In the fall of 1974, I was a freshman at BYU, living in Deseret Towers where we ate our meals at the Morris Center.  I remember one morning sitting at a table having breakfast with some of my friends and seeing then-President Oaks walk in the door, get in the food line and then come to our table and ask if he could join us. While he was walking toward our table, I noticed quite a few of the guys seated around me had to do some quick tucking of their hair behind their ears.  For those who are younger, when I started at BYU, the hair standard of “over the ears and off the collar” was strictly enforced and so I’m guessing some were worried that he would turn us all in. However, nothing like that happened. He asked us all to introduce ourselves and to share our initial impressions of living on campus as new students. And I recall being impressed by how easily he related to us “newbie” freshmen, many of whom were from California like me.

Dallin H. Oaks had been appointed BYU President in August 1971 at age 39 and when I arrived there in September 1974, he was barely 42 years old. By that time, he had (5) children, a couple of whom were about my age. He served as President for nine years and was replaced by Jeffrey R. Holland. Because of my BYU experience, I felt like I had a connection to President Oaks, who eventually would be called as an Apostle in 1984.

After graduation, I returned to Southern California, where I worked for most of my career. Over the years, I had a few brief interactions with Elder Oaks at various BYU alumni and athletic events and once at the San Diego Temple.  And at each General Conference, my attention would always perk up when he was announced as the next speaker.

In March 2007, while I was serving in the Stake Presidency in the Corona, CA Stake, then “Elder” Oaks was assigned to preside over our Stake Conference. This was a big deal for our stake, which in the 25+ years of its existence, had not had an Apostle attend a Stake Conference. The members of our Stake were invited to spiritually prepare ourselves to be instructed by one of the Lord’s chosen witnesses.

Our first meeting with him was scheduled for Saturday afternoon for which we were asked to prepare a detailed report on the progress of our Stake. I still remember walking into the Stake Offices and hearing some very boisterous laughing coming from the office of our Stake President where Elder Oaks and he were visiting before our first meeting. I could tell he was very quick witted and really enjoyed sharing funny stories.  We did a lot of laughing while with him over the next two days, but we were also taught and trained and inspired to better fulfill our priesthood responsibilities.

I had prepared myself for that weekend by asking Heavenly Father for a certain witness that Elder Oaks had been called of God as an Apostle.  For some reason, a verse in John 13:35 stuck with me: “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”  As I observed him in our meetings, in the hallway, at the luncheons and greeting the members before each session, I felt the great love that he has for our Savior and for the members of His Church.       

During that weekend in 2007, the Spirit bore witness to me, more than once, that Elder Oaks had been called as a  “Special Witness” of our Savior Jesus Christ. And I can testify that that same witness has been repeated many times since, especially as he has been chosen and set apart as the President of our Church.