Think back to the last time you were in a
Church class and you were having such a great spiritual experience that you
didn’t want it to end. Hopefully you don’t have to think back too far. What was
it that made the class so meaningful? What did your teacher do? Better yet,
what did you do?
This question was taken from a the
January New Era article titled How to
Never Have a Boring Church Class Ever Again. My next question is this: Did that lesson lead to permanent
changes in your life?
After I got home from out trip Monday,
Sister Hanks called Tues or Wed with the news (or reminder) that I was teaching
this Sunday. While I waited for her to bring over a manual, I did a little
research online. One comment said
Lorenzo Snow was kind of dry and boring compared to the colorful George Albert
Smith. I looked over my church
magazines and read a few articles there.
By the time Sister Hanks brought over the manual and I read through the
lesson, I just felt so amazed.
Everything fit together, perfectly correlated to help us, as members,
gain the most benefit.
Along with the manual, I will be using
quotes from a couple of articles in the New Era and Ensign that just fit with
this lesson perfectly. Those are
the one I mentioned above, The Value of
Education, and Pickles, Turnips and
Testimony about Lorenzo Snow.
Since we are moving to a new manual
covering a new prophet this year, I want to start with a short introduction of
Lorenzo Snow. I believe Sister
Slack will be doing a more thorough introduction next month.
All my life, as I have seen the portrait
of Lorenzo Snow, I’ve associated him with that group of early prophets whose
faith, diligence and work established the foundation of the church.
From the Ensign we learn, “If you have
ever seen a portrait of Lorenzo Snow, the fifth President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, you
probably remember his long white beard and his kind face. And if you have
paused for a few minutes to examine such a portrait, you may have been drawn to
President Snow’s eyes—tired but not weary, aged but full of energy and light. After meeting President Snow, a
minister of another faith wrote: “His face was a power of peace; his presence a
benediction of peace. In the tranquil depths of his eyes were not only the
‘home of silent prayer,’ but the abode of spiritual strength. … The strangest
feeling stole over me, that I ‘stood on holy ground.’”1 Would you like to know about the adventures, trials,
triumphs, sorrows, joys, and revelations that combined to create such a
countenance?
This year, Relief Society sisters and
Melchizedek Priesthood holders will study Teachings of Presidents of the
Church: Lorenzo Snow. As you learn from President Snow’s teachings and discuss
them at church and at home, you will come to know him as more than a
kind-looking man in an old painting. You will come to know him as a man of
God—a prophet, seer, and revelator whose counsel is remarkably relevant
today.” You can learn much from
his teaching on a variety of subjects, including unity, humility, covenants,
temple work, striving for perfection, priesthood, Relief Society and the joy of
sharing the gospel.
I don’t know how many of you sisters take
the time to read the manual. Over
the years, I’ve only read a fraction of the material myself. If you read the article, it refers to
many of the interesting stories contained in the manual. I’m planning to turn over a new leaf of
diligent study this year, and after this lesson, I hope you will feel that
desire as well.
If you take the time to read and ponder
some of the accounts and teachings mentioned in this article-or even if you
decide, like me, that you will read them over the year, President Snow would be
pleased with you. He was a life
long learner.
When young Lorenzo
Snow was not doing his chores on the family
farm, he was usually reading—“hid up with his book,” as his family members
would say. According to his sister Eliza, he was “ever a student, at home as
well as in school.” His love of learning increased as he grew up. In fact, he
said that education was “the leading star” of his youth. After attending public
schools, he studied at Oberlin College, a private school in the state of Ohio,
in 1835. In 1836, before he joined the Church, he accepted Eliza’s invitation
to move to Kirtland, Ohio, where he studied Hebrew in a class that included the
Prophet Joseph Smith and many of
the Apostles.
After he was
baptized and confirmed, he eventually turned his interest more to “the
education of the Spirit” than to “book studies.” In this pursuit, he never lost
his thirst for learning. He taught that we should “exert
ourselves” so we can “advance in the principles of truth” and “increase in
heavenly knowledge.” He urged, “Each last day or each last week should be the
best that we have ever experienced, that is, we should advance ourselves a
little every day, in knowledge and wisdom, and in the ability to accomplish
good.”
This lesson is Learning By Faith. There are many avenues in which we learn, one being the
setting we are in now, with a teacher and a class. The key point to be taken from this lesson is, we gather to
learn the gospel, both the teacher and the learner need the guidance of the
Spirit.
D&C 77-80 reads:
And I give unto you a commandment that you
shall teach one another the doctrine of the kingdom.
Teach ye diligently and my grace shall attend
you, that you may be instructed 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;
Of things both in heaven and in the
earth, and under the earth; things which have been, things which are, things
which must shortly come to pass;
things which are at home, things which are abroad; the wars and the
perplexities of the nation and the
judgments which are on the land; and a knowledge also of
countries and of kingdoms—
That ye may be prepared in all things when
I shall send you again to magnify the calling
whereunto I have called you, and the mission with which I
have commissioned you.
I think this
scripture really helps to define the role and responsibility of the calling of
a teacher. It is so help in making
sure that each of us is prepared for our mission. I’m sure each of us has served in a teaching calling, and
know the weight of that responsibility.
I know I feel it each time I teach. However, I think that in recent years, the church has moved
more and more toward defining the role of a teacher as more of a facilitator
than a lecturer, as explained in D&C 88: 118 and 122:
118 And as all have not faith, seek ye
diligently and teach one another
words of wisdom; yea, seek ye
out of the best books words of
wisdom; seek learning, even by study and also by faith.
122 Appoint among yourselves a
teacher, and let not all be
spokesmen at once; but let one speak at a time and let all listen unto his
sayings, that when all have spoken that all may be edified of all, and
that every man may have an equal privilege.
In the lesson,
Lorenzo Snow further clarifies the responsibilities of each party when he
states:
When
[a teacher] stands before the people he should do so realizing that he stands
before them for the purpose of communicating knowledge, that they may receive
truth in their souls and be built up in righteousness by receiving further
light, progressing in their education in the principles of holiness.
This cannot be done, except
by a labor of mind, by an energy of faith and by seeking with all one’s heart
the Spirit of the Lord our God. It is just so on the part of the hearers;
unless particular attention is paid to that which is required of them from time
to time by those who address the people from this stand, and unless individuals
labor in their minds with all their might and with all their strength in their
prayers before the Lord, they will not receive that good and benefit to
themselves which they ought to receive.
Along those lines, consider
this quote regarding President Spencer W. Kimball:
Someone asked President
Spencer W. Kimball “What do you do when you find yourself in a boring sacrament
meeting?” His answer was a little surprising: “I don’t know. I’ve never been in
one.” Maybe he hadn’t
ever been to your ward—or maybe he looked at going to church a little
differently. Maybe he prepared differently, participated differently, and lived
differently as a result of his experiences.
This is the principle point
where it all clicks together: first, we have Elder Bednar’s talk on Personal
Conversion; then the revamping of the youth curriculum to more fully involve
the youth in the learning process; then those articles in the New Era and
Ensign explaining why the change is important; and finally, leading off the
year in Relief Society with this lesson on the same topic. It is just remarkably coordinated.
The article Never Have a Boring Church Class states:
It’s
about Conversion
You’ll find that the quality of your
experience in Church classes changes when you understand why you’re really
there. People come to church for different reasons, but if we come to be entertained,
we’re likely to be disappointed. Even coming to obtain new information about
the gospel may not be the best reason.
Elder Dallin H.
Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles has said our ultimate goal
is “far more than acquiring knowledge. It is not even enough for us to be
convinced of the gospel; we must act and think so that we are converted by it.
In contrast to the institutions of the world, which teach us to know something,
the gospel of Jesus Christ challenges us
to become something.” The purpose of the gospel is to change us—not only our
views and thoughts but also our actions and our hearts, until we reach “the
measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ”
So if our goal is to become converted to
the gospel, where do our Sunday classes fit in? Perhaps for some of us,
conversion may come in one dramatic moment in a Sunday School class. But
for most of us, what happens at church is only one step on the long path to
lifelong conversion. What you do before and after class may be just as
important.
Consider the steps you take when you want
to start a campfire. You probably gather plenty of dry kindling that will catch
fire easily. Then, after the kindling is lit, you feed your fire with larger
pieces of wood. And if you want your fire to last a long time, you continue to
watch it and add logs as needed.
Spiritually speaking, our experiences at
church can lead to the fire of conversion only if we come prepared—if we are in
a spiritual condition to receive the spark and keep it burning within us.
When our goal is to have this spiritual
fire burning, we have to continually provide fuel for the fire, by continually
learning. Learning is not
passive—it requires faith, exertion and perseverance. For this section of the lesson, we’re going to discuss
actively learning at home--on our own, and with our families.
Lorenzo Snow said:
In this system of religion that you and I have
received there is something grand and glorious, and something new to learn
every day, that is of great value. And it is not only our privilege but it is
necessary that we receive these things and gather these new ideas.
The whole idea of Mormonism is
improvement—mentally, physically, morally and spiritually. No halfway
education suffices for the Latter-day Saint.
It is profitable to live long upon the earth
and to gain the experience and knowledge incident thereto: for the Lord has
told us that whatever intelligence we attain to in this life will rise with us
in the resurrection, and the more knowledge and intelligence a person gains in
this life the greater advantage he will have in the world to come.
Over the past while, I’ve often felt
frustrated with myself for still struggling with weaknesses and sins that I
would have hope to have overcome in 45 years of life. Reading this made me feel better—we are given a long life,
because we need that time to learn all that we need to. We can’t learn it all at once.
In 2 Nephi 28:30 we read:
For behold, thus saith the Lord God: I will
give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept here a little
and there a little; and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts, and
lend an ear unto my counsel, for they shall learn wisedom; for unto him
that receiveth I will give more; and from them
that shall say, We have enough, from them shall be taken away even that which
they have.
No matter our age, young or
old, there are still principles to learn.
For example, when
he was 80 years old and serving as President of the Quorum of the Twelve
Apostles, President Snow stood before the Saints at the October 1894 general
conference. Reflecting on the discourses his less experienced brethren had
delivered earlier that day, he said, “Some ideas were advanced that I never
thought of before, and they were very profitable.”
President Smith is
very adamant in instructing us that we must use the time we have been given to
learn what is required of us while on the earth.
Though we may now
neglect to improve our time, to brighten up our intellectual faculties, we
shall be obliged to improve them sometime. We have got so much ground to walk
over, and if we fail to travel to-day, we shall have so much more to travel
to-morrow.
There must be a
labor of mind, an exertion of those talents that God has given us; they must be
put into exercise. Then, being enlightened by the gift and power of the Holy Ghost,
we may get those ideas and that intelligence and those blessings that are
necessary to prepare us for the future, for sceneries that are to come.
We think, perhaps,
that it is not necessary to exert ourselves to find out what God requires at
our hands; or in other words, to search out the principles which God has
revealed, upon which we can receive very important blessings. There are
revealed, plainly and clearly, principles which are calculated to exalt the
Latter-day Saints and preserve them from much trouble and vexation, yet,
through lack of perseverance on our part to learn and conform to them, we fail
to receive the blessings that are connected with obedience to them.
Mother Theresa
said: Be faithful in small things,
for it is in them that your faith lies.
There are many types of
education that are worthwhile, but, the education of the Spirit is worthy of
our best attention.
There is a kind of
education worthy [of] the best attention of all, and in which all ought to
engage—that is the education of the Spirit.
We must not neglect
our spiritual improvements while we seek for worldly wealth. It is our duty to
make every effort for the purpose of advancing ourselves in the principles of
light and knowledge, as well as of increasing around us the temporal blessings
and comforts of this life.
If our minds are
too one-sided, paying too much attention to the acquiring of earthly goods, to
the neglect of spiritual wealth, we are not wise stewards.
2 Nephi 9: 28-29
O that cunning plan of the evil
one! O the vainness and the
frailties, and the foolishness of men! When
they are learned they think they
are wise, and they hearken not unto the counsel of God, for
they set it aside, supposing they know of themselves, wherefore, their wisdom is foolishness
and it profiteth them not. And they shall perish.
But to be learned is good if they hearken unto the counsels of God.
The Value of Education
Education is a vital part of the gospel
and of preparing to participate in society and provide for oneself and one’s family.1 Elder Craig A. Cardon of the Seventy talks about
the importance of education on pages 18–19 of this month’s New Era.
“In this increasingly complex world,
education is one of the most important acquisitions of life,” he writes. “And
while it is true that more education will generally lead to the opportunity for
increased temporal rewards, the greater value of increased knowledge is the
opportunity it affords us to be of greater influence in accomplishing the
Lord’s purposes.”
We benefit from hearing
gospel principles over and over again.
Early last
December, Makenzie came to get me from Relief Society. When I asked her about Primary, she
complained that her lesson was really boring. She explained that it was about the birth of baby Jesus, and
that she’d heard the story at least 40 times. Our culture has this kind of a “been there, done that”
attitude that doesn’t value repetition.
In contrast, Lorenzo Snow taught:
“You have heard
[some principles] perhaps hundreds of times, and yet it seems to be necessary
that these things should be taught us over and over again. Again, it is
something like I find in reading the Book of Doctrine and
Covenants. Every time I read a revelation in that book I get some
new idea, although I may have read that same revelation many and many a time. I
presume this is your experience, too; if it is not, it is very different to
mine.”
While on our trip,
Keaton was tutoring a small boy one day.
His lesson was a science lesson on flowers. Keaton pointed to the first picture. Rose, he taught. Rose, the boy repreat. Good. Next, Hibiscus.
Hibiscus, the boy copies.
Marigold was taught, Marigold repeated. Now the review: What is
this? I don’t know. And so the
lesson was repeated over and over.
At the end of the hour, the boy knew one flower, rose. At our conclave that night,
Keaton shared that his low point of the day had been only being able to teach
this young boy one flower-rose.
Lorenzo Snow
taught:
So it is with the
Latter-day Saints. Though we may get tired of hearing things repeated, they
have to be in order that we may learn them thoroughly. We must learn them. I
know that the Latter-day Saints will eventually learn all the laws and
commandments of God, and will learn to observe them strictly. But we have not
arrived at that point yet.
One way I have been
able to benefit from this principle of repetition is with the idea of weakness
in Ether 12:27,
27 And if men come unto me I will show unto
them their weakness I give unto men
weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient
for all men that humble themselves
before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then
will I make weak things become
strong unto them.
I originally thought of weakness in terms of my
weaknesses, such as temper, laziness, etc. After more exposure to this scripture, I came to see it as
human weakness, our carnal nature brought on by the fall. After more study, I now view it in a
much deeper sense of our dependence on the grace of Christ for our
sanctification.
W he was President of the
Church, President Snow attended a conference conducted by the Sunday School
organization. After hearing others speak, he finally stood at the pulpit. He
began his address by saying: “I have been perfectly delighted and surprised at
what I have seen and heard. . . . Indeed I may say, that I have been
instructed; and if I, a man of eighty-six years, can be instructed, I see no
reason why adults generally cannot derive profit as well as pleasure from
attending your meetings.”
Now, we can expect that
President Snow certainly did not learn a new principle in that meeting. Rather,
trough repetition of hearing a principle, he received new insight or a new way
of looking at it.
My friend, Steve Wallace,
who has done a number of pageants and performances for the church, told me they
are taught that it takes on average 7 exposures to the church for someone to
become interested in learning about it.
The same is true for gospel principles-it takes repeated exposures to a
principle before we take it in to the point where it changes hearts and
behaviors.
Now, to return to
group learning, in particular, general conference, stake conference, etc. Even anciently, God has used
conferences to instruct his people.
We have the Sermon on the Mount and King Benjamin’s address to his
people, but also many of the great doctrinal discourses of the Book of Mormon
were clearly delivered to a group.
What is the purpose of these conferences?
And these are the words which he spake and caused to
be written, saying: My brethren, all ye that have assembled yourselves
together, you that can hear my words which I shall speak unto you this day; for
I have not commanded you to come up hither to trifle with the words
which I shall speak, but that you should hearken unto me, and
open your ears that ye may hear, and your hearts that ye may
understand, and your minds that the mysteries of God may be
unfolded to your view.
We don’t gather at
conference for fun, or so we have an excuse to eat donuts for breakfast. We are commanded not to trifle with the
messages, but to hearken. From
what we have learned in this lesson, what do you expect would be the role and
duties of the listener?
1. What I want of the Latter-day Saints is that
during this conference, as the Elders shall arise to address us, our faith and
our prayers may be exercised for each one who speaks, that he may say such
things, and that we may have the spirit to receive such things as shall be
beneficial to all. This is our privilege and our duty.
(Pray for the speakers)
2. I suppose that many of the audience now before
me have come from a long distance to meet with us in this general conference;
and that all have been moved to gather here by pure motives—by a desire to
improve and perfect themselves in matters that pertain to their usefulness in
the kingdom of God. In order that we may not be disappointed in this, it
becomes necessary that we prepare our hearts to receive and profit by the
suggestions that may be made by the speakers during the progress of the
Conference, which may be prompted by the Spirit of the Lord. I have thought,
and still think, that our being edified does not so much depend upon the
speaker as upon ourselves.
(Open our hearts and minds)
3. You should ask the Lord to let [the speakers]
say something that you want to know, that they may suggest something to you
that will be of some advantage. If you have any desire to know certain matters
that you do not understand, pray that [they] may say something that shall
enlighten your mind in reference to that which troubles you, and we will have a
grand and glorious Conference, a better one than we have ever had before.
(Come with questions to be answered)
May your life be
enriched this year as we study together.
