Seek Learning, You Have A Work To Do

This was a lesson that I taught in 2012.  I felt impressed to read many of the referenced articles at the end of the article that we will be learning from today.  The name of the article that we will be looking at is “Seek Learning:  You Have a Work to Do” by Mary N. Cook.  Mary N. Cook was the First Counsellor in the Young Women’s General Presidency.  In this article, she is talking to the young women of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints about getting an education.

It may seem inappropriate for us to be discussing this article, however, the same principles apply to us no matter our age or living circumstances.

Let’s look at the Standards for Youth.  They have been republished in 2011 and can be found on LDS.org.

Read page 9 “Education is an important part of Heavenly Father’s plan to help you become more like Him.  He wants you to educate your mind and to develop your skills and talents, your power to act well in your responsibilities, and your capacity to appreciate life.  The education you gain will be valuable to you during mortality and in the life to come.

Education will prepare you for greater service in the world and in the Church.  It will help you better provide for yourself, your family, and those in need.  It will also help you be a wise counsellor and companion to your future spouse and an informed and effective teacher of your future children.

Education is an investment that brings great rewards and will open the doors of opportunity that may otherwise be closed to you.  Plan now to obtain an education.  Be willing to work diligently and make sacrifices if necessary. Share your educational goals with your family, friends, and leaders so they can support and encourage you.

Maintain an enthusiasm for learning throughout your life.  Find joy in continuing to learn and in expanding your interests.  Choose to actively participate in the learning opportunities available to you.

Your education should include spiritual learning.  Study the scriptures and the words of the latter-day prophets.  Participate in seminary and institute.  Continue throughout your life to learn about Heavenly Father’s plan.  This spiritual learning will help you find answers to the challenges of life and will invite the companionship of the Holy Ghost.”

As we read this, we should ask ourselves, how can I relate to this standard?  What can I do to gain more education?  Hopefully, by the end of the lesson, we will each have some ideas.

Mary Cook does provide some ideas that we will discover as we discuss this article.

 

One of the first things that Ms Cook says is (paragraph 1 page 120) “We see you courageously arising and shining forth with light in a world where great challenges accompany great opportunities.  This may cause you to wonder, what does the future hold for me?”  This same statement can apply to us.  There is no reason why we can’t apply what Ms Cook says about the youth.  After all, older people have challenges and opportunities, too.  The only difference is that older people have certain experiences that the young people have not had the opportunity to have.  Every time that Gordon comes home and tells me about something happening at work, I wonder about where we will be, when will we be going and what does the Lord want me to accomplish.  Just because we are older does not mean that Heavenly Father doesn’t have anything for us to do.

The next paragraph is interesting.  It reads “God gave you moral agency and the opportunity to learn while on earth, and He has a work for you to do.  To accomplish this work, you have an individual responsibility to seek learning.”

That still applies to us.  All women have this responsibility as well.  Why do we need education? 

There are a number of reasons why we need education:

1.  “Education will open the doors of opportunity.  As you follow the Lord’s admonition to ‘See learning, even by study and also by faith’ you gain not only knowledge from your study but added light as you learn by faith.  President Gordon B. Hinckley said “The pattern of study you establish during your formal schooling will in large affect your lifelong thirst for knowledge.  You must get all of the education that you possibly can. Sacrifice anything that is needed to be sacrificed to qualify yourselves to do the work of this world.  Train your minds and hands to become an influence for good as you go forward with your lives.” 
2. President Thomas S. Monson said: “Often the future is unknown; therefore, it behoves us to prepare for uncertainties.  I urge you to pursue your education and learn marketable skills so that, should such a situation arise, you are prepared to provide.”
3. “Gaining knowledge now will pay huge dividends when you become a mother.  ‘A mother’s education level has a profound influence on the educational choices of her children.’  A mother’s education can hold the ‘key to halt the poverty cycle.’”
4. Educated mothers tend to:  give birth to healthier babies, have children who are healthier, be more confident, resilient and have improved reasoning and judgement.
5. In “The Family:  A Proclamation to the World”, it states:  mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children.  Providing an education for your children is part of that nurturing.  Mothers will be the most important teacher that children will ever have.

We’ve now looked at the reasons why we should get an education.  The most important reason has not yet been mentioned.  We have been taught that whatever intelligence that we have gained while in this earthly state, we will be able to take it with us into the eternities.

What kind of education should I be looking at?  That answer depends on you, your inclinations, and your talents.  There are different kinds of education, spiritual, intellectual, physical.

How can we get the education that we desire?  What if I don’t have much money?

Sister Cook has mentioned some of the ways that she has gained education in different situations.  Surrounding yourself with exemplary women who can teach you skills in homemaking, art, music, family history, sports, writing, or speaking.  As them to mentor you.  Any time that you have something that you want to learn, find someone who knows how to do it and ask them to help you.  That is what mentoring is all about, someone taking the time to teach you something until you are comfortable doing it on your own.  Then share your new skill.

You can return to school to learn knowledge and skills.  Many colleges run a Continuing Education department for their local communities.  You will have the opportunity to learn almost anything you want from computer skills to cake decorating and woodworking.  They can incorporate this into a certificate or diploma program. 

While we need to make sure of our job skills, we cannot forget another facet of our lives.  We also need to continue our education in the Gospel.  Ms Cook says: “Seek learning by faith.  We learn by faith as we diligently gain spiritual knowledge through prayer, scripture study, and obedience and as we seek the guidance of the Holy Ghost, who testifies of all truth.  If you do your part to gain knowledge, the Holy Ghost can enlighten your mind.  As you strive to keep yourself worthy, the Holy Ghost will give direction and added light to your learning.”

Ms Cook goes on to compare the parable of the ten virgins to gaining an education.  She said, “You may think it selfish that the five wise virgins did not share their oil, but it was impossible.  Spiritual preparation must be acquired individually, drop by drop, and cannot be shared.  The time is now for you to diligently apply yourselves to increasing your spiritual knowledge – drop by drop – through prayer, scripture study, and obedience.  The time is now to pursue your education – drop by drop.”

We never know what the Lord has planned for us.  We may make our plans, but we will find that they can be changed in an instance.  Thomas S. Monson spoke in a General Relief Society meeting in September of 2004.  He talked about a sister who could not read a word when she joined the Church.  The sisters of her ward took the time and taught her to read.  She then went on to help others to learn how to read and write.

 

The other thing that President Monson taught in that meeting was that if you are prepared, you shall not fear.

President Eyring spoke at the 75^th anniversary of the Institute of Religion program in 2001.  He gave the history of some of the educational opportunities that the saints in the early 1800’s had.  He went on to say: “It is clear that our first priority should go to spiritual learning.  For us, reading the scriptures would come before reading history books.  Prayer would come before memorizing those Spanish verbs.  A temple recommend would be worth more to us than standing first in our graduating class.  But it is also clear that spiritual learning would not replace our drive for secular learning. 

The Lord clearly values what you will find in that history book and in a text on political theory.  Remember His words.  He wants you to know ‘things which have been, things which are, things which must shortly com to pass; things which are at home, things which are abroad; the wars and the perplexities of the nations.’ And further he said, “you remember that His educational charter requires that we have “a knowledge also of counties and of kingdoms.  There is also an endorsement for questions we study in the sciences.  It is clear that putting spiritual learning first does not relieve us from learning secular things.  On the contrary, it gives our secular learning purpose and motivates us to work harder at it.”

We as older women in the Church need to have knowledge of these standards as much as the young women.  We have potential to do great things.  This last part applies especially to us as well as the young: “No service that matters can be given over a lifetime by those who stop learning.  A great teacher is always studying.  Our education must never stop.  If it ends at the door of the classroom on graduation day, we will fail.  And since what we will need to know is hard to discern, we need the help of heaven to know which of the myriad things we could study we would most wisely learn.  It also means that we cannot waste time entertaining ourselves when we have the chance to read or to listen to whatever will help us learn what is true and useful.  Insatiable curiosity will be our hallmark.”

As to our busyness, President Eyring said “The Lord loves you and watches over you.  He is all-powerful, and He promised you this: “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”

I would like to close with “The real life we’re preparing for is eternal life.  Secular knowledge has for us eternal significance.  Our conviction is that God, our Heavenly Father, wants us to live the life that He does.  We learn both the spiritual things and the secular things ‘so we may one day create worlds and people and govern them.’  All we can learn that is true while we are in this life will rise with us in the Resurrection.  And all that we can learn will enhance our capacity to serve.    That is a destiny reserved not alone for the brilliant, those who learn the most quickly, or those who enter the most respected professions.  It will be given to those who are humbly good, who love God, and who serve Him with all their capacities, however limited those capacities are – as are all our capacities, compared with the capacities of God.”  President Eyring.