Ed Week Recap - Joseph F. McConkie

The next hour I went to Joseph F. McConkie for his class titled Compromising Gospel Principles Never Brings Peace. The basic premise was that we should not attempt to change the gospel. We need to accept the gospel the way the Lord has given it to us.

Joseph McConkie talked a lot about the Light of Christ, which is for all to enjoy. Everyone is entitles to the Light of Christ - even an atheist can have the Light of Christ. It is everywhere and (unlike the gospel) was not lost in the apostasy. The Light of Christ is independent of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It goes to everyone at birth, as opposed to the Holy Ghost that goes only to those who are born again (baptized).

Do not confuse the Light of Christ with the restored gospel! The Holy Ghost is the 1st Comforter. The world does not receive this. The spirit giveth light to every man, and following that light leads to greater light and covenants. We have been instructed not to treat lightly the things which we have received. The Holy Ghost sets us apart from the world. We must know the doctrines of exaltation by the witness of the Holy Ghost.

According to Joseph F. McConkie, the single greatest myth or heresy of missionary work is that of "common ground". He says we should not teach, "We're just like you!" and focus on where we have the same or similar beliefs. We're different! If you stand for something, you have to stand against something.

McConkie says the Bible is not (as many missionaries try to make it) a common ground, it's a battle ground! He points out that the history of Europe is filled with martyrs warring over the meaning of the Bible, and he said, "Frankly, you're not going to be the one to solve that." :-) He recommends using the Book of Mormon to prove the Bible true, NOT the other way around.

You cannot change or tailor the gospel of Jesus Christ and still have it BE the gospel of Jesus Christ. Don't try to change the gospel in any way. The Doctrine and Covenants tell us that we are to preach His gospel even as we have received it.

As a side note: I attended my dad's gospel doctrine class today, and he shared something he heard several years ago in a lecture by Wayne Brickey. The word "commandment" and the word "pattern" are derived from the same root word. Many times we may look upon commandments as demandments, but they are not. They are there as a pattern for us to be like God. So instead of thinking of them as demands, we ought to view them as God's way of saying, "To be like me, follow this pattern."

Ed Week Recap - S. Michael Wilcox

I loved Education Week this year (as always)! I really enjoyed each and every one of my classes, and even though I took a risk and spent one hour with a teacher I was unfamiliar with, he turned out to be great, and I would definitely take a class from him again. The other hours I spent with tried and true teachers that I have loved for years, and they didn't disappoint.

I started the morning by going to the Marriott Center to listen to S. Michael Wilcox - LOVE him!! His first hour was a class called "Applying the Scriptures: Ancient Truths In a Modern Setting". I didn't take notes this hour, though I probably should have. He used various scriptural scenarios to give present day application and show how the scriptures really were written for our day and contain so many answers.

Since his class was so good, I decided to stay on for the next hour. (The first hour I sat with my mom in her preferred area in the upper bowl, but I ditched her during the second hour in favor of a front row seat.)

The class this hour was titled "Vision of Joseph Smith: Piercing the Veil". The key idea of this class was that God will speak to us. He is a revealing God, not a hiding God. He likes and wants to give us truths.

In the First Vision account, Joseph Smith describes himself as "an obscure boy of no consequence to the world." Brother Wilcox points out that God will speak to us, too, "obscure" though we may be, if we are (as the boy Joseph was) "inquirers after truth".

Brother Wilcox points out that we need to make a place for the knowledge God would give us. He uses the analogy of this knowledge being "liquid light" God will use to fill our souls. If we carve out (by inquiring, searching, reflecting, doing) a deep place with which to hold the knowledge, then God will fill it. However, if we create something more of a saucer within ourselves, God will still fill it, but he won't overfill it or let it spill out. We need to prepare ourselves to be filled. Our preparation has everything to do with the amount of knowledge we receive. He points out that desire carves out the depth of a soul.

There was so much more to the class than I can possibly cover here, but one more point he made was that the adversary gets nervous when we get close to getting what we need. Case in point obviously being that he was there and quick to pounce when Joseph determined to go pray in solitude to God and ask with sincerity which church to join.

Michael Wilcox reminds us that we have a "fourth watch God" - an illustration he uses often; he calls it the "Fourth Watch Principle". (One of my favorite talks of all time is by S. Michael Wilcox and is titled "When Your Prayers Seem Unanswered" - it covers this principle. It's available as a book, and I highly recommend it.)

In Matthew 14 and Mark 6 we read that Jesus went up into a mountain to be alone and to pray. During this time his disciples were in a boat being tossed about on the sea by a raging storm. They were unable to get to shore due to the high winds pushing against them. We are told that Jesus was aware of this and saw them toiling. Yet it was not until the fourth watch of the night that he went to them.

Okay, I can see I will need to do this in installments. I'll stop here for now, and when I get another chance I will post more about my classes....

Education Week

For as long as I can remember, even before turning 14 (the minimum age for attendees), I have looked forward each summer to BYU Education Week.

Even when I was too young to attend myself, I enjoyed it because it generally meant seeing my cousins who made the trip from San Diego to Provo to spend the week on campus for Ed Week. Party!

Since I've been old enough to go, I have rarely missed a year. Sometime years I attended only in the evenings, or (like this year) just one full day, but it is such a wonderful experience every time! There are always so many classes that I wish I could attend, and I have such a tough choice deciding which one to attend each hour!

The first year I went (as a registered attendee), I remember the first morning wandering around campus with my sister and a few friends looking for a particular building on the south end of campus. We got completely lost and wound up at some obscure building that was surely beyond the edge of campus. I don't think we made it to a class that hour.

The next year, I spent the week flanked by two hotties (my favorite cousin, Scotty, and one of his best friends - who was later my first date). Scott even "proposed" to me, down on one knee amid the hustle and bustle on a campus sidewalk, in a (successful) effort to mortify me. :-)

One year my grandma came for the week and was my very own roommate in the dorms, which was a special treat!

I have great memories from last year of chatting with my uncle as we stood in line for classes and as we sat waiting for the class to begin. My uncle, like my son, was adopted, so we have discussed adoption at length on several occasions. It is always nice to get his insight, and I am grateful for him sharing it with me.

Since our anniversary is the week before, I always dream of Jeremiah and I celebrating by attending the full week of Education Week together. However, having young children doesn't make that option very feasible (yet!). But Jeremiah is always so great to let me sneak away during the week as much as his/our schedule will allow for.

My parents, as usual, are there this week, along with several of my aunts. I look forward to getting up nice and early tomorrow morning and joining them as I immerse myself for a day in the Education Week experience!

10 Years.... wow!

Here's what we were doing on this day ten years ago.

I guess time really does fly when you're having fun.

Zucchini is my friend.

Our garden is in full swing. We have one bell pepper plant that has produced a handful of little peppers so far, plus two tomato plants that are starting to offer up a bounty. The strawberries got started too late, and it has been way too hot for me to have much hope of seeing any actual berries, though at least one of the two plants has managed to stay alive.

But the big success is the zucchini! We've got tons! I love growing zukes because you don't have to do anything; they actually grow themselves. It has taken VERY little effort on my part. (They are on a drip which is tied into the automatic sprinkler system.) I maybe pull a weed here or there or give them a little extra to drink on really hot days. That's it.

The best thing about growing something easy like zucchini is that they make me feel like I have a green thumb (when, in fact, I do not), and I get to bask in the sweet success of reaping my very own harvest!

We've eaten our zucchini several ways, but I need more ideas! If you have some good recipes, please share! And if you'd like some zucchini, I think I can spare a few.... :-)