We're Learning Now What We Need to Know Later

Last week I was called as the ward prayer co-chair and so I prepared my first little lesson for it. Here it is...

All week I’ve been thinking about an experience I had my first semester in college. My second Sunday there, the Bishop called me in and asked me to be the instructor for the teacher development class. I said yes, but I had never felt so out of my element. I was still very much in my shy phase and I had never really taught anything. I was scared out of my mind. To ease the pain, the bishop called a co-teacher so I wouldn’t have to teach every Sunday which was wonderful. I still remember one Sunday shortly after I was called, I was meeting with the second counselor of the bishopric for something else and we started talking about my calling and about my co-teacher. His name was Riland and he was from Armenia. Brother Muir told me that Riland was a relatively new member of the Church and felt overwhelmed about his calling – which I totally understood. As we continued talking, he shared some other insights, but there was one thing he said, and it’s something that I will never forget. He said that Riland was learning from this calling how to teach the gospel so that he would be able to teach and lead and serve in his branch back home.

I’ve thought a lot about that statement since then. What I didn’t understand at the time was that even though our situations were different, I was also learning how to teach the gospel and that the things I learned while teaching that course would help me in future.  I can look back over the last several years since that time and the callings I’ve held and I realize how that calling had a hand in preparing me for my each of those times, and each of those callings and experiences since then have had a hand in molding me into the person that I am today, and who I will be tomorrow.

I would challenge each of you to take a look at the past few years to see how the experiences and callings of your past have helped you get to the point that you are currently at. Additionally, I would challenge you to look at your life right now. Perhaps you have a calling that you feel ill-equipped for. Maybe you’re going through a challenging time.  I hope that as you compare your past to your present that you realize that you can move forward and that each experience is a building block to the person you are becoming. The Lord is preparing you to move His work forward and that the knowledge and experience you gain at this time will be used in the future, wherever you find yourself.