College President: Kindness Echoed 20 Years to Baptism

A woman named Jacque walked into a Tennessee church building after two decades, carrying a memory of one kind conversation that changed everything.

In January 2026, BYU-Idaho President Alvin F. Meredith III shared Jacque's story during the university's first devotional of the semester. Twenty years earlier, Jacque had been writing a newspaper article about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and arranged to interview a church member she found in the phone book.

That church member welcomed her with genuine interest and warmth. "I think he's the most Christlike man I've ever met," Jacque later recalled, her voice softening at the memory.

Two decades passed. Jacque saw a sign for a church mission office in Tennessee and decided to attend a service. The kindness from that long-ago interview had stayed with her all those years.

Six weeks after walking through those doors, Jacque was baptized. When President Meredith asked if she remembered the man who had interviewed with her, she answered immediately: "I'll never forget him. His name was Todd Christofferson," now an apostle in the church.

President Meredith shared this story to illustrate a powerful message to students. "Showing any degree of compassion can echo far beyond what we see," he told them.

He invited students to follow the example of the Good Samaritan from the Bible, emphasizing that compassion usually happens in everyday moments rather than grand gestures. "Slow down just enough to see who might be struggling on the road beside you," he said.

The Ripple Effect

President Meredith didn't just focus on kindness. He also challenged students to actively confront prejudice and racism, calling on them to be more than passive bystanders.

"If you hear offensive racial language, even when it's framed as a joke, have the courage to speak up," he said. "Silence may feel polite, but it's not Christlike."

He quoted Church President Dallin H. Oaks' 2020 message: "As citizens and as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we must do better to help root out racism."

His wife Jennifer also addressed students, encouraging them to focus on three principles: looking to Jesus Christ, following living prophets, and recognizing that living the gospel brings joy. She reminded students they have "unprecedented access" to teachings from modern church leaders through social media and other platforms.

President Meredith's central invitation was simple: keep doing the small acts of kindness that already happen on campus, but do them with intention. Notice who feels alone or overlooked, and choose to be the one who stops to help.

One conversation in a phone book interview became a seed that grew for 20 years, showing that no act of genuine kindness is ever wasted.