Lifelong Learning

My fiancé and I recently found someone's iPhone in a cart at the grocery store. He actually found it and brought it home to ask me what we should do about it. He wanted to keep it after seeing some rude messages on the screen of the iPad from the owner, who assumed someone stole it and was keeping it, and they were offering a cash reward for the return of the phone. We aren't sure how long the phone was left in the cart. I was able to figure out how to call the owner from a phone number on the screen and talk to her. She answered the phone with a very bad attitude it I was able to assure her that we found her phone and wanted to return it to her and did not want any money for it. We returned the phone and my fiancé and I both came away from the situation with some frustration but perhaps some kind of lesson. This situation arose because God puts people in our lives in order for us to learn something. The experience helped me share some strong feelings I have about integrity and honesty and always doing the right thing even if you get no reward. I shared with him something I learned which is that God wants us to learn from others. I shared with him the article by Henry B Eyering, "Do what they think you can't do". We both were able to share some goals we have about what we want to achieve and that we can indeed acheive them because we are children of God. We both agree that we were meant to find the phone so that we could learn about each other's values and how we can be better to other people. I hope the owners of the phone learned from the experience as well, perhaps to not jump to conclusions so quickly and not to be so rude in text messages assuming we had stolen the phone. I'm grateful for the Savior and his atonement especially when we face temptation to do things the wrong way. I'm grateful that I can learn anything I want to and I feel strong knowing I have the Spirit to teach me.

Inviting the Spirit- Goals

I use this blog to help invite the Spirit. I try my best to use media appropriately though sometimes I get caught up in junk news or articles that impede the Spirit. I know that blessings come from using media to invite the companionship of the Spirit into our lives. I plan to give my Facebook account a good makeover to be sure to delete anything that impedes the Spirit and I plan to use it better in the future.

Thinking about something I'd really like to learn and there are so many things. One of those things I'd like to learn is sign language. I work with abused children and some clients are deaf. I would love to be able to communicate with. Ore people, especially the kids I come across at work or in my daily life. I also think it would be really nice to develop a skill or talent to share at church. There's a young girl who attends my ward and she is very hard of hearing and uses sign language to communicate. Only her mother can sign and I don't think anyone else at church knows how. I would like to learn sign language so that I might be able to accept a calling to primary or young women's and be able to include that child without her mom having to miss her calling to translate for her. I think it would be something nice to do.

Cornell Notes

cornell notes are a great way to record information you are learning about so you can effectively review it later. As I read the Book of Mormon this past week, I tried writing down a few Cornell notes. I was able to share what I learned more easily to a friend who has never read the Book of Mormon. It proved an effective way to assist me I. Learning and also in teaching someone else.

The BYU Idaho Learning Model and Pathway

The BYU Idaho learning model impressed me because I can find a lot of value in it. Honesty and integrity are important qualities to me and those are clearly reflected in the learning model. It's important to act for yourself and accept personal responsibility for your own learning. I found one principle of the learning model to be particularly important, which was to understand that true teaching is done by and with the Holy Ghost. Included in this principle are, to act immediately upon inspiration and to obey the honor code. I was presented with a great opportunity to share this information with a friend this week while buying a soda from a fast food restaurant. We went through the drive through and he ordered just one drink. I was puzzled but I didn't ask any questions. I paid for my drink and was expecting we'd be on to continue with our next plans. Instead he parked and took an empty cup inside the restaurant while I waited in the car. Those minutes passed very slowly as I prayed that God might help him understand the error of his ways. He came back to the car proud to have his free soda. I hesitated for a second but then remembered this principle about teaching with the Holy Ghost. I then told him that I think it is wrong to go in and get a free refill when you are not dining inside the restaurant. I expressed my concern that it was theft and I explained the value of having integrity is more than the cost of the drink. I further stated that he was wrong to make me a part of that experience. We later had the opportunity to read the Learning model together and I was able to show him the video about the honor code. I informed him that I would like to live by the honor code and I hoped to surround myself with like minded people. He had a change of heart and later went to the fast food restaurant and left $1.09 at the register for the free drink refill. The honor code and the learning model can easily be applied to all aspects of our lives. Click below to see the BYU Idaho learning model for yourself!

http://www.byui.edu/about/defining-aspects/learning-model

BYU I learning model

FDREL lesson 01

The process by which the Book of Mormon came to us through Joseph Smith is not easily understood. The same can be said about how the Book of Mormon has impacted my life. Although I can't easily put it into words, I know that the Book of Mormon has impacted my life in a positive way. When I read it I feel a sense of comfort. When I watch Mormon messages that include lessons from the Book of Mormon, my home is filled with warmth. Just like the way we can feel it in our bones that the seasons are changing, I can feel the love that comes from the scriptures. By taking this class and completing the assigned readings, I hope to gain a stronger testimony of the Book of Mormon so that I can explain it to my friends and family. While reading the article, "By the Gift and Power of God" by Elder Neal A. Maxwell, I learned that there was no blanket between Joseph Smith and the scribes during the translation of the golden plates, according to Emma Smith. I always pictured a blanket hanging between them. There is always something new to learn when you wholeheartedly study the lessons and teachings of the prophets of the Church of  Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

2 Nephi 33

Nephi was so passionate about sharing the word of God with everyone who would read it. I think it's so powerful how he said in 2 Nephi 33:3 that he would pray for the people and cry on his pillow that they would hear his words and they would be persuaded to do good. If you believe in Christ you must believe what Nephi says, because they are the words of Christ Himself.

Atonement

I am so grateful to learn about the atonement. It's a concept I can't fully grasp but I long to gain a testimony of it. I think it's so wonderful that we can live eternally and I thank our Heavenly Father for making that possible through the sacrifice made by Jesus Christ. It should inspire everyone who knows about it to want to live worthy of the atonement. It's a tremendous gift that cannot be taken for granted.