Be seekers of Truth, Elder Snow exhorts at Education Week devotional

PROVO — Be seekers of truth, Elder Steven E. Snow told hundreds of audience members during BYU's Education Week campus devotional Tuesday, adding that it is an individual's responsibility to identify opportunities to learn and teach.

"Sometimes life's greatest lessons come to us at the most dreadful times of our lives," Elder Snow, of the Presidency of the Seventy for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said. "How we respond at such times of crisis determines if such challenges will be times for progression or merely times of suffering."

Looking at examples of leaders who have left their mark, both in Africa and in LDS Church history, Elder Snow spoke of the need of individuals to follow an example and learn and progress, no matter what the circumstances.

"The Lord expects us to learn and progress during this mortal experience," he said. "Sometimes our learning comes from our everyday experiences. It is important we learn from life's experiences, even those which seem mundane. Clearly our time here on earth can be a rich time of learning, simply by taking advantage of and learning from life's experiences."

Elder Snow shared three ways individuals can become seekers of truth as they learn from life's experiences:

Never stop learning. "You, alone, are responsible for your spiritual growth and accumulation of worldly knowledge," he said. "The prophets of old and those of today constantly remind us of the importance of reading and studying God's word in the holy scriptures."

Elder Snow spoke of the importance of studying from the standard works and all of the "best books."

"Studying shouldn't stop with the scriptures," Elder Snow said. "We have a responsibility to know what is going on in our world. We cannot be experts in all things, but an expanded general knowledge will help us to be better parents, citizens, teachers and members of the Church."

Take opportunities to teach your children. "The spiritual growth of our children is directly dependent on our efforts to teach them truth and to stand as an example to them," Elder Snow said. "We do our children no favors by neglecting their secular education and development. We must encourage them in their school studies and take an interest in their schooling and do our best to support and strengthen our local schools.

"Well-informed, well-educated children are more likely to grow up successful in their own homes and careers. This success then provides opportunities for them to give meaningful service to others in the church and the community."