General Conference Review: Stay by the Tree

I’m so excited to be finally getting around to doing some reviews of the April 2015 LDS General Conference Talks. As always there’s just so much good stuff so I’m going to start right in.

The first talk I’m going to be sharing some of my thoughts on is “Stay by the Tree” given by Elder Kevin W. Pearson.

Since most of his talk centers around a story from the Book of Mormon known as Lehi’s Dream of the Tree of Life I thought I would start there. Lehi was the first prophet of the Book of Mormon, he and his family were asked to leave Jerusalem and travel through the wilderness and across the sea until they reached what we know as the American Continents. Along his journey Lehi dreamed of a tree with fruit that represented the love of Jesus Christ and was needed to obtain true happiness. Included with this he saw mists of darkness that made the journey to the tree difficult (basically the cares and tribulations of mortal life without God), a rod of iron that could lead people to the tree safely (the words of God), a great gulf where many became lost (sin), and a great and spacious building (pride) where people would jeer and taunt those who were at the tree. For a more detailed account you can read it here and here.

I’ve always been interested in how the different artists depict this story. It’s so detailed but yet with art everyone adds their own touch to it. Maybe someday I’ll be able to work on my artistic skills enough to come up with my own version of it.

image via www.lds.org

Some more of my favorites are here (have to scroll down to the bottom of the page), here, here, and here.

Like I said, I love the imagery and symbolism of it all. At it's core though, Lehi's dream is about what it means to find joy through enduring our challenges and continually partaking of the blessings of the Atonement of Christ. Elder Pearson said, "Enduring to the end is a hallmark of true discipleship and is essential to eternal life. But when trials and challenges come our way, we are often told to simply 'hang in there.' Let me be clear: to 'hang in there' is not a principle of the gospel. Enduring to the end means constantly coming unto Christ and being perfected in Him." It made me think of something my mother said often - there is no end, just endure.

A few seasons back we happened to get into the television show American Ninja Warrior. Elder Pearson's idea of not just hanging in there made me think of the challenges that the contestants face there. Basically to do well on the show you have to complete ever more challenging courses that contain a variety of obstacles. There are some who make the courses look easy - they flow through the moves with agility, strength, and perfect timing. Then there are those who struggle and show just how hard it is to make it through without falling or running out of time. Facing the challenges of life I don't want to be the one who's desperately grasping for missed handholds or stuck hanging on to a dangling rope going nowhere. I certainly don't want to find myself in the water with my course only half completed.

As I mentioned before, Lehi talks about five different groups of people he saw in his vision. 

1. the people that were in the great and spacious building that were jeering anyone who partook of the fruit.

2. the people who never realized there was a tree with fruit worth searching for and only looked for how they might get to the great and spacious building.

3. the people who knew about the tree and tried to press forward and find it but soon became lost in the mists of darkness.

4. the people who pressed forward searching for the tree, caught hold of the rod of iron, continued through the mists of darkness until they came and partook of the fruit but then felt ashamed by the mocking of the people from the great and spacious building and fell away and became lost.

5. the people who pressed forward searching for the tree, caught hold of the rod of iron, pressed forward holding fast to the rod until they reached the tree, fell down and partook of the fruit, stayed safe by the tree and did what they could to to help others reach the tree. 

I don't know about you but 1-4 are not the kind of future I want for myself. More than anything I want to be by that tree, continually partaking of the fruit and helping others come to the tree. This is what it means to me to endure to the end.

Elder Pearson shared 6 lessons from this vision that can help us endure to the end with strength and confidence.

1. Don't forget to Pray. "pray for strength to endure to the end. Ask Heavenly Father 'What more would you have me do?'" Prayer is so vital to being able to staying on the path that leads to eternal life. Prayer is how we communicate with our Heavenly Father and we need His help if we're going to make it through life's challenges. Elder Pearson's comments also suggest that if we are to endure to the end we must never become complacent in our devotions and service - we have to be continually taking the next step forward and seeing what more we need to do.

2. Come unto Christ and Be Perfected in Him. Everything in Lehi's dream points to the Tree of Life and partaking the of the Fruit. If we are going to endure to the end we need to have it firm in our minds that the only thing that can bring true joy and peace is the love of Christ and the blessings of His Atonement. Elder Pearson says, "We can fill our lives with accomplishment and well-doing, but in the end, if we do not enter into sacred covenants to follow Christ and faithfully keep them, we will have utterly and completely missed the mark."

3. Press Forward in Faith. I'm just going to go with what Elder Pearson said about this one too, "There is a path that leads to the tree of life, to Christ. It is strait and narrow, strict and exact. God’s commandments are strict but not restrictive. They protect us from spiritual and physical danger and prevent us from getting lost.

Obedience builds faith in Christ. Faith is a principle of action and power. Consistently following the Savior’s example produces spiritual power and capacity. Without the strengthening and enabling power of the Atonement, it’s impossible to stay on the path and endure."

4. The Book of Mormon is Key to Spiritual Survival. Elder Pearson said, "When adversity comes, don't let something you don't fully understand unravel everything you do know. Be patient, cling to truth; understanding will come...Search the Book of Mormon and the words of the living prophets every day, every day, every day! It's the key to spiritual survival and avoiding deception. Without it we are spiritually lost." I can personally testify to this one. As I was beginning to build my own testimony as a teenager it was based a lot on my love for and testimony of the power of the Book of Mormon. I loved the people from the Book of Mormon, I loved reading about them and learning from them and wondering about all the parts of their lives that we don't know. As I became a little older I realized that my struggles went hand in hand with lack of scripture study. I could see the difference in myself and how as I was "too busy" to spend time in the Book of Mormon it was 100% of the time because I was spending my time in activities that were taking me away from the Spirit. As I would try and re-dedicate myself to scripture study I would feel better about things and become stronger in my ability to make right choices.

5. Don't Be Distracted and Deceived. This goes a lot with #4 but with so much going on around us we have to be diligent and focused on the things that are most important. When we lose focus and get distracted or allow ourselves to be deceived we will find ourselves struggling in that gulf of misery that Lehi spoke about and at least for me that's exactly what sin feels like - a murky, muddy whirlpool where I feel stuck or barely able to tread water. When we aren't carefully choosing the path that leads to the tree, we will find ourselves wandering toward that great and spacious building full of empty promises. As Elder Pearson describes, "[it is] filled with well dressed people who seem to have everything. But they mock the Savoir and those who follow Him. They are 'ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.' They may be politically correct but they are spiritually lost."

6. Stay by the Tree. Before studying this talk I had never thought about why in Lehi's dream the atonement as symbolized as a fruit. In looking at it now I wonder if it's because we crave continual nourishment from it - it is necessary not only for our happiness but our survival to partake of it continually. To continually nourish ourselves we must stay by the tree.  Elder Pearson testifies that there are blessings that come from staying by the tree and continually partaking of the fruit. As we continually partake of the fruit and yield our hearts to God, the Holy Ghost changes our very natures, we become more deeply converted to the Lord, and we no longer seek the spacious building.

Some of the other thoughts I really liked from Elder Pearson's talk:

"Once we enter into covenants with God, there is no going back. Giving in, giving up, and giving out are not options. In the kingdom of God, there is a standard of excellence for exaltation. It requires valiant discipleship! There is no room for average or complacent disciples. Average is the enemy of excellence, and average commitment will prevent you from enduring to the end." This is some pretty strong stuff, it's hard sometimes to be valiant. I think that we need to remember though that we have to look at things from an eternal perspective and God loves us and knows how hard it is and as long as we're doing our very best, no matter how far from perfection we feel we are still valiant in His sight and if we let Him be our coach and guide we will be able to make it safely through the course.

"If you are struggling, confused, or spiritually lost, I urge you to do the one thing I know will get you back on track. Begin again to prayerfully study the Book of Mormon and live its teachings every day, every day, every day! I testify of the profound power in the Book of Mormon that will change your life and strengthen your resolve to follow Christ. The Holy Ghost will change your heart and help you see 'things as they really are.'" I love when we get these promises during General Conference because I know that they are blessings from the Lord to help us in our lives. So I'd like to say that I know what Elder Pearson says is true and offer up the challenge that no matter where we are in our scripture reading or study of the Book of Mormon we make a goal to improve our daily reading of it in someway. It could be committing to a daily study of a verse or moving a verse to a chapter or
committing to two minutes or moving it to 10, it could be trying to read through 2nd Nephi all the way :-), it could be searching out topics that you want to know more about, there are so many things that we can all do to do just a little more and feel more of God's love and blessings.