Conference Talk of the Week

Overview

Elder Gary E. Stevenson speaks mainly to Primary children in this talk, and he begins with something every child knows: fruit tastes best when you actually eat it. He compares gospel truths to the fruit in Lehi's vision of the tree of life (1 Nephi 8). In that vision the tree represents God's love, shown most fully in Jesus Christ. The fruit represents the blessings that come through Christ's Atonement. You can learn gospel truths at home, in Primary, and from the scriptures, but they become sweet to you when you live them. Elder Stevenson names three gospel 'fruits' that he loves: we are children of a loving Heavenly Father, the great plan of happiness through Jesus Christ, and the gift of the Holy Ghost. He shares a story for each one, including a young boy singing 'I Am a Child of God' after an earthquake and a grieving Buddhist priest in Japan. He ends the way Lehi did, by asking you to share the fruit with the people you love.

Three Key Takeaways

• 1You don't really know a gospel truth until you live it. Looking at a piece of fruit or smelling it only lets you guess how good it is, and you find out when you taste it. In the same way, the truths you learn at home, in Primary, and in the scriptures become sweet when you put them into practice.
• 2Being a child of a loving Heavenly Father is your most important identity. Elder Stevenson says this knowledge makes you stronger, and it also makes you kinder, because everyone around you is your brother or sister. In South America, after a severe earthquake, a small boy ran to the stand and sang 'I Am a Child of God.' His song brought the Spirit, who comforted the members and testified that they were God's children even in hard times (Romans 8:16).
• 3The plan of happiness gives real hope when someone dies. A Buddhist priest in Japan was overcome with grief after his wife died. When he learned that her spirit had gone to the spirit world, a place of rest, happiness, and peace (Alma 40:11-12), his face changed and his despair turned into peace. The Atonement of Jesus Christ is at the center of that plan, so even when you make mistakes you can repent, be forgiven, and keep progressing.

Reflection Questions

• Think of a gospel truth you first learned as a child or a new member. When did it go from something you were taught to something you knew by living it?
• Being a child of God makes you stronger and kinder, according to Elder Stevenson. In the past week, how has knowing who you are, and who the people around you are, changed how you treated someone?
• Elder Stevenson named three fruits: being a child of God, the plan of happiness, and the gift of the Holy Ghost. Which one have you felt most in your own life lately, and when did you feel it?