He began his fireside quoting from Dickens, that we live in the best of times and the worst of times. We live in a time where "Evil is approaching a fullness." BUT we can have hope. We "have every reason to look forward with optimism and excitement." How is this possible? Bishop Edgely says that it all depends on our VALUE SYSTEM. He quotes Benjamin Franklin who said that :
    "We stand at the crossroads, each minute, each hour, each day, making choices. We choose the thoughts we allow ourselves     to think, the passions we allow ourselves to feel, and the actions we allow ourselves to perform. Each choice is made in the context of whatever value system we have selected to govern our lives. In selecting that value system, we are, in a very real way, making the most important choice we will ever make.
     "Those who believe there is one God who made all things and who governs the world by this providence will make many choices different from those who do not. Those who hold in reverence that being who gave them life and worship Him through adoration, prayer, and thanksgiving will make choices different from those who do not. Those who believe that mankind are all of a family and that the most acceptable service of God is doing good to man will make many choices different from those who do not. Those who believe in a future state in which all that is wrong here will be made right will make many choices different from those who do not. Those who subscribe to the morals of Jesus will make many choices different from those who do not...
Since the foundation of all happiness is thinking rightly, and since correct action is dependent on correct opinion, we cannot be too careful in choosing the value system we allow to govern our thoughts and actions" (Benjamin Franklin,  "The Art of Virtue," 88-90)
If we are to have a true value system, Bishop Edgley said that our system should have its foundation on four points. 

First, if we understand our identity (he notes the vital difference between just hearing about it and actually believing it) as sons and daughters of God, we will approach life with a long-term confidence in what we can do, because we know what we have the potential to become. The question then changes from defeat "I could never do that" with hope "I can do that." 

Second, we need to understand the gospel plan. This was my favorite part. He told the story of a young man who began to slide in his living of the standards of the Church. He explained this to bishop Edgley by saying that "I am what I am." He said that this attitude is "inconsistent with the gospel plan, inconsistent with the Atonement. It is an affront to our very mortal existence." "You become what you will, we choose our ultimate destination." Wow. Powerful words. It made me think of my own experience with testing Ether 12:27 when I had considered myself "shy" before my mission. I have since come to believe that we can change almost any aspect of ourselves, if it is a righteous desire. Isn't that what life is for (Alma 12:24)? To change ourselves to become more like God? 

Third, we need to personalize the Atonement. Here, Bishop Edgley focused on the wondrous gift of the Atonement. What is it, really? It is an endowment of hope. We can never despair because there is always a way to come fully unto God. The road is repentance. He tells a story of a man who broke a serious commandment and called Bishop Edgley and said that "He would do anything to feel right with God again. If that requires excommunication, then I want to be excommunicated." He said that this man partook of the full power of the Atonement and eventually became fully "right with God," with a clear, confident conscience again. Bishop Edgley states that "confidence becomes our motivator when we partake of the Atonement."  We need to remember that Christ is continually calling to us, always inviting us to come unto Him--even in the seemingly obscure parts of our life.

Fourth, we need to continually develop faith in Christ. He quotes from Acts 5 and warns that trials will be our constant companion. However, with the proper perspective, we can, with the Apostles of old, rejoice in our trials because we seem them in their proper context. We know that we can learn and grow much in our trials, and God is ever aware of us and we can be assured of our eternal reward if we stay true to our value system. He again repeats that we have "ever reason to look forward with optimism and excitement."

Education week this year was AMAAAAAAAAAAAAAZING.  Everyone should read Steven E. Snow's devotional that he gave during it:
http://speeches.byu.edu/reader/reader.php?id=13149&x=76&y=5


But, as we all have not time and life's challenges will come at us regardless of our opportunity to read life-changing talks or attend life-changing events like education week, I will give you my favorite points from his talk and the entire week!


Thoughts from the devotional:

• 1. "Such individuals [Nelson Mandela and Lorenzo Snow] teach us that even in impossible circumstances we have a responsibility to educate ourselves and to teach others."(Steven E. Snow, “Seekers of Truth” 17 August 2010 address during Campus Education Week)
• 2. “Sometimes life’s greatest lessons come to us at the most dreadful times of our lives. How we respond at such times of crisis determines if such challenges will be times for progression or merely times of suffering."(Steven E. Snow, “Seekers of Truth” 17 August 2010 address during Campus Education Week)
• 3. “the “school of hard knocks,” or life’s experiences, will not teach us all we need to know to return to the presence of the Father. The Lord does not desire we simply be acted upon in order to learn. We are taught to seek wisdom from the scriptures, to build our faith through study and prayer, to seek and rely upon the Holy Spirit, to serve others, and to endure to the end.”(Steven E. Snow, “Seekers of Truth” 17 August 2010 address during Campus Education Week)
• 4. "...the Lord does not want us to only study the scriptures. In section 88 of the Doctrine and Covenants the Lord seems to be telling us to study history, science, foreign lands, current events, even political science, among other things. He also tells us to study these things out of the best books. The Lord does not want the members of His Church to be ignorant and uninformed. We have a responsibility to know what is going on in our world. We cannot be experts in all things, but an expanded general knowledge will help us to be better parents, citizens, teachers, and members of the Church. Develop habits that will help you seek wisdom from the best books or from your Kindle, iPad, or laptop. Be aware of current events and seek to understand what is happening in our world. Seek to understand all points of view and do not let your opinions be influenced by those talking heads in the media whose shrill rhetoric reinforces divisiveness and fear. Rise above such things, be a bit more objective in your thinking and your judgments, and, above all, move forward with faith, for as the Lord told the Prophet Joseph in Liberty Jail: “Fear not what man can do, for God shall be with you forever and ever” (D&C 122:9).”(Steven E. Snow, “Seekers of Truth” 17 August 2010 address during Campus Education Week)

Thoughts from the Speakers:

1. Kevin R. Miller: A central purpose of teaching is to promote individual worth and take away the fear of change.
2. Ronald E. Bartholomew: 

--"The best way to get people to come to the tree of life: eat the fruit yourself and beckon with patient love.  If you yell, or get angry, or use guilt, all people will see is an angry, manipulative person.  Why would they want to eat of that fruit?"
--"Heavenly Father's plan is not to stick the fruit from the tree of life in our mouths and keep it there "until we like it""
--what is the key to revelation? Have a relationship with God. e.g., Why did Jesus pray in 3 Nephi when He knows everything?  Reveals incorrect thinking about prayer. It isn't just for times of need.  IT IS BECAUSE HE LOVES HIS FATHER AND IS ALWAYS REMEMBERING HIM!  That is the purpose of prayer.  That is communion.  THAT IS A RELATIONSHIP
--If you can think of something you are not willing to do for the Lord, then your heart isn't broken yet.
  3.    Brent L. Top
--Why is the sin of not forgiving a "greater sin"? We are denying the atonement in the lives of others... it is like saying that we don't want the atonement to apply to another.
--No one is happy when they are unforgiving of something or someone.  
   4.    S. Michael Wilcox:
--Sometimes we get the sword (James), sometimes get an angel (Peter).  
--God can turn all negatives into positives
   5. Rick D. Hawks
--One of Satan's tools is to have us forget our divine potential.  This is the cruelest form of identity theft.  You are giving into to how Satan when you accept how the world teaches you to view yourself ($, body image, etc.).
   6. Hank R. Smith (Favorite Overall Presenter this year):
--"It is not right to judge yesterday's mistakes with today's knowledge.  It's just NOT FAIR!" - Hank R. Smith's wise wife
--"It is not right to open up an ancient wound that the Son of God died trying to heal." -Jeffery R. Holland
--Key to trust: interaction that is 1. Frequent, 2. Personal, 3. Positive, 4. Low-risk
--Blame never works in relationships. Everything is two ways.  It's like saying, "Excuse me, but your half of the boat is sinking."
--Without trust, you're not really leading, you are just... strategizing.
--Is your goal always to get [said task] done?  What about building [this relationship]?
--Unconditional trust: complete empathy with the other party's desires and intentions--there is mutual understanding such that each can effectively act in each other's stead.
    7. Mark E. Beecher
--Our motive can't be to make someone better because they burden us. Ask yourself, am I worried about the person or just my image?
   8. Marie C. Ricks
--The condition of your bedroom is a direct indicator of the relationship you have with your spouse
--Sometimes, tell people no, with no explanation.
   9. Dean E. Barley
--Traits most correlated with life satisfaction:
Curious, gratitude, hope and optimism, love and being loved, zest and enthusiasm
--Those that tell someone else about their goals are 10x more likely to complete that goal.

Misc Thoughts:

• “He who seeks God has already found Him.” [Harold B. Lee, Stand Ye, 358; see also Blaise Pascal, Pensées (1670), no. 553]
  
• "Some parents become so expert at filling every physical desire for their children that they begin to suppose that all is well in this life and that their eternal stewardship is progressing right on schedule. I have noticed that some children living in too much luxury can lose their sense of spiritual values and misplace their eternal priorities. I believe that we must pause and take a careful inventory to determine how well our families are doing spiritually. We could ask how well are we feeding, nurturing, training, and exercising the spirits of our children; or how well have we taught, trained, loved, and inspired our children to build their spiritual muscles and strength? We are given many teaching moments, and the Church has given us the special family home evening to help us accomplish this purpose. Remember, eternity is now, not a vague, distant future. We prepare each day, right now, for eternal life. If we are not preparing for eternal life, we are preparing for something else, perhaps something far less." 
  (M. Russell Ballard, “Spiritual Development,” Ensign, Nov 1978, 65)
  
• One of the lessons of the parable of the soils Jacob 5: some's situations are genuinely better or worse than others.  Soils are POORER than others.
• Why do you do what you do?  What is your inner motive?
• "Real love for the sinner may compel courageous confrontation--not acquiescence!  Real love does not support self-destructing behavior.  "
  (Russell M. Nelson, Teach us Tolerance and Love, Ensign, May 1994)