Monday, December 5, 2016

Disciple Leader Conference, the Rigby and John


John said, “The reason I came to Brigham Young University Idaho is because I prayed about it on my mission and felt impressed that this is the school in which I should attend. Previous to that prompting I had felt like I wanted to attend the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque New Mexico.”

Little did I know that I would become friends with him and get involved with Disciple Leader Conference and have all the experiences both he and I would have because of the choice to be here at Brigham Young University Idaho. Being a part of this school and specifically being on this campus is a huge blessing and the spirit on a school campus isn’t found anywhere else. The rules and values here keep the students held accountable and are a higher standard than any other campus. From big rules of only being able to miss a few days of class per semester to smaller rules such as curfew and not being able to wear flip flops and shorts on campus.    

John is my friend that I met last semester while on a double date. My date was Durant, and John was mission companions with him, and he had a date. We hiked up R Mountain and had s’mores. It was a lot of fun. As a result of this double date I ended up seeing John around campus more. Eventually we became good friends. I ended up volunteering for Disciple Leader Conference that is put on by students every semester. During spring semester this past year, one of my roommates got me to go to a meeting where they talked about the different student support groups and I became interested in the Disciple Leader Conference one. I helped with Blitzing last semester and decided to do it again this semester. John and I worked together this semester as we went blitzing for the conference and let people know about it.   

John has a special place in his heart for the Rigby building because that is the building where student support happens. He participates in a lot of different student support organizations that are all located within the Rigby building. The Rigby building is a refuge for the students and a joined place of the spirit. Get Connected is an organization that helps new freshman and transfer students acclimate to the school to learn the campus, make friends and have fun. First Year Mentors is an organization that is specifically focused on mentoring the new freshman and transfer students during the semester. As Get Connected solely focuses on the beginning of the semester, First Year Mentors focuses on the wellbeing during their entire first semester of attending BYUI. Heber J. Grant purely is focused on students attending BYUI that have a higher risk of not graduating. There is also Peer Mentor where they develop school curriculum which will one day be a required class for all students to take as a foundation class. There is also Visit Day Ambassadors which give visiting parents, friends and family of future students a tour of the campus. Last there is Involvement where there sole purpose is to invite people to volunteer and get involved with student support. In accordance to the Rigby Building John said, “I go there every day Monday thru Friday, for one to two hours to help plan, prepare for the current semester, and the following semesters Disciple Leader Conference.”

“When I first started Disciple Leader Conference, I had been selected to teach. While attending those meetings, I still had the common return missionary ideology that I should still be serving a mission, and that I should be in my previous areas continuing to teach the people I once taught. I didn’t know why I was attending BYU-I at the time and couldn’t just get an extension of the mission. It was at that point where I had a spiritual experience in one of the meetings. At the end of one such particular meeting, a prayer was offered by one of the leaders of the group.  In the prayer, she prayed for each of the members of the teaching group by name, and prayed individually for their needs. The spirit was so strong and the spirit testified to me that being home and helping with the students at BYU-Idaho was my purpose.” Disciple Leader Conference is not just an organization of the school, where students help students, but it is to help students come closer to the Savior. The topics every semester for the conference are based on Christlike attributes and how each of us as His children can come unto Him. Faculty and staff, President Gilbert and other keynote speakers along with student-led discussions all focus on those topics of how we can be better Disciple Leaders.

John was a leader over blitzing for the Disciple Leader Conference this semester. I volunteered for blitzing, and every week we would go out together and tell people about the upcoming conference. We had some pretty good experiences. John recalls an experience he had while blitzing. “We had prayed beforehand that the Lord would guide us of what to do and where to go. The Lord kept His promise. We were guided to people in the MC and Library that were truly interested in going to Disciple Leader Conference and to people who were willing to help with Student Support.”

When you first walk into the Rigby by the North East Main entrance you are immediately greeted with a staircase, a door, and a list of offices and what specific offices are on each individual floor. The first floor is mainly comprised of the English faculty and staff. One the second floor contains more offices of faculty and staff of the English department, officers in the army representing the ROTC program of the college and the student support rooms for faculty, staff and volunteers. Half of the second floor is set apart purely for student support faculty, staff and volunteers. Depending upon your organization and position is a key factor in how much time you will spend in the Rigby building. As a fulltime faculty member you can expect to work Monday thru Friday, 30-40 hours a week. Staff members (mostly comprised of hired students) can be expected to work 18-26 hours a week. Volunteers, however, are expected to put in five to 10 hours a week depending on their council position. All other volunteers may only be expected to volunteer for 2-4 hours a week. John said, “This is my favorite building and I spend time in it every day, so I know it well.” He loves to spend time serving there because he knows it makes a difference in his life, but also the lives of those that come and are a part of the conference every semester. Some of his greatest friends have come because he chose to get involved and sacrifice many hours in behalf of the greater good of the school.

The Rigby building was named after the settler and prominent church leader William F. Rigby, in Eastern Idaho. It was dedicated on December 11, 1963 by Elder Marion G. Romney of the Council of the Twelve. The building was originally a dormitory made up of 120 rooms with two boys to each room (total of 235), except for five single quarters for senior resident students who aided in the supervision.

Rigby was born in his grandparents’ home to his mother Margaret Littlewood on January 29, 1833, in Saddleworth, England, a small town near the manufacturing city of Manchester.

Factory worker and farmer, pioneer and missionary, civic leader and religious leader, prisoner and statesman, William F. Rigby lived in a world of contrasts. An energetic worker who never put off any task however daunting it may seem, Rigby’s list of accomplishments are impressive. He helped establish over 44 communities in Idaho and Utah. He built up not only households, but ranches, nurseries, sawmills, mercantile, and waterways in three different states. He served time both in the Utah Territorial Prison and in the Idaho State Legislature. For 17 years, he labored as the found father and Bishop of Newton, Utah. He then served another 17 years in the Bannock Stake Presidency of Idaho, one of the largest stakes in the church at that time. In his personal life he was personal life he was a husband and father.


  



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