While students’ majors can range from biology to entrepreneurship and from political science to psychology, BYU-Hawaii students said the diverse knowledge they have gained in their courses has strengthened their testimonies of the gospel.
Adolfo Arellano, a junior political science major from Mexico, said, “I think that learning about the gospel is important in any major … but having knowledge from other sources helps too. They both go together. Every major helps you understand the truth in every way. Not what people think or what a certain person thinks, but the truth.”
Kathleen Hawes, a sophomore psychology major from Idaho, who started as an art major, said the knowledge she learned from class, sketches, artwork, and everyday life strengthens her testimony. “It definitely lets me see the beauty that God creates for us.” She said peoples’ different faces, expressions, and the way they acted interested her and so she decided to switch to psychology.
Hawes said studying the way people act and the way they see the world helps her to see others the way God sees them. “Everyone’s different. I’m different, you’re different, and so it’s a great way to connect with charity - the attributes of Christ. … It’s definitely helping me become closer to Him and to act the way He acts. I should love everyone just like how Christ does.”
Arellano said he has learned in his major that “since the beginning, man has been starting to organize in societies. In every society they have been looking to find a good way of organization and many times they have succeeded in certain things and sometimes they have failed in certain aspects.”
He explained they also searched for answers to their purpose and role in life. He said, “[The church] is a perfect organization either organizationally or philosophically. It has thrived. And I think that’s the reason why this organization of the church has been really successful.”
Arellano compared God to a watchmaker and the church to a mechanical watch. He said, “Imagine finding a watch on the street and picking it up, looking at it closely, and realizing how complex, intricate and unique it is. Then someone else with a greater knowledge would have had to make it, because it wasn’t easily created.”
Abbie Greenwood, a senior marine biology major from Utah, said she learned about the creation of the earth in her geology and religion class. In her religion class, she emphasized how she learned the creation wasn’t seven days long and it wasn’t 24 hours. It took seven periods of time, not days.
Between scientists who don’t believe in God and scientists who do, Greenwood said, “I don’t think there really is a division. I feel like we know about this much,” raising her hands and holding them about a foot apart, “and there’s all of this to learn,” she said as she threw her hands out to show a larger portion. “Who are we to say they don’t coincide? I think there’s a lot more opportunities for similarities.
“Religion and science are really similar because they’re both in search of truth. I think what it really comes down to is that we rejoice in truth in all things, so I think that has definitely strengthened my testimony,” Greenwood continued.
During her geology class, Greenwood said she learned about how the solar system and earth were formed as well. “After a semester of learning all these intricate things about how the Grand Canyon formed from bottom up, and how it chiseled its way down, you learn a lot of things and you don’t see your surroundings in the same way. Rather, you see it in a way of how much time and how much effort was put into it and how it was all created for us.”
In comparison with her major, she said, “We know so little about the ocean, but what we do know is magnificent and it’s enough to cling onto and want to pursue it more.”
The gospel is the same way, Greenwood explained. “I don’t know everything about the gospel at all times, but there are a few things I really have a strong testimony of and I can build off of that and then search for more. … Marine biology is the same way.”
Alex Moreno, a senior business management major and entrepreneurship minor from Mexico, said, “A lot of people think business is all about making money, being rich, and being happily rich … but that’s not necessarily the case.”
Moreno said his professors have been successful monetarily but also served others. He said he has learned his teacher’s success came from using their businesses and resources to benefit others.
Moreno said he attends the Entrepreneur Lecture Series every Thursday at the Willes Center. He said, “[The speakers] recognize that yes, they’ve become successful and they’ve been able to help a lot of people, but they recognize they’ve been able to do all those things because they put their trust in the Lord. I love that they emphasize that. That’s again a testimony for me I can become an instrument in the hand of the Lord just like how they have been.”
Louisette Waiane, a junior education major from New Caledonia and Vanuatu, said when she first heard about the education program, she thought it was only about teaching, getting to know students, and learning from them. But now, “what I see with the education program is the more I get closer to [the students], the more I feel like I get closer to my Savior.
“[Seeing] the way they learn, the way they speak, and I’m just like, ‘Wow, Heavenly Father is so amazing to be able to bless those students’ ability to learn and grow.’ I just love it. It’s amazing and it helps me to get closer to Heavenly Father and Christ and build that relationship with them, and be able to see in a way the Savior usually sees them as students and children of Heavenly Father,” Waiane continued.
Jackson Saga, a freshman hospitality and tourism management major from Malaysia, said the gospel brings happiness to others. He explained his work at the Polynesian Cultural Center is not just for the money, but to make other people happy. “I don’t look at it as a job. I look at as an opportunity for me to serve and make others happy.”
Saga explained he read a talk by President Thomas S. Monson that talks about service. He said of the talk, “We have the capacity to serve others. As a member of the church, serving is one of the crucial parts of our responsibility or our calling. It helped my testimony grow and I know … I will be able to help Heavenly Father’s children be happy through it.”
Writer: Emmalee Smith