Preparing For BYU Education Week

I always love teaching at BYU Education Week. I love meeting so many wonderful people, I delight in the feeling in the room with so many eager learners present, and I especially love preparing to teach. But this year it has been extra special to prepare. I will be teaching a class on The Truth Shall Make You Free at 9:30 a.m.Tuesday through Friday which is a subject that if you’ve been reading this blog long you know I love. I will also be teaching a class on Miracles in the Messages of Jesus at 11:00 am on Wednesday through Friday. Both classes are in the MARB. Both have been exciting to review and research, but the class on the Miracles has been especially invigorating.

Immersing myself in the New Testament has been so rewarding. To begin I made a data base of all the miracles that are reported by the gospel writers—there are 41. Just looking at the data base is fascinating. Of the 41 miracles the most, eleven, are performed on nature or inanimate things. These include the calming of the sea and feeding five thousand people (which is the only miracle reported by all four gospel writers). Of the healing miracles, giving sight to the blind is the most common with five being reported. Casting out unclean spirits comes next with four, and accounts of Him raising the dead occur three times besides raising from His own grave

These figures and the patterns that begin to immerge as I study them are interesting, but I wish I could convey to you the amazing feelings and knowledge I’ve gained by immersing myself in these stories and pondering on them for hours at a time. But that isn’t possible. The only thing I can do is urge you to study in depth yourself. Don’t just read the scriptures. Find something that interests you such as the parables or speeches or teachings on a specific principle and REALLY study them. Then enjoy! It is absolutely amazing what the Lord will teach you if you demonstrate your willingness to learn.