My insights for the week

What an amazing week it has been as I have "feasted" (2 Nephi 31:20) for my studies for Pathway. I have leaned and grown soo much. One difference I have noticed this week is that I have been relying on Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost to help me. Before, I would rely only on myself. I would try to write EVERYTHING down because I didn't want to miss anything. If I missed something, I would panic. I would spend hours on assignments thinking about what I should write and wonder if my answers were right or "good enough". I was always doubting myself and thinking that I wasn't good enough or that I wasn't smart enough. etc. All of these thoughts and feelings left me very stressed, worried, unconfident, and I had very negative thoughts and feelings about myself. I had faith that They COULD help me, I was just a little lacking on the faith that They WOULD help me.

This week I exercised my seed of faith that They would help me. It has made a HUGE difference in my studies. When I rely on Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost to help me, I notice that I'm not stressed, answers come to me right away, I'm confident in what I'm learning, teaching and saying, I think better of my self, and I don't doubt my answers. This change isn't just in my studies, it is also present in my overall attitude. I notice a huge difference in the times when I am relying on Them versus the times when I am relying on myself. 

Increasing my reliance on Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost helps me with my topic I have chosen for my Becoming Project: Faith in Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and Their love for me. I chose this topic because, throughout my life I have had people cut me down and tear me apart, by the things they have said and the things they have done.  Because of this, I have had very low self esteem and I didn't love myself (how could I love myself if people who were suppose to love me didn't?). Because I didn't love myself, why would Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love me???  Why would they love someone who is "a regret", "a mistake" and "hated" etc?????

In order for me to know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love me, I have to first, love myself. That is what I am working on this week: loving myself. I have been working on thinking, and talking, more positively about myself. I have also been looking at myself in the mirror and saying positive things to myself. I also put quotes on the mirror from General Authorities about self worth. I'm still not all the way there yet, but I'm a lot closer.

Like I said before, I have also been learning a lot this week. In my Life Skills class, we learned about BYU-I's Learning Model and the Honor Code. There are 3 Steps and 5 Principles of the Learning Model.

The 3 Steps are:
1. Prepare
2. Teach One Another
3. Ponder/Prove

The 5 Principles are:
1. Exercise Faith
2. Learn by the Holy Ghost
3. Lay hold of the Word of God
4. Act for Themselves
5. Love, Serve, Teach One Another

We learned what each step means and why it is important. The fist step, Prepare, tells us that we need to be prepared before coming to class. We need to have read the material and have our assignments done ahead of time. This allows the the class period to become a "discussion", where everyone participates and we learn and teach each other, instead of a "lecture" where the instructor does all the teaching. Being prepared ahead of time, allows for deeper understanding and learning. As you prepare, your ability to deepen your overall learning experience will increase considerably. 

The second step, Teach One Another, tells us that when we have learned something, we should teach it to others. Knowledge is like talents. We are told that we are to build up our talents and then share them with others. If we don't use our talents, then we loose them. The same with knowledge, if we learn something, and then don't teach it to others, then we loose that knowledge. As we teach each other, we build upon the things we already know. Our learning becomes discussions where we can bounce off our thoughts and ideas. As we teach others, our ability to recall that information will increase. 

The third step, Ponder/Prove, invites us, after we have learned something, we then go and think about what we have learned and then take action. Pondering allows the Spirit to come and teach you more. Pondering and proving solidifies your understanding. After we have pondered, we are then expected to apply what we have learned. 

The first Principle of the Learning Model, Exercise Faith, reminds us that we are not doing this alone...we do have help. If we do our part, then Heavenly Father promises that He will send His help when we need it, we just have to exercise our faith. Learning to act according to ones faith in Christ is fundamental to enjoying deep, life changing learning.

The second principle of the Learning Model, learn by the Holy Ghost, reminds us that true teaching is done by the Holy Ghost. "The Holy Ghost can teach men things that they cannot teach one another" President Hinckley. It's the Spirit that testifies of the truth that is being taught.

The third principle is Laying Hold of the Word of God. Laying hold of the Word of God in the scriptures and in the words of the prophets signifies our faith and the importance of them in our lives.  
The fourth principle, Act for Themselves, students are expected to use their agency to take responsibility for their own learning. They are suppose to "act for themselves" instead of "being acted upon". Students are expected to come to class prepared to teach, to learn, to participate, and to exercise their faith in Jesus Christ. They are also expected to take action with what they have learned.

The fifth principle, Love Serve Teach, teaches us to love those we teach. When we love the ones we teach, we create an environment that is safe, and where all can stretch and stumble without fear. Charity replaces competition. If love is felt, then learning and teaching grows.

The Learning Model was created so students could deepen their learning by teaching one another. President Clark said of the Learning Model "The Learning Model will become a pattern for learning, not just while at BYU-I, but throughout your life". President Eyring said of BYU-I students "The students at BYU-I will be known as natural leaders because they have been taught to teach and to learn from one another". As you can see, BYU-I really emphasizes the importance of teaching each other what we are learning.

As part of the Honor Code, are rules about what you can and can't do and what you can and can't wear, etc. Some of the rules are easy to understand as to why or why not. Others...not so much. Although we don't understand some of the rules, we are still expected to follow them. Why??? One of the reasons I came up with, is because, the Honor Code is preparing us to keep sacred covenants that we make in the temple. If we are obedient to the rules of the Honor Code, we show Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ that we can be obedient to the covenants we make in the temple, even though we might not understand all of them.

This week in my Book of Mormon class, we studied 1 Nephi 1-5.  This block of scripture talks about Lehi and his family having to leave all their possessions and flee into the wildeness. It talks of how some members his family were faithful and others murmured. These are just some of the insights I gained through studies and teaching and as I was being taught.

-1Nephi 1:1 "...having seen many afflictions...nevertheless having been highly favored of the Lord..." Being highly favored of the Lord does not exempt you from adversity. It is only in your reaction to adversity, that you become highly favored of the Lord.

-Although Laman and Lemuel, did the things that were asked of them, they didn't do it for the right intent. They were constantly murmuring and complaining. Sometimes we are asked to do something, and although we do it, we are like Laman and Lemuel and murmur and complain. 

-1Nephi 3: 29-31- Laman and Lemuel saw many angels, and yet they still did not believe that the Lord could/would deliver them. How often are we like Laman and Lemuel? How many times have we seen the Lord "deliver" us, and how many times do we still doubt???? It shows that "Seeing is not believing, believing is seeing".

-1Nephi 4:6-7 "I was led by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which I should do...Nevertheless I went forth"- Nephi had such great faith in Jesus Christ that he didn't know how he was going to get the Plates of Brass from Laban, all he knew was that a way was going to be provided. 

1Nephi 4:20- When Nephi went into Laban's treasury, the ONLY thing he took was the Brass Plates. He could have taken gold, silver, treasures, he could have even taken back his family's own possessions that Laban stole, but he didn't. He knew the commandment was to take the Brass Plates and only the Brass Plates. If you were Nephi, would you have been that obedient? 

-In every situation, Lehi offered thanks unto the Lord. When he fled into the wilderness, he thanked God for protecting his family from destruction etc. When we are going through trials, do we say thanks to God????

-Nephi and Lehi look towards future generations. Their focus is on preserving their future posterity.                                                              
This is all I have time for today. I will be writing more soon.                                               

The First Gathering

Today was my first Gathering for Pathway. For the first hour we went around the room and introduced ourselves. The second hour, we mostly talked about the course syllabus of our Book of Mormon class.

During the class tonight, two things that were said really struck me:

1. When we got on the topic of The Becoming Project, a classmate said "With ALL the good attributes that Christ has, Satan has ALL those opposite attributes and both are vying for us to follow them". 

I never thought about Satan having ALL the opposite attributes that Christ has. Where Christ has love, Satan has hate. Christ has peace, Satan has strife. Where Christ has compassion, Satan has condemnation. Etc.

2. The Senior Couple Missionaries who are over my Gathering class said "For 20 years, every January 1st, we start reading the Book of Mormon from the beginning. We finish it around June. Then around September we are again challenged to read it again by the end of the year, so we do it. We are sooo thankful to be able to do Pathway with all of you, because as many times as we have read the Book of Mormon, we have never "studied" it".
I'm sure most of us can say the same thing. We are taught growing up to "read" your scriptures. We are all challenged to get the scriptures read by a certain date. How many of us can actually say that we have "studied" the scriptures? How many of us can say that we actually searched and did an in-depth study of them. I'm sure not many. I only know of a few people who, instead of "reading" their scriptures, they "study" them. That is one of the reasons I love the Book of Mormon class I'm taking. We aren't just "reading", we are "studying".

When I got home, I told Amber what happened in the Gathering and what was said. When I told her about the comment about "reading" the scriptures vs. "studying" the scriptures, she said "One of the reasons that people "read" the scriptures instead of "studying" them is because they put a "time limit" on when to have the scriptures read by: such as I will read the Book of Mormon straight through, either by this date or in this amount of time. Because of the "time limit" they put on themselves, they don't leave room in their "time table" in order to "study" them".

I totally agree with this. People are sooo focused on "when" they get the reading done, that they don't take the time to ponder what they read. They don't take the time to "search diligently". They don't take the time find hidden treasures. They don't take "time".

Pathway

A few days ago I started an amazing online college program called Pathway. It's through BYU-I (Brigham Young University-Idaho). Pathway is a program designed for the student to become more like Christ through increase knowledge in both secular and spiritual development.

I'm taking two classes this semester: Life Skills and Book of Mormon (first half: 1 Nephi-Alma 29). In Life Skills I will be learning skills that will help me throughout my life. Some of these skills include: how to be a leader, how to make good decisions, set achievable goals, how to manage time and finances, and improve family relationships.

The Book of Mormon class is designed to increase scripture study. The purpose of studying the scriptures is so that their teachings can ultimately bring us closer to Christ. But we can't just read them...we have to actually study them. We have to be searching them and looking for hidden treasures that often get overlooked. We have to make them a part of our lives. We have to use them to become a disciple of Christ.

In the Book of Mormon class, I will be working on a semester-long project called The Becoming Project. The motto of the class is "Reading the scriptures is only efficacious if what you LEARN from them causes you to DO something that helps you BECOME a better disciple of Christ". Learn...Do...Become. For The Becoming Project, I will be studying the Book of Mormon and find attributes of Jesus Christ. I will then pick one of the attributes and, through activities and assignments, implement that attribute into my personal life. As I implement the attribute into my personal life, I will become more of a disciple of Jesus Christ.

All the classes in the Pathway program are also designed to help the student not only to learn from others, but to teach others as well. One of the ways we learn and teach one another is through our "Gathering" meetings on Thursday nights. Although this is an online course, there are "Gatherings" on Thursday nights where I meet with others in my Stake who are also doing the Pathway program. These Gatherings offer support, friendship, learning and teaching opportunities, etc. At Gatherings, we do activities and lessons that encourage us to not only learn from each other, but to teach each other as well.

I am SOOOO EXCITED to be taking this journey on Pathway!!!! On this blog I will be writing things that I learn, discover, feel, find, impressions I receive, etc, as I learn...do...become.