Learning about Learning by Corby Campbell

I’d like to share a little today with you about learning! And how trials and learning are tied together. One of the first things that comes to mind when I think about learning is a story I was once told from the Twilight Zone. You know, that show where they tell a short story, and at the end they throw in a crazy twist, and the scene fades out to the sound of “doDoDOdo-doDoDOdo!...”

So there’s this guy robbing a bank. And someone there manages to trip the silent alarm. The robber notices and books it out of there. The cops are catching up to him some ways down, so the robber turns down an alley. A cop pulls up at the entrance to the alley, pulls a gun, gets down on one knee to aim, and says “stop or I’ll shoot!” but the robber keeps running. “Stop or I’ll shoot!” the cop calls again, but the robber keeps booking it. “last chance, stop, or I’ll shoot” calls the cop, and the robber leaps onto the fence at the end of the alley to climb out. The cop fires, and then the scene switches to the robbers bedroom, where he shoots upright in bed. Apparently having had a dream.

The robber gets up and gets ready for the day, upon entering his living room there’s a strange little man there. The little man asks, “What do you want? Anything you want and you can have it.” The robber is taken a bit aback, but he stammers, “uh, well I was just going to go play some pool…” poof! He appears at a pool table. The table is already set up, and the little man hands the robber a sharpened stick. A bit dazed, the robber hits the break, and every ball goes in. He’s stunned! “wow! That’s amazing! Set it up again” he says, and poof! It’s all ready again. He hits the break again, and like the first time, every ball goes in first shot. “woah! Um, I’d like to play golf now” he says. And poof! He’s on a golf course, the little man hands him a club and sets up the ball. The robber takes a swing, and as expected, hole in one! Woah! A second shot and another hole in one! “I wonder?…” he thinks, and hits the ball full force in the opposite direction. It goes flips a 180 through the air and comes back around and scores a hole in one again. “amazing!” he thinks.

In a bit of a daze the robber turns to the little guy and says, “you know, I’m sure glad I ended up here in heaven, cuz… well, I kinda thought I’d go to the other place.” The little man looks up at him with a confused look and says, “what are you talking about? This IS the other place!” doDoDOdo-doDoDOdo! [1]

So what’s the principle here? What would life be like if everything we tried went perfect the first time? If you could play every instrument, score every goal, climb any mountain, without any practice or preparation at all? At first glance this sounds pretty neat. In fact, in the preexistance two plans were offered. One was the plan of salvation, where we would come to earth having agency, learn through trials, and see if we would choose to return to god. This plan was offered by Jesus Christ. The other plan was that we would come down and do everything perfect. I’m not going to tell you who offered this other plan, but I’ll give you 666 guesses who it is…

So what was wrong with the second plan? My favorite way of putting it is this: life is not about doing the right thing, life is about becoming the type of person who does the right thing. Life is about learning, Alma 34: 32 says “For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God” not “For behold, this life is the time for men to sit around for no reason until they can go back to God.” There’s so much for us to learn here!

Almost 4 years ago now, I broke my neck doing a back-flip off a wall, permanently bruising my spine, and placing me in a wheelchair for the rest of my life as far as medical science goes. There is so much I’ve learned from this experience! One of my favorite things is that happiness is a choice, sadly I don’t have the space to talk about that time around. The lesson I’d like to share today though, is that trials are good for us.

In the hospital my wards high priest group leader came and shared a few scriptures with me that helped me grasp this concept more fully. The first is D&C 122: 7. It reads, “And if thou shouldst be cast into the pit, or into the hands of murderers, and the sentence of death passed upon thee; if thou be cast into the deep; if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if fierce winds become thine enemy; if the heavens gather blackness, and all the elements combine to hedge up the way; and above all, if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good.”

Think about the stuff mentioned above here. Don’t you think these would be justifiable times to complain? You’ve got the death sentence, all the elements are combined against you, and are those the jaws of h-?... aw man! This SUCKS! But know thou, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good. So not only are these not terrible things, they are good for you! This to me is an immensely powerful statement. If circumstances to these extremes are meant to give us experience, and aren’t some sort of punishment, then how obvious is it that smaller trials are meant to help us learn. Such as learning how to move out, going through a hard break up, or finding a job. Really we should expect trials, 1 Peter 4: 12 says, “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:” mmm fiery trial, sounds like fun! Right? Maybe not…

So what if it’s too hard? What if you feel like you just can’t make it? Well the first thing I’d urge you to do is try something different. It’s so sad to me to see how powerless our society seems to think they are. You have so much control over your life! And if what you’re doing isn’t working, try something different! Albert Einstien defined insanity as “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” [2] Step outside your comfort zone! Even if it doesn’t have the effect you hoped for, you’ll be stronger and wiser for the effort. And the next push will be that much easier.

But what about things you have no control over? Losing a loved one? A relationship where you are doing everything you can but the other person refuses to change? A car accident that’s someone else’s fault that leaves you disabled somehow? Are these things just too hard? Obviously, my answer for you is a resounding “no!”. But there’s a way to tell if you can handle a trial given to you. Maybe it seems too hard, but in my experience I’ve found there’s one thing that’s always present in a trial if its one that you can handle. Any ideas what that might be? I’ll give you a hint, in the form of one of my favorite scriptures. 1 Corinthians 10:13, “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”

So what is it? The one thing that marks it as a trial you can handle? The answer is YOU! If you’re having that trial, that means you’re someone who can handle it! But God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able. Whatever the trial, no matter how hard you are tempted to give in and just be depressed, God knows you can handle it. There are many tools you might need to combat it, and relying on Christ to help you through will always be immensely helpful. But the tools you need to make it will always be within your reach. Or you wouldn’t be having the trial.

Some people look at other people’s trouble and say “there’s no way I could handle that”. I personally recall saying something along the lines of, “if I was ever in a wheelchair I’d probably kill myself’. But when I got here I found it wasn’t as bad as I thought. In fact, life in a wheelchair has been quite an enjoyable adventure. At times it’s a lot of fun Finding ways to reach things I previously thought unreachable, or accomplish tasks by myself I thought were impossible alone. I don’t even have control over the muscles in my fingers. Yet I’m currently a junior in college, I need no assistance scribing homework, getting and eating food, and other simple tasks I previously thought I would have no way of doing after breaking my neck. I even have an amazing van specially adapted so that I can drive it by myself.

I submit to you that you can handle anything. Absolutely anything, we are children of God, not one person on this earth fully understands our potential. And if you refuse to believe you can handle anything, at least think of this. Any trial you can’t handle will never be given to you. If all of the sudden you find yourself in a circumstance that you never thought you could handle. That in its self is proof that you can and will be able to bear it.

The final scripture I'd like to share in connection with this principle is in D&C 58.
“2-For verily I say unto you, blessed is he that keepeth my commandments, whether in life or in death; and he that is faithful in tribulation, the reward of the same is greater in the kingdom of heaven.
“3-Ye cannot behold with your natural eyes, for the present time, the design of your God concerning those things which shall come hereafter, and the glory which shall follow after much tribulation.”
“4-For after much tribulation come the blessings. Wherefore the day cometh that ye shall be crowned with much glory; the hour is not yet, but is nigh at hand.”

You can’t see with you’re eyes right now what’s going on, how it is this experience is effecting you for good. But you will! And not only that, only after the trial comes the glory. And not just glory, but much glory! David clearly understood this principle when he wrote, “It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.” In Psalms 119:71.

One day we’ll look back and understand how much we’ve grown, and that every experience we had was absolutely the perfect one for us. The way God weaves our lives together is absolutely amazing. And the trials we go through help us grow more than anything else. It is my humble prayer that we will all face our challenges head on. That we’ll take charge of our lives, and even more importantly our attitude about learning experiences in our lives. I testify once again that with the help of our heavenly father we can stand to face anything the adversary can throw at us. And I submit this to you in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

-Corby Campbell

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Nice_Place_to_Visit
[2] http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/a/q133991.html
[3] All scriptures found at http://scriptures.lds.org/