Education

The RS lesson last week was from the new Teachings of the Presidents: Lorenzo Snow. He was the 5th prophet of the church and the brother of the famous LDS poet Eliza R Snow. The lesson was titled "Learning by Faith", but I was thinking that I'm sure they did this lesson before. So I went back and checked and sure enough there are other lessons with this title/subject:

Joseph Smith "Gaining Knowledge of Eternal Truths"
Brigham Young "Learning by Study and by Faith"
John Taylor "The Value of Education"
Wilford Woodruff "Teaching and Learning by the Spirit"
Joseph F. Smith "Seek to be Educated in the Truth"
Heber J. Grant "Learning and Teaching the Gospel"
George Albert Smith "Bringing Up Children in Light and Truth"*
David O. McKay "Teaching, A Noble Work"*
Harold B. Lee "Teaching the Gospel in the Home"*
*Ok, so it's not about us getting an education, but making sure others are educated.

One of the Young Women Personal Progress Values is Knowledge. The scripture for Knowledge is D&C 88:118 "Seek learning, even by study and also by faith" and the theme is "I will continually seek opportunities for learning and growth." The Primary Activity Days/Faith in God has a category named Learning and Living the Gospel. If that many prophets and church programs are advocating education, then it's probably a good idea to do it. I would probably include both spiritual and secular learning.

One of my favorite scriptures is D&C 130:18-19 "Whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection. And if a person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life through his diligence and obedience than another, he will have so much the advantage in the world to come." After being in this ward full of old people, who obviously have not continued to gain knowledge throughout their lifetime, I feel the need to persist in the learning process for the rest of my life. My 1st Mission President and his wife would read books together during their marriage. Now that I have Dave to read/learn with, this will be more fun!