Cultivating Talents

I am a firm believer in life long learning. Each time that I take the time to cultivate a new talent, the next talent I work on comes that much easier.  I am always reminded of the parable of the Master who gave his three servants a different number of talents. For the ones who used their talents they got the same number back. And for the one that did not use the talent that he was give, his talent was taken away.


Pres. Thomas S. Monson said:  
"Share your talents. Each of you, single or married, regardless of age, has the opportunity to learn and grow. Expand your knowledge, both intellectual and spiritual, to the full stature of your divine potential. There is no limit to your influence for good. Share your talents, for that which we willingly share, we keep. But that which we selfishly keep, we lose."

A couple of years ago I decided that I would learn how to knit. I basically only knit scarves these days but they make for easy Christmas and birthday presents, and in financial times such as these it is definitely a plus to know how to knit, even if you happen to live in a state that sees sunshine most of the year. Today I wanted to share the birthday present I made for my friend. All I had to do was pick the right color of yarn and figure out how to knit in the H. I can't wait to give it to her this weekend. 

Side Note: Any scarf can be magical if you have the right yarn.

I have been thinking about what talent to work on next and have narrowed it down to working on is my writing abilities. I am looking at what kind of writing classes I can take at home in my pajamas. Then I can one day write a book, about what I have no idea, but then I can think about staying at home and devoting my entire life to learning as much as possible. This is to say that if knowledge is the only thing that I get to take with me at the end of this life, I don't want to only know about television shows and movies.