Welcome to the Classic Speaches Podcasts presented by BYU Speaches, bringing you treasured talks from 70 years of BYU Devotionals.

Be sure to check out our other podcasts by searching BYU Speaches wherever you get your podcasts, or by visitingspeches.BYU.edu slash podcasts.

This devotional address entitled Seeking for Solutions was given on November 14th of 2000 by

Mary Ellen Smoot, then the General Relief Society president of the Church of Jesus Christ of

Latter-day Saints.

Brothers and sisters and friends, I am grateful for this opportunity to be here with you.

When I visited this campus on another occasion about 20 years ago, I could not find as good

of parking places I was given today.

I came for a women's conference with a car full of friends, and after a very inspiring and fulfilling

day, I went for the car, thinking that I would save them the other women, the long walk,

through the parking lot. Imagine how shocked I was when I found my

car rendered immobile by a huge contraption on the front wheel. I later learned that the

students affectionately called this contraption the boot.

Our son, who was a BYU student body officer at the time, had borrowed my car earlier

in the semester while his car was being repaired.

Unbeknownst to me in the rush to meet his many obligations on campus, he had parked

somewhere he should not have, and received

a ticket that he had forgotten to pay.

I got the boot that day.

So believe me today, as I speak to you about seeking solutions to problems, sometimes

not even of your own making. I know something

about which I speak. And I know you do too. We each have our burdens to bear, no matter who we are,

...