Encore! Encore! A Lifetime of Learning

By Norman C. Hill

Lifelong learning is ongoing and fulfilling. We are never too old to gain new skills, develop our talents, or pursue new hobbies. And what we gain in this life will benefit us eternally (see Doctrine and Covenants 130:18–19).

“Some people are surprised to learn that I began an online business later in life,” Martha Paewai notes. “Some friends said to me when I first began, ‘What does a Samoan woman with only casual work experience know about marketing?’”

There’s no age limit to learning, Sister Paewai likes to say. Besides, working from home now gives her more income and better working conditions than she had working as a domestic in New Zealand. It was hard to start a new business, but she learned as she went along and was willing to ask others for help when needed. “BYU–Pathway Worldwide gave me the confidence to try something new as well,” she says.

Jim Ivins started something new when he retired as an attorney. He began landscaping not only his own yard but many of his children’s yards as well. He recalls: “I thought about what I wanted to leave them as a legacy. When my wife passed away, it occurred to me that this is something I could do for them. I didn’t just move rocks, but instead I studied landscape designs and experimented with different approaches. When my grandchildren visit or I go see them, we don’t just talk; we study different designs and work together on them.”

Laurie Terry always wanted to play the piano when she was younger, but somehow her sister got piano lessons and she did not. So when she retired, she started lessons. “Like anything else, it just takes practice and a willingness to learn,” she said. Now, after only a couple of years, she accompanies soloists at church and plays for her own enjoyment. “Everything doesn’t have to be a performance,” she says. “Sometimes the best audience is just yourself.”

Sister Barbara B. Smith, speaking as Relief Society General President in the April 1978 general conference, told of a man who retired at age 63 and was uncertain what he could offer without a full-time job. At that point, she said, “he had no occupation, no hobbies, no special interests, and no plans for the future.” She continued, “He was left to try to find a new life for himself or to vegetate and die. Sadly I add that within a brief time he did die.”¹

By contrast, Elder Robert L. Backman spoke about his new status as an emeritus General Authority at his last general conference address. He said he didn’t want to be like the retirees of whom it was said, “He died at seventy but waited to be buried until he was eighty-five.” Instead, he wanted to continue to grow and learn and develop even more skills and interests.

Elder Backman then asked, “What to do?” and answered that important question this way:

“There is a single passage in all the New Testament which describes the Savior’s life between the age of twelve and when he began his ministry. I have quoted that passage many times in speaking to the youth. I wonder if it doesn’t have just as much application for the rest of us, particularly those who are retired. Luke wrote: ‘And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.’ (Luke 2:52.)”²

President Ezra Taft Benson (1899–1994) encouraged this same type of learning and growth, regardless of a person’s age. Speaking to older members, he said: “We hope your days are filled with things to do and ways in which you can render service to others. … Older almost always means better, for your wealth of wisdom and experience can continue to expand and increase as you reach out to others.” President Benson went on to quote from the Book of Mormon: “Live in thanksgiving daily, for the many mercies and blessings which [God] doth bestow upon you” (Alma 34:38).³

Such mercies and blessings come by looking forward with hopes and dreams and plans. As Latter-day Saints, we believe in eternal progression, which includes acquiring new skills and developing new talents in this life, not just the next one. In fact, such personal development and forward-looking may itself be a key to longevity.⁴

man at workbench — After retiring, Brother and Sister Patterson went back to school to learn new skills: gunsmithing and woodworking.

After 40 years as a medical doctor and military officer, Kerry Patterson was injured while on a routine mission in Afghanistan. Forced to take a military disability retirement, he searched for things to do. Not content simply to spend his days fishing, he and his wife, Linda, went back to school at a local community college.

“I took a shop class in high school but had no other vocational training since then,” he explains. “Nonetheless, I decided to learn gunsmithing. I liked fixing people as a doctor and thought that learning how to fix things that required precision machining would keep me mentally active. It was a lot harder than I thought to go into something so new and different.” But now at age 71, after completing all required courses and getting necessary licenses, he has more business than he can handle. He has even hired an apprentice to share the workload and learn the trade.

Linda took other classes at the community college at the same time as her husband. With their six children grown, she now had time to pursue her interest in woodworking and furniture design. “I was the only woman and far and away the oldest class member, but I didn’t let that deter me,” she says. “Some projects took longer for me to complete than other students, but I kept at it.” Following two years of training, she now builds custom cabinets for family members and others. “Now I’m able to help children remodel their kitchens and help community members who simply need a little help with their own home remodeling projects.”

Pat Morrell didn’t let her age prevent her from starting something new either. Needing to supplement the family’s income, she returned to school after her children were grown and studied to be a nurse. Several years later, she graduated from nursing school and is doing work she has always wanted to do. “I wasn’t a good student in high school, so I was unsure whether I could complete requirements for nursing,” she says. “It took six years of squeezing classes in between a day job cleaning houses and caring for others to finish my degree. Besides time, it also took persistence, patience, and support from others—and many blessings.”

While we may not all start new businesses or learn to play the piano or create landscape designs, there’s no limit to what we can learn or how we can broaden ourselves with the time that is often available later in life.

We learn new facts all the time but perhaps not new skills. As we age, we may not feel that we can become a beginner again, thinking perhaps that time and opportunity have passed us by. They haven’t. A new world of learning and adventure and achievement awaits us if we are simply willing to try.

Those who see age as only a number and not a barrier find greater happiness, connect better with grandchildren and neighbors, and relish the chance to be like the Savior, “who went about doing good” (Acts 10:38) throughout His life.

The author is an affiliate associate professor at the Ballard Center for Social Impact at Brigham Young University.