus Christ throughout our lives is the result of our choice and commitment to make Christ the centre of our lives,” Elder Wu said. “It allows his doctrine to become a path we walk. It means submitting our will to his will, and for his tone sin, he will allow us to turn us into new creatures.”
