Mothers gain education while raising families

by Megan Byers BYE02001@BYUI.EDU Scroll Staff

Elaine Shaw Sorenson said, “The educated woman is within each one of us, awaiting discovery. Thus, education is a beautiful, progressive process of ‘becoming.’”

Time and time again, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have been counseled to gain an education of “things both in heaven and earth,” according to Doctrine and Covenants 88:79.

In a meeting at Hermosillo, Mexico, in 1998, President Gordon B. Hinckley said, “It is so important that [men and women] get all of the education that [they] can. The Lord has said very plainly that His people are to gain knowledge of countries and kingdoms and of things of the world through the process of education, even by study and by faith. Education is the key which will unlock the door of opportunity for you.

“It is worth working at, and if you educate your mind and your hands, you will be able to make a great contribution to the society of which you are a part, and you will be able to reflect honorably on the Church of which you are a member,” President Hinckley said.

The importance of gaining an education has influenced Krista Hilder’s life greatly. Hilder, a sophomore from Augusta, Ga., attends BYU-Idaho not as a single young woman, but as a mother of three children. T.J., 10, Daniel, 6, and Beka, 4, bring great joy into her life, she said.

When asked why she decided to come back to school, Hilder said, “I just couldn’t resist. ... It was irresistible to me to gain an education in my town.”

Gaining an education while raising a family can be a challenge, she said. Some of the problems Hilder faces in attending college while being a full-time mom are a lack of sleep and being away from her children. Her husband Troy helps take care of the children when she is in school, and she takes care of them when he is at work.

Hilder said she recognizes that obeying the prophet’s counsel has brought immeasurable blessings into her life. “Education just doesn’t stop. ... There weren’t a lot of LDS people in Georgia, and the kids here [at BYU-Idaho] have so much confidence! It’s good to be with students who you know are happy to be in class.”

Hilder said she has seen an increase in confidence and a boost in her testimony from gaining an education at BYU-Idaho. The religion classes offered have so much more meaning when you’re an adult and trying to raise a family, Hilder said.

Elder Hugh B. Brown, a former member of the Quorum of the Twelve, said, “Education has always been recognized by the Church as the number one obligation of each generation to its successor and of each individual to himself. Each one of us is a divinely endowed, eternal and intelligent being. It is incumbent upon us, therefore, to encourage and keep alive the questing spirit, to learn and continue to learn everything possible about ourselves, our fellowmen, our universe and our God.”

It is important to note that daughters of God are divine spirits who are capable of learning many things, Shirley W. Thomas, former member of the Relief Society general presidency, said, “Does a woman need an education or career-related training if she is to be a housewife and rear a family?”

Education is important for any woman, Thomas said.

“Learning is for every woman; it is not a function of being married or single, of being a mother or not.” Sister Thomas said.