Two different speakers during the Sunday morning session of the April 2016 General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints referred to Lehi's dream, which is recorded in 1 Nephi 8 in the Book of Mormon.
In his dream, Lehi followed a man dressed in a white robe through a dark and dreary waste. "And after I had traveled for the space of many hours in darkness, I began to pray unto the Lord that he would have mercy on me, according to the multitude of his tender mercies." After he finished praying he saw a large an spacious field, and it that field there was a tree "whose fruit was desirable to make one happy."
Lehi went and partook of the fruit, "and I beheld that it was most sweet, above all that I ever before tasted. Yea, and I beheld that the fruit thereof was white, to exceed all the whiteness that I had ever seen." As he partook of the fruit, Lehi was filled with so much joy he desired that his family should also partake of it.
He looked around him and saw a river of water which passed near the tree, then he saw his wife and his sons Nephi and Sam. He beckoned to them, and they came and partook of the fruit. Then he saw his two older sons, Laman and Lemuel and beckoned to them, but they did not come unto the tree and partake.
"And I beheld a rod of iron, and it extended along the bank of the river, and led to the tree by which I stood. And I also beheld a strait and narrow patch, which came along by the rod of iron, even to the tree by which I stood, and it also led by the head of the fountain, unto a large and spacious field, as if it had been a world."
In his dream, Lehi saw "numberless concourses of people" following the path to the tree only to wander off and lose their way when a mist of darkness arose. A second group of people was more fortunate because of the rod of iron next to the path, which the people did cling to as they pressed forward through the darkness. These people were able to reach the tree and partake of the fruit, but then things went wrong for them; "they did cast their eyes about as if they were ashamed." Why did they do this?
In his dream, Lehi saw a "great and spacious building" in which there were people who "were in the attitude of mocking and pointing their fingers towards those who had come . . . and were partaking of the fruit." The people of the second group then "fell away into forbidden paths and were lost." They had partaken of the fruit, "which was most desirable of all other fruit", yet they were unable, or unwilling, to "endure to the end."
Lehi then saw a third group which not only reached the tree successfully, but which also did not fall away after partaking of the fruit. These people had pressed "forward, continually holding fast to the rod of iron, until they came forth and fell down and partook of the fruit of the tree." Elder Kevin S. Hamilton of the Seventy said in the October 2013 General Conference that "The rod of iron represented for this group of people the only safety and security that they could find, and they held fast continually; they refused to let go, even for something as simple as a Sunday afternoon ride in the country."
Elder Hamilton then quoted Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve in regard to this third group: "The key phrase in this verse is 'continually holding fast' to the rod of iron. . . . Perhaps this third group of people consistently read and studied and searched the words of Christ. . . . This is the group you and I should strive to join."
In the April 2016 General Conference, Bishop W. Christopher Waddell, the second counselor in the Presiding Bishopric, noted two statements about the different groups that had reached the tree. The second group reached the tree, partook of the fruit, but then cast their eyes about in shame. Lehi said that "after they had tasted of the fruit they were ashamed because of those that were scoffing at them; and they fell away into forbidden paths and were lost."
The third group had continued to partake of the fruit. The great multitude which had entered the great and spacious building "did point the finger of scorn at me and those that were partaking of the fruit also; but we heeded them not."
The second group "had tasted," but the third group "were partaking." At one point those of the second group had stopped partaking. Because they had stopped partaking of the fruit, they were vulnerable in way that those who were continuing to partake were not.
After Lehi had finished telling his family about this dream, Nephi desired to know more about what his father had seen. With faith that the Lord would give him the answers he sought, he sat pondering in his heart. "I was caught away in the Spirit of the Lord, yea, into an exceedingly high mountain. . . . And the Spirit said unto me: Behold, what desirest thou? And I said: I desire to behold the things which my father saw."
In the vision that followed, the Spirit showed unto Nephi the tree and the rod of iron and many other things. Nephi desired to know the interpretation of the these things. The iron rod "was the word of God, which led to the fountain of living waters, or to the tree of life." The tree "is the love of God, which sheddeth itself abroad in the hearts of the children of men: wherefore, it is the most desirable above all things. . . . Yea, and the most joyous to the soul"
As Elder Bednar suggested, "Perhaps this third group of people consistently read and studied and searched the words of Christ." They also continued to partake of the love of God. They never stopped, they never let go of that which is the most joyous to the soul.
How do we partake of the love of God? In his October 1999 General Conference address, Elder Neal A Maxwell said: "The tree of life . . . is the love of God. The love of God for his children is most profoundly expressed in His gift of Jesus as our Redeemer. 'God so loved the world that he give his only begotten Son.' To partake of the love of God is to partake of Jesus' Atonement and the emancipations and joys it can bring."
How to we partake of the Atonement? Through prayer, faith, repentance, baptism and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost -- and by remaining worthy of the Spirit's continued companionship by enduring to the end in righteousness. We also partake by seeking to know the will of the Lord and then doing it.
As we consistently read, study and search, we should also consistently pray and listen. When things get difficult, we need to continue reading, studying, searching, praying and listening. We should never stop.
We should continue to cast our burdens before the Lord, and we should never forget that he is guiding us and helping us. "Know ye not that ye are in the hands of God? Know ye not that he hath all power?" (Mormon 5:23). Adversity and the passage of time can weaken our faith, but we must resist these forces. We must maintain our forward momentum.
Those brief respites from adversity, those seasons of joy, can also bring complacency, and this may be an even greater danger. Having once tasted of the love of God, we cannot afford to become complacent, or to believe that, having been "saved" that our future is secure. We must consistently press forward in faith and never stop partaking of the love of God.
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