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.