Opening question
Think of a fruit you love. You could describe it to someone who has never had it, its color, its smell, how it feels in your hand. Could they really know what it's like from your description? What would they be missing?
Relief Society · Elders Quorum · 25 minutes
Fruit to Make One HappyRelief Society & Elders Quorum lesson
Elder Gary E. Stevenson · Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles · Sunday Afternoon Session
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A 25-minute class
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Elder Stevenson teaches that gospel truths, like fruit, become sweet to us only when we taste them by living them, and that real joy moves us to share them with the people we love.
Skip walking through all three fruits in detail; touch the Holy Ghost and children-of-God fruits briefly and spend the class on tasting gospel truths and Lehi's desire to share.
0–2Open2–5Hook5–20Discuss20–23Apply23–25Testify
Before Sunday
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Sunday: Elder Stevenson's "Fruit to Make One Happy"
This Sunday we'll discuss Elder Gary E. Stevenson's October conference talk "Fruit to Make One Happy." He compares gospel truths to fruit: you can look at fruit and smell it, but you only know how sweet it is once you taste it. Before Sunday, read 1 Nephi 8:10–12 along with the talk. Ponder: which gospel truth has become sweeter to you because you lived it, not just learned it?
Pick one opening
Opening question
Think of a fruit you love. You could describe it to someone who has never had it, its color, its smell, how it feels in your hand. Could they really know what it's like from your description? What would they be missing?
Story hook
Elder Stevenson once visited a friend in Japan, a Buddhist temple priest whose wife had died. The man was so grieved he barely spoke. Elder Stevenson asked him whether he knew where his wife was. The man lifted his head: "What do you mean?" They taught him that her spirit lived on in a place of rest and peace. Elder Stevenson said his countenance changed, as if he had tasted the fruit of the tree of life.
Lehi's first thought
Read 1 Nephi 8:12 together. Lehi tastes the fruit and his very next thought is his family. Why do you think real joy in the gospel turns our thoughts toward other people so quickly?
Teach this first
Gospel truths become sweet as we live them
In Lehi's vision the tree represents the love of God, shown most fully in Jesus Christ, and the fruit represents the blessings of His Atonement: covenants, ordinances, gospel truths, and eternal life. Elder Stevenson teaches that we can learn about these truths the way we look at and smell fruit, but they only become sweet to us when we live them. That is when they bring happiness and joy.
Elder Stevenson taught that we can hold fruit, look at it, and smell it, "but once we have tasted it, we know how much we like it. Gospel truths are the same."
Ask the class
- 1.What is the difference between knowing a gospel truth and tasting it? When has a truth you already knew become sweet to you only after you lived it?
- 2.Elder Stevenson's friend in Japan changed when he learned his wife's spirit lived on. Which truth of the plan of happiness has brought you peace in a hard time, and how did it reach you?
If time remains
Joy in the gospel makes us want to share it
When Lehi tasted the fruit, he wanted his family to taste it too. Elder Stevenson invites us to love, share, and invite, in words and in actions, so the people around us can partake as well.
Ask the class
- 1.Elder Stevenson asks us to love, share, and invite with words and actions. Which of the three comes most naturally to you, and which could you grow in this week?
Counsel together
Quorum / Relief Society business
- •Who in our ward or quorum may be grieving or discouraged right now, and how could we help them partake of the peace that comes from the plan of happiness?
- •How can we as a class or quorum better love, share, and invite the people we already know?
Last 3–5 minutes
Close
This week, choose one person you love and share one gospel truth that has become sweet to you, either by telling them about it or by a kind act that shows it.
Elder Stevenson promised that as we love, share, and invite, we will feel joy from partaking of the fruit of the gospel ourselves and even greater joy as our loved ones partake too.
Your witness: Think of one gospel truth that was only a fact to you until you lived it. Briefly share what changed when you tasted it and what it shows you about Heavenly Father's love through Jesus Christ.