K-Lightful: February 2020

December 20, 2019

We had our last day of Pathway on this day. It has been a good experience to serve in this capacity. We can sum up our experience in the talk we were asked to give in Sacrament meeting at the completion of our mission.

Our Pathway Mission

Working in the Pathway Program has taught me that our Heavenly Father wants to see all of his children blessed and prospered. This blessing cannot just be handed to a person, but through work and faith in Jesus Christ, it can be achieved for all who desire it. Our church leaders, seeing that not all who desire it, could have the opportunity to attend a church university, or in many cases not any university, created a new global higher education organization in the church beginning on May 1, 2017. This organization is providing opportunities for those who would not otherwise have them.

After completing the one year Pathway Program, students can go to BYU Idaho online and work toward a four year degree. The cost per credit hour remains the same. Students are encouraged to work toward a certificate in their Major to make them more employable before they complete a four- year degree. They are encouraged to the take the classes for their specific major before they complete general education requirements. This is the opposite of what students do at a typical university. Along with their coursework online, they are required to attend a gathering once a week, to take turns leading out in a discussion of what they have been studying. As they gather they support one another in their learning and help each other turn weakness into strengths. As senior missionaries we organize and facilitate these gatherings. We support and encourage the students in their learning and their life’s challenges. Recently, Pathway has also opened up virtual gatherings for those who cannot attend their weekly gathering because of work, distance or family responsibilities. This is not only a good option for many students but it opens up opportunities for senior couples or senior sisters, whose health or family responsibilities do not make it easy to leave their homes.

A word that has been impressed upon my mind as I have served as a Pathway Missionary is the word “vision”. In Proverbs 29:18 it tells us “Where there is no vision, the people perish”. This past week in Come Follow Me we have been learning about how God prepares his prophets through visions to help them fulfill their missions in life. We need to see ourselves in Lehi’s vision and we need to pray for our own vision of what the Lord would have us do in life. Without an accurate vision of our potential we will always fall short of what we could have been.

One of the blessings of working in the Pathway program has been the wonderful devotionals we have watched for the Pathway students. These devotionals are only about ten minutes long and are inspiring not only to the students but to anyone who listens. These devotionals can be accessed on the Facebook Page for Pathwide worldwide. Sister Sharon Eubank gave a devotional last year about seeing our potential. She told of how the assembly hall on Temple Square was built. I didn’t know that the stones used to build the assembly hall were stones that were rejected for building the temple. The builder, Henry Grow recognized that, with some additional mortar, these stones could be used to build a beautiful building. Each of us has perfections and limitations. At times we may think we’re too broken, we’ve made too many mistakes, or we have missed too many opportunities. The Lord is generous with his mortar. He allows us to repent as much as we need to, and he is generous with his healing power. Through the Atonement and the grace of Jesus Christ, we can become whole through him. “When the mortar dries, it doesn’t matter which part is granite and which part is masonry. It holds us together so we can stand up to the purpose for which we were made.

I will always be grateful for the vision a BYU professor gave me one day as I was eating lunch. I had been working as a teacher’s aide for about four years. One day in the faculty room, I was talking with a visiting BYU professor, who was probably there to evaluate student teachers. Having learned something about my position at the school, he simply said to me, “Have you thought about going back and finishing your education.” Up until that moment, I had never given it any serious consideration, but there was something about the respect I had for this man that caused me to think about it. I thought, “If he thinks I can do it maybe I can.” I went on to finish my degree beginning at UVU and finishing at BYU. It took great faith and courage to return to school after 26 years of being away. I was blessed in many ways during this time. During my last semester, I discovered a lump in my leg. I tried to ignore it for a while, but I knew I had to see a doctor. My family doctor immediately referred me to an oncologist in Salt Lake. I thought, “How can this be happening to me just as I am finishing my degree?” I had surgery just before I started teaching kindergarten. I was so grateful to learn that it was benign. Though there were challenges, I marvel that “an effectual door” was opened for me to finish my degree, as well as getting a job right after graduating so we could support our first son, on his mission. I taught school for 14 years before retiring. Finishing my education was a great blessing to me, and my family.

The Pathway Program has given students throughout the world a vision of their true potential, spiritually and temporally. We have been blessed by our service in Pathway. Our last group was a very diverse group. We had a person from China, one from Korea, one from Mongolia, and seven from Latin America, in addition to our students who grew up in America. Some were married, some divorced, some were single. It was a rich experience to get acquainted with these people and learn of the sacrifices some of them made to join the church. We admired their hard work, especially for those who did not have English as their first language. Pathway students are required to meet once a week to share what they are learning in their course work. They are required to take an institute class along with their pathway course. The Lord taught in the Doctrine and Covenants: Seek learning even by study and also by faith. As we attended the gatherings, we witnessed great love and support among these students for each other. Each brought something important to the group. There was a great spirit in our institute classes. I wondered why it was often more powerful than a Sunday school class or a Relief Society class. I realized that these students had invested time and effort into their learning. They were also keeping a commandment to get an education and the Lord blessed them for it. Why is it a commandment to gain education? In Doctrine and Covenants 88:80, it says, “That ye may be prepared in all things when I shall send you again to magnify the calling whereunto I have called you, and the mission with which I have commissioned you.”

The Prophet Joseph Smith said, “In knowledge there is power. God has more power than all other beings, because he has greater knowledge.”

Our daughter in Michigan completed Pathway just over a year ago. She is now continuing her education through BYU Idaho. I asked her about her experience as a pathway student. She said, “One of the things I learned was that I could do more than I thought I could. I used to always be behind with our laundry. I have learned to keep up with it while going to school.” She was recently called to be a Relief Society President and I am sure her Pathway experience is blessing her in many ways. One of our students said at the completion of the program, she always felt that she was dumb and couldn’t learn like other people do. Now she knows that she is not dumb and is capable of learning much more than she once thought. Another student said: This wonderful learning experience has increased personal revelation for me. There have been personal experiences that have helped to solidify the things being taught each week. Learning and retention have been so much better with Pathway. I have greater speaking confidence and increased teaching ability. I am so grateful I have had the opportunity to participate in and complete Pathway. If you want to further your education, you won't regret taking BYU Pathway.

We were blessed to be part of the Pathway program and it’s gatherings. One of my favorite definitions of service was from a book by Naomi Remen, called “My Grandfather’s Blessing” She said: The best definition of service I have come across is belonging. Service is the final healing of isolation and loneliness. It is the lived experience of belonging. We as well as our students felt this in our gatherings. It was a blessing to us all.

Israel is being gathered through Pathway.

The Lord has taught us through our prophet of the importance of Gathering Israel. He said, “There is nothing of greater consequence, absolutely nothing.

This gathering should mean everything to you. This is the mission for which you were sent to earth--Anytime you do any thing that helps anyone—on either side of the veil—take a step toward making covenants with God and receiving their essential baptism and temple ordinances, you are helping to gather Israel. It is as simple as that.”

The Pathway Program is inspired of the Lord. We are grateful for all we learned serving as Pathway Missionaries.

A Merry Christmas Month!
The first Saturday in December was packed with activities! I went to see Grant, Charity, Jayson, Avery and Marshall sing in a Christmas concert at the mall. We got back shortly before we needed to go to the iceskating party that Missy and Mike hosted. We came home after that to hold our family Christmas party. After that day the rest of the month was somewhat manageable. We did have a very nice Christmas. We enjoyed the nativity the children put on. Emerson loved being Joseph and asked to wear the costume again the two other times he came this month. Lauren was a devoted angel. She felt she should assume the role of nanny for baby Jesus.