"Never deprive yourself of your personal destiny"

So yesterday, I went to the Thursday forum (yes, mostly because I had to for my Comm 100 class) but I am SO glad I did!!! John Huntsman came and spoke and he was seriously so amazing. He has a rags to riches story, and not only is he a billionaire (you heard me! A BILLIONAIRE), he donates most of his money to his cancer research fund!! He is so amazing. Here are some of the things he said (I couldn't write things down fast enough!)

• "God did not put us here to fail."
• "Life has little regard for those who waste time." (My biggest problem)
• "We receive inspiration from the mountain tops, but we achieve our maturity through the hills and valleys."
• "No is only the beginning of the conversation." (This was a funny story, but his point was that "[he] was adamant that no one else was going to determine my personal destiny."
• "Difficulties are intended to make us better, not bitter. Better. Not bitter."
• "Stay true in the dark, and humble in the spotlight."
• "Have faith in yourself- each of us have something great to achieve."

And those are just the direct quotes. I had 4 pages of notes by the end! He was so amazing.

One really cool story he was telling us is that he had applied for this job to be the head of Medicare in the 70s. He was 1/14. He had to go through 2 days of intense interviews and on the last day, the man was interviewing him said to him on his way out, "Are you a full tithe payer for your church?"
(Confidently, he answered) "Yes, I am."
"..No one here in the white house is a member of your faith, but I know enough about your religion to know that if you're a full tithe payer, you are an honest man. Therefore, I am recommending you to the President to become his right hand man."

And he got it! Isn't that amazing!! Gosh, I can't wait to read his book. I wish I would've asked him a question because he gave them a free, autographed copy of it to them!! Blast.