Lesson 7 Preparation

Not everyone has faith, but the Lord doesn't hold that against anyone. He instead invites people to see out the information that may help them to develop their faith, as it says in D&C 118:88, "And as all have not faith, seek ye diligently and teach one another words of wisdom; yea, seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom; seek learning, even by study and also by faith.”  See, our learning may help us gain the faith we lack.

I then turned my attention to a CES Devotional called "What Is Truth?" that was written by President Uchtdorf and it starts off by saying that we are the future of the Church, which is both awesome and slightly intimidating, as it is hard enough being a good child of God sometimes and we'd fail at that if it weren't for the Atonement. You see, we learn about the truth of the Atonement when we mess up in life and need to utilize it in order to get back on the straight and narrow path, as it helps remove the burden we feel from messing up and when that burden is off our shoulders by our choice, we feel a sense of liberty.

Truth can mean different things to different people depending on the information that they access, but all people can access information that they may know the truth for themselves.

We need to be careful, however, not to seek truth from shaky sources, as if a source is not solid, the information is fallible and will not be useful to us. If we use our capabilities and spend both effort and time seeking the right sources so we can have the knowledge of solid truths in our possession, we shall be rewarded by being able to find what we seek..

Truth is and can be found in the gospel of Jesus Christ, for it is solid and eternal; it is a truth that never ends and is available to everyone who seeks it, both here and in the hereafter.

The Spirit of the Lord can help us discern what is truth and what is error if we are willing to make ourselves worthy to possess the Spirit and be willing to listen to it.

I then turned my attention to a reading called 'Effective Search Strategies," and it talked about how to search for information in ways that would be effective.

• Form a complete thought in the form of either a question or a statement. This question should completely describe what information is being searched for.

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• Pick two or three main concepts from the information you are using and use Boolean search terms such as AND and/or OR to connect them for internet search purposes.

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• Truncation, which include all possible endings of a word in your search.  An example would be the word “library.” If you wanted to have the database search for “library” and “libraries” without typing in both words, you could use truncation to accomplish that goal. To use truncation, enter the root or base of a word into the search box and enter and asterisk directly following the root. So for this example we would type L-I-B-R-A-R-* (librar*) and the search would return results that included library, libraries, librarian, and librarians.

 A reading on scholarly resources was next on the list and the scholarly resources available. The first resource available is looking at the authors and their backgrounds to understand how they are qualified to write on the topic that they have chosen to discuss in their publication. Secondly, we should and can look at the target audience, as different pieces of information have different target audiences, as not everyone learns at the same level or speed. We should also look to see if any sources are cited in the information we look at to see whether or not there is any information to back our research up, as legitimate sources increase the credibility of information. 

When seeking information, what types of sources should be avoided and why?

• Reviews.
• Article summaries.

What sources SHOULD be used when seeking information?

• Peer-reviewed articles.
• Journal articles.

I then explored the Academic Support Centers information that BYU-Idaho has available.  

My attention then went to the Study Skills section.

After taking some time to explore the different sections pertaining to Study Skills, I took the quiz and scored 100% on the first try. 

I then made a post on the Discussion Board:

This experience of a diligent search for truth does not pertain to anything academic, but is more of a personal experience. My father, before he became very ill from cancer and passed away, was an alcoholic for many years and abusive behavior would accompany his drinking. For many years, I was unsure as to whether or not he truly loved me or if he was too trapped by alcohol to express that or show it. Though I came to know that my Heavenly Father loved me and would protect me, I yearned for the love of my earthly father and expressed the desire for that very thing often.

I had served a mission for 12 months and also served in the temple after that, so my father was able to see how important spiritual things were through my diligent example and was even considering getting a patriarchal blessing at one point. I continually prayed to the Lord that I might know if my father loved me and that I might be able to know it while he was still alive and endured as pleasantly as I could while waiting for an answer. Having the belief that investing time and love into my father would produce an answer to my question, I would continually include him in activities such as family prayer, family home evening, and I would also spend time doing chores for and with him to try and learn of him during times that he was his real self. I do not regret the time I was able to have with the real him.

As I learned to love my father how he was and accept that perhaps I would not get an answer to my search for the truth concerning my father's love in this life, life suddenly happened and time suddenly became very precious. My father had been sober for nine weeks as a result of going to rehab before he was diagnosed with cancer and during that time, I was able to see him for who he really was and that he loved me very much, as we were able to communicate that to each other through by spending time together. I had forgiven him of his actions previously, as I knew he was not his real self when he acted badly and I needed to forgive so that I could move on.

When my dad was diagnosed with cancer and it became clear that nothing could be done except to make the most of whatever time he had left, I had the knowledge that my father loved me and I knew that the best way I could repay that love was to be there for him as he approached death. Using the truth that my father loved me to get through the more painful parts of the whole experience, I was able to do much for him and my family. It was fortunate for me that I was able to know the truth of my father's love so that I was able to enjoy what little time we had before his journey ended.

Having just passed the one-year mark since my father's death, I can say with a surety that I know that not only does my Heavenly Father love me enough to have sent His Son to die for my sins and weaknesses so I could move past them, I also know that my earthly father loves me and can now progress like he couldn't do while in mortality. The love my father and I have for each other is a truth that cannot be taken away even though my father's life was cut short and I am grateful for the experiences I have had that can help me to know my father's love for me to be true.