I am a newly called and set apart service missionary assigned to teach online institute for Pathway. The training is intense; I’m being stretched. Because of my calling, I was assigned to attend the annual worldwide Church Education training broadcast for seminary and institute teachers. As I watched the broadcast, I was reminded of Joseph Malin’s famous poem “The Ambulance Down in the Valley.”
‘Twas a dangerous cliff, as they freely confessed,
Though to walk near its crest was so pleasant,
But over its terrible edge there had slipped,
A duke and full many a peasant.
So the people said something would have to be done,
But their projects did not at all tally.
Some said, “Put a fence around the edge of the cliff,”
Some, “An ambulance down in the valley.”
But the cry for the ambulance carried the day,
For it spread through the neighboring city,
A fence may be useful or not, it is true,
But each heart became moved with pity,
For those who slipped over that dangerous cliff;
And the dwellers on highway and alley
Gave pounds and gave pence not to put up a fence,
But an ambulance down in the valley.
Then an old sage remarked, “it’s a marvel to me
That people give far more attention
To repairing the results than to stopping the cause,
When they’d much better aim at prevention.
“Let us stop at its source all this hurt,” cried he.
“Come, neighbors and friends, let us rally.
If the cliff we will fence, we might almost dispense
With the ambulance down in the valley.
At the broadcast, I marveled how Church Education is strengthening fences to decrease the number of ambulances needed down in the valley.
First, a little backstory: In 1833, the Lord taught Joseph Smith that “the glory of God is intelligence” (D&C 93:36). In the same year, he established the School of the Prophets which met in the Newel K. Whitney Store in Kirtland, Ohio. The breadth of the “intelligence” desired is obvious by the subjects they studied: history, current events, reading and writing, mathematics, language study, and doctrinal teaching.” Also in 1833, Joseph received: “Seek ye diligently and teach one another words of wisdom; yea, seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom; seek learning, even by study and also by faith” (Doctrine and Covenants 88:118). In the 1835 term of the School of the Prophets, Joseph and Sidney Rigdon wrote and taught classes on theology. These lectures are known as the Lectures on Faith. For the 1836 curriculum, the school hired Joshua Seixas to teach Hebrew.
Educating members has been a primary focus since the Restoration began. Stating that wherever the Church was established, schools were organized is not hyperbole. One example from 1957:
“The restored gospel had taken root in Mexico in the 1800s, and the country now had two strong stakes. Over the past two decades, the number of Latter-day Saints in Mexico had grown from about five thousand to more than thirty-six thousand.
As membership increased, Church leaders wanted to make sure the rising generation of Mexican Saints received every opportunity for schooling and occupational training.
“In 1957, the First Presidency appointed a committee to investigate education in Mexico and make recommendations for establishing Church schools throughout the country. Finding that urban areas did not have enough schools to accommodate Mexico’s booming population, the committee proposed opening at least a dozen primary schools across the country, as well as a secondary school, junior college, and teacher training school in Mexico City.
“At the time, the Church operated schools in New Zealand, Western Samoa, American Samoa, Tonga, Tahiti, and Fiji. By the time it opened two primary schools in Chile a few years later, the Church also had education efforts underway in Mexico…. Thirty-eight hundred students were enrolled in the Church’s twenty-five primary schools and two secondary schools in Mexico” (https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/history/saints-v4/part-2/10-time-is-crucial?lang=eng).
One more example from the 2024 Church Educational System Religious Educators Conference: “Last year alone in Central America, our [seminary and institute] teachers personally invited over 25,000 youth and young adults to attend classes. We also asked our students to invite their friends. As a result, there were more than 30,000 friends of other faiths who attended, which resulted in over 9,000 baptisms” (https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/broadcasts/language-recording/2024/06/31webb?lang=eng).
Today, Satan’s temptations are more prevalent and accessible than ever before. Satan has beefed up his game. Yet, his evil is being countered under the Lord’s direction and President Nelson’s earthly leadership. Men and women of faith have been called to the frontlines to counter his influence. Ecclesiastical and Church education leaders are fortifying the fence at the top of the cliff to help youth and young adults build “on a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if they build, they cannot fall” (Helaman 5:12, abridged). (Because of my bad eyesight, I used to think “fall” was “fail.” Both are true.)
Remarkably, it has been only 192 years since the twenty or so men and women assembled in one room for the first School of the Prophets in the winter of 1833. The following statistics show what is happening.
Breaking News #1:
Starting last month, January 1, 2025, seminary teachers worldwide started teaching Life Preparation Lessons once or twice a week. “These lessons have been designed to address needs of the teens of this generation. These Life Preparation Lessons give students opportunities to apply the Savior’s teachings to lessons on physical and emotional health, including ways to succeed in school, handle difficult questions, navigate challenging life circumstances, become self-reliant, plan and prepare for the future, prepare for a mission, and prepare to make and keep temple covenants” (https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/seminary-curriculum-training-2025/03-life-preparations-lessons-training?lang=eng), abridged).
These Life Preparation Lessons are specific, current, and real—truly historic. I read through some of them and found pertinent principles that would have greatly improved my life fifty years ago, and I still can apply many to my life right now. Hopefully, seminary students who receive these lessons will be better prepared for whatever cliffs they encounter. Hopefully, they will internalize and live the teachings and stand firm upon the rock of their Redeemer, Jesus Christ. Hopefully, they will be protected from “the devil, his mighty winds, his shafts in the whirlwind, his hail and mighty storms, his attempts to drag them down to the gulf of misery and endless wo” (Helaman 5:12, abridged).
I have already had one conversation with a granddaughter about her recent seminary experiences. If you are a parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle, or youth teacher, please consider learning more about Life Preparation Lessons by going to https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/seminary-curriculum-training-2025/03-life-preparations-lessons-training?lang=eng.
Breaking news #2:
As mentioned, I will be teaching online institute to Pathway students. I did not mention that I am one of 1,700 teachers who are teaching 80,000 students in 180 countries.
The inspiration for Pathway, which has been called “a striking success story,” (https://www.byupathway.edu/articles/annual-report/ar19-10-year-timeline) began in 2009. It was a one-year program created to make higher education more accessible to members of the Church. Classes were held in local ward buildings in Manhattan, New York, Nampa, Idaho, and Mesa, Arizona. The purpose was to help students develop academic skills and build spiritual confidence.
Sixteen years later, Pathway is now BYU-Pathway and joins BYU-Provo, BYU-Idaho, BYU-Hawaii, and Ensign College for post high school education in the Church. BYU-Pathway has no physical campus. What it does have is worldwide availability via a computer and the Internet. BYU-Pathway provides educational opportunities at low cost to students who want to earn certificates for career advancement and or bachelor degrees in the following disciplines:
Besides studying these academic subjects, students ages 18-30 are required to take an institute course each semester. Older students may take institute as they choose. Some of the classes available are Eternal Families, Foundations of the Restoration, Jesus Christ and His Everlasting Gospel, Teachings and Doctrine of the Book of Mormon, Answering my Gospel Questions, The Divine Gift of Forgiveness.
Two common scenarios that lead students to BYU-Pathway are:
- I was raised by a single mom; I quit high school to earn money for our family; I got married and had children but wanted more education. I heard about BYU-Pathway. I witnessed miracles to help me manage my home, work, and school. Everything in my life has improved because of Pathway. Pathway gave me a second chance.
- I live in a poor area in my country with little opportunity to improve myself. I served a mission and learned many life skills and the value of education. In my final interview with my mission president, he told me about Pathway and that as a returned missionary I was automatically enrolled. I witnessed miracles to help me achieve my goals. Everything in my life has improved because of Pathway.
One woman ended her testimonial with these words: “To those who may find themselves in similar circumstances — whether English is not their first language or they didn’t finish school for whatever reason — no matter the challenges or barriers, just keep trying; if I can do it, you can do it too” (https://www.byupathway.edu/articles/feature/a-second-chance-for-education-my-journey-with-byu-pathway). In cases like this, BYU-Pathway provides a second-chance like the ambulance down in the valley.
It is a daily, personal choice to seek learning: “Seek ye diligently and teach one another words of wisdom; yea, seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom; seek learning, even by study and also by faith” (Doctrine and Covenants 88:118). Why? Because “the glory of God is intelligence” (Doctrine and Covenants 93:36). Why? Because gaining light and truth is an eternal principle: “Whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection. 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” (Doctrine and Covenants 130:18-19).
