Senior missionaries reflect on how God has a specific plan for all people
Through the experience of growing up in a home that did not prioritize education to miraculously attending Princeton, Elder Robert Johnson, a service missionary and professor in the Faculty of Business & Government from Utah, said he firmly believes God has a plan for each of His children. “He works hard for us to find our way. There is a definite and deep purpose for each of us.” He said he believes God has work for every BYU–Hawaii student to do.
Receiving a revelation
Johnson said he was raised in an inactive family of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Southern California. His father was a JCPenney salesperson, he said, and they were not financially well off. “He worked all the time. My dad went to one semester of college and dropped out because he married my mom and then I came along.” His mother also dropped out of college, he said. “There was not a great deal of emphasis on education.”
One Friday night, when Johnson was about 10 or 11 years old, he said he was watching a crime drama on television while babysitting his two younger brothers. The show discussed the crimes of two Princeton University students. As he watched, he got the distinct impression that he would one day attend Princeton University for college, he said. Though he knew nothing about the school at that time, he shared he never forgot that impression.
Feeling discouraged
During his freshman year of high school, Johnson’s family moved to the Bay Area in Northern California where they lived for about two years, he said. While there, Johnson’s father, “all of a sudden was discovered at the JCPenney corporation and he was promoted,” Johnson said. His father got a job offer in New York City, he said.
Their entire family moved to New Jersey so his father could commute to work, and Johnson said they lived in a more affluent neighborhood than in California. “I was now living in a place where people talked about going to college,” he said, adding his school counselor encouraged him. At that point, he discovered Princeton was also in New Jersey, he shared.
“[However,] I learned you had to be pretty unique to go to Princeton. I did not fit the bill, so I was pretty confused.” Johnson shared, “I was pretty ordinary. I was a nondescript person in New Jersey.”
Believing in God 'takes away worry, and it brings peace and confidence to one’s soul.'
Revelation fulfilled
A popular, leather-jacket-clad student nicknamed Weasel was one of Johnson’s few school friends in New Jersey, Johnson said. Weasel asked Johnson if he would like to be the student body president of their high school, he shared, and Johnson thought it was a hypothetical question. Weasel told Johnson, “Sign up to run, and I’ll take care of the rest,” he said. Miraculously, with Weasel’s help, Johnson said he won—despite his lack of popularity.
Even though Johnson said he was not a particularly exceptional student, he received high marks on his Preliminary SAT and his counselor encouraged him to apply for Princeton. His experience as student body president and his test scores helped secure his admission.
While at college, Johnson said he met Bruce, one of the few members of the Church at Princeton. He said he believes God guided him to Princeton specifically so he could meet Bruce. Johnson and Bruce were close lifelong friends who had worked closely together.
Teaching in a Christlike way
Talking about what he has learned from his instructor, Samuel Hironaka, a senior political science major from Canada, said, “Our purpose on earth is to do the best we can. As long as we are honest with ourselves, we can rest easy knowing Christ will make up the rest.” This understanding of Christ’s grace–expecting effort while offering mercy–is reflected in Johnson’s teaching style, Hironaka said. “Elder Johnson has many sayings that he will offer the class. Two of my favorites are, ‘Comparison is the death of joy’ and the second being, ‘Don’t let perfection be the enemy of the good.’”
Trusting God’s plan together
Senior missionary Sister Gloria Johnson, Robert Johnson’s wife, said she has also feles God has a plan for her and her husband. When they were first engaged, she said her husband “had accepted an offer in a master’s program to a university in another state.” However, he was approached by the dean of the new BYU law school, she shared, who suggested he change his career path to study law.
Elder Johnson had not considered law school, but after making “[their] pros and cons list of which school to attend and which subject to pursue,” fasting and praying, she said they decided Elder Johnson would study law at BYU. “At the time, we felt as though it was a risky choice, but we chose to trust Heavenly Father. He knew us well and we knew it was the right decision.”
Finding peace and guidance
The belief that God knows each of us and is involved in the details of our lives is something that the Johnsons hold onto, said Sister Johnson. Believing in God, “takes away worry, and it brings peace and confidence to one’s soul,” she said.
She advised BYU–Hawaii students facing stressful and impactful decisions about issues, like marriage and careers, to seek as much information as possible about their situations and be open in prayer with God. “When you make the choice Heavenly Father knows is best for you, trust Him. He knows better than anyone .… You won’t need to ask anyone else what they think of your decision.”
Looking back at the stress Hironaka felt in high school, he said he now “can see that issues, while important at the time, were not that important.” He shared, “If you can honestly say you are [living by the directions and example given by Christ and Heavenly Father], then you can see your problems for the trivial and temporary things that they are … Knowledge of God’s plan has enabled me to take life one day at a time.”