I loved these beautiful, simple words and illustration in the Friend.
Before Heavenly Father sent us to earth, He chose Jesus Christ to be our leader and Savior. You chose to follow Jesus Christ before you were born.
When Jesus came to earth, He taught the gospel and set up His Church. He kept His promise to be our Savior. He suffered and died and was resurrected so that we could be resurrected and live again with Heavenly Father and our families.
The scriptures teach us of the many blessings made possible by Jesus Christ. Do you remember the story of Lehi’s dream? Lehi saw a tree. The tree represents the love of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.
On the tree was fruit that would make people happy. Lehi tasted the fruit, and it filled him with great joy. Lehi wanted his whole family to taste the fruit. (See 1 Nephi 8:10–12.)
The fruit of the tree represents the blessings we receive because of Jesus Christ and His Atonement. We taste of the fruit when we trust in Jesus Christ, when we are baptized and receive the Holy Ghost, and when we live the gospel and feel our Savior’s love.
What I love about this concept of the tree is its’ ordinariness and easy accessibility. This is like any of the fruit trees scattered through the yard and neighborhoods of my youth. You can reach right up and pluck a fruit off it; and this tree will produce enough for everyone. The real thing may well be like that; in any case, there’s truth in the idea.