Come Unto Me...And Learn Of Me

As I walked through the Education in Zion exhibit one more time, the quote from Matthew 11:28-29 stuck out to me. Christ calls all people to come and learn of him. As this semester ends, I have been thinking a lot about the professors we are blessed with here at BYU. While I don't think they compare to how great of a teacher Christ is, there are very amazing professors that we are able to learn from.

In the same section as the earlier quote there is another quote that I really enjoy. It reads, "In the Zion tradition, we share the truth freely so that every person might learn and grow and in turn strengthen others."As part of our faith and as part of the "Zion Tradition" it is necessary not only to learn and grow ourselves, but to teach and help others to learn and grow. I think that the many professors here at BYU continue to be one of the best ways this tradition moves forward. 

As I reflect on all the many things I have been able to learn this semester from anatomy, it is because of other people taking their time to teach me and to give me the opportunity to teach them and others as well. As another quote from the exhibit says, "From our faith in Christ and our love for one another, our commitment to education flows". We have all been blessed by our professors and from each other and as we continue this great "Zion Tradition" we will be able to bless the lives of many generations to come.

Music

     I was thinking today about music. Music is so wonderful! I was thinking about what instruments the early saints had on their journey west and as they settled in Utah. Probably violins, harmonicas, and other simple instruments. Everyone brought at least one instrument with them though. Even we bring this instrument with us every day to campus! Our voices! The early saints were instructed by the lord to sing and to dance when they were happy! (D&C 136:28).

     What an incredible instrument the voice is. It is the only instrument made by the Lord himself. What a blessing it is to be able to speak, to hum, to sing, and just to vocalize.  We are so blessed! I personally love to sing. I was raised tang voice lessons and have been privileged to sing in many wonderful groups and choirs. The anatomy of the voice never ceases to amaze me. In anatomy we were able to learn about the digestive system which included the voice! The larynx, the pharynx, epiglottis, glottis, and the true and false vocal chords. It was so amazing to me to see it and see how it functions and works. Just another inspiring moment in anatomy class.

     The next time you listen to someone else or say something, take a moment and be grateful for your voice. It truly is a miraculous instrument.

Hurray for modern technology!

Often, I forgot how new technology is. Just the other day, my sister was talking about sending an email to a missionary in Brazil, and how it seemed like even that went too slow. Then my dad started talking about his mission to the Philippines and how they didn't even have email; he said that the fastest form of written communication was probably telegrams! That got me thinking: there are so many different forms of technology that I take for granted, especially in education. For example, this is what letters, schoolwork, and records would have looked like when BYU was founded:

There were no emails, computers, or graphing calculators in the early years of this school. There wasn't this:

Or this:

Or this:

Or this:

There weren't scantrons or online tests or Top Hat Monacle. There was no such thing as a blog. To look up what was in the library, you actually had to be IN the library! It's amazing how far technology has come, and what a major role it's taken in education. I take all of these resources for granted, because I use them on a daily basis as part of my schoolwork. Sometimes I wonder how people used to learn, because all of these things are such an integral part of MY learning. But you know what? Even with all of the changes in technology and the differences in how we learn and are taught, we are doing the same thing those early students of BYU were: trying to learn about the world around us. Even though this university has changed a lot, the mission is still the same.We are still "enter[ing] to learn" so that we may "go forth to serve." That's pretty cool.

The Temple

The Temple

This is a picture of the Ghana Accra Temple. It was the closest temple to where I served my mission. I was able to go there twice during my stay at the MTC. What an incredible building it is! We got a chance to go out and proselyte around Tema Ghana while at the MTC and we would talk to people and ask them if they knew the church. They would usually say that they knew of the church because of the beautiful building they would see on their way to Accra. The temple in Accra Ghana is beautiful, pure, clean, bright, and glorious. Everyone that sees the temple loves it. It is lit up in the night so as to show the light of the gospel amidst the darkness of the world. 

What a wonderful thing temples are. I'm sure that most of us have heard the phrase "Your body is a temple." I know I have. Think about that phrase. How awesome is that?! Our bodies are also created to be beautiful, pure, clean, bright, and glorious. God is perfect. We His children are His greatest creations. As I have gone through this anatomy class I have been astounded as to how incredible our bodies are. It is so amazing that we function like we do. God created us perfectly, from our sternocleidomastoid to our gastrocnemius. It is no coincidence that we have the organs and muscles that we have. Our bodies are amazing! We should always strive to treat them like a temple. Like that beautiful edifice that attracts others to it. Whether it is our body of the temple it is not just the beauty of the outside that is important but what goes on in the inside. 

"To Teach Our Children"

As the study of the human reproductive system gets closer I thought it would be nice to have a family related post about education. As I looked through the Education in Zion exhibit there were a few quotes that caught my eye.

In June of 1831, Oliver Cowdery and W.W. Phelps were instructed to write and print books for schools "that little children also may receive instruction before me as is pleasing unto me" (D&C  55:4) W.W, Phelps later said, “We are preparing to go out from among the people, where we can serve God in righteousness; and the first thing is, to teach our children; for they are as the Israel of old. It is our children who will take the kingdom and bear it off to all the world.”

The teaching of children has always been a huge part of the gospel of Christ. In my opinion it is probably the most important thing to do. It obviously important to Heavenly Father as well because it is part of The Family: A Proclamation To The World. It reads, "Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness, to provide for their physical and spiritual needs, and to teach them". 

I was fortunate enough to be placed in a family with parents very mindful of teaching their children the importance of achieving the highest education possible. I hope that one day I am able to properly teach my children the importance of education and that this tradition of high education continues to touch the lives of many generations to come.

May we all keep the future generations in mind as we study the most sacred system in the human body.

How cool are BYU professors?

Okay, I'm going to start this one off with something funny. Last week, we were going over the endocrine system in lab and lecture, and so when I saw this on the Internet, it made me laugh a little that I knew what it was about:

Anyways, thanks to my professor and my lab TA's, I knew what this picture of "chewed-up gum" was. We really do have amazing teachers here at BYU (and teaching me what the pancreas looks like isn't even the coolest thing I've learned from them).  But even cooler than what they teach is HOW they teach. Coming to BYU, we have the unique opportunity to learn from teachers who are able to weave the gospel into everything they teach. Being taught secular topics through the perspective of the restored gospel has expanded my learning, and especially in anatomy, has made me see how religion and the gospel really do touch every aspect of life. This quote from the Education in Zion explains it well:

It's cool that we get to study in a place where our professors and other teachers can freely talk about spiritual matters in any class, in relation to any subject. I am definitely grateful for that.

By the way, the end of the semester is coming up! I will officially be done with my anatomy lab next Friday! It's crazy how time flies!

The Power of Quotes

One of the things I loved the most about the Education in Zion Exhibit was the sheer number of amazing quotes throughout the gallery. Even though they are quotes from people that may have lived hundreds of years before us, we can still learn a lot from what they had to say. So, I thought I would share one of the quotes I found in the exhibit.

“I tell you, my young brothers and sisters, [once] you have been caught up in the spirit of Brigham Young University you will never be the same… Each of you have a spark inside you which the Lord will someday kindle and make of you an instrument in His hands to bring the world not only sorely needed secular excellence of the University, but the spirit of the Church, the spirit of BYU, and the spirit of the gospel, which I testify to you to be one and the same.”

                                                                    -Albert Swensen, class of 1938

I really love how the Education in Zion Exhibit focusses on the reality of education being never ending. This quote really explains how Heavenly Father has such a big role in each of our individual educations. It also makes me realize that we are offered such a unique opportunity at BYU. We are able to study many various types of secular knowledge, while at the same time we can take religion classes that increase our spirituality. I think knowing and understanding this helps each of us take advantage of the wonderful opportunities we are given at BYU.

In the Beginning

In the beginning was man.

Man was in an anatomy class.

Man was instructed to be part of a group and visit the Education in Zion exhibit and relate it to anatomy.

Man did so and this is his first take.

Interesting assignment I thought. Not very clear as to what was expected of us. I strolled around the exhibit reading quotes and information about education and learning. One thing that struck me was how much emphasis the early saints put on education and how important it was to them. They had very little and yet used what they had to teach and to learn.

I got thinking that although they had little to no personal possessions, they had their bodies, they had their minds. They had unlimited capacity to learn, grow, create, and to become. They used their bodies in a way that was pleasing to God. To teach one another and to learn from one another. Even if they had all the money in the world, if they didn't have their bodies, if they didn't have their minds, it was all for nothing.

I also asked myself why BYU would spend so much money creating the Education in Zion exhibit when they could use that money for something else. I thought that it could be to help show us how important education really is and to show some of the sacrifices that the early saints had to go through just to teach their children and have them be an educated people. As I came to realize these things I was brought back to the knowledge of how blessed we are to be students here at BYU where many know the value of a good education and strive to help us to achieve it.

Heavenly Father has blessed us with these incredible bodies. Bodies with immense capability for growth and learning. It is up to us how we use these amazing bodies.

Hopefully I can always use my body to study and learn and help others along the path as well.

Small and Simple Things

Anatomy isn't something I usually think about when I see the Education In Zion exhibit. However as I have had mid-terms and other school related things, I have been thinking a lot about my favorite scripture Alma 7:6-7 where it is says, "by small and simple things are great things brought to pass." This has especially come to my mind in regards to anatomy. As I have learned more about our bodies I have applied this scripture to my studies. There are so many things in our bodies that have the simplest operations but without them our bodies couldn't function. It is truly amazing how the body functions in its most complex way by all the little aspects of it coming together.
It has been a great experience to study the human body in the amount of detail that we have been able to. It is due to this detail that I applied my favorite scripture to this part of anatomy. It is by studying the small and simple things every day that we are able to understand the intricate parts of the human body. Towards the beginning of the semester I wasn't doing very well in remembering the parts of the human body for anatomy lab. Then I started doing more small things every day and then I saw a huge improvement in my understanding of everything.
It is examples like this that the Education In Zion exhibit is all about. A quote from the exhibit says, "We move forward faithfully into the future only by understanding our past." Education has always been an important aspect of our church. From the beginning, Joseph Smith made sure that it would be. And ever since then education has continued to be one of the greatest traditions of the church. The Education In Zion exhibit is an excellent example for us to study and learn from. As we continue in our various specialties of schooling, we need to follow the example our ancestors have laid for us in obtaining the highest educations possible.

My Beginning View

In the very beginning of our anatomy class, Dr. Wisco explained to us that we would be completing a semester long project reflecting on the education in Zion exhibit and our experiences in anatomy. The guidelines were very brief and our options were left wide open. Our only restriction was to answer the question, "How did your experience in Anatomy this semester enhance your experience in this exhibit?"

I think it's safe to say that everyone was a little confused and not quite sure how to answer such a unique question. Then, on top of that, how to make a semester long project that would be successful at answering the question in an appealing way.

So, the first thing we decided to do as a group was to visit the Education in Zion exhibit. I would have to say it was a very enlightening experience. I have walked through the exhibit before, but I have never really taken the time to read the quotes, learn about the various people, and really understand the purpose and mission behind the Education in Zion exhibit. It was a very humbling experience and I would invite everyone to take the time to go through the exhibit and really think about all of the information provided there.

One of the things that really stood out to me as I went through the exhibit was the connection between the gospel of Jesus Christ and education. I love that the exhibit really tries to emphasis that learning is for the whole soul, the spirit as well as the intellect. The gallery is full of stories that bear witness of the sacrifices and innovations that show the significant effort the church has dedicated to the education of its members. I think the exhibit does a great job at conveying to visitors a sense of the church's incredible educational legacy and it really does inspire people to continue on with that educational legacy. Overall, I think my first real view of the exhibit was based around the understanding that education of both the spirit and the intellect is one of the most important things in this life. 

Multiple brains > one

To my group: I am terribly sorry. I was supposed to have this post done by last night, but alas, I forgot. Sometimes, my brain just decides not to remember the important things I have to do. It's one of my many shortcomings. But, this is better late than never, right?

Speaking of groups, that was one of the things I wanted to talk about. When I was walking through the Education in Zion exhibit, I saw this scripture on the wall:

This scripture is found in Doctrine & Covenants 43:8. The full scripture reads, "And now, behold, I give unto you a commandment, that when ye are assembled together ye shall instruct and edify each other, that ye may know how to act and direct my church, how to act upon the points of my law and commandments, which I have given."

Now, when read in the context of the whole scripture, it mostly sounds like it applies to a church setting. But looking at just the underlined part, I think it applies outside of a church setting as well. I mean, isn't this what our professors and TA's have encouraged us to do since the beginning of the semester? They've encouraged us to form groups where we can study together and learn from each other. I could just think, "Oh, they're just saying that," but I've really noticed how much more I learn when I'm studying with a group. This applies to all my classes, but especially to anatomy. For example, there is so much lecture material that going over it alone is a daunting task, but with other people, it becomes much more manageable. Things that you find really hard to understand might make a lot more sense to someone else, and they can help you understand it. And technically, I COULD study for my lab quizzes all by myself, but I learn so much more and at a much faster rate when I go into open lab and study with a group.

Just one more thought: I would've never considered this before, but sitting here thinking about it, I would even say that the PDBio 220 Facebook page is merely a hi-tech method of working as a group. In the same sense that a study group would ask each other questions and get answers from the other members of their group, we can now do that with Facebook. In a class of about 200 people, we can pose a question to everyone in the class,  and then anybody in the class can "instruct and edify" everyone else, without having to be face-to-face. AND we can do it almost instantly. That's pretty cool.