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Book of Mormon [JACOB 5-7] Insights with Maria Eckersley
Episode 27 • 7th April 2024 • Our Mothers Knew It • Maria Eckersley
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Our Mothers Knew It with Maria Eckersley

A Creative Study of Come, Follow Me

Book of Mormon [JACOB 5-7] Insights

“The Lord Labors with Us”

April 8 - April 14, 2024

WEEK 15: SUMMARY

=================

Lesson Summary:

Jacob’s final teachings will focus our attention squarely on the Atonement of Jesus Christ. In Jacob 5, he’ll teach us Zenos’ allegory of the Olive Tree to help us understand the depth and infinite scope of God’s love for His children. Next, in chapter 6, he’ll urge us to be reconciled to God through Christ in this life and not procrastinate the day of our repentance. In chapter 7, Jacob we teach us how to be unshaken in the face of fierce opposition when he encounters Sherem, the first Anti-Christ of the Book of Mormon.


Questions to Consider:


Jacob 5:4 | How do you see agency and omnicience working together in the same space. As an omniscient God, why does he speak in possibilities?

Jacob 5:18 | Have you seen examples where those who are new to the Covenant draw strength from and simultaneously add strength to the Church?

Jacob 5:30-31 | How can the trap of being busy but not productive in the Lord’s way lead to apostasy in us?

Jacob 7:4 | Why is flattery such an effective tool of the adversary? How do we guard against it?

Jacob 6:5 | Do you see connections between cleaving and covenants? How do we cleave unto God?


CHAPTERS

=========

00:00:13 INSIGHTS INTRODUCTION

00:04:36 SPARK 1: HE USES MANY TOOLS

00:13:18 SPARK 2: HE IS A GARDENER AND A TRAINER

00:20:36 SPARK 3: HE WORKS WHEN WE DO NOT SEE HIM

00:24:49 SPARK 4: HE IS AN OPTIMIST

00:28:55 SPARK 5: HE MOURNS LOSS AND GIVES MEASURED RESPONSE

00:34:43 SPARK 6: CHARACTER OF A PROPHET, PROPHETS SPEAK PLAINLY

00:40:09 SPARK 7: CHARACTER OF A PROPHET, PROPHETS SEEK GOD’S WILL

00:48:01 QUESTIONS

00:51:22 WRAP UP



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CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST DISCLAIMER: This podcast represents my own thoughts and opinions. It is not made, approved or endorsed by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. or The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Any content or creative interpretations, implied or included are solely those of Maria Eckersley ("MeckMom LLC"), and not those of Intellectual Reserve, Inc. or The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Great care has been made to ensure this podcast is in harmony with the overall mission of the Church. Click here to visit the official website of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Transcripts

Maria:

Welcome back, everyone.

Maria:

This is week 15 of Our Mothers Knew It, and this week we've got some

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really good territory to cover.

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So we're going to cover the last three chapters of Jacob, so Jacob 5, 6, and 7.

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This is where you're going to see that mammoth chapter about the allegory

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of the olive tree, and we're going to see God's love for his people carried

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out throughout the whole history of the children of Israel and beyond.

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It's this beautiful chapter that's lifted from the words of Zenos, a prophet we

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don't have access to, but Jacob did.

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So he's going to write his words for us and help us understand what they mean.

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When you get into chapter six, this is Jacob's commentary about that allegory.

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He's trying to help us see the great knowledge that is right in front

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of us and then grab hold of it.

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And then seven for me is.

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Well, it's Jacob's last chapter, and it comes at a bit of a distance.

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You almost hear Jacob wrap up in six, and then he extends into seven after it

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seems like a good span of time, because he wants to teach us about Sherem.

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Sherem is the first Antichrist of the Book of Mormon, and he comes almost, to me,

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the way I read seven is, it's almost as if Jacob is trying to show us what happens

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when a tree continually rejects a tree.

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the nurturing and cultivation of God and how that story ends in real life.

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So he teaches us the allegory and then he shows us in real time what that looks

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like and I just think it's powerful.

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I decided this time wanted to approach the allegory in a different way.

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I've taught it a few times.

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You can go on the site and see how I taught it four years ago, but

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my hope is to approach it a little bit differently this time around.

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What turned the corner for me this time is I was reading some of Elder

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Holland's words, and he was talking about how the allegory of the olive

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tree has some comparisons to stories that we love, like the prodigal son.

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Let me pull up his words.

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This is what he said.

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At least 15 times, the Lord of the Vineyard expresses a desire to bring the

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vineyard and its harvest to his own self.

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And he laments no less than eight times, it grieveth me

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that I should lose this tree.

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One student of the allegory says it should take its place beside

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the parable of the prodigal son, inasmuch as both stories make the

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Lord's mercy so movingly memorable.

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I had never put the Allegory of the Olive Tree anywhere close to the story

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of the Prodigal Son when it comes to understanding the nature of God.

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And this time I decided I wanted to see what Elder Holland sees.

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And I'm sure I'm nowhere close to what he sees, but I found so much depth and

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beauty as I went through this allegory, searching to understand the character

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of God, how he loves, what he loves.

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In fact, what I found is that he's By keeping the Prodigal Son story in my

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mind as I studied, it almost seemed like the Prodigal Son story extended

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for me or maybe slowed down in time.

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You started to see how the Lord cares for that younger son when he's off

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spending all of his father's wealth.

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You see in the allegory how the father must feel about his son who departs and

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his son who is hardening in his heart.

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How the father feels in that moment is displayed for you in the allegory.

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I even think you see A little bit beyond the story.

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Like how it resolves.

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In the parable of the prodigal son, you don't really know how

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things shake out for the brothers.

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If the older brother comes around, how, how it all works out.

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If the younger brother stays.

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Diligent, you don't know any of those things.

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And I feel like in the Allegory of the Olive Tree, you almost get to zoom

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out and see how it ends for everybody.

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And I just found a lot of richness in it.

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There's a lot of beautiful commentary about this allegory, so I'm not

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going to go into a lot of that here.

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I do go into a lot of it in the notes.

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So if you're looking for more of a chapter by chapter approach, and

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you want to see things broken down by historical timelines and deeper

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understandings that way, check it out.

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Go into the notes and you'll find, I don't know, 30 some odd pages of help there.

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But I think in this video, we're going to focus on what I learned, what sparked

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for me about the character of God.

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We're going to do five of those sparks.

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And then I'll do two sparks that are focused on the character of a prophet.

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Because I think in addition to this beautiful allegory, we also have

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the witness of a prophet and you get to see his character shine through,

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especially at the end of his life.

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And Jacob's lived a pretty remarkable life.

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So to hear his words at the end of that epic life, it's powerful

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and you'll get a lot from it.

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So grab your scriptures, grab your notes.

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It's time to get started.

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There are lots of ways to study this allegory.

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You can study it at a big macro level and try to understand the history of

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God's covenant people throughout time.

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We can break it into chunks, and if you're interested in that kind of study for

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this time, you want to go in the notes and pull all of that information up.

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But I just wanted to talk to you about some of the sparks I saw about

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the character of the Lord, what this teaches us about Jesus Christ.

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Because ultimately, another thing I learned from Elder Holland is that

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this allegory is all about what the atonement of Jesus Christ offers.

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How it heals, how it reconciles, it joins it, it does all these beautiful

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things to help us come closer to God.

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And so I wanted to focus there.

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So this first spark I call, he's a gardener that uses many tools.

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All of these things are, all these sparks taught me something

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about this master gardener.

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And what it brought to mind was just earlier this week,

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my kids are on spring break.

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And so we went down it was, it big hike.

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We didn't really plan well for this hike.

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I mean, it's not big by most of your standards.

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It was big for my kids.

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And it was, we got to the parking lot finally to get to the trailhead.

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And I realized all of a sudden that like, we didn't have any stuff,

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you know, we didn't pack anything to, to take care of us on the hike.

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If somebody got hurt or something.

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We didn't have any of that stuff stashed.

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We stopped to get water on the way and that was about it.

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And then it occurred to me that I have stuff stashed in the car.

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So in the car, in all these little spots, I've got first aid kits stashed.

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I've got medicine stashed and you know, all these different tools.

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So I started to pull out things like flashlights and whistles and all

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the stuff we needed to equip our backpack with anything we might need.

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along this journey.

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And that's sort of what I think the Lord is teaching us in this allegory.

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That he has many tools at his disposal, and he will use all of them in different

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combinations because he loves each of his trees equally, but he will take care of

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them differently depending on their needs.

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And he has lots of tools stuffed into his backpack.

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Tools we might never even see he, he is prepared for.

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So you see a little bit of that in this first part of Jacob 5.

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So if you look at four and five, you can see he's worried about his tree.

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This is where the allegory begins.

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He's got this beautiful tree that has been producing fruit and is

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now starting to wither and decay.

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And he wants to take its goodness and get it throughout the vineyard.

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He doesn't just want this one tree to thrive.

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He wants that goodness to spread.

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So you see him.

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working, and the tools he uses are particularly interesting.

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So it says in four and five, And it came to pass that the master of the

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vineyard went forth, and he saw that his olive tree began to decay, and

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he said, I will prune it, and dig it about, dig about it, and nourish it,

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that perhaps it may shoot forth young and tender branches, and it perish not.

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And it came to pass that he pruned it, and digged about it, and

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nourished it, according to his word.

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One of my favorite parts of my study this week is to try and understand

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what each of these words might mean and how they might apply to me.

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How he uses these different tools, these different ways to enact the

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atonement of Jesus Christ in my life to help me produce more fruit.

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And I won't go into every comparison that I found, but I think you'll

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find a lot of richness in your study if you start seeking those.

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For example, one of the words he uses that he prunes.

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Pruning is a very specific action when it comes to botany, right?

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This means you're going to make a strong cut in order to

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change the direction of growth.

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You're trying to take as much energy as is needed to make the tree fruitful and

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focus it on the most productive parts.

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And I think this happens a lot in my life.

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You know, like a calling change happens, and all of a sudden, where

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I thought I was going this direction, he makes a shift, and now my energies

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and attentions are going this way.

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And I think his goal is to create this beautiful, fruitful tree.

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But it was fun to kind of go back in my life and think

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about those pruning moments.

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These moments where he had me pivot and change course so that

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I could be more productive.

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So pruning is one of his big, one of the big tools he uses to help us

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access the atonement of Jesus Christ.

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Another one is dig about.

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So you'll see that throughout the allegory.

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This just means he's going to kind of toughen, or like, loosen

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up the soil around the roots.

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This compact, comfortable soil that we tend to get around our roots.

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He's gonna, he's gonna toss it up a little bit.

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And there's some really obvious reasons why that might happen, right?

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I think his goal is so that we can get more moisture into the roots so

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that we can have more nourishment.

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But it's this sort of uncomfortable process and I, I think there's

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something really sweet about this because what tends to happen, at

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least what happens with a tree, is if I dig about the roots, naturally

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those roots will grow down deeper.

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Instead of roots spreading out, they will start to go down.

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That's his goal, I think, with me, is that sometimes he digs about

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my roots because he doesn't want me spread thin, he wants me deep.

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Deep.

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He wants me to have my testimony go deeper and more solid and he wants me to

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have an unshaken nature to my testimony.

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And for that to happen, I have to go deep.

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And so he digs about the roots.

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Another one that I love is they talk about him nourishing and done.

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One of the things that's interesting is I feel like oftentimes when we

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talk about the allegory of the olive tree, we talk about that, um, QB Brown

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video, you know, about the current Bush and he's the gardener and he's

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going to shape it and all that.

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It's great and I fully love that comparison.

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I just think often times we forget how he nourishes.

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Any time he makes a cut, any time he, you know, rustles up

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the roots, he also nourishes.

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He puts a balm on of some kind to help ease our way.

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Often times, especially if I have a new calling or I can feel him pruning

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me or digging about me in some way.

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I also notice these small little Tender mercies.

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You know, don't you have those experiences?

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I just think this is what he does.

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He never cuts without nourishing.

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He doesn't graft without creating some sort of comfortable joint between the two.

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Like he nourishes, that's his nature.

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And so it was fun to me to go back in those moments of pruning and say,

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okay, where was the nourishment?

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Where in my history do I see these sharp changes in direction?

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And where are those tender mercies that he gave me to help

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ease my, ease the transition?

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I think you see a lot of those.

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The last one I would talk about is grafting.

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I love this when it comes to the gospel, because I think this is

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what he does to us all the time.

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He takes strengths that we have, and he grafts us to weaker trees.

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I think people who need our strength.

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And then he takes weaknesses of ours, and he grafts those to stronger trees,

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so that we can develop strengths, especially out of our weaknesses.

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We can pull from the roots of something stronger, and we can increase.

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I think he does this all the time by connecting us with

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other people, both in our family situations and in church situations.

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You can almost feel him grafting you, taking your strengths and

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helping others be lifted, taking your weaknesses and tying you to somebody

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who will help make those a strength.

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I think this whole gospel is is full of grafting opportunities.

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So to look back at my story, especially moments in my testimony that I've

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seen it grow, oftentimes there was a grafting that occurred first.

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Some way that he connected me to someone that I may not have come in contact with

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otherwise, or that I certainly wouldn't have been friends with otherwise.

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And he grafted our hearts together so that we could strengthen each

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other in one way or the other.

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I just love that piece of the story.

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I even think the action of burning is a powerful one.

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There are certain points in the, in the story of the Allegory of the

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Olive Tree where the Lord cuts off branches and then he burns them.

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To me that is his way of saying there's no going back.

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You know, he wants me to make a choice where I don't recede back

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to the old person that I once was.

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What I like is what we studied with Isaiah, the understanding that a burning

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of a tree or the parts of the tree can often nourish the soil around that tree.

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So by allowing him to prune and cut and eventually even burn off things

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that he knows aren't good for me.

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The soil is nourished, and as a tree, I'm stronger.

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There's this beautiful talk from Elder Renlund.

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You can find the full talk in the notes, but I love the way he said this.

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In mortality, we can come boldly to the Savior and receive

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compassion, healing, and help.

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Even while we suffer inexplicably, God can bless us in simple,

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ordinary, and significant ways.

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As we learn to recognize these blessings, our trust in God will increase.

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For me, Looking back on my life and looking for these, these actions.

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When has he pruned me?

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When has he dug about my roots?

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When does he graft me?

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How did he nourish me?

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Those helped me come to trust that he will continue that process

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throughout the rest of my life.

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It gives me a sense of peace and a settled heart about what comes next in my journey.

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Spark number two, I call he is a gardener and a trainer, because I think this

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teaches you something about the character of Jesus Christ, that he is not just

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this incredibly capable vineyard keeper.

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He is also someone who is always teaching and training.

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So throughout this allegory, you're going to see him speak

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to a servant, several servants.

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In fact, by the end of the allegory, there's a bunch of

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servants that are helping him.

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And I just think it's fascinating that he has servants at all.

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You know, the, he.

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I have no doubt could manage all this on his own, but he is hoping to train

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and strengthen those who are with him.

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I think that's his nature.

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It's the same thing we saw in the New Testament.

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He was constantly teaching and training his apostles who would come after him.

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I just think it's his nature.

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And I love the way you see it play out here.

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I think by the end of the allegory, you start to understand why.

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So if you look in verse 75, this is the last half of 75, it says, And blessed art

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thou, for because ye have been diligent in laboring with me in the vineyard,

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he's speaking to all the servants that helped him throughout this process,

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and have kept my commandments, and have brought unto me again the natural

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fruit, that my vineyard is no more corrupted, and the bad is cast away.

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Behold, ye shall have joy with me because of the fruit of my vineyard.

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I think the reason the Lord invites us to work alongside him in any capacity

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is because he wants us to have joy.

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And not like happiness kind of joy that's fleeting at times, but the joy

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that gives you this settled peace.

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He wants you to feel confident and capable, that you can replicate

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the goodness that you see.

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I think this is the nature of God.

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In fact, I love the way it's played out in the verses.

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The visual that kept coming back to me is when I thought about the lord of

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the vineyard and the servant, and the servant constantly learning from the

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lord of the vineyard how to take care of these trees, and what are the different

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things we could do to make this better.

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And I thought, The visual that kept coming back is that talk from Elder Cook.

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I can still remember sitting in my car.

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I can't remember.

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Somebody had swimming lessons.

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I was sitting at the, at the public pool waiting for my kids

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to come out of swimming lessons, listening to that conference talk.

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And this is when Elder Cook talked about the training he

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got from President Packard.

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Do you remember this one?

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He was like, I don't know.

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He had to speak like five or six times in one state conference.

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And he knew he was going to speak that first time, but he didn't know how long.

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And then President Becker invited him to speak again and again and again.

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And it was this sweet talk all about choosing to stay in those scary,

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uncomfortable moments and to learn.

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What I loved and what was most powerful to me about that talk

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is Elder Cook's testimony about President Packer because he loved him.

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He felt cultivated by him.

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You could just hear it in his voice.

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And so when I picture, The Lord of the Vineyard and the Servant.

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That's how I picture it.

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The Lord of the Vineyard is President Packer and he is training this servant

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all the time throughout this allegory.

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All the servants who come to him, he is training because he

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knows he wants them to have joy.

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The same way I think President Packer knew that for Elder Cook to ever be

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comfortable without President Packer meant he's going to need to learn to

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speak by the Spirit and he's going to need to learn how to handle these

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situations and to be responsive to whatever the Spirit prompts him to say.

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That's where Elder Cook would find joy and peace, and so President

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Packer gave him those opportunities.

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That's what you see in this allegory.

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At the end, do you remember when, um, in the end of that talk, he was

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talking about President Packer, and he said that he said something like,

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that was fun, let's do it again.

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You know, after listening to him give six talks spontaneously, I just

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think, that's the countenance of the Lord of the Vineyard in these verses.

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He is, I think he is rejoicing that the servants are trying to

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help, and he loves to train them.

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So, for example, if you look in Jacob 5, this is 15 through 18 or so.

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He invites the servant to come down.

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You hear that same phrase.

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Let us go down.

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Let's get to work in the vineyard.

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You're going to have all these phases where they go and they work, and

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then they stop for a season, and they let things grow, and then they

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come back and they check on them.

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And that's sort of where you are in these verses.

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So, they go down and they see that the trees are beginning to bear fruit.

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What's cool to me is because he is a trainer, a coach, not

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just a good gardener, the Lord helps the servant understand

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why the trees are bearing fruit.

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So, if you look in 18, And he said unto the servant, Behold, the branches of the

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wild tree have taken hold of the moisture of the root thereof, that the root

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thereof hath brought forth much strength.

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And because of the much strength of the root thereof, the wild branches

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have brought forth tame fruit.

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Now, if we had not grafted in these branches, the tree

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thereof would have perished.

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To me, this is him coaching, right?

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He's trying to help the servant be strong going forward so he can take the

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knowledge they got from this batch of trees and apply it to trees down the road.

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Whether the Lord of the Vineyard is present with him or not, now

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the servant is equipped to know how to produce those same results.

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And I think you see that over and over again.

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One of my favorites comes later.

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So this is during the apostasy period when all the trees seem to be

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dying and it looks almost hopeless.

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And you hear the Lord lament, right?

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He is struggling because of all the trees that are dying, and he's worried.

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So in 47 he says, have I slackened my hand that I have not nourished it?

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Nay.

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I've nourished it and I've digged about it, and I've pruned it, and I've ded it,

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and I've stretched forth my hand almost all the day long and the end draw with nay

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and grieved with me that I should hue down all the trees of my vineyard and cast them

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into the fire that they should be burned.

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Who is it that has corrupted my vineyards?

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I honestly think the Lord knows all the answers to every one of these questions.

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He knows why the trees died.

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He knows exactly what's happening, but he's coaching the servant.

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He's inviting the servant to be an active part of this process.

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It almost feels like the brother of Jared to me.

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Because remember when the brother of Jared comes to the Lord, and he has three

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problems, and the Lord solves one, and then turns to the brother of Jared and

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says, how do you want to solve this?

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What do you want to do?

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And then the brother of Jared has to come up with the idea to make the molten

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stones and bring them to the Lord.

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That's kind of how I see the allegory playing out.

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Because basically the Lord says, I'm going to have to burn

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everything here, what should we do?

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And he invites the servant to proactively burn everything.

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Make a call.

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Use the best judgment he can based on everything he's learned from the Lord

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of the Vineyard so far and make a call.

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And what the servant says is, Spare it a little longer.

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This is 50.

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But behold, the servant said unto the Lord of the Vineyard, Spare it a little longer.

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And the Lord said, Yea, I will spare it a little longer, for it grieved with me that

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I should lose the trees of my vineyard.

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and then they do what the servant recommended.

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The same way the Lord touches those stones for the brother

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of Jared, it makes them glow.

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Because it doesn't really matter if the brother of Jared brought

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stones or sticks or anything else.

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The Lord can make anything glow.

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What he wanted is the brother of Jared's willingness to see

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things the way the Lord sees.

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And when the servant chooses to see things the way the Lord sees, that

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these trees are valuable and they need to stay and we'll do everything we can

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to preserve them, when he sees that in the servant, I feel like The trainer in

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him rejoices and he says, Okay, let's carry out your plan and see how it goes.

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For me, it was really powerful to read this allegory looking for ways he trains,

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especially considering how much he's inviting us to be a part of his work.

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to be a part of this gathering.

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And that, those invitations come with training.

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And I think you get a feel for his character as a trainer, as you read

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through this allegory, and then you can start to apply it to your own life and

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see where he's been coaching and training and teaching you the same way he taught

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these servants in the, in the vineyard.

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I just thought it was cool to study as much as the Lord loves to have us yoke in

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with him and train us so that we can find joy and peace and strength going forward.

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I think one of the things that allegory shows us is how often the Lord works.

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on his own when we aren't even aware of it.

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He is out nourishing plants when the rest of us are asleep.

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And I think you see that in the story.

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So for example, this is around 20 ish.

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This is 21 through 23.

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This is when you can see the results of the Lord going out and planting.

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So once he has kind of dug up the roots of that main tree and got a few tender

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branches to grow, he takes those branches and he plants them in other places.

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And of course, there's some really cool historical references to this.

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Like the Nephites are one of those branches.

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Lehi's family is one of those branches that's planted in a nethermost part.

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And so now he's going to go and see those, those branches that are planted.

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What's interesting is the servant didn't seem to be aware that this was happening

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or what the Lord did to strengthen those little shoots out in the nethermost parts.

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So if you look at 21, And it came to pass that the servant said unto his

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master, How comest thou hither to plant this tree, or this branch of the tree?

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For behold, it was the poorest spot in all the land of thy vineyard.

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And the Lord of the vineyard said unto him, Counsel me not, for I knew

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that it was a poor spot of ground.

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Wherefore I said unto thee, I have nourished it this long

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time, and now beholdest that it hath brought forth much fruit.

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One, I love that the Lord is planting things all the time.

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Often I think we're not aware of them.

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He's planting them in places that are vast, right?

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In some parts of the ground that are good ground and in some

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that are poor spots of ground.

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What He promises is no matter what ground you're planted in, He will nourish you.

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He will compensate for whatever hard thing you experience.

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I think this is important because all of us feel like this at times.

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At least I have.

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I've felt that many times where I'm like, why did you plant me here?

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I could do so much good if you would just put me in a good patch of soil.

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Why here?

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And you start to wonder.

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If he's forgotten you, or if you're at a natural disadvantage because

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you are in this poor spot of ground.

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And what I love knowing is that the character of God, or character of

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Christ, is that if you're planted somewhere that is poor soil, then he

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is coming constantly to nourish you.

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He doesn't leave any of those tender branches out to perish.

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He put them there on purpose, and then he promises he will nourish.

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You know, it's like that, um, Cumberstock, the Parable of the Slope.

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I, I think it's that same idea.

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He's trying to invite you to appreciate how much he's doing to strengthen

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you, no matter where you are planted.

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And that your thriving has nothing to do with the soil, but rather how much you

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accept the nourishment that He brings to you, you see that even in 23, he says

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there's an even poorer spot of ground and the things are thriving there as well.

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Trust in the power of he who can nourish because he does it beautifully.

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In fact, I love, there's a talk, that same talk from Elder Renlund, I think

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it's called infuriating unfairness.

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And then he, he says this beautiful thing about the Atonement.

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Jesus Christ overcame the world and absorbed all unfairness.

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Because of him, we can have peace in this world and be of good cheer.

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If we let him, Jesus Christ will consecrate the unfairness for our gain.

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He will not just console us and restore what was lost.

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He will use the unfairness for our benefit.

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When it comes to how and when, we need to recognize and accept as

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did Alma, that it mattereth not, for God knoweth all these things.

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And it sufficeth me to know that this is the case.

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I think, instead of surveying the land and questioning why we were planted where we

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were, we should watch for those midnight hours when the Lord comes to nourish.

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When no one else gets to see it, but we know, these tender,

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mercy, little miracle moments.

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They always are there.

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When you are planted in poor ground, The Savior himself nourishes.

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I think that promise from Elder Renlund that the atonement of Jesus Christ absorbs

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unfairness is something we should rest on.

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I think we should get to the point where we are like Alma is and be able to say,

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I don't need to worry about that anymore.

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It suffices me to know that it's in his hands.

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The fourth thing that sparked for me about the character of Christ is that

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he is like a relentless optimist.

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No matter what the state of his vineyard is, He believes it can be fixed.

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You know, he knows it's gonna take work.

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It's gonna take multiple people.

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Sometimes it's gonna take time But he always assumes that that tree

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can grow no matter how bad it is.

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Even when the tree looks Completely dead on the surface.

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He says things like, well, the roots are still good.

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He's just got this optimism that I find interesting Infectious.

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So if you look in the verses, you'll see this throughout the allegory, but

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some of my favorites are, like, 35.

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And it came to pass that the lord of the vineyard said unto his servant,

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The tree profiteth me nothing, and the roots thereof profit me nothing, so

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long as it shall bring forth evil fruit.

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Like, it's producing bad fruit, and he knows it can do better.

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And then 36.

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Nevertheless, I know that the roots are good, and for mine own purpose I have

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preserved them, and because of their much strength they have hitherto brought

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forth from the wild branches good fruit.

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What I like about this is, I feel like this is the savior basically

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saying, Yeah, but the bones are good.

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You know, like one of those makeover shows where the tile is green and the

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microwave is pink and everything's atrocious, but the decorator can come in

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and say, yeah, but it's got great bones.

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I just think that's what the Lord trusts about us.

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He knows the quality of the seed we came from.

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He knows that.

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We, as his covenant children, or people who will make covenants with

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him, we come from a divine source.

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And so, therefore, our bones are good.

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And no matter what state we're in, even if it's self inflicted damage that we've

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done by rejecting him or turning away from him, he has this optimistic outlook.

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And he says, Amen.

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I can fix that, I can change that, I can take down that tile, I can, you

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know, I can put in new appliances, I can make this house a home if you

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just let me come in and do my work.

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That kind of optimism, I feel like, helps me feel assured.

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Because I make all kinds of mistakes and I do things wrong and

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I have to repent constantly for things, even repeatedly, that I do.

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And I feel like he always comes into my house and he says, don't

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worry Maria, the bones are good.

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I can work with this.

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And I think you see that throughout the allegory.

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So for example, this is in the restoration period.

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So after the apostasy, when things are finally kind of coming back again, you see

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this same optimism bubble to the surface.

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This is 53 and 54.

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And this will I do that the tree may not perish, that perhaps

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I may preserve unto myself the roots thereof for my own purpose.

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And behold, the roots of the natural branches of the tree which I planted

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with us whoever I would are yet alive.

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Wherefore, I, that I may preserve them for my own purpose, I will

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take up the branches of this tree, and I will graft in unto them.

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Yea, well, I will graft in unto them the branches of their mother tree, that I

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may preserve the roots also unto myself.

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And when they shall be sufficiently strong, perhaps they may bring forth

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good fruit unto me, and I may yet have glory in the fruit of my vineyard.

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One of the things I've seen in my life repeatedly is when he needs me to.

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produce something better, you know, if I, if I'm using all my

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energy and I'm producing fruit, but it's not what he hoped for me.

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One of the best things he does is he grafts in pieces of the mother tree.

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These are those moments for me when a portion of my testimony

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is brought back to the surface.

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I remember a miracle that I had set aside or I go to a testimony meeting and I hear

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someone else's testimony about something pure and true and it ignites a fire in

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me, or even just sometimes going home.

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You know, I went to my parents mission in December and just in their little tiny

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apartment felt like I was coming home.

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And that invigorates something in me.

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I think his way of grafting in pieces of the mother tree, meaning where you came

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from, who you are, that you're a child of the covenant, that you're a disciple

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of Christ, that you're a child of God.

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Those moments when you know those It's like grafting in this piece of the mother

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tree that he knows will reinvigorate you and get you back on the right course.

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He's an optimist and he will always trust that there is something

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else he can do to strengthen you.

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The roots are good, the bones are good, and there's no need to be

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afraid or to feel like you are beyond help because he is a master at this.

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That's something I loved to see about his character throughout the whole allegory.

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The fifth spark for me about the Lord's character is how He

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genuinely mourns for loss and then what He does with that grief.

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That He always has this measured response.

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I think His heart is big and He feels everything, but He doesn't let

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those feelings dominate His actions.

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He is meek.

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You know, He's the same Savior we saw throughout the New Testament

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who was able to encounter grief and sorrow and rejection and pain.

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and still be in control, still choose his actions based on the will of God

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the Father, not on his own emotions.

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That's something that I just admire incredibly in the Savior, his ability

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to be meek in those intense moments.

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And I think you can read this whole allegory, watching for those

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moments where he gives a measured response despite intense grief.

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You'll see the grief line over and over again, like for example, in 41, It came

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to pass that the Lord of the vineyard wept and said unto the servant, What

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could I have done more for my vineyard?

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To me, this is almost like a miniature version of those two choices.

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He genuinely grieves and then he pivots by saying to the servant, what

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could we do differently next time?

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This is how I read it.

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I don't know if that's the right way to read it.

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I just feel like this is how he handles grief.

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He says, okay, what are we going to do differently?

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How are we going to advance the cause of God, no matter

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what these circumstances are.

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And so he turns to the servant and says, what do we need

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to do differently next time?

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And then they have to try and work out a solution.

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I think there's something powerful about understanding that God does indeed weep.

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It helps you know how loved you are, to know how much he sorrows.

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Not just that you are Struggling or off the course, but like even how you're

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treated by others in those scenarios.

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I loved Elder Holland, he has this beautiful talk called The Grandeur

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of God, and he's actually talking about God the Father, but I think

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all of this applies to both.

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He says, Looking out on the events of almost any day, God replies,

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Behold, these thy brethren, they are the workmanship of mine own hands.

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This is that Enoch story.

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I gave unto them a commandment that they should love one another, and that

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they should choose me their father.

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But behold, they are without affection, and they hate their own blood.

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Wherefore should not the heavens weep, seeing these shall suffer?

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And then he says this, That single, riveting scene does more to teach

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the true nature of God than any other theological treatise could ever convey.

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It also helps us understand much more emphatically that vivid moment in the

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Book of Mormon, Allegory of the Aloe Tree, when after digging and dunging,

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watering and weeding, trimming, pruning, transplanting, grafting, the Lord of

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the Vineyard throws down his spade and his pruning shears and weeps, and

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cries out to any who would listen, What could I have done more for my vineyard?

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What an indelible image of God's engagement in our lives.

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What anguish in a parent when his children do not choose him, nor

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the gospel of God that he sent.

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How easy to love someone who so singularly loves them.

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For me, the reason this sparked so much seeing the Lord grieve, is because I

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think it is this big, loud signal to say how much Our Father in Heaven loves

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us, how much our Savior loves us, that they weep before our loss and that they

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never see us as fully lost, they see us as damaged, wounded, and needing help,

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needing aid, needing nourishment, and so they pivot and they do what they can.

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That's what I love, what you see going forward.

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In those verses, you never see him wiping out the whole vineyard

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or tearing up all these plants.

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He instead does as little as possible.

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You know, almost like a surgeon, he's going to take as little tissue

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as possible to remove what is damaging and to allow things to grow.

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So for example, if you look in like 56 through 59, this is when

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he's trying to give advice to the servants who are helping.

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He's what they need to do to do.

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Help things progress.

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Psalm 57, for example, and the Lord of the vineyard said unto the servant, pluck

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not the wild branches from the tree.

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Save it.

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Be those that are the most bitter, and in them you shall graft

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according to which I have said.

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And we will nourish again the trees of the vineyard and we will trim up the branches

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thereof and we will pluck from the trees, those branches which are ripened, that

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must perish and cast them into the fire.

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It's measured in his response every time he looks, he grieves and feels, and then

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he chooses the best course of action.

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And generally it is slow and steady.

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He takes a little bit, he prunes a little bit, or, you know, tosses up the roots

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a little bit until we make a change.

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And then.

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we get back on track.

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I just think that's his nature.

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It's what we saw in the New Testament.

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He's in control at all times.

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He never lashes out, and he never makes deeper cuts of correction

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than absolutely necessary.

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And I think you hear that from our prophet and apostles too.

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This is from Elder Christofferson.

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He said, The love of the Father and the Son is freely given, but also

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includes hopes and expectations.

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Again, quoting President Nelson, God's laws are motivated entirely

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by his infinite love for us and his desire to become all we can become.

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Because they love you, they do not want to leave you just as you are.

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Because they love you, they want you to have joy and success.

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Because they love you, they want you to repent, because

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that is the path to happiness.

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But it is your choice.

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They honor your agency.

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You must choose to love them, to serve them, to keep their commandments.

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Then they can more abundantly bless you as well as love you.

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That, to me, is the message that is throughout the entire allegory.

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That he makes all these changes and seeks to do everything he can to help you,

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and then he gives you time to choose, and then he comes back to see the damage

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or the growth, and then he That's the gift of the atonement of Jesus Christ.

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No matter what he comes back to, what scene he enters, whether we

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are laden with good fruit or whether we are struggling and decaying,

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the atonement comes into action.

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That's, that's what he offers every single time he comes back on the scene.

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I wish I could spend the next two sparks in the allegory, but I feel like we

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need to devote some of them to Jacob because what he does, even in these

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last two chapters, is so, so riveting.

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It is powerful to watch a prophet at work.

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First, I love chapter six.

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In the past, I've almost skipped over chapter six, because it just is sort

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of his commentary on the allegory.

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But what I realized this time, maybe because I was studying so deeply the

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character of Christ throughout the allegory, is Jacob as his prophet

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is someone who has worked side by side with the Lord of the vineyard.

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He knows every graft.

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He sees every tree and knows where you came from and how

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much the Lord has done for you.

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Where I can't see all those things.

Maria:

I often don't even notice that the Lord is pruning me or placing me in

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a different part of the vineyard.

Maria:

Those things almost happen without me realizing it.

Maria:

A prophet, especially a prophet like Jacob, sees all of those things.

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In fact, he's been next to the Lord of the Vineyard all this time.

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And so he can see all those changes.

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And so when he comes to his people and he invites them to change,

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I feel like that's his view.

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When he sees his people sitting around the temple steps or wherever they

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are, he can see all the graphs, you know, all the, all the things that

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Lord has done to take care of them.

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And he pleads with them to change.

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come to come unto Christ and be reconciled.

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For me, what we learn about the character of prophets from Jacob's words is that

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prophets speak plainly and they will, they will tell you about their experience

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that they've, That they've had working alongside the master of the vineyard.

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So what he begins with is basically why will ye die?

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That's in verse 6.

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He's saying now, you know all these things now I've told you how

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much the Lord has worked on you and how powerful the atonement of

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Jesus Christ is Why will ye die?

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Like, why are you choosing not to be a fruitful tree?

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And then in 7 and 8 you hear this, For behold, after ye have been nourished by

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the good word of God all the day long, will ye bring forth evil fruit, that ye

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must be hewn down and cast into the fire?

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Behold, will ye reject these words?

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Will you reject the words of the prophets?

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And will you reject all the words which have been spoken concerning Christ?

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After so many have spoken concerning him, and deny the good word of Christ, and the

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power of God, and the gift of the Holy Ghost, Will you deny all of those things?

Maria:

And then he says this interesting phrase, it says, And quench the

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Holy Spirit, and make a mock of the great plan of redemption,

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which hath been laid before you.

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What's interesting to me is I think what to me might look like apathy, you

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know, like when I get in that state where I'm like, Eh, I don't think I

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need to do anything all that different.

Maria:

You know, I could listen to conference and come away with it

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and feel like, I think I'm okay.

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What looks like apathy to me looks like mockery to a prophet.

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Because I think what Jacob sees that I often don't see or am I, I'm shutting my

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eyes to is he knows the nature of God.

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He knows how many nights he saw the Lord of the Vineyard working

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tirelessly to help you, to help me.

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He saw the Lord of the Vineyard go into the nethermost parts and try and seek

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you out and find ways to nourish you.

Maria:

He, he sees all of those efforts and he's basically saying

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to us like, Open your eyes.

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He, to him, it's a mockery of the plan of redemption to not engage with this promise

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of the Savior, to not partake of the atonement of Jesus Christ, and to put it

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to work in your life is haunting, right?

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Because he, he knows the Savior is coming.

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All his life he has known him and he's saying, I, I've seen him and I

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know what he's offering you and you're turning away from it and he just pleads.

Maria:

I think that's what a prophet always says.

Maria:

They plead that we will stop rejecting and denying and quenching the spirit

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because there's going to come a day, at least according to Jacob, when you can't.

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deny anymore.

Maria:

You can't quench the spirit anymore.

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In fact, it's really interesting that he uses those same words.

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So if you look further down in chapter 6 in 10 and 10 through

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12, and according to the power of justice, for justice cannot be denied.

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You must go away into that lake of fire and brimstone whose flames are

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unquenchable and whose smoke ascended up forever and ever, which lake of

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fire and brimstone is endless torment.

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O then, my beloved brethren, repent ye, enter in at the straight gate, and

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continue in the way which is narrow, until ye shall obtain eternal life.

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O be wise.

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What can I say more?

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To Jacob, it is so clear that no matter what you're doing right now, whether

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you're successfully in your own mind quenching the Holy Ghost, you know,

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pushing back promptings and rejecting the words of prophets, there will be a

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time when That's not an option anymore.

Maria:

You'll stand at the judgment bar, and Jacob knows that, and he teaches you

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that, and he says, there will be a time when you can't quench those things.

Maria:

The torment in your mind that you feel of regret and wishing you had taken

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opportunities that were placed right in front of you, it will devastate you,

Maria:

and Jacob pleads with us to be wise.

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I love what we learned from Elder Bednar about wisdom, where he said it's just

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the righteous application of knowledge.

Maria:

That's what I think Jacob's trying to get us to do here.

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He's saying, I've laid everything out in front of you.

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Now you know what will happen.

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Choose to engage, choose to be reconciled.

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So he just continues to invite.

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I think that's what we hear from our prophet at every conference too.

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He knows the nature of God and he knows exactly how hard God has worked

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to create what he has created for you.

Maria:

And he hopes you will just.

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Engage.

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A lot of time seems to pass between the end of chapter 6

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and the beginning of chapter 7.

Maria:

Because you almost hear Jacob like wrapping things up at the end of 6.

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And then in 7, he comes back and he's, you know.

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teaching.

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And it's easy to see these as separate things, but I actually

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like seeing the flow between them.

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Because I think Jacob's experience with Sherem, he's the first antichrist

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of the Book of Mormon, and you only hear about him in this one chapter.

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I think he is sort of a living example of what Jacob was just

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teaching the Nephites about.

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Where he said there are, if you continue to reject Christ, if you

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continue to deny the Savior and his prophets, if you Quench the spirit.

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You're headed for destruction.

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And then he almost gives us Sherem's story as an example of

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what that looks like in real time.

Maria:

So you'll see it play out in the verses, but Sherem is an interesting antichrist.

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Sometimes we tend to like lump all these antichrists together and

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show commonalities between them.

Maria:

I think it's fascinating to see their different strategies.

Maria:

Sherem and Korohor, for example, are really different.

Maria:

What's unique about Sherem is He seems to be coming from the outside.

Maria:

He doesn't seem to know Jacob or know the people.

Maria:

He comes from outside somehow, but he also knows the law of Moses really well.

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In fact, it says he can speak the language perfectly.

Maria:

And he almost sounds like the scribes and the Pharisees of the New Testament because

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what he's accusing Jacob of is blasphemy.

Maria:

The same way the scribes approached the Savior and accused him of blasphemy

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for claiming to be the Son of God and It's that same sort of feel.

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It's something that would be punishable by death if people agreed with Sherem.

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Jacob could be executed because of blasphemy.

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So this is one of those high stakes moments.

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What's interesting is how it plays out.

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I think you see that a prophet's goal always is to allow the

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will of God to go forth.

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And you see that play out in the story.

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Because basically what happens is, Sherem approaches Jacob in a public place and

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he hopes to shake him of his faith.

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Okay, first I have to tell you, like, some of the scholars I read said

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that Sherem is likely, or not Sherem, Jacob is likely around a hundred

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years old at this point in time.

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Based on the math that you, if you learn when Enos gets the records

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and when they left Jerusalem, like, you can kind of guess.

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And he's somewhere around President Nelson's age.

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So imagine, like, someone coming to President Nelson with the With the pompous

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idea that they could shake him, you know, after decades of church service.

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Jacob has been, since his youth, he saw the Savior and has known him.

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He is, he will not be shaken, but what I love in this moment

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is he doesn't rest on that.

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That, I shouldn't say pomp, but that confidence.

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Instead, he turns to the Lord and asks the Spirit to help him confound the

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false doctrine that's being taught about how you don't need a Christ.

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And he does.

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In just a matter of verses, he confounds Sherem and then Sherem scrambles.

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It's just fascinating to me to see it play out because it's almost like

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he knows he can't win in an argument with Jacob about the law of Moses

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and about the need for a Christ.

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And so he He sort of pivots and asks for a sign.

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So this is in 13 of chapter 7.

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And it came to pass that he said unto me, Show me a sign by this power of the

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Holy Ghost in which ye know so much.

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And I said unto him, What am I that I should tempt God to show thee a sign and

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a thing which thou knowest to be true?

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Yet thou wilt deny it, because thou art the devil.

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Nevertheless, not my will, but, but if God shall, not my will be done, but if God

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shall smite thee, let that be a sign unto thee that he has power, both in heaven and

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on earth, and also that Christ shall come, and thy will, O Lord, be done, not mine.

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You can almost see Jacob stepping back to ask the gardener, what

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do you want me to do here?

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There is this problem in front of me.

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In fact, I think Jacob can see not only that there's decay on Sherem,

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this tree of Sherem, but also that it's starting to spread to everybody else.

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But instead of jumping in and taking over, what he says is,

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I'm not the gardener here.

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What would you like me to do?

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And he turns to the Lord of the Vineyard and he lets the Lord of the

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Vineyard dictate what happens next.

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That's the nature of a prophet.

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No matter how much they know and how close they are to the Lord,

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they always seek his will first.

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And so that's what happens.

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It's really interesting to see that Sharon basically gets his wish, right?

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He, he sees the sign.

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It's just not in the way I think he hoped to see a sign.

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So in 15, And it came to pass that when I, Jacob, had spoken these

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words, when he says, God's will will be done, The power of the Lord came

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upon him insomuch that he fell to the earth, and it came to pass that he was

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nourished for the space of many days.

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So there's this interesting probationary state, is maybe what I would call it,

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because you would think if Sherem is an antichrist and he's causing so much damage

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that the Lord would just yank out that plant, you know, that he would just kill

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him on the spot or something so that it would stop the spread of the disease in

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the other trees, but instead he stops him.

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It's almost like, you know, in the allegory of the olive tree, we saw

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those moments where the Lord would burn things and then the roots were

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still there and he would let them grow.

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Grow up again.

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That's kind of what I see in the Sherem story because he gives him this

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time to be nourished I don't know if that's just a physical nourishment that

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somebody's still taking care of him Maybe it's even Jacob taking care of him

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or if this is a spiritual nourishment where he's like an Alma the younger

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and he's getting Fed understanding while he's sort of out of commission.

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Either way to me There is so much mercy in this probationary time.

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There's a few days where Sherem is You Learning and being nourished and as soon

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as he wakes up, the first thing he wants to do is repent He knows he's running

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out of time and he wants to make things clear So he asked for the people to come

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around and then he speaks with clarity and simplicity of what he knew all along

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The spirit that he had quenched, you know, the prophets words that he had rejected

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the scriptures that he had denied He tries to make all of that clear and to me

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You I think the very fact that the Lord of the Vineyard allows him to do that.

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is kind.

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It's merciful.

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It, it doesn't mean his story ends well.

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The same way Jacob tried to teach us at the end of chapter six, that there

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will be a time when you're out of time and you, you can't fix things anymore.

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There will be a time when that fire is unquenchable, but

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Sherem is not quite there yet.

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And I think there's, peace in that I think it tells you something about the

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character of God and the character of his prophets that he chooses to hold off.

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This is President Eyring, who I feel like sounds a lot like Jacob in these words.

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He says, I have come to know something of what King Benjamin meant

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when he said that we could become like a little child before God.

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I have learned from many experiences that the Holy Ghost speaks most

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often in a quiet voice, heard most easily when one's heart is meek and

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submissive, like that of a child.

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In fact, the prayer that works is, I want only what you want.

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Just tell me what that is, and I'll do it.

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When the storms in life come, you can be steady because you are standing

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on the rock of faith in Jesus Christ.

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That faith will lead you to a daily repentance and

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consistent covenant keeping.

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Then you will always remember him, and through the storms

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of hatred and wickedness, you will feel steady and hopeful.

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I think the reason Jacob can be unshaken, remember in verse 5 he talks about

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how Sharon hoped to shake him from his testimony, and Jacob is like a rock.

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I can't be shaken is because he's lived a life like this.

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He's lived a life of being right next to the gardener and trusting in his will

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and following his guidance and knowing him deeply so that he cannot be shaken.

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And I think that's what he wants for us.

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I know that's what President Eyring wants for us, because that's what his,

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the rest of his talk is all about.

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He's like, I want you to experience what it's like to be unshaken.

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And it's possible.

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If you seek the help that prophets seek, if you turn to scriptures, if you listen

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to the guidance of prophets and apostles, and if you seek the confirmation of

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the Holy Ghost and then experiment on those words, you can be unshaken too.

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All right, you guys, time to get into the question part of this week's study.

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So this first one comes from the very beginning of the

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allegory, but you actually see it throughout all the allegory.

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I guess I'm constantly wrestling with this idea of omniscience and

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agency and how they work in tandem.

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Because what you're going to see throughout the allegory are these

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statements from the Lord of the Vineyard who says things like, I'm

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going to do all of this work, and sometimes the servants do work, so

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that perhaps something might grow.

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He'll say things like, that we might see, or that we may see something grow.

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And I'm curious why you think he talks like that.

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Why does the Lord speak in possibilities like that when he is omniscient?

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How do you wrestle that out?

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Okay, second question.

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This comes from Jacob 5 verse 18.

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This is when Jacob is teaching about the wild branches and the tame branches.

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One of the things I really love is when he talks about the wild branches,

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which generally represent those who have not yet made covenants with God.

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And they are inserted in or grafted into this main tree and that it thrives.

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What's amazing to me is not only does the branch, the wild branch

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thrive and start to produce good fruit, but also the tree itself.

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thrives from being grafted with this other branch.

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And I guess, I think, maybe because I'm a daughter of two converts, but I'm

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curious where you see this happening.

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Where you see those who come and are grafted into this beautiful covenant

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gospel being a blessing to them and a blessing to that tree as well.

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Where do you see strength coming to the tree and to the branches because

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they're constantly being grafted?

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people coming in and making covenants with God.

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Okay, next one.

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This comes from Jacob 5.

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This is around 30 and 31.

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This is during that apostasy period where it seems like all the trees are destroyed

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and it looks almost hopeless and they're trying to figure out what to do next.

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And I think it's really interesting how he talks about some of the trees are

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laden with fruit, but it's not good fruit.

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You would think that if there's an apostasy, it just means

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everything's withered away and dead.

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But I think there's a different kind of apostasy that is.

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It's full of fruit, but not good.

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You know, almost like we've used our energies for something

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that isn't productive in the way he hoped it to be productive.

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And I guess I'm curious about where you see this.

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How does this state of being busy and producing, but not actually producing

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in his way, lead to apostasy in us?

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Okay, fourth question, this comes from Jacob 7, this is verse 4.

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This is when Sherem, who has this perfect knowledge of the language, uses

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much flattery to persuade the people.

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And I'm just curious, this is something I've been studying lately, I heard a

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great talk from Sister Du about this, but I'm curious about how flattery works.

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Why do you think flattery is such a powerful tool in

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the hands of the adversary?

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Why does it work for us, and how do we combat it?

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Question number five.

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This is Jacob 6, verse 5.

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This is when Jacob is urging his people to repent, and he uses this great phrase.

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He says he wants them to cleave unto God as he cleaveth unto you.

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You can almost picture, like, Velcro hooking into each other.

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And I'm, my question for this is, do you see connections

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between cleaving and covenants?

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Haven't you heard in so many conference talks lately about the power of

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covenants and how you know, that chesed love that this Lord has for us.

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I'm curious how you think covenants and cleaving connect together.

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I think there's some really powerful ideas in there.

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I'm just still sorting them out.

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Before we head into the creative, I just want to leave you with one last thought.

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I didn't have time to make this a spark, but I do love how at the end of chapter

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7, you don't hear Jacob on this high.

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You don't, you, you don't hear him talking about how great his life

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was and how happy everything is.

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In fact, it almost sounds haunting.

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He talks about his struggle.

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So this is verse 26.

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And it came to pass that I, Jacob, began to be old, and the record of this people

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being kept on the other plates of Nephi.

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Wherefore I conclude this record, declaring that I have written according

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to the best of my knowledge, by saying that the time passed away with

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us, and also our lives passed away, like as it were unto us a dream.

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We being a lonesome and a solemn people, wanderers, cast out from

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Jerusalem, born in tribulation in wilderness, and hated of our brethren,

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which caused wars and contentions.

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Wherefore we did mourn out our days.

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I mean, that's a solemn departure in the text, but you have to remember,

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like, he's probably over a hundred years old and he's looking back on his life.

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In fact, he talks about wishing that he could have helped the Lamanites,

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that they made all these efforts to bring the Lamanites back to being

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united with them and to no avail.

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And it was really interesting to me to try and understand why he felt

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this way, and I don't have time to go into it deeply, but I think this isn't

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necessarily a lament about his life.

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I think Jacob knows his life has been good and his work has been good and

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that the Lord is pleased with him.

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I think he's confident about what he'll face at the judgment bar of God.

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But I do think he has some lingering wishes.

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I think he hopes that people will read his words.

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That even if his words that came from his mouth didn't do the impact

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among his people that he hoped they would, that his words that

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are etched into these plates will.

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I, to me, reading his Lament at the end kind of invigorated

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me to say, I'll take your words and I'll do something different.

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I think he's inviting us to take charge of our testimonies the

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same way President Nelson did.

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And my hope is that you can find that this week as you study these verses

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and you study what he painstakingly wrote down that you can find and grab

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hold of the hope that he has here.

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Even if his people didn't grab it, I think we should.

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