(Pretty soon you will all be able to tell my stories since I have used this first story in another talk I recorded in the blog and the last story I used a couple of times in teaching lessons.)
NEVER STOP LEARNING!
Since we are talking about learning, education, and Institute, I am going to start by sharing a story from my sixth grade math class-yes, even at my age, I can remember things I learned.
“We had taken a math test and
as was common at that time, we had switched papers around and were grading a
classmate’s paper while the teacher read the correct answers. A section of the test included several true-false
problems where you decided if the completed problem was correct or not. Number 16—I have never forgotten the number—the
teacher said false and continued on. I, however, knew that I had marked true on my test
and was trying to redo the problem in my head. It had to be correct—so around problem 20, I
raised my hand and asked the teacher to give me the answer to number 16 again. She looked at her paper and then said, “I said
that it was false.” “Really?’ Then she did something unexplainable. She said, “Let’s take a vote.” How many people
said true—a little over half the class raised their hands. “How many false” the rest voted for false. Then she said, “I want you all to redo the problem
and then we will take another vote.” What—we are voting for the answer? That is the great thing about math—if you apply
the correct principles, you get a correct answer. The second vote was about 25% for true, the rest
for false. Again, the teacher had us redo the problem and be
prepared to vote a third time. This time only 4 of us voted true. And again, the teacher instructed the whole class
to redo the problem. I kept looking at the problem, but I couldn’t see
anyway that it wasn’t true. It was the correct answer. But I also knew that I might be the only one that
voted true in the next vote. Maybe I should simply vote false and move on. Afterall, it was just one single problem. But I knew it was true. This time, the teacher asked everyone who was
voting false to vote. As I thought, everyone voted false. When she asked for those who were voting for true,
I was the only one who raised my hand. Then the teacher winked at me and the boy sitting
next to me flung his hand in the air. She turned to him and said, “Patrick, why are you
voting true?” “Because I saw you wink at Judy and then I knew that
she was right.” And then our teacher said that the answer was true
and how important it was for us to not be swayed by others when we know what
was right.
I don’t know why my math
teacher took time during grading test to teach this lesson—but I have been
forever grateful. I have benefited from that experience in many ways
throughout my life and I have used it in talks and lessons. I had times when I needed to stand alone and be not moved for
things much more important than a math problem. I could stand then because I had learned to stand
unmoved that day in my 6th grade math class.
The lesson from that
experience that I want to share with you is the reason that I was able to stand
“unmovable” was that I was confident in my understanding of the math principles
related to that specific problem. I liked math, I (usually) did my homework and
I had great math teachers.
Now elementary math is
something that is pretty important in daily living—knowing how to add and
subtract, multiply and divide comes up frequently through the week no matter
what “job” you finally end up in—even basic cooking is helped by basic math
principles. The same isn’t true in my adult
life for Calculus or Trigonometry but for those in certain fields it is critical.
Learning math is important in the world that
we live in today.
The Lord has taught us
that learning is one of the important tasks of our mortal lives.
In
Doctrine & Covenants Section 88: we read--
78 Teach ye diligently and my agrace shall
attend you, that you may be binstructed more
perfectly in theory, in principle, in doctrine, in the law of the gospel, in
all things that pertain unto the kingdom of God, that are expedient for you to
understand;
79 Of things both in aheaven and in
the earth, and under the earth; things which have been, things which are,
things which must bshortly come to
pass; things which are at home, things which are abroad; the wars and the
perplexities of the cnations, and the
judgments which are on the land; and a dknowledge also
of countries and of kingdoms—
And why are we suppose to learn
those things----
80 That ye may be prepared in all things when I shall send you again to amagnify the calling whereunto I have called you, and the bmission with which I have commissioned you.
When we think of the word
“calling” or “mission” you might think that applies narrowly to callings you
might receive within the Church or when you serve a full-time mission. However, your entire mortal life is your
mission and calling—it includes the family you establish, your services in the
Church, your services in the community you live in, and the “work” you do
whether in your home or in a job or career.
What the Lord is telling you and telling us is that learning helps us be
prepared for ALL things He needs us to do.
Gordon B. Hinckley
counseled graduating BYU students:
“We live in
a world where knowledge is developing at an ever-accelerating rate. Drink
deeply from this ever-springing well of wisdom and human experience. If you
should stop now, you will only stunt your intellectual and spiritual growth.
Keep everlastingly at it. Read. Read. Read. Read the word of God in sacred
books of scripture. Read from the great literature of the ages. Read what is
being said in our day and time and what will be said in the future.9
I love to read, but not
everyone does. But there are many options
now with audio books, podcasts, and access to educational videos. Be intentional and seek truth from reliable
sources. You are still in high school and much of what you are to learn is
determined by others—your teachers, school boards, and others—but do your
best. Explore your interests with your
electives and extracurricular opportunities. Try a variety of part-time jobs to
see what you might like or not like.
In all this “getting” of
knowledge, don’t forget the most important focus—
Elder Oaks wrote:
We are commanded to seek learning by study, the way of reason, and
by faith, the way that relies on revelation. Both are pleasing to God. He uses
both ways to reveal light and knowledge to his children. But when it comes to a
knowledge of God and the principles of his gospel, we must give primacy to
revelation because that is the Lord’s way.19
In Matthew 6:33:
33 aBut bseek ye first the ckingdom of God, and his drighteousness; and all these ethings shall be fadded unto you.
Let me share another “school experience” where I
learned the truthfulness of that scripture.
Let me give a bit of background so you can understand the
story a bit better. Elder Hall and I struggled
having children and so when we had been married about 3 ½ years, I went to
graduate school at BYU and studied school psychology. My second year of
graduate school, I got pregnant and stayed pregnant (to the amazement of everyone
especially our doctor) and two weeks after I finished my course work, our oldest
daughter was born.
While my class work was done, I still needed to do my
thesis—which involved setting up some type of experiment, do it, then write
about it. The first year of her life was
way too busy to do anything—adjusting to a new baby, a busy calling in Young
Womens, and Elder Hall’s travel schedule with work made it impossible. However, we moved into a new home when she
was turning one and I thought it was a good time to start working on my
thesis. I assumed I would be teaching a
class in our new ward and I would have plenty of time to work on it. I signed up for two classes—because you needed
to be enrolled to use the library and other resources of the campus to work on
a thesis.
One of the classes was a weekly class on Thursday
nights at the Salt Lake BYU campus called Infant Development. Things were set for summer semester. I had baby sitters lined up, my idea had been
approved and I was ready to start.
But that scripture started floating around in my head…”seek
you first the kingdom of God and his righteousness…..” many times throughout
the weeks before class started—as I prayed, as I played with my daughter, or
worked in our home. Right before my
classes started for the summer, I was called into the Relief Society presidency
and began a very busy time of Church service.
The babysitters often were used so that I could support the president in
the needs and demands of our growing ward.
I was struggling just to keep up with the demands of my classes and did
almost no work on my thesis that summer.
The Sunday of the last week of the term, I realized
that I only had one day—Tuesday to research and write my final paper for my infant
development class, due on Thursday. I
made arrangements for a babysitter all day and planned to head to BYU---back
then—in the old days, you had to do research in person with a card catalog
telling you what books and sources might help you. Elder Hall would be back in
town Thursday and I could type it at his work—no home computers yet!! And turn
it in that evening.
Monday night, I got a call from the RS president—she asked
me if I was free on Tuesday—I told her my plans—We talked about a few other RS things
and the call ended. Immediately, the
scripture came to my mind again- “Seek you first the kingdom of God and his
righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you.” I realized I needed to call her back and
offer my help. We spent the day taking
care of a very difficult welfare situation.
I knew that I had done the right thing but I wasn’t sure how I was going
to complete my final paper which I hadn’t started yet.
And then the miracle—Elder Hall got home early from
his business trip which allowed me to go down to BYU on Wednesday late afternoon
for a few hours from our home in Salt Lake.
On the way down, a different topic came to mind and while I drove, the
entire outline was given to me. At the
library, for the one and only time in my entire school career, all of the books
and magazines I needed for research were on the shelf, I wrote the paper at
home that night, got some neighborhood children to add some drawings for me Thursday
morning and turned it in that evening. I
got an A +---not because of what I did but because of the great blessing of a
loving Heavenly Father—that day in that situation I was given specific help for
a final paper for a 2 credit hour class—that was what “added unto” me as I
attempted to seek the kingdom of God first…
I share this to illustrate that Heavenly Father loves
us and knows us. He wants us to learn
and to grow and to develop our talents and skills. He will help us BUT we must first seek Him
and His Son—they need to be the focus of our lives and of our learning. We need to seek learning so that we can be
better instruments in Their hands to serve our families and our fellow brothers
and sisters. Scripture study, praying,
serving, keeping the Sabbath day holy and keeping the commandments are ways
that we become confident in Them and their promises. Seminary and Institute
serve as one way to seek the Kingdom of God—by putting those things first,
everything else can work out in the Lord’s time and way. I can’t promise you that you will always get
an A+ or that the Lord will give you an outline for a paper, but I know if you
put Him first, you will be blessed in all of your righteous endeavors in the Lord’s
way and in His perfect timing. You will
be able to stand even alone because you are firm in the knowledge and testimony
of His plans for you.
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