Become a Capable Learner
Learning is the central purpose of our time here on earth. Elder Bednar teaches that “You and I are here upon the earth to prepare for eternity, to learn how to learn, to learn things that are temporally important and eternally essential, and to assist others in learning wisdom and truth.” The Lord admonishes us to “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" (D&C 88:118 (Links to an external site.)).
To become a wise steward of your learning
You will be challenged with many things in life that you do not know how to do. Nephi was asked to build a ship even though he didn’t know anything about sailing. The Brother of Jared was told to find a way to light his barges. Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon despite having a limited education. When you are faced with these types of challenges, your capacity to learn and your willingness to act in faith will get you through.
Consider This:
How will you learn to do things you have never done before?
Learning by Faith
Learning by faith requires spiritual, mental, and physical exertion and not just a passive reception. It is in the sincerity and consistency of our faith-inspired action that we indicate to our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, our willingness to learn and receive instruction from the Holy Ghost. Thus, learning by faith involves the exercise of moral agency to act upon the assurance of things hoped for and invites the evidence of things not seen from the only true teacher, the Spirit of the Lord.” (Seek Learning by Faith, Sep. 2007 (Links to an external site.))
This process of acting in faith before receiving physical evidence is demonstrated in the following video.
Ponder:
Why does the Lord expect us to act before we have the physical evidence that it will work?
Three Steps to Developing Faith and Educational Stewardship
1. Invite the assurance of the Holy Ghost Have you ever tried to work or complete a task when you were mad? How effective was it? In contrast, think of a time when you felt the Holy Ghost testify of truth while you were working. Were the concepts and ideas clearer? Being taught by the Holy Ghost can be a powerful experience. Learning how the Spirit speaks to you is a fundamental element of becoming a responsible learner. No matter what subject you study, the Holy Ghost can lead you to truth. Through instruction by the Spirit, your learning can be adapted for your personal development. Elder Dallin H. Oaks Elder Dallin H. Oaks advises us to "...choose our learning with care because learning has an eternal shelf life, and whatever useful knowledge or wisdom or 'principle of intelligence' we acquire in this life 'will rise with us in the resurrection.’" (Learning and Latter-day Saints, April 2009 (Links to an external site.))Elder Kim B. Clark describes the process of learning with the Holy Ghost as deep learning: “Deep learning applies to every kind of knowledge, whether spiritual or secular. Learning is deep when it increases your power to do three things:
(1) to know and understand;
(2) to take effective, righteous action; and
(3) to become more like our Heavenly Father”.
(Learning for the Whole Soul, Aug. 2017 (Links to an external site.))
To receive confirmation from the Holy Ghost, we must invite his influence through righteous living and putting spiritual learning first. President Eyring teaches us 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 than standing first in our graduating class. But, it is also clear that spiritual learning would not replace our drive for secular learning… In fact, you will work harder at your secular learning than you would without that spiritual vision.” (Education for Real Life, Oct. 2002 (Links to an external site.))
Ponder & Record:
What are you willing to change to better invite the influence of the Holy Ghost in your life?
Are the things you are spending your time on worth learning?
As you review the material above, please consider the following questions and record your thoughts in your Learning Journal:
2. Cultivate Desire and Act The second step to becoming a wise steward of your learning is to develop a desire to actually learn what you are studying. Have you ever been guilty of going through the motions of study or work, but not actually engaging in the content? Perhaps it was in a class you took in school. Maybe you were more concerned about your grade than what you were learning. Most people struggle with these issues to some extent. As the Preach My Gospel manual points out,Many [people] struggle to know how to study effectively. Some rely heavily on others or on structured programs to tell them what and how to study. While learning from a good teacher is very important, it is more important for you to have meaningful learning experiences on your own. Getting good results from your study depends on having a strong desire to learn, studying with “real intent” (Moroni 10:4 (Links to an external site.)), “hunger[ing] and thirst[ing] after righteousness” (Matthew 5:6 (Links to an external site.)).Both ancient and modern prophets have taught the importance of developing righteous desires. Elder Neal A. Maxwell stated that “What we insistently desire, over time, is what we will eventually become and what we will receive in eternity.” (According to the Desire of [Our] Hearts, Oct. 1996 (Links to an external site.)). Elder Dallin H. Oaks similarly said that “Desires dictate our priorities, priorities shape our choices, and choices determine our actions. The desires we act on determine our changing, our achieving, and our becoming,” (Desire, April 2007 (Links to an external site.)) God has continually told us that not only will he will bless us “according to [our] desires” but he will “judge all men…according to the desire of [our] hearts.” It is clear that the Lord expects us to actively develop our desires. But how can you do that?First, developing a desire requires action— we cannot simply wish to change; we must put forth the effort to actually change. As President Thomas S. Monson taught, “It is not enough to want to make the effort and to say we’ll make the effort. We must actually make the effort. It’s in the doing, not just the thinking, that we accomplish our goals.” ( (Links to an external site.)A Royal Priesthood, Oct. 2007 (Links to an external site.)) (Links to an external site.) Elder Bednar taught how this principle applies to our study: “Learning by faith cannot be transferred from an instructor to a student through a lecture, a demonstration, or an experiential exercise; rather, a student must exercise faith and act in order to obtain the knowledge for himself or herself.” (Seek Learning by Faith, Sep. 2007 (Links to an external site.))
Ponder & Record
How can you develop a desire to learn?
What are you willing to do (or stop doing) to become a better steward of your learning?
As you review the material above, please consider the following questions and record your thoughts in your Learning Journal:
3. Find Evidence that Your Learning is Relevant President Brigham Young 📷"No matter what your circumstances are, whether you are in prosperity or adversity, you can learn from every person, transaction, and circumstances around you.”(Adapted from a series of articles by Eugene England, Aug 1978 (Links to an external site.))Understanding why you want to study something is a powerful motivation to learn –but it’s not enough to support your effort. To support this growth and keep you on the path toward becoming a wiser steward, what you study must be relevant to your goals and daily life. If you don’t see a purpose in your coursework, you are much more likely to become discouraged and drop out.To find relevance in your studies, look for ways to apply what you are learning to your daily life. The assignments in this course are designed to help you do this. However, you may have other lessons or courses that don’t seem to relate to you. If you find yourself in this situation, try having a clear understanding of how the course or lesson will help you achieve your educational goals. This will help you to keep going. You were asked at the beginning of the course to write your ‘My Why’ paragraph. That activity can help you find relevance and a higher motivation for pursuing your university education. Later, you will be asked to build your degree plan, so that you know how each course will help you reach your goal.In the end, you will need to learn to love learning no matter what you are studying. You will then be able to find the value in it. This will require you to be humble, but you will come to recognize that you truly can be taught when your heart and mind are willing and the Spirit is present.
Ponder & Record
How can you recognize progress even when it’s uncertain or slow?
How does recognizing your progress help increase your desire to act?
How can connecting what you are learning to your goals and daily life help support your effort?
As you review the above material, please consider the following questions and record your thoughts in your Learning Journal:Becoming a wise steward of your learning includes learning how to learn and understanding that you truly have the ability to learn new things. This sometimes means that you must change your current perspective or mindset in order to succeed as a capable learner.
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