Thoughts from Seminary: Verbs that help you learn (8/16/13)

This morning in seminary the lesson was about scripture study, and how we can more effectively learn from things like General Conference (which is coming soon!) and seminary. The big thing was realize WHO is speaking, WHAT is going on, background, etc, and to WHOM are they speaking, when you read from the scriptures. We talked over several different scriptures and several quotes from general authorities this morning, but there's one passage that sticks out to me as the crux of the lesson:

3 Nephi, 17: 2-3:
2 I ^aperceive that ye are weak, that ye cannot ^bunderstand all my words which I am commanded of the Father to speak unto you at this time.

 3 Therefore, go ye unto your homes, and ^aponder upon the things which I have said, and ask of the Father, in my name, that ye may understand, and ^bprepare your minds for the ^cmorrow, and I come unto you again.

Jesus is speaking to the people of the Americas, near the end of his ministry among them, which followed the cataclysmic events that sprung from his death. These people endured literal darkness, death, and mass destruction, then were visited by the Christ... somebody they'd been looking forward too for years. He healed them, taught them, and the scriptures say they had complete peace (no divisions among the people, complete unity in heart and mind) for hundreds of years. These verses in particular are after he has spent all day teaching them, and would like for them to prepare and understand what they've heard. What I want to pick out from these verses is the advice Christ gives us for learning in verse 3. These all come in the shape of a verb:

• Go ye unto your home (find your place, or a place you're comfortable and love to be)
• Ponder upon the things which I have said (really think about what you've heard. Ponder implies deep retrospection, not just shallow thinking)
• Ask of the Father (Pray about it. Not only does the Spirit help you to learn and grow, but Heavenly Father wants to help us understand things, and he'll use the Holy Ghost to do so)
• Prepare your minds for the morrow (Prepare for the next lesson! Be ready to learn more)

While I've approached these from a religious stand-point, being that I am a very religious person, you could also put a secular spin on these. Mainly, you'd have to take "Ask of the Father" and apply that to asking people with more knowledge than you, which is completely applicable, though not the main connotation of that passage.

 It is my hope however, that even if you aren't certain if you believe in God, you will go ahead and try to pray. It can't hurt you. You might even feel the Spirit, just like Moroni promises in his challenge at the end of the Book of Mormon.

 

Moroni's Challenge (Moroni 10: 3-5)

3 Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how ^amerciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ^bponder it in your ^chearts.

 4 And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ^aask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not ^btrue; and if ye shall ask with a ^csincere heart, with ^dreal intent, having ^efaith in Christ, he will ^fmanifest the ^gtruth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.

 5 And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may ^aknow the ^btruth of all things.