YWs lesson

Today I taught all the YW a lesson on the purpose and value of an education. Through my lesson preparation, I was reminded of the importance of learning a variety of things, and that one can gain an education perpetually, and that it doesn't have to stop when you have kids at home. This story reminded me of my mother:

Jeffrey R. Holland, while president of Brigham Young University, told this story:

“I’d like to tell you a true story about a young boy who didn’t have the opportunity of going to school for very long. His father died, leaving little money for the boy’s family. One day the boy became very ill with smallpox and had to miss a lot of school.

“Slowly his health improved, and he was glad to be able to go to school again. But he was back in school for just one year, completing the seventh grade, when he had to stop going altogether. He and his brother then had to find jobs to help earn enough money to buy food and clothing the family needed.

“The boy worked very hard, grew up strong, and learned a lot through his experiences. He read books whenever he could, and was interested in learning the things he had missed by not going to school. Often he would say how sad he was not to have had a formal education. He was a wonderful man and worked hard to develop himself. And he kept hoping that someday he could get back to school again. But he never had that chance. This little boy who grew up wanting to continue his schooling was my father.

“Because of my father’s experience, he was very anxious for me to have a good education. When I’d say, ‘But I don’t want to go to school,’ he’d say, ‘Then I’ll go in your place. Do you think the teacher would mind? I wonder if I can fit into the seat at your desk?’

“That always made me laugh because I think it would have frightened my teacher to see a grown man coming to school, and I knew he couldn’t fit into the small seat at my desk. So I would go to school. …

“Later when I had graduated from high school, served a mission, and completed my courses in college, I went on to earn a Ph.D. from a school in New England. …

“When I received my diploma I wanted my father to have it. He had never received a graduation diploma from any school and I thought he deserved this one. I told him that although my name was on it, the diploma should really be awarded to him. I told him they probably just made a mistake in the printing. That made him laugh and then it made him cry. I wasn’t sure then why it made him cry—but I know now” (“Do You Think I Can Fit into Your Seat?” Friend, Sept. 1978, pp. 6–7).

I am thankful for the opportunity to teach the Young Women of my ward this lesson and to have had the opportunity to obtain the secular education that I have gained, thus far!