Spencer Montgomery

Submitter Statement:

My experience at Brigham Young University did more than educate me—it taught me to see. To truly see. At BYU, I learned that light is not just something we receive, but something we carry. That insight became a compass, helping me navigate life beyond campus with a quiet confidence that sacredness can be found anywhere, if you know how to look.

Years later, I had an experience that mirrored the foundational story of BYU’s own faith tradition: I stumbled into my own “Sacred Grove.” Not in Palmyra—but in Salt Lake City. It happened in Allen Park, a neglected urban forest brimming with the hush of something holy. Surrounded by trees, birds, and weathered stone, I felt the same stillness, the same invitation to listen. And like Joseph Smith, I walked away changed, not because I had all the answers, but because I had truly been present.

That encounter inspired me to get involved with Allen Park—not to commercialize it, but to preserve its mystery. I wanted others to feel what I had felt: the possibility of revelation in the middle of the city. This work has become an expression of the light I carry—nurtured at BYU and now shared through stewardship.

To symbolize this journey, I created an image—a personal emblem that blends three ancient motifs: the all-seeing eye, the yin-yang, and the moon. The eye represents awareness: the kind of spiritual seeing I learned at BYU and practiced at Allen Park.

The yin-yang evokes balance—between dark and light, faith and doubt, known and unknown.

And the moon, ever shifting yet dependable, reminds me that light often comes in phases, through reflection rather than certainty.

This symbol is now my way of saying: I was there. I saw. I remembered. And I chose to act.

Entry Description:

This computer generated image combines the concepts of the yin-yang, the all seeing eye, and the moon. Its size is 2000x2000 pixels