The nearly 9,000 students in attendance heard Elder Hales teach them there are preparatory times in their lives that will make them ready for the challenges, tests and trials that are part of their earthly existence.
"It would be well for each us to ask ourselves: What am I doing now in my preparation for adulthood?"
He said that Joseph Smith was prepared before the foundations of the earth to be the Prophet of the Restoration. He went on to chronicle the events in world and religious history and talk about those who were put to death for daring to point out errors in the ruling church of the day.