OK. I have been a little busy this past couple of weeks preparing a talk for Sacrament Meeting. I gave the talk today, and it went well enough I guess. Now I need to catch up on my blog (I think I am behind by 3 posts). I am also anxious to get back to writing, but a person only has so much “spare” time. For this post, I wanted to share some of what I spoke on today in church.
The topic was “Preparing to Learn.” The Sunday School Presidency has responsibility to help improve the teaching and the learning in the ward. Teaching and learning are two different topics, with my talk today aimed at how we can be better students.
We are commanded to learn (144 scriptures in the Standard Works), and as Brigham Young put it, “the object of our mortal existence is to learn.” We come to earth to receive a physical body and to learn. We learn how to use our body, how to use our agency to find happiness, and how to be obedient.
The Lord made it clear that we need to learn not only about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the commandments, but we must also study and learn about secular topics: the world around us, history, languages, music, art, etc. Education is a gift from God, and cornerstone of our religion. As we become more educated, we can become better parents, better citizens, and better servants of the Lord. Often, he will give us opportunities and experiences to learn in advance of callings to serve.
I don’t have room to share everything I discussed today, but I closed by trying to emphasize that we must put the Lord first in our learning. Our spiritual learning must come before our secular learning, but oftentimes it seems there just isn’t enough time in the day for everything. Whether it be reading my scriptures, reaching out to a friend or neighbor, or even just helping my wife and children at home, those are the things that usually get squeezed our first, and I excuse my shortcomings by blaming fatigue or some other selfish pursuit. However, the Lord promised in Matthew 6:3: “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” When we put Him first, we will be blessed.
I found this to be true for myself. In 1999, after considerable deliberation with my loving wife, I decided to return to school again in pursuit of another Master’s Degree in Hospital Administration. I started classes at the University of Utah in January 2000, and in April that year, our third child was born, followed one year later by our fourth bundle of joy. I was working a full-time job and a part-time job to make ends meet. With three of our four children under the age of five, life was pretty crazy, and then it became even crazier when I got a call from our Stake President. I met with him just a few weeks into the Master’s program, and I about fell out of my chair when he asked me to serve as the Elder’s Quorum President in our ward. He promised me that if I would faithfully serve and put the Lord first, I would receive more blessings than I could receive, and I would be blessed with all the time I needed to be a husband, spouse, provider, and student. Over the next three years, those promises were fulfilled, and I saw miracles over and over again in my life. I am not sure how it all worked out — it should never have worked out on paper — but it did. We survived, and I found that as I fulfilled my priesthood responsibilities, life went more smoothly, and it seemed like I found just the right amount of time that I needed for everything.
May we all seek to learn, both spiritually and secularly. We have little time to waste, so we must use it wisely. As we become more educated, we will be better able to serve the Lord and our fellowmen. I have seen blessings in my life and my educational pursuits when I put Gospel learning first, and those same blessings will be yours if you do the same.
© Copyright 2012 Jeff, All rights Reserved. Written For: Jeffrey Olsen