Feature Story
Give What You Have to the Lord: A Welcome Back Forum With the Hales
In celebration of the new academic year, the Southern Virginia University campus community gathered in the Knight Arena for the annual Welcome Back forum with President Aaron Hale and Becky Hale, where they shared the series of spiritual promptings that led them to SVU.
Opening the forum, Becky showed how a series of distinct spiritual impressions — including a persistent prompting in the temple to “clean out your closets” — helped her and President Hale know that leaving their home in Arizona to serve at Southern Virginia University was the right decision.
“Looking back, I thought Heavenly Father was just asking me to clean out closets for several weeks after the new year,” said Becky. “What He was really doing was creating room—room for revelation, room to loosen my grip on things that aren’t important, room to align my will with His will.”
Becky urged students to clear away clutter and distractions to create sacred spaces where they can hear the Lord’s voice and reminded the campus community that Jesus Christ would always be there to lift and carry their burdens and mistakes.
“The Savior suffered so we would never have to suffer alone,” Becky testified. “He sacrificed for us and filtered every pain so we would come to Him, so we could be healed, cleansed, and prepared for future experiences that will help us grow.”
Building on the theme of making room for God, President Hale recounted the New Testament story of the young boy who offered up his five barley loaves and two small fishes to feed a crowd of five thousand. He encouraged students to offer up what they have to the Lord, just as the boy did.
“We don’t know where he came from or whether he had any idea what was about to happen. What we know is the unnamed young person had a small lunch, and when the disciples went looking for food, he gave it,” said President Hale. “He didn’t feed 5000 people. He didn’t organize the logistics. He just handed over his lunch, and the Lord did the rest.”
“The miracle was never your job,” continued President Hale. “Your job is only the offering. What the Lord asks is not sufficiency; He asks for effort and surrender, the two things that together constitute a true offering.”
President Hale then encouraged those in attendance to move forward with faith when planning their careers, marriages, and families rather than waiting for circumstances to feel completely comfortable or clear.
“The math will never work out on paper; it never has, and it never will,” said President Hale. “The Lord is not waiting for you to be ready. He is waiting for you to be willing. And the Lord, who already knows what He will do, will make it enough.”
“I see your loaves and fishes that you hand Him every day,” President Hale continued. “He is pleased. He is not disappointed that you don’t have more. He is honored by what you give.”
The forum opened with student Tobler Hughes singing “You Raise Me Up” and closed with the campus community singing “Love One Another.” The annual Welcome Back forum kicks off the 2026-27 forum academic schedule, which includes Convocation on Sept. 11, Kurt Francom from Leading Saints on Oct. 2, and the Professors of the Year Ariel Silver and Jared Lee on Oct. 9.