"18 Whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection. 19 And if a person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life through his diligence and obedience than another, he will have so much the advantage in the world to come."
All the usual comments were made about the importance of gaining knowledge, then I made a comment I thought was pretty neat. I realized that all the points that had been made were true, but if you read these verses a different way it leads to another meaning. Think of our pre-mortal life. We know, through modern revelation, that we lived as spirits before we came to earth. We lived with Heavenly Father and wanted to be like him. So, one of the reasons the earth was created and we came down to it was that we had maxed out on what we could learn as spirits and needed our mortal experience, body and all, to go any further. Thus is our mortal life. We will eventually reach a point when we have maxed out on what we can learn in this state and will move on to the next, first possibly as spirits then resurrected beings. Before we came to earth we were taught, and taught, the gospel and other things.A quote I quite like from Elder Bruce R. McConkie: "All the spirits of men, while yet in the Eternal Presence, developed aptitudes, talents, capacities, and abilities of every sort, kind, and degree. During the long expanse of life which then was, an infinite variety of talents and abilities came into being. As the ages rolled, no two spirits remained alike. Mozart became a musician; Einstein centered his interest in mathematics; Michelangelo turned his attention to painting. . . . Abraham and Moses and all of the prophets sought and obtained the talent for spirituality..." In the premortal world we studied and learned various things according to our interests. Then when we were born we had the opportunity to use that knowledge and skill as we again sought it out, the indication being that it came much more easily and fully the second time. Then as we pass on to the 3rd stage of our immortal lives we get to retain our knowledge and skills and continue to build upon them. But there's something more as well. If we are to become like Heavenly Father we'll need to learn gobs more than we ever could in this life. It won't all come just because we're resurrected, but will come as we study and learn, same as on earth (hopefully more quickly and more fully too). So those who exerted themselves in the premortal realm came to earth with a natural ability to learn the thing they had studied. It seems also that the thing that will give us "so much the advantage in the world to come" is the ability to study and learn. I don't really know how much use my ability to play sports will be after this life, but I'm sure that the ability I have to learn quickly new skills and rules of the games will help me as I learn to become like my father. I see this as I teach math. I had students who come into class with poor skills but who do well in the class because they know how to study and to persevere when a subject is hard. Then there are very bright students, or even ones who have taken the class before, who do not pass the class even though they probably have all the requisite background knowledge and brain cells needed to pass it. They mostly do not pass because they do not know how to study. It makes sense that as we progress it won't necessarily matter if we had a diploma of one level or another, but how well we have cultivated our desire and ability to learn while we were in this stage of our life.
So, as I face returning to school I am grateful for the chance I have to further my knowledge (and for all those that make it possible for me to do so), and I also have more appreciation for the difficult times that lie ahead that will teach me how to stick it out and learn how to learn.
