Thomas S. Monson, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, encouraged students Tuesday to follow the lives and counsel of presidents who have gone before him.

"We've had great presidents of this church," Monson said at the weekly Brigham Young University devotional. "Each one has guided us."

Monson told the students stories about the men who served as presidents of the church during his lifetime, often causing bursts of laughter with his trademark humor. He recalled an experience with the late Spencer W. Kimball, whom he served with on the Missionary Committee. One day, a man came to the office, unhappy with his son's mission call to New England. The man wanted his son to go to Old England, he told Kimball and Monson.

Monson said Kimball asked the man which mission he would like his son to go to, instead of where the apostles had chosen. The man finally picked the Bristol mission, unaware that Kimball had been "telling him off" the entire time for wanting to change his son's mission call.

After the man left, Kimball turned to Monson and said, "Aren't some parents unusual?"

"He did not use the word I would have used," Monson told the students, then paused, "but then, he wasn't in the Navy like I was."

The Marriott Center audience erupted in laughter at Monson's admission, and he seemed amused himself.

"That line was not in my prepared message," he laughed.

Monson shared several humorous and loving stories of the presidents he has known and loved over the years, and highlighted the favorite hymn, food and quotation of each. Kimball loved to fill a glass of milk, then crumble a large amount of date nut bread into the glass and eat it with a spoon, he said.

"I did not follow his example," Monson said, with a bewildered face.

He also shared examples from the life of Gordon B. Hinckley, the previous president of the church and the president most well-known to the students in attendance. Hinckley was called to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles just two years before Monson, and the two sat side by side for more than 40 years, he said.

"He was a kind man, who taught and who lived tolerance," Monson recalled.

Hinckley never disparaged anyone's beliefs, and was dedicated to his own. On weekly underground drives from the church office building to the Salt Lake City temple, Monson said Hinckley instinctively knew when the car had passed into the temple grounds.

"Without a word, he would remove his hat, place it in his lap," he said.

Hinckley was well-known for walking with a cane in the last years of his life. However, to his doctor's dismay, the president used the cane more often to wave to an audience or tap people on the shoulder. Hinckley's doctor was also Monson's physician, and asked him one day to tell Hinckley to use the cane as it was meant to be used.

"Doctor, I am President Hinckley's counselor," Monson replied. "You are his doctor. You tell him."

Monson encouraged students to take the lessons from past presidents to heart. God has sent church leaders to guide members, and students should follow their examples.

"We can learn that they never wavered, never faltered, never failed, that they were men of God," he said.

As his parting words, he urged students to use the guiding principles of past presidents in their own lives.

Students should be persistent in good works, stay on the Lord's side, be considerate and responsive to the whisperings of the Holy Spirit. They should be dedicated to the gospel and look for the best in other people and do their best in everything, he said.

As the newest president of the church, Monson said he pledges his life to the service of God.

"I invoke his blessings upon you in this crowded audience," he said.

Megan Nuttall, a freshman from Gilbert, Ariz., said she appreciated the spirit Monson brought with him, and she felt as though he knew the students personally. She said she was surprised by his energy and humor, and his stories helped her relate to the church leaders who have passed.

"I enjoyed seeing the prophets as they actually were," she said.

Meredith Johnston, also a freshman from Gilbert, Ariz., said she arrived at the Marriott Center at 6:30 a.m. Tuesday in order to get a seat on the floor near the stage. The devotional was worth the wait, she said, and she loved how the students responded to Monson.

"He brings such a spirit into the room," she said.

Freshman Josh Hall said he felt that he knew Monson was a prophet when the man first entered the room. Hall said he was encouraged by Monson's words, especially his statements that students can make it through the troubling times ahead.

"We can all do it, just by living close to our God," Hall said.

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