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This devotional address, entitled Count Your Blessings, was given on June 1st of 1976 by Elaine A. Cannon. I am thrilled to be here. I just love this campus and I love you students

and I love lots of the faculty,

and I'm sure there would be others of them I would come to love if I could have an opportunity to get to know them better.

But I have a great, warm feeling in my heart for this institution.

One reason is because very recently, I don't believe you fully understand what kind of influence

you girls especially have. This incident that I'm going to tell you about is one that involves

a young woman recently from here who finished the winter section and had gone home. And I

happened to be in her home's sacrament meeting the day after she arrived,

and they had asked her to speak for a few minutes and express something about her experiences on campus.

And then I was going to give the sacramental talk that evening.

And I had been picked up at my motel by a rather wild-looking young man.

I had been warned that he was wild-looking. Those were the terms that were used to describe him.

That isn't my own. And they said, but he's a fine boy, so don't worry. You go ahead and come with him. And he had hair

clear out here, and he was really something, but a good spirit. And we had a fine visit as we got

there. Well, this lovely girl stood at the pulpit, talked about her feeling about her

school year, the friend she had made, the growth that she had felt in the gospel,

the wonderful influences on her own life, and it really wasn't so much the thing she said

as her very being. And she was a gorgeous girl, as you girls are, and enjoy it while at last,

girls. Life takes its toll, whether it while it lasts, girls.

Life takes its toll whether you think it will or not.

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