Less than a year later I received and accepted a mission call from the LDS Church headquarters in Salt Lake City, Utah. I was truly excited to go to…as I opened the envelope…Spanish speaking? And this time no cliff notes. Here was a dumb 19-year-old kid walking the streets of Mexico with a native born Mexican companion who couldn’t speak a word of English. Needless to say I did a lot of smiling. I really struggled with the language. It seemed that other missionaries had it so easy, and I admit I began to doubt my abilities to fulfill my calling.

A loving mission president challenged me to read the Book of Mormon, in Spanish, with the promise that my tongue would be loosed. Yea, right! Me read the entire Book of Mormon, in Spanish? With no Cliff Notes? I couldn’t get through Jane Eyre let alone scripture in a language that was French to me. I had nothing better to do for the next two years, so I took his challenge. Of course the mission president put conditions on the challenge, that I needed to pray about it too, in Spanish.

It wasn’t long before the subtle effects took place, mostly without me knowing it. At first I started to order food from the street venders in Spanish, "Dos tacos de lengua por favor." That was very important to me, and it may not have been because I was reading the Book of Mormon in Spanish, but because my companion wouldn’t order for me and I got hungry at least 3 times a day. It was too late by the time I found out what "lengua" was, and I was hooked. (lengua is tongue…every part strengthens a part)

By the time I got to about the end of the book of Alma, I was feeling a bit more confidant. I started to speak more and more. Then a funny thing happened, the people actually understood me and listened to me. And this got me thinking. (?=uh oh!) Were the people listening to me because I was speaking truth? Did they listen because I was a dumb blue eyed gringo speaking their language? Or was it because I was actually learning something about the Book of Mormon and Spanish and about the people who I was teaching? I think it was all of the above.

I believe that the reason I learned the language was a combination of several elements. For one thing, I had motivation for learning. I needed to learn the language in order to teach, and eat. Although I had no formal instructor, I had a couple good mentors and role models. One role model was my non-english speaking companion, a great man by the name of Angel Moroni Varrela, pretty cool to have an angel for a companion. He laughed at me a lot but he also taught what not to say. Like "estoy muy embarrasada," which doesn’t mean, "I’m very embarrassed." ("embarrasada" means pregnant)

Of course the spirit was a great influence. I followed the example of three other young missionaries, the sons of Mosiah, I prayed and fasted often, and it worked.

Probably the one thing that influenced me the most to learn the language is that I was able to immediately practice what I was learning. It was at all like in high school when I was learning irrelevant subject matter just for the sake of learning something that I may never use, like Jane Eyre. This was a major factor for me in my learning Spanish, and still is when learning just about anything today, except British Literature.

I believe that learning, incorporates several elements; motivation to learn, justification for learning, sound instruction, setting goals for learning, along with good instructors, mentors and role model teachers.

This site is designed to help instructors understand some fundamentals of how learning occurs. Not only the learning of general subjects, but for gospel principles also. This course is designed to give insight to instructors, trainers, educators and teachers on learning theory and instructional methodology. It is not intended to use this book as a soul source for new instructors, but it does give some basics to follow. It will also be a help to seasoned teachers and instructors to give meaning to what it is they do.

I have taught in various settings, from an investigator’s living room in Mexico with dirt floors, cardboard walls, no plumbing and where the head of a house that couldn’t read, to the formal class room, air conditioned, with padded benches and a literate class of experienced learners. The miracle of teaching and learning is that anyone can do it. It’s amazing to me that as much as we study, learn, grow, intellectually mature with the academic wish-wash, none of it can replace the spirit of truth when the real teacher is the spirit of truth. It has taken me along time to realize that it is the spirit that teaches truth, and the teacher is merely the facilitator of the truthful message.

Even more amazing is that much of my understanding of the learning was restored in its simplicity by a fourteen-year-old boy on his knees in prayer, seeking the answer to a simple question. Again I emphasize, that no amount knowledge gained in this life can replace that of knowing the truth of a gospel principle when taught by the spirit. Regardless of what you find in this book, it is the spirit that teaches truth, through the real intent and the faith of the learner (Moroni 10:3-5).

Objective: This book is designed to help instructors learn to fulfill their callings effectively, efficiently and in an appealing manner as to promote study, learning, and instruction of gospel principles by the spirit.