Lucy Christensen's love for learning was fostered at an early age by her parents - neither of whom was college educated.

But, said Sister Christensen of the Melba 2nd Ward, Kuna Idaho Stake, her parents had a respect for education and knew the power it could have in the lives of their 10 children. "I remember well my mother poring over histories she wrote. She was always fascinated by astronomy and thrilled at new discoveries in science and medicine," she explained. "Her tears while listening to the Tabernacle Choir or a moving Chopin piano recital gave us children the same love and enthusiasm she had for the arts."Sister Christensen often asked her mother why she didn't go back to college. "Her reply wasn't regretful, but positive: . . . `I have 10 children, no money and, besides, I can learn on my own here at home. I have gone to Relief Society for 30-plus years and taught and learned enough there to give me a college degree. I just don't have the paper to show it.' "

Even without a formal education, Sister Christensen's mother was a perfect example of the directive to "Seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom; seek learning, even by study and also by faith." (D&C 88:118.)

President Gordon B. Hinckley quoted this scripture in the August 1992 Ensign, and called education "the great conversion process under which abstract knowledge becomes useful and productive activity. It is something that need never stop. No matter how old we grow, we can acquire knowledge and use it. We can gather wisdom and profit from it. We can be entertained through the miracle of reading and exposure to the arts and add to the blessing and fulfillment of living. The older I grow, the more I enjoy the words of thoughtful writers, ancient and modern, and the savoring of that which they have written."

Relief Society leaders felt so strongly about members' education that in December 1992 they launched a world-wide literacy effort - a program designed not only to teach basic reading skills, but also to encourage life-long learning. Of this effort the First Presidency said, "Now a great new project is to be undertaken. . . . Its consequences will go on and on and be felt in the lives of generations yet to come."

Sister Christensen summed up one of the greatest effects of life-long learning: "Learning begets learning," she said. "I have developed a thirst for knowledge similar to my mother's. I love the scriptures, the classics, the self-improvement books. I can't read fast enough to learn all I want to know."

In today's society, a person's education affects them economically, socially, intellectually, emotionally and spiritually, said Ray Reutzel, associate dean of BYU's David O. McKay School of Education. An education gives a person the tools to study the gospel, communicate and expand his mind.

Dr. Reutzel said the best thing parents can do to encourage education in their children is to be avid readers themselves. He also suggested having a wide variety of reading material in the home, making regular trips to the library, reading to children on a regular basis and limiting the use of television and videos.

Citing a 1985 report released by the federal government, Dr. Reutzel said that more than 10 hours a week of television viewing negatively impacts academic achievement in school.

His family has "homework time" each evening for an hour. During the time, everyone in the family "including Mom and Dad" do homework or read books.

Robert and Janet Janosch of Medicine Hat 2nd Ward, Medicine Hat Alberta Stake, also take time on a daily basis to read together as a couple and with their children. During a Church News telephone interview, their three daughters anxiously waited for them to finish talking so the family could go to the library.

"I find that because we are spending our time with the children this way, they don't really miss the television," Brother Janosch said.

Dr. Reutzel laughs at the "I don't have time" excuse that many people give for not reading. "Get into what I call the flood-book mentality," he advised. "You just have a book in your purse, in your briefcase or in your pocket, so if you are ever caught in a flood you have something to do."

In a Church News interview, Relief Society Gen. Pres. Elaine Jack also said people can find time to read. "Carry a book around with you everywhere you go. If you have a book that is compelling enough, there is time to read it."

For Christmas, Sister Jack's four sons gave her a frame with pictures of them reading to their children. "It warms my heart to see them enjoying books together, all different kinds of books," she said. "It promotes such togetherness in a family. You can't read books together and not feel a kinship."

She called the Gospel Literacy Effort inclusive. "Even if you can already read or write, you can enlarge your understanding, it need never end."

MarJean Wilcox, a member of the Relief Society general board who serves on the Relief Society literacy committee, said there is never a time that a person is too young or too old to be read to. "I remember going to see my mother before she died. She was always excited about the books that she read. She was a 93-year-old woman. And when she would read to me, either from journals or from the scriptures - things that meant something to her - that was wonderful."

And just as reading connected Sister Wilcox to her mother, it also connected her to the outside world during the time she was home with several small children.

"Reading is everything," she said. "Reading can save souls, reading can change lives."