Increase in Learning

Yesterday President Nelson, Elder Gong, and their wives were in Fiji as part of their Pacific ministry this past week.  Sister Gong made this statement, “President Nelson has taught that the difference between wanting to do good in the world and being able to do good in the world is to get an education. … When you have an education, you can make a bigger difference in the world.”  I looked up that statement to see when President Nelson said that and found three instances.  In a BYU devotional in 1990, then Elder Nelson encouraged students, “Prepare to do work of real worth for your fellowmen. This is one of the fundamental reasons for enrollment at this institution of higher learning. The critical difference between your just hoping for good things for mankind and your being able to do good things for mankind is education.”  He then told of the death of a friend of his and his wife’s because of a serious heart condition and how that event inspired him to spend years studying and learning and experimenting to discover ways to repair broken hearts.  He continued, “Maintain your motivation and perseverance to do work of worth. It will be a measure of your individual righteousness. No matter what your career may be, the long hours of sacrifice and effort required to achieve excellence are really worth it.” 

Then in 2013 he spoke to young adults at BYU-Hawaii with a similar message about obtaining an education: “Education is yours to obtain. No one else can gain it for you. Wherever you are, develop a deep desire to learn. For us as Latter-day Saints, getting an education is not just a privilege; it is a religious responsibility. The glory of God is intelligence. Indeed, our education is for the eternities. Brothers and sisters, don’t be afraid to pursue your goals—even your dreams! There is no shortcut to excellence and competence. Education is the difference between wishing you could help other people and being able to help them.”  Recently President Nelson also emphasized the same thing to the people of Kenya: “Education is one of your prime objectives. The glory of God is intelligence. Fill your mind with truth, more every day than there was the day before. Expose yourself to good books, to good thoughts, to good music. Education is the difference between simply wishing you could do something of value and being able to do something for your fellow men.”  Clearly this is something that President Nelson feels very strongly about, and surely that is in part because he was able to help repair so many people’s hearts because of his countless years spent learning about it.

The scriptures too encourage us to get all the learning that we have.  The writer of Proverbs taught, “A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels…. Teach a just man, and he will increase in learning” (Proverbs 1:5, 9:9).  The Doctrine and Covenants encourages us especially to increase in learning.  Twice we are told, “Seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom; seek learning, even by study and also by faith” (Doctrine and Covenants 88:118, 109:7). The Lord taught that we should learn “of things both in heaven and in the earth, and under the earth; things which have been, things which are, things which must shortly come to pass; things which are at home, things which are abroad; the wars and the perplexities of the nations, and the judgments which are on the land; and a knowledge also of countries and of kingdoms” (Doctrine and Covenants 88:79).  We are to “Obtain a knowledge of history, and of countries, and of kingdoms, of laws of God and man” (Doctrine and Covenants 93:53).  And what is the purpose of this learning?  The same verse gives us the answer: “All this for the salvation of Zion.” Ultimately we are to learn everything we can in order to build up the kingdom of God and to take the gospel to all the world.  Doctrine and Covenants 88:80, following the above injunction to learn, likewise gives a reason for it: “That ye may be prepared in all things when I shall send you again to magnify the calling whereunto I have called you, and the mission with which I have commissioned you.”  The Lord and His prophet invite us to learn and get all the knowledge we can so that we can fulfill the mission on earth God has for us in building up His kingdom.