‘Lift off and fly on to new horizons,' Elder Uchtdorf tells BYU–Pathway students (2024)

In empathizing with and reassuring BYU–Pathway Worldwide students in their journey to gain education and better their circ*mstances, Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf turned to his well-known fondness for using aviation in his messages over three decades as a general authority of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

In a BYU–Pathway devotional message — prerecorded in front of three passenger jets in a hangar at Utah’s Provo Airport and broadcast on Tuesday, May 28 — the member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles encouraged his student listeners to embrace their opportunities and continue their individual journeys to discover their respective destinies.

He reminded them that dreams can become a reality by trusting in the Lord and allowing BYU–Pathway programs and personnel to guide and help.

“Each of you is a child of God, and Heavenly Father wants you to become your best self during this life and into the eternities. Remember, He loves you,” Elder Uchtdorf said.

“As you move forward and upward, you will bless your own life and the lives of countless others in turn.”

And after videotaping the devotional in late April, he took a moment to talk about what using aviation stories and perspective means to him in his teachings and trainings.

Empathy for hardships

Elder Uchtdorf acknowledged the global breadth of the BYU–Pathway Worldwide student body — more than 65,000 students representing over 180 countries around the world, with 63% living outside the United States — and the students’ varied situations.

“Most of you are feeling your way through the obstacles of daily life and are trying to find your place in the world,” he said, adding that some face physical, emotional or spiritual challenges pressing upon them.

In underscoring an empathy for their challenges and hardships, Elder Uchtdorf related those of his youth — a refugee twice, with his family forced to abandon their home and seek refuge in different lands during World War II.

He recounted playing as a child in the bomb craters of a city ravaged by war, wearing worn and ill-fitting clothes and being ridiculed because of his accent and because he seemingly didn’t fit in.

“Because of having to start over so often, my family sometimes lived in very humble circ*mstances,” Elder Uchtdorf said. “I remember once living in the corner of an attic. I can still remember the sound of mice padding all around me as I tried to sleep at night.”

Each family member contributed in the effort to survive. His mother opened a business to do other people’s laundry, and young Dieter Uchtdorf provided pick-up and delivery services after school, riding a bike with a small cart attached through the streets of their small town.

“Therefore, my dear friends, to a small extent, I can understand the hardships many of you are enduring,” he said. “And you need to know that all this changed my life for the better because of the blessings of the gospel and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”

He continued: “I want you also to know that I deeply care about you. I weep with you. I feel with you. I love you.

“I want you also to know that you are not alone. Your Heavenly Father knows you. He hears your prayers. He is aware of your every tear. He loves you with infinite love and watches over you. Even when you might feel you are alone, He is there.”

The Apostle told his listeners that one way God extends His arm of compassion to them is through BYU–Pathway, which offers support and resources designed to help them to a better way of life.

‘Soaring on to new horizons’

Elder Uchtdorf pointed out the three jets behind him and their “capacity of defying gravity, climbing higher and soaring on to new horizons” as an analogy of one’s pursuits in life.

He recalled wondering as a young man of his future, then finding himself on the outskirts of the Frankfurt, Germany, airport as he watched airplanes take off and land with grace and precision. “How I wanted to sit in the co*ckpit of one of those beautiful flying machines,” he said.

He knew his dream would not come easily, needing to commit himself to hard work, long hours and learning that seemed “almost beyond my abilities.” That included first having to learn English.

“Because my dream was so compelling, these things stopped being obligations — instead, they became opportunities,” said Elder Uchtdorf, admitting they were difficult and he sometimes wanted to quit.

“But I knew if I pressed on, if I gave my all, the Lord would help me. I learned of the reality of the scriptural promises ‘If God be for us, [what] can be against us?’ (Romans 8:31) and ‘For with God nothing [is] impossible’” (Luke 1:37).

‘You are never alone’

Knowing many of his listeners feel the same way, Elder Uchtdorf said he wishes he could sit down with each and have the following conversation:

“I would want to know everything about you. How you started, where you are headed and what challenges you are facing. Perhaps we would laugh and cry together,” he said.

“But during our conversation, I would say this to every one of you: You are never alone. Jesus Christ is your strength. He loves you. He stands with you. We are with you. We love you.”

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints loves them enough to extend its BYU–Pathway Worldwide resources and encourage them to continue their exciting journey through life, Elder Uchtdorf added.

“We want you to succeed. We rejoice with you as you reach your goals,” he said, commending BYU–Pathway Worldwide leaders, faculty and staff who help students reach their goals.

“Like one of these beautiful airplanes, you can defy the gravity of your circ*mstances and the weight of the challenges of your life and lift off and fly on to new horizons.”

To those wondering if they can make it through the program, he offered this advice: “I say stay with it. The reward of long-term blessings often comes at the price of short-term dedication, commitment and hard work.

“You can do this. You are not alone.”

A pilot’s perspective

Following the late-April taping of the BYU–Pathway devotional, Elder Uchtdorf — a German fighter-jet pilot who trained in Texas and Arizona with the U.S. Air Force in the early 1960s before a long career as a Lufthansa captain — stopped at a nearby Provo hangar to look at vintage U.S. fighter/bomber planes.

There he inspected an A26B Invader, which were flown from World War II to the Vietnam War, and a P-51 Mustang fighter bomber, from WWII and the Korean War. Both are being restored by a group led by brothers Dave Fronk and Jan Fronk.

Facilitated by Elder John Egbert, a Church military relations missionary, the visit also featured a fully restored 1942 Willys Jeep pulling a functioning 37mm anti-tank gun.

Afterward, Elder Uchtdorf — who became a pilot for Lufthansa German Airlines and concluded a three-decade career as senior vice president for flight operations and chief pilot before his call in 1994 as a general authority — spoke of his penchant for using aviation references and anecdotes, as he did in the BYU–Pathway devotional.

People have deep connections to and relationships with hobbies and interests, he said, adding that the same is possible with professions.

“Everyone has some special relationship to their livelihood, and sometimes you think someone who is an accountant or a lawyer or a doctor — or whatever it is — could not have a deep relationship because it is not a hobby. But I think everyone can,” he told the Church News.

“And that’s why I think that something like aviation, like flying — which is often a hobby — you can also have a deep relationship when it is your livelihood.”

In the sky, a pilot enjoys sweeping views. “It opened for me new horizons, new dimensions that you see the world from a different perspective,” Elder Uchtdorf said. “When you look down from 35,000 feet, the earth just looks different — smaller things, which are a worry down here, appear all of a sudden totally different when you are up in a different situation.”

A pilot can see thunderstorms or other circ*mstances that might have a negative impact for certain areas. “You see them in their beauty in the whole picture,” he said. “It brings together the world as a whole and the universe as a whole.”

Similarly, an expansive view of life and God’s plan offers a big-picture view that is more beneficial than excessive worrying about smaller challenges or hardships.

“I think it helped me to see more of the plan of happiness, the eternal plan of progression, the plan of salvation in a broader, in a wider and in a higher view. You could see the whole picture instead of worrying too much about some details, which could distract you [and prevent] even to embrace the full picture,” Elder Uchtdorf said.

“So I think what aviation does for me is to bring me out of my background as a child, as a refugee in difficult circ*mstances, all of a sudden into the light. And for me, then the gospel — which is part of that process — is the light, which all of a sudden shines and lights up these perspectives in a special way.”