Education and Lifelong Learning

A couple of weeks ago my Visiting Teachers stopped by to share the monthly message with me. I thought it was a great message to share, especially as school is starting, and now that Paul is back in classes.

D&C 93:36-37:
“The glory of God is intelligence,
or, in other words, light and truth.
Light and truth forsake that evil one.”

“We will have to make some hard choices of how we use our time. … But remember, you are interested in education, not just for mortal life but for eternal life. When you see that reality clearly with spiritual sight, you will put spiritual learning first and yet not slight the secular learning. … Insatiable curiosity will be our hallmark”

~President Henry B. Eyring

When we first got married my husband and I talked about our education. As it came down to it we decided that we would do whatever it took to allow both of us to go to school and continue in our education. It is up to all of us individually, there are numerous reasons to not continue in education. I am so excited to start our family and be a mother. While others have told me that I am putting my education first instead of my family, there is no better way to show my family how much I love them then by finishing my education and being an example to them. I hope to pass on my love of learning to my kids, to help afford them every opportunity. The prophets have cautioned us to get an education for a number of reasons. Until we have our family I will be able to work and support my husband as he finishes school and moves onto Grad School. I know of a family where the husband got into a vehicle accident that was so bad he is paralyzed now and his wife has had to go back to work to support their family. Our neighbor, who I do not believe is much older than me, just lost her husband. For these reasons, and others like them, I wanted to finish school so that I would be able to, if the day comes, provide a good living for my family.

I love that my mom was a stay-at-home mom. She was always there when we left for school and there when we got home. During the day she had many hobbies that she worked on to keep herself busy along with all of the day to day. Now that her kids are grown she has gone back to school to continue her education. She has been a great example to me of a caring, loving wife and mother. Someone who cares deeply for everyone and wants to live her life the way that she should.

We are told what a sacred responsibility it is to be a wife and mother and that it is better that we raise our kids instead of leaving that up to others while we get caught up in the world - always wanting bigger and better than the next person. What better way is there is there to teach my kids then to be an example to them.

“Lifelong learning is essential to the vitality of the human mind, body, and soul. It enhances self-worth and self-actuation. Lifelong learning is invigorating mentally and is a great defense against aging, depression, and self-doubt”

I hope that everyone has an opportunity to read the article. Even now I have signed up for an institute class to continue in my Gospel education.

The Peacegiver: Preface

"Nothing is more important
than understanding not just that the Lord's
atonement is the answer to our daily, painful predicaments,
but how it is the answer."

I was expecting something more along the lines of a book that would delve into some deep gospel principle. Instead, the book is written as a 'husband and wife whose marriage is in trouble.' The author tells us that the intentions of the book are to explore how the atonement of Christ can bring us peace into our lives. I'm interested to see how the story unfolds and how the author will share gospel principles with us through a fictional story or a husband and wife.

Skeptical, Weary, Intrigued

Feel free to read along with me and leave comments. It would be great to discuss with you.

They Can Take The Time

Last weekend I watched Twilight while I took some time to rest from being sick. I recently started Twilight, the book, again as well.

I have such a hard time with reading books that have movies based on them. Luckily this time I read the book before the first movie came out, I am trying to finish the others before the movies of them come out as well. THE BOOKS are so much better than the movies. In the book, the first 30 pages could take up half the movie. These are critical pages as well because they help to set the tone of the characters, giving them personality and catching our attention. In the movie they have to try and show us who the individuals are, their traits, habits - everything - just in the first few minutes. The books are always so much more descriptive, they can take as much time as they need so that the characters can be explained in full and so that we, as the reader, can bond with them.

Just in the little bit of the book that I have read so far, I seem to understand so much more about the characters. My mom, who has not read the books, said that the movie was pretty good. When I asked her if she picked up on this or that - she said that she did not get certain things from the movie. Hence, why books can be so much better, they give you the whole story, all the behind the scenes stuff.

Like I said, I have only gotten so far into the book, but am excited to finish reading it. I just hope that when I get to Eclipse I can keep going with it until it picks up and grabs my attention.

A Second Try

I am reading the Twilight saga again. When the books first came out I was not too on top of it, but I finally gave in last summer. It took some getting into but then once I got into it....I had to finish. As a matter of fact I even took it on our anniversary trip because I did not think I could wait a week. New Moon was great and I fell in love with Jacob. Eclipse, however, lost me after getting only about ten pages into it. Well I still have not finished them.

A sister-in-law and my husbands mother are really into the series. They took me to see the midnight showing of Twilight and are already planning on the next two movies and have tickets for New Moon*. They have invited me to come along again so I thought I would take another try at reading the whole series again. I just need to get past the first part of the third book. From what others have told me Eclipse was their least favorite out of the whole series.

I have heard some buzz about a book called Midnight Sun. This was "...chapter one, "First Sight," from Edward's point of view..." But as can happen, someone who was not supposed to get a hold of the manuscript before it was released, did, and now Stephenie Meyer says she won't finish it. If you want to read the unfinished version it can get it from her website. Since I am starting over in the saga I won't get to Midnight Sun for some time. My real hope is that by the time I get done with the books she will have changed her mind and decided to finish the book. With a little more time for the stress of the movies to pass she might find that she will still want to finish it and that so many people would rather wait for the full story then to get a hold of the 'lifted' manuscript and ruin the suspense, so I do not want to spoil it for myself.

*TWILIGHT talent and filmmakers will be making surprise appearances at the "TWILIGHT at MIDNIGHT" release parties in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Dallas and Salt Lake City.

Hurry up........and Wait

I just finished Mary, Martha & Me. The last chapter was about understanding that we need to wait on the timing of the Lord. We can't force him into doing stuff because we think we are ready or we do not want to wait.

"For the people of the Lord are they who wait for him...."
-2 Nephi 6:13

One instance that is mentioned is Mary and her brother Lazarus. I love this story. My niece used to always ask me tell her Jesus stories. One time I told her this story and later she repeated the story to be about a brother and sister who loved each other. With a quick review of the history of the time it becomes clear why Jesus waited to come to Lazarus. Olsen states that "...these believers were required to wait to finally understand what Jesus meant."

This was a great way to end the book. Understanding that when we put God first and find the 'needful thing.' He will not ask us to do anything save He will provide the way, the Savior will make us equal to the tasks that are before us. This life will be worth it but we can not push the Lord into what we want. Be patient and wait for his perfect timing so I can have the life that he has planned for me.

"Mary and Martha have both chosen 'that good part' (Luke 10:42)-that is, they put Christ first in their lives while being true to their God-given gifts." (122) We do not need to become the perfect this or that. Be true to who you are and the gifts God gave us.

Who Is Doing Better.....?

My husband was working as an usher for the Time Out For Women seminar once. There were tables set up of the books they were selling from the Authors who were speaking at the Seminar. So he got me that book Mary, Martha & Me. I started it back in September but did not get very far before school picked up and I had to put the book down.

Recently I have decided to give it another try. Every night for about 20 minutes I take some time to myself and pull it out. I do not know how many of you out there have ever caught yourself looking at what you have done and comparing it to another or if you have noticed someone always trying to compare their works to yours. The thing I have noticed about gospel literature is that even though we have read the scriptures over and over again and tried to apply them to our lives, sometimes it just makes more sense when we someone else spells it out for us. This has been a great book to remind me that I need to choose the better part and do those things that the Lord has set for me to do.

"We must be willing to get rid
of the life we've Planned so as to have
the life that is Waiting for us."

-J. Campbell

There are three weekends in Utah that Time Out for Women is planned. If we can get a group of 5 or more to go then we can each get $10 off for the full weekend but we need to register by August 19th for Logan, or in October for the St. George or SLC location. Leave a comment if anyone is interested.

Logan, UT - September 18-19, 2009
St. George, UT - November 06-07, 2009
SLC, UT - November 13-14, 2oo9