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.