Teach A Friend

I taught my mother the information from Lesson 6 while we were doing our laundry at the local laundromat. I started by explaining how when you fill a jar with rocks, dirt, and water, you are allocating your time to priorities (the rocks), the things you worry about (the dirt), and your free time (the water). I said that if you don't put your priorities first, you will never get anything accomplished and that we need to first know what our priorities are and then make an effort to constantly be aware of what is important in our lives and when it is important.

I then talked about Alma 34:32 and said that now is the time to prepare to meet God and that time is both a stewardship and gift from God so that we can be wise about making the most of our mortality. I then defined stewardship by referring to it as responsibilities given to us by God and emphasizing that we are responsible for using our time and we will be held accountable for how we have used our time.

Then, I asked Mom three questions about time and how the use of it related to stewardship. They were questions from the lesson and very interesting to ponder. I also said that we need to be aware of time, but also enjoy time by making the most of it through the use of budgeting time and making priorities.

We then discussed how following promptings is a good investment of our time and how the Lord is pleased when we invest our time into following His promptings.

When it came to discussing the allocation of time through the use of the jar exercise, my mom said that she looks at it that you have to put each use of time in order, with priorities being first, secondary worries being second, and spare time being last, as the spare time filters around the rocks and dirt. Mom said that if you put the water in the jar first, you might not have room for the things that matter most and if you put the water first, you are emphasizing your free time as being more important than your priorities and your secondary concerns. Mom also added that if you put the water in the jar before anything else, you are choosing to waste what time you have.

When discussing Alma 34:32, Mom agreed that now is really the time to prepare to meet God and that we shouldn't be wasting it. When I asked Mom what the word stewardship meant to her Mom said that a stewardship is being over something and that we should take the time to take stewardship responsibly and that people in different callings have stewardships over different aspects of the Church.

When I asked Mom what else is part of our stewardship besides time, she said that we also over our own energy and all of the resources we have available to us. Mom added that if we give of our resources, it's easier than giving of our time because giving of our time is a much deeper emotional investment, as it is giving of yourself.

During our discussion on how effective time management helps us to better prepare to meet God, Mom said that we can study scriptures more and learn more about meeting God if we are good at budgeting time. When I read a quote by President Monson concerning how time's progression can bring forth change, Mom added that our family has gone through a great deal of changes in the last year alone and she feels that we have run the gambit of change.

When we discussed making the most of life by making priorities, Mom said that making priorities is a huge thing because maybe things we don't think are important actually turn out to be important. Mom added that if we have a lot of things to do, we need to sit down and think about what are the most important things to accomplish.

When it came to discussing how listening to promptings from the Lord is never a waste of our time, Mom said that if we follow the prompting, that is what we are supposed to do and we will be blessed for it. Mom also added that if we can show the Lord we are capable of doing little things like following promptings, He will grant us bigger opportunities in time and that the Lord is not going to lead us astray at any point during our lives. Mom stated that when we follow promptings from the Lord, we also show that we are capable of being obedient and are willing to be obedient.

When I asked Mom what she would say to someone who is having trouble following a prompting, she said that she would tell them that the Lord is not going to lead them astray. She also said that she would ask them what would happen if they did not follow a prompting? Nobody can know what will happen concerning a prompting until one decides whether or not they will follow it, Mom concluded.

Learning Report:
My S.M.A.R.T. goal last week was to achieve a passing grade by completing all the parts of each weekly lesson and attending the weekly gathering. I did the preparatory work for the week's lesson on Monday, served as an observing student at Thursday's gathering following an interesting Institute class, and also completed the post-lesson work for the weekly lesson on Friday and Saturday. I always put enough effort into completing the work that needs to be done so that I can not only get a good grade, but so that I can retain the information to apply it to my daily life. I have learned and am continuing to learn that hard work and effort leads to personal success.

As a result of the Pathway program, I am learning that it is okay to see and treat myself more like the child of God that I am, as others see me that way and I need to see myself that way. Because I am doing better at treating myself as a child of God, I find it easier to have the Spirit with me so that I can more easily get through each day without worrying about how I might screw things up for myself and/or others. The Spirit also gives me the strength to have more compassion for others and their situations and also to have compassion for the effort I am able to give when it comes to caring about and helping others. It also reminds me to care about myself and that without caring about myself, I cannot hope to have the abilities to become a better disciple of Christ.

The most important thing from this lesson that I want to remember is Alma 34:32-34 says that now is the time for us to get everything done in terms of living and also preparing for the time when God will come and that every moment counts, so we should be wise about budgeting time. If we are constantly engaged in using our time productively, that motivates us to work at doing good, better, and becoming our best self at things. When we are working hard at improving ourselves, the Spirit gives us the motivation we need in order to dedicate some time to helping others while also remembering ourselves. If we are doing good with our time by being productive and also setting aside a little bit of time for physical and spiritual rejuvenation, as being too busy can often force us to drop everything and turn to idleness for comfort, we will have a clearer mind, a more open heart, and our agency will increase. When we manage our time to take care of others as well as ourselves, we are in a better physical, emotional, and mental place in which we can use our agency wisely and watch it increase.