Lesson for June 8, 2014

Today our lesson was given by Maggie Kopp on “Our Search for Truth.” She said her profession as a librarian makes her very sensitive to seeking truth. Her husband said, “It’s kind of hard not to be Mormon and know learning is important.” She asked who is learning something new. Sister Farnworth said she is taking a new math class. Another sister said she is taking birthing classes. Another sister is taking an art history class and a family class. Sister Campbell is taking neurology through. Sister Lewis said you can find God in anything you study, from history to how to make sourdough. She says not to separate church stuff from other stuff. Emily Campbell said science is how people try to codify what God has always known. Maggie said that Chieko Okasaki taught an important lesson on the relationship between study and faith, citing the scriptures that tell us to study out of the best books. Maggie asked us what studying the body has to do with faith. We are created by God in His image. We breathe and our hearts beat on their own. Sister Linda Campbell said when she taught health and went to BYU to see the cadavers, it was an eye opener to her to see the systems and precise use of the body. Claudia Laycock said our bodies are our ticket back to God. Another sister said she works with people who are not healthy and that it is their challenge to work with their bodies. Emily Campbell said there are certain things you can do to make your bodies work better. We are all individuals and not all things work equally for everyone. Obviously you can’t work in the health industry on faith alone, but faith can help us to know the knowledge we have been exposed to and use it. How does the combination of study and faith work in your life? Jessica Lewis said that everything she studies strengthens her faith, but the most influential was studying herbs and how the Lord has blessed us with everything we need. There are so many things we learn on this earth that help us. Chieko Okasaki said not many of us read too much. He reiterated that learning comes by study and faith. She listened to a great talk that is listed on speeches.byu.edu about living knowledge. God uses natural laws to accomplish what He intends to happen. Heavenly Father created all of this for us. Claudia Laycock said she believes it is like the parable of the talent and we need to expand our knowledge. It’s part of what we owe God. Jessica Lewis said she has been reading a book by S. Michael Wilcox who compared us to a compass drawing a circle, with one foot in the gospel and the other searching out all truth. Another sister said that being grounded in the gospel and living it helps us filter everything we learn. Our sister missionary said that all of our learning is for our end goal, which is to become like our Father in Heaven. Maggie said the professor who spoke said that our learning is endless. Heather Cantrell said to learn about God before we can understand the rest. Chieko Okasaki said that learning by study and learning by faith cannot be separated. Maggie challenges us to learn more of God and Christ.