My first post will focus on a speech President Henry B. Eyring gave in a 1997 devotional at Brigham Young University titled "A Child of God". He emphasized the importance of learning and receiving a good education, and talked about the following five characteristic behaviors of great learners:
1) Welcome correction.
Without correction, how are we supposed to improve ourselves? How are we supposed to learn and grow? We must take in all the correction we can get, not only from those around us, but also ourselves. But we must remember that the most important correction we can receive will come from our Heavenly Father. Not only will He correct us with love, but He will strengthen us and help us apply that correction in our lives. We must develop a desire for correction, and seek it frequently. For this reason, as President Eyring stated, "...you can appreciate getting back one of your papers when it is covered with jottings in red ink." Remember that learning is much more important than the grade written at the top of your page.2) Keep commitments.
President Eyring said, "...what all great learners have is a deep appreciation for finding better rules and a commitment to keeping them." This is so true. We must develop high expectations for ourselves, and keep the commitments that we make to ourselves, our peers, and our Father in Heaven. Heavenly Father requires exactness of us. How else are we supposed to become like him? That is the purpose of his plan, and He has made it possible for us to know his rules through the scriptures and from our prophets. However, it is up to us whether we will follow his rules, and if we do we will receive the companionship of the Holy Ghost, which will make it much easier for us to continue to keep our commitments and discern good from evil, which is the key to learning.
3) Work hard.
As long as we are working, we are also learning. The purpose of going to school or work should be to learn and develop new skills, not to receive good grades or a high paycheck. President Eyring said, "For the child of God who has enough faith in the plan of salvation to treat it as reality, hard work is the only reasonable option." Many, in fact, most of us do not realize how short life really is, and what we do here in this life determines how we will live for the rest of eternity. Therefore, we must always be in the service of our God.
4) Help other people.
Great learners help other people. What we can learn from other people will be invaluable. No one on this earth knows everything, but everyone knows something that you don't. So open yourself up, and find out what that thing is. You must remember that every person you will ever meet is a child of God, and deserves your love and service. I promise that if you take the time, you can learn something from every person you interact with, especially those whom you serve. President Eyring stated, "Sometimes the greatest kindness we could receive would be to have someone expect more from us than we do, because they see more clearly our divine heritage."
5) Expect resistance and overcome it.
If something is easy, you are probably not learning from it. Yes, you are going face discouragement in your life often, but don't let it bring you down! Overcome it! Life is a test. Have hope. Go to the Lord for strength. Without Him, we are nothing. President Eyring told the story of his mother, who died after suffering with cancer for a decade. President Kimball spoke at her funeral and said, "Some of you may wonder what great sins Mildred committed to explain her having to endure such suffering. It had nothing to do with sin. It was that her Heavenly Father wanted to polish her a little more." I know this to be true. Our Heavenly Father loves us and wants what is best for us. If that means placing challenges in our paths and stepping out of our comfort zone a little bit, then so be it. As President Eyring said, "He will give us no test without preparing the way for us to pass it."
I hope this was in some way helpful to at least one of you. Everyone has the potential to become a better learner. But it won't all come at once. It takes time. Pick one of the above characteristics that you feel like you could improve in yourself, and work on it. Once you feel comfortable with that characteristic, pick a different one, until you have gone through them all. It will benefit you more than you can imagine. Follow the advice of President Eyring: "The time to start is now...Do what you have been prompted to do. Do it now."
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