Devotionals and Speeches

This Devotional address with Jennifer B. Platt was delivered on Tuesday, January 20, 2026, at 11:30 AM MST in the BYU-Idaho I-Center. Jennifer Brinkerhoff Platt is the daughter of Spencer and Alice Brinkerhoff and was born and raised in Arizona.

She earned a PhD in educational psychology from Arizona State University. As a single adult, she led the first youth conference held in Ethiopia. Sister Platt has a deep love for the Church Educational System and has been a religious educator for 25 years. She taught seminary and institute in Arizona and has been a religion faculty member on three different BYU campuses: BYU, BYU–Idaho, and BYU–Hawaii.

Sister Platt is currently the Associate Department Chair of Religious Education here on campus. Her happy places include the House of the Lord, her garden, the middle of a good book, and anywhere the sun is shining. Whether it is the BYU Cougars, shy Primary children, or weary marathon runners, Jennifer loves cheering for people. She is married to Jed Platt and is the mother of two children.

This Devotional address with Sister Jennifer E. Meredith was delivered on Tuesday, January 13, 2026, at 11:30 AM MST in the BYU-Idaho I-Center. Jennifer E. Meredith received a bachelor’s degree in communications from Brigham Young University.

She worked in Human Resources for Franklin Covey. Sister Meredith served as a mission leader with her husband in the Utah Salt Lake City South Mission. She has served as a presidency member in multiple church organizations and as a full-time missionary in the Argentina Salta Mission. President and Sister Meredith were married on June 6, 1998, in the Salt Lake Temple, and they are the parents of six children.

This Devotional address with President Alvin F. Meredith III was delivered on Tuesday, January 13, 2026, at 11:30 AM MST in the BYU-Idaho I-Center. Alvin F. Meredith III became the 18th president of Brigham Young University-Idaho on August 1, 2023.

He was sustained as a General Authority Seventy on April 3, 2021, and continues to serve in that role today. Prior to his call as a General Authority, President Meredith served as president of the Utah Salt Lake City South Mission. He also served as an Area Seventy in the North America Southeast and Asia Areas, and in a number of other Church callings including as a full-time missionary in the Utah Salt Lake City Mission. In his professional career, President Meredith worked as a senior executive of Asurion in Tennessee, Hong Kong, and Singapore.

He also worked for The Boston Consulting Group and GE Capital. President Meredith earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Brigham Young University and a Master of Business Administration in finance from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

This Devotional address with Perry Rockwood was delivered on December 9, 2025, at 11:30 AM MST in the BYU-Idaho I-Center. Perry Rockwood was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, in 1995 but grew up in Enumclaw, Washington.

Perry attended BYU–Hawaii in 2013 to play for the men’s basketball team. From 2014 to 2016, he served in the Las Vegas, Nevada Mission. Perry graduated from BYU–Idaho with an emphasis in public relations and received his master’s degree in professional communication from Southern Utah University in 2024. He is an adjunct professor for the public speaking class in the Communication Department, and he works full-time as the Social Media Manager for BYU–Idaho.

Perry married his childhood friend and sweetheart, Brooke, on April 15, 2017, in the Provo City Center Temple. His hobbies include playing, coaching and watching basketball, as well as scrolling social media. He also enjoys spending time with close friends and family, especially as a new girl dad. Perry’s favorite places are the beach and Disneyland.

This Devotional address with Jane Clayson Johnson was delivered on December 2, 2025, at 11:30 AM MST in the BYU-Idaho I-Center. Jane Clayson Johnson is an Emmy award-winning journalist, widely known for her work in network television at CBS News in New York, ABC News in Los Angeles, and as a regular guest host on two nationally syndicated programs on NPR, based in Boston.

Jane began her career at KSL Television in Salt Lake City. She attended Brigham Young University on a violin performance scholarship and later graduated with a degree in broadcasting.

Jane is the author of two best-selling books. I Am a Mother chronicled her decision to leave her career in network news to have a family. Silent Souls Weeping is a candid and personal examination of those who suffer the ravages of clinical depression.

Jane and her husband, Mark Johnson, are members of the President’s Leadership Council at BYU-Pathway Worldwide. Jane has served on the boards of Deseret Management Corporation and the Wheatley Institute at BYU. She was recently appointed a Trustee at the U.S. Naval Institute Foundation. Jane currently serves as an Emotional Resilience facilitator in the Longfellow Park YSA Ward in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where her husband is the bishop.

This summer, Jane and Mark sent their son on a mission to Stockholm, Sweden, and entered a new season as empty-nesters.