Devotional Preview: Good Samaritans and learning from the Eyrings

The Crossroads at BYU-Idaho closes for an hour every Tuesday. A few semesters ago, this closed hour invited students to make their way to the BYU-Idaho Center where they could gather together and hear a live devotional.

Students no longer have the option to wander through the I-Center auditorium, search for their roommates and settle down just in time for the invocation. However, they can still participate in a weekly devotional, now with less wandering and searching. They just have to pull out their laptops and find the devotional page on BYU-I’s website.

President Henry J. Eyring and Kelly Eyring will give the first devotional address of the semester. Their address will be prerecorded and available on the devotional page by 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 12.

President Eyring took his position as university president in 2017, previously working as a strategy consultant in Massachusetts and an MBA director at BYU, according to his BYU-I page. Kelly Eyring graduated from BYU with a bachelor’s degree in English, according to a biography attached to a 2019 devotional address.

Henry and Kelly Eyring encouraged students to prepare for devotional by participating in the weekly discussion board. Their questions give a glimpse to what they’ll discuss during their address:

“Can you recall a time when you felt the joy of being a Good Samaritan or receiving help from a Good Samaritan? What did you learn from the experience?”

Students on the discussion board shared moments involving friends, family and strangers. Their stories ranged from organ donors gifting them sight to another person simply listening to their woes. One student shared her experience where a ministering sister acted as her Good Samaritan.

“This sweet sister is living that principle when she takes time to find out where I am and how I’m doing,” said Andrea Langford, a student on the discussion board. “I’m not a ‘lost’ sheep by any means, but even within the flock, she knows where I am and what is going on in my life. She’s taught me what it means to be a good shepherd and a Good Samaritan.”

Nearly a dozen students replied to her comment, expressing gratitude for Langford’s words.

This discussion board allowed BYU-I students to gather virtually and safely. Despite the precautions students and faculty must take to stay safe and healthy this semester, they can still gather in spirit at devotional.

“The gathering of the Lord’s people brings blessings of edification, preservation, and strength,” said Elder David A. Bednar in a 2006 devotional. “You are richly blessed to be students gathered together on the campus of BYU-Idaho.”

Students can prepare for this virtual gathering by contributing to the discussion board and pondering on the Eyrings’ questions.