BYU Today: Merry Christmas from President Worthen

As we reflect on the past and refresh for the future during this holiday season, I share my gratitude to be part of the BYU community with you. May we press forward with a firm foundation of faith in our Savior Jesus Christ now and throughout the coming year. Peggy and I send our best wishes and festive greetings to you and your family. Merry Christmas!
—President Kevin J Worthen

This year, you can offer Christ the perfect gift by making time for Him. Read, watch, or listen to Elder Neil L. Andersen’s recent Christ-centered devotional, then enjoy an inspiring short video with his testimony of “the Creator, the long-awaited Messiah, the Prince of Peace, the King of kings, our Savior and Redeemer.”

As part of Elder Neil Andersen’s devotional presentation, BYU professor Brad Wilcox took to campus, asking students, Cosmo and BYU cheerleaders, and even BYU president Kevin J Worthen what they are doing every day in response to President Russell M. Nelson’s plea to all to make time for the Lord in their lives.

To celebrate the season, the Bonner Family performs “How Great Thou Art,” one of many musical numbers from Christmas With The Chosen: The Messengers, available on BYUtv. The Bonners—several of whom are BYU grads—also share their new music video “Let’s Light the World.”

With distinct barbershop harmonies, the BYU Singers stroll, carol, and even roast marshmallows in this a cappella arrangement of Irving Berlin’s “White Christmas.”

The new children’s Christmas song “When We Seek Him” by BYU grads Shawna Edwards and Angie Killian captures how Jesus is always anxiously waiting to join us in our lives if we simply reach out to Him. In 2010 Edwards shared her Christmas song “Do You Have Room?” which has more than 1.4 million views on YouTube.

BYU student Savannah Taylor has completed four construction internships and is teaching percussion at Provo High School. Her education is being supported by donor-funded university and college scholarships. Learn more about how donors are stepping up to help Taylor and other BYU students.

Using 120,000 images from drones and other cameras, BYU engineering students created a 3D virtual model so detailed that it can be used for building planning, virtual reality, and 3D printing. From cracks on sidewalks to letters on statue plaques, this photo-realistic model captures a moment in time on a constantly changing campus. Watch the video to learn more, then explore the model on your own.

“I never imagined I’d be tracking Antarctic icebergs in the middle of Utah,” says junior Scheridan Vorwaller Cloward, reflecting on her three years of work for BYU’s Microwave Earth Remote Sensing Laboratory. Through the efforts of Cloward and her coworkers in the lab, BYU—despite being nestled in a landlocked state thousands of miles from the South Pole—has become one of the primary sources for iceberg-tracking data in the world.

In addition to sharing his new and improved “Glitter Bomb 4.0,” BYU engineering grad and top YouTuber Mark Rober rolled out a cannon capable of firing a T-shirt from the playing field to the highest seats of an NFL stadium.