On January 1, 1980, Dallin welcomed in the new year by starting a daily journal. "Having been urged by the prophet, President Spencer W. Kimball, to keep a daily journal, I choose this significant date to begin," he jotted. His detailed journal, which he kept from then on, was highly introspective, reflecting not just events, but also his feelings. At the same time, he was discreet, taking care not to record information that would violate confidences, privacy, or matters he considered too sacred to put in writing.

Dallin had kept personal records in the past, but not on a consistent, daily basis. He had been working on a personal history of his life up to when he became BYU President, feeling a strong compulsion to complete this history as soon as possible. He even promised himself that he would write no more articles or major speeches until it was done. Just the evening before, New Year's Eve, he had completed the final chapter. "I feel relieved," he wrote. Titled "The First 39 Years," it became a key source on his life to that point.

The veil is very thin in the temples, especially when we join in worshipping through music. At temple dedications I have seen more tears of joy elicited by music than by the spoken word. I have read accounts of angelic choirs joining in these hymns of praise, and I think I have experienced this on several occasions. In dedicatory sessions featuring beautiful and well-trained choirs of about thirty voices, there are times when I have heard what seemed to be ten times thirty voices praising God with a quality and intensity of feeling that can be experienced but not explained. Some who are listening today will know what I mean.

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We need to make more use of our hymns to put us in tune with the Spirit of the Lord, to unify us, and to help us teach and learn our doctrine. We need to make better use of our hymns in missionary teaching, in gospel classes, in quorum meetings, in home evenings, and in home teaching visits. Music is an effective way to worship our Heavenly Father and his Son, Jesus Christ. We should use hymns when we need spiritual strength and inspiration.

[E]ach of you needs to build a reservoir of faith so you can draw upon it when someone you love or respect betrays you, when some scientific discovery seems to cast doubt on a gospel principle, or when someone makes light of sacred things, such as the name of God or the sacred ceremonies of the temple. You need to draw on your reservoir of faith when you are weak or when someone else calls on you to strengthen them. You also need to draw on your reservoir of faith when some requirement of Church membership or service interferes with your personal preferences.