Math Class and Earth Life

 

 

        Sometimes you just don't recognize a blessing. My inability to understand math has always felt like a ball-and-chain of monumental proportion that I have drug around all my life. But at 56 years old, I was finally tested for a learning disability. Diagnosed as such, gave me the tremendous opportunity to take Learning Disabled Math 42 class and what a joy it has been to finally see my mind slowly unlock the concepts that have seemingly ever eluded me. That in and of itself is a great blessing but the classroom has also brought spiritual insights that I would like to share here.

       To me the class feels like a microcosm of earthlife for a number of reasons. To begin with, each person in there has a common condition; we all struggle with math. However, the reasons for the disabilities are as varied as you could imagine--blindness, damage from a brain tumor, memory problems, ADHD, austism, processing disorders and the list goes on.

        Each person who comes to earth also has a common condition...our" human-ness" and each of us has our own set of "disabilities." We might struggle with physical things like overeating, a word of wisdom problem, an addiction, etc. We might struggle to have faith in Christ, or pray, or believe in the words of the prophet.

        But our teachers know from their years of teaching experience that we can overcome our math problems even though its seems next to impossible to us. They are always positive and encouraging. When you make an error, they never belittle you or make you feel stupid in front of your peers. They say "You've made an error in your calculation. Let's see where you made that mistake." They watch you till you find it on your own and then praise your effort. They encourage us constantly to come to them for outside help.They accommodate certain needs such as magnifying machine for the blind lady.

         Spiritually speaking, the God knows that we can overcome the world thru Christ even though it seems so impossible to us. God loves us and the scriptures attest to the fact that he has his arm extended to us which shows his ongoing love and encouragement. When we make a mistake, he does not belittle us or make us feel stupid in front of our peers. He corrects us privately as needed and watches over us. God constantly pleads for us "to come unto to Him" for extra help.Though we are all human and need to learn, God teaches us on a very personal level accommodating life's lessons in a way that we can understand.

          The feeling in the class is one of unusual unity because truly, no one is any better than another. There isn't a feeling of competiveness in there and we are all genuinely happy when someone is successful at mastering a new concept. We all work hard to learn and we all have opportunities to help someone else who hasn't yet mastered a concept we understand. Ideally, families and ward families do the same as they are hopefully unified by love and seek to help and support each other.

           I wish that every class could be run like this. It makes for such a pleasant learning environment to work at your own pace, to be required to learn a concept before moving on and to help one another. It really does help you learn the concept better if you have to explain it to someone. Not everyone will make it to pre-algebra next semester, but everyone will see improvement. And isn't that what earthlife is all about? Improving and coming to know Christ?

             Some students require a notetaker because they aren't able to take their own lecture notes for one reason or another. The notetaker is by their side in every class. Put simply, they would not be successful in school without a notetaker.

              In a spiritual realm, we all require a "notetaker." We aren't able to be successful in earthlife without Jesus Christ at our side at all times. We might think we can do it without him but we are mistaken if we think that we can redeem ourselves. We need his grace. 

              This is why I feel so blessed by taking this class. It helps me to see others more as Christ does; imperfect individuals trying to do their best with their particular set of challenges.  It helps me see "a better, more gentle way" to parent. It helps me to better understand how the Lord corrects my path and teaches me. It helps me better recognize why I can't do math or anything without my Savior. And, oh, yeah, along with all of that, I'm actually learning math! 

When You're Outside Looking In

I can't wait to get the November Ensign so I can study the General Conference messages. I find so many answers and helps to my problems and today I wish to share how a simple story has helped me.
The story was told by Elder Ulisses Soares and is about a brother in South Africa by the name of Moses Mahlangu. I quote Elder Soares:

"One of the most beautiful modern-day examples of meekness that I am aware of is that of Brother Moses Mahlangu. His conversion began in 1964, when he received a copy of the Book of Mormon. He was fascinated as he read this book, but it was not until the early '70s that he saw an LDS Church sign on a building in Johannesburg, South Africa, as he was walking down a street. Brother Mahlangu was intrigued and entered the building to learn more about the Church. He was kindly told that he could not attend the services or be baptized because the country's laws did not allow it at that time.
Brother Mahlangu accepted that decision with meekness, humility, and without resentment, but he continued to have a strong desire to learn more about the Church. He asked the Church leaders if they could leave one of the meetinghouse windows open during the Sunday meetings so he could sit outside and listen to the services. For several years, Brother Mahlangu's family and friends attended church regularly "through the window." One day in 1980 they were told that they could attend church and also be baptized. What a glorious day it was for Brother Mahlangu. Later the Church organized a branch in his neighborhood in Soweto. This was possible only because of the determination, courage, and faithfulness of people like Brother Mahlangu who remained faithful for so many years under difficult circumstances."

I loved this story and saw immediate application to one of my personal struggles. We moved to Carlsbad almost a year ago. We love it here for many reasons but one thing that has remained challenging is making friends in our ward. Many ward members have family that live in the ward or they established businesses locally and have raised their families here over many years. I would not describe the ward as unfriendly to new people but they do enjoy their established relationships. I often feel "outside, looking in" as did Brother Mahlangu. But unlike him, I have wrestled with feelings of resentment, frustration, jealousy and impatience. I've prayed about my problem but so far, little has changed. As I read this story, my soul seemed lightened over this concern. Perhaps, the changes I pray for aren't the ones the Lord wants for me right now. Maybe his desire is to help me learn meekness, patience and greater faith. Maybe he is using this challenge to improve my spiritual character and help me come to know my loving Savior more, as my friend. While I'm busily focused on my feeling of being "outside" he is, as always, focused on improving "my inside."

I'm so thankful for the inspired words of General Conference and for how, almost magically, the Holy Ghost is able to "tutor my soul with understanding" with the words I most need to hear.