"Seek Learning" by Gordon B. Hinckley

Excerpts--well, I included most of it, because it is a quick-read and phenomenal.

"You have the potential to become anything to which you set your mind.
Many years ago I worked for a railroad. I was in charge of what is called head-end traffic. One morning I received a call from my counterpart in Newark, New Jersey. He said, “Train number such-and-such has arrived, but it has no baggage car. Somewhere, 300 passengers have lost their baggage, and they are mad.”
I went immediately to work to find out where it may have gone. I found it had been properly loaded and properly trained in Oakland, California. It had been moved to St. Louis. But some thoughtless switchman in the St. Louis yards moved a small piece of steel just three inches, a switch point, then pulled the lever to uncouple the car. We discovered that a baggage car that belonged in Newark, New Jersey, was in fact in New Orleans, Louisiana—1,500 miles from its destination. Just the three-inch movement of the switch in the St. Louis yard by a careless employee had started it on the wrong track, and the distance from its true destination increased dramatically.

There can be no doubt, none whatever, that education pays. Do not short-circuit your lives. If you do so, you will pay for it over and over and over again.

That is the way it is with our lives. Instead of following a steady course, we are pulled by some mistaken idea in another direction. The movement away from our original destination may be ever so small, but, if continued, that very small movement becomes a great gap and we find ourselves far from where we intended to go.
It is the little things upon which life turns that make the big difference in our lives, my dear young friends.
There can be no doubt, none whatever, that education pays. Do not short-circuit your lives. If you do so, you will pay for it over and over and over again.

Fulfill Your Potential

You have the potential to become anything to which you set your mind. You have a mind and a body and a spirit. With these three working together, you can walk the high road that leads to achievement and happiness. But this will require effort and sacrifice and faith.

You must get all of the education that you possibly can. Life has become so complex and competitive. You cannot assume that you have entitlements due you. You will be expected to put forth great effort and to use your best talents to make your way to the most wonderful future of which you are capable. Sacrifice a car; sacrifice anything that is needed to be sacrificed to qualify yourselves to do the work of the world. That world will in large measure pay you what it thinks you are worth, and your worth will increase as you gain education and proficiency in your chosen field.

The Lord Wants You to Be Educated

You have a mandate from the Lord to educate your minds and your hearts and your hands. The Lord has said, “Teach ye diligently . . . 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—that ye may be prepared in all things” (D&C 88:78–80).

The Lord wants you to train your minds and hands to become an influence for good as you go forward with your lives.

The Lord wants you to train your minds and hands to become an influence for good as you go forward with your lives. And as you do so and as you perform honorably and with excellence, you will bring honor to the Church, for you will be regarded as a man or woman of integrity and ability and conscientious workmanship.... Become a workman of integrity in the world that lies ahead of you.

Special Counsel for Girls

In this day and time, a girl needs an education. She needs the means and skills by which to earn a living should she find herself in a situation where it becomes necessary to do so.

The whole gamut of human endeavor is now open to women. There is not anything that you cannot do if you will set your mind to it...Set your priorities in terms of marriage and family, but also pursue educational programs which will lead to satisfying work and productive employment in case you do not marry, or to a sense of security and fulfillment in the event you do marry. Education will increase your appreciation and refine your talent.

Special Counsel for Boys

No boy anxious to please his Heavenly Father would fail to take advantage of educational opportunities. But there is a troubling trend taking place. Young men are more likely to drop out of school than young women. Women have earned more bachelor’s degrees than men.

It is plainly evident that young women are exceeding young men in pursuing educational programs. And so I say to you young men, rise up and discipline yourself to take advantage of educational opportunities. Do you wish to marry a girl whose education has been far superior to your own? We speak of being “equally yoked.” That applies, I think, to the matter of education.

More Than Secular Learning

Never before have so many been educated in the learning of the world. What a powerful thing it is—the intensive schooling of a large percentage of the youth of the world, who meet daily at the feet of instructors to garner knowledge from all the ages of man.

As we pursue our secular studies, let us also add to our lives the cultivation of the Spirit.

The extent of that knowledge is staggering. It encompasses the stars of the universe, the geology of the earth, the history of nations, the culture and language of peoples, the operation of governments, the laws of commerce, the behavior of the atom, the functions of the body, and the wonders of the mind.
With so much knowledge available, one would think that the world might well be near a state of perfection. Yet we are constantly made aware of the other side of the coin—of the sickness of society, of the contentions and troubles that bring misery into the lives of millions.
Each day we are made increasingly aware of the fact that life is more than science and mathematics, more than history and literature. There is need for another education, without which the substance of secular learning may lead only to destruction. I refer to the education of the heart, of the conscience, of the character, of the spirit—these indefinable aspects of our personalities which determine so certainly what we are and what we do in our relationships one with another.

Over fifty years ago while serving in England as a missionary, I went to the London Central YMCA. I suppose that old building has long since gone, but I can never forget the words that faced visitors in the foyer each time they entered. They were the words of Solomon: “With all thy getting get understanding” (Proverbs 4:7).
Understanding of what? Understanding of ourselves, of the purposes of life, of our relationship to God who is our Father, of the great divinely given principles that for centuries have provided the sinew of man’s real progress!
As we pursue our secular studies, let us also add to our lives the cultivation of the Spirit. If we do so, God will bless us with that peace and those blessings which come from Him alone.

God knows what kind of education we need

"Real life Education"--by Pres. Eyring (see also short video "Learning with our hearts": Celestial web vs. World-wide-web :)...)

Spiritual Learning Gives Purpose to Secular Learning

Our first priority should go to spiritual learning. For us, reading the scriptures would come before reading history books. Prayer would come before memorizing those Spanish verbs. A temple recommend would be worth more than standing first in our graduating class. But it is also clear that spiritual learning would not replace our drive for secular learning.
The Lord clearly values what you will find in that history book. And He favors not only Spanish verbs but also the study of geography. His educational charter requires that we have “a knowledge also of countries and of kingdoms” (D&C 88:79). There is also an endorsement for questions we study in the sciences. It is clear that putting spiritual learning first does not relieve us from learning secular things. On the contrary, it gives our secular learning purpose and motivates us to work harder at it.
To keep spiritual learning in its proper place, we will have to make some hard choices of how we use our time. But there should never be a conscious choice to let the spiritual become secondary. Never. That will lead to tragedy. Remember, you are interested in education, not just for mortal life but for eternal life. When you see that reality clearly, you will put spiritual learning first and yet not slight the secular learning. In fact, you will work harder at your secular learning than you would without that spiritual vision.

God Knows What You Need to Know

Part of the tragedy you must avoid is to discover too late that you missed an opportunity to prepare for a future only God could see for you. The chance to learn another language is for me a painful example. My father was born in Mexico. He grew up speaking Spanish as his first language. I lived in his home for more than 20 years. Sadly, I never asked him to teach me a word of Spanish. But my Church assignments have caused me to have contacts in Mexico, Central America, Colombia, Venezuela, and Ecuador. It was no accident that I was born into a home with a Spanish-speaking father.
My father was a great teacher. He was a chemist. He even kept a blackboard in our basement for his children. He was eager to teach me mathematics. He spent hours trying to help me solve problems for my physics classes. He pled with me to think more often about those things that then seemed so uninteresting and unimportant. Years later I was called by the Lord to the Presiding Bishopric of the Church and given responsibilities for computing and communications systems. What a blessing I might have had if I had followed with my father the counsel I am giving to you now.
Your life is carefully watched over, as was mine. The Lord knows both what He will need you to do and what you will need to know to do it. You can with confidence expect that He has prepared opportunities for you to learn. You will not recognize those opportunities perfectly, as I did not. But when you put the spiritual things first in your life, you will be blessed to feel directed toward certain learning, and you will be motivated to work harder. You will recognize later that your power to serve was increased, and you will be grateful. Your service may not be in what the world would recognize as a lofty calling. But remember that when the real value of service becomes clear in the judgment of God, some people who worked in quiet anonymity will be the real heroes.

Excellence is Transformational

A friend just shared this with me:

"I believe that work of excellence is transformational.  Once a student see that he or she is capable of excellence, that student is never quite the same.  There is a new self-image, a new notion of possibility.  There is an appetite for excellence  After students have had a taste of excellence, they're never quite satisfied with less; they're always hungry."  --Ron Berger

I think doing something excellent is the most transformational, but seeing others doing things excellently is also beneficial.  I love the positive classroom format in Vanguard that allows for that.  I've had experiences myself during class seeing another's great work (usually one of the students!) and thought, "I could do that too if I put my mind to it."

(I looked up Ron Berger - he wrote a book called "An Ethic of Excellence."  The reviews are good, looks like I need to add it to my ever-growing "to-read" list.)

Great talk about TRUTH!

What is truth?

One of the central focuses of Vanguard is the earnest pursuit of truth.  I stumbled across this gem of a talk that covers it beautifully: 

Dieter Uchtdorf talks about TRUTH

(It says it is 55 or so minutes long, but, with the introduction and ending by others, the actual talk is only 30 minutes long...it was engaging enough that I listened to it twice with lots of distractions and still loved it!)
 
In it, Elder Uchtdorf says: "The thing about truth is that it exists beyond belief. It is true even if nobody believes it."

A few other tantalizing gems:

Part of the reason for poor judgment comes from the tendency of mankind to blur the line between belief and truth. We too often confuse belief with truth, thinking that because something makes sense or is convenient, it must be true. Conversely, we sometimes don’t believe truth or reject it—because it would require us to change or admit that we were wrong. Often, truth is rejected because it doesn’t appear to be consistent with previous experiences.

He then gives a couple of fantastic examples in history and in the scriptures where people rejected truth for the above reasons...examples that can really hit close to home!

Excellent and a must-read for those open-minded enough to pursue truth! :)

Scholar Phase and Class time: Validation from TJEd for Teens

Objective of scholar phase and importance of learning tools:
"The purpose of Scholar Phase isn't to complete your learning, but to so immerse yourself in the habits of great learning that you keep using them to solve problems, improve yourself and your conditions in life, and to help others do the same for the rest of your life.  That's Scholar Phase." (pg 80)

Developing the habits of great learning is difficult.  It is important to remind them of the tools that can help them in scholar phase: the 4-R's, sharing, accountability, mentoring, etc.  These are an essential part of Vanguard!  Sometimes it is the process that teaches almost more than what is actually being discussed, especially as the youth are younger.  When they are older, they are able to actually use the tools to better educate themselves and share what they are learning.

How wonderful to be discussing truths and things of lasting importance as they are learning, so they are able to get both at the same time, unlike "exercise books" that have meaningless examples for which them to practice the tools they are learning.

Purpose of Class time: Inspiration!
"The purpose of class time in great education is not study, but rather 1)inspiration, 2)answering questions, and 3)more inspiration." (pg 82)

Vanguard is such an ideal set-up for letting the youth use the scholarship they are learning in their private studies while at home to inspire their peers and be inspired back :)!

When is it good to be wrong as a mentor?

I think being real is so important as a mentor!  It not only makes you relate-able, but also allows you to be taught by those you are mentoring, among other things.

This article by Rachel DeMille I saw this morning gives more of those great reasons to be a humble mentor!

Of course, the biggest reason to be humble is because then God can more easily mentor you and those you are mentoring, and, as my dear friend Michele Smith said, He is the best and truest mentor you can have :).

Perry's BYU-I address about role of Religion and God in society

Amazing devotional about the principle of religion in good government. Great quotes and great foundational article to base a month's study upon!

The Church: Scaffolding for our lives by Elder Tom Perry

Here is a segment:
"Today, the Church of Jesus of Latter-day Saints is truly a world-wide church. Nevertheless, it is important for all of us to realize that the Church could never have become what it is today without the birth of a great nation, the United States of America. The Lord prepared a new land to attract the peoples of the world who sought liberty and religious freedoms. The new land was blessed with strong leaders who felt duty-bound to establish a government that allowed individuals to worship according to their own conscience. The Founding Fathers believed religious faith was fundamental to the establishment of strong government.

Many Americans have forgotten the central importance of religious beliefs in the formation of the policies, laws, and rules of government. Many of our fellow citizens do not understand that the Founders believed the role of religion would be as important in our day as it was in their day. The Founders did not consider “religion and morality” an intellectual exercise—they forcefully declared it an essential ingredient of "good government and the happiness of mankind.”

This position was set forth by President George Washington in his Farewell Address. He said:

"Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. . . . And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. . .reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail to the exclusion of religious principle. It is substantially true that virtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular government."^1"

The talk touches on the need for religion in government, the need of a moral foundation to create a nation that is truly "under God," and the need for personal conversion and determination to do what is right to provide "scaffolding" in our lives.

There are definitely different elements of this talk that can be used for other months, but it is a great resource to refer to to capture the meaning of this month/principle