I was reading tonight in chapter 13 of Alma and I was focusing on the office of high priest. It talks about some of the charachteristics of high priest. One of the things that is mentioned in Repentance.

Poor Spot of Land

Jacob 5 recounts the allegory of the Tame and Wild Olive Tree. In the allegory the Lord of the Vineyard takes some of the branches from the Tame Olive Tree and grafts them in to a tree in the nethermost parts of the Vineyard. When they went back the Lord noted that the tree had produced natural fruit. The servant of the vineyard questioned the Lord in verse 21, "How comest thou hither to plant this tree, or this branch of the tree? For behold, it was the poorest spot in all the land of thy vineyard." In verse 22 the Lord answers "Counsel me not; I knew that it was a poor spot of ground; wherefore, I said unto thee, I have nourished it this long time, and thou beholdest that it hath brought forth much fruit." This stood out to me tonight. The Lord can take anything and turn it into what he needs it to be. There is obviously some time involved. He had to nourish the ground for a long time before he saw the results from his labors but he did see the results. I think this is also true in many ways in our own lives. I am amazed at what the Lord can do with some people. I have seen some of the most unlikely people rise up in his service and become extraordinary servants. Usually we only see the tree after it has been "nourished ... this long time." We don't see the condition of the ground before. I know in my life he has spent significant time nourishing me. Last week I was sustained as the Second Counselor in the Bishopric. I am sure more than a few people saw me get called and then said like the servant "him?" I know that the Lord can do all things. If I will only let him, he can take me, this poor plot of lands and turn me into a thriving vineyard.

Listen

I  had a good experience yesterday with my oldest son. On the way home from church him and his little brother were playing on the backseat of the van. As we pulled into our garage we heard a scream from the back seat emminating from our second son. Then he rather loudly accused the oldest of choking him. immediately I was pretty upset at my oldest oldest son. Why would he think it was ok to hurt his brother like that? When we got inside I sent him to his room and told him he was not allowed to come out until dinner. Being that it was after church and we hadn't eaten lunch yet I made him a sandwich and took it in to him.  In the few minutes between sending him to his room and going in to see him I was thinking about the best way to discuss what had happened with him. I wanted this to be a learning experience. At least this could be a teaching moment if nothing else. The thought came to me to ask him to tell me what happened and to hear what he had to say. At first he wasn't sure what to tell me. I could tell he was  telling me what he thought I wanted to hear. I got a lot of pretty standard answers like "be nice" and "don't choke my brother". I really had to work to get hom to open up to me. Eventually he could see that I wanted him to tell me what really happened so he told me that he was playing and was trying to tickle him on his neck. He thought it would be fun and we do it to him all the time. What really happened was his brother had overreacted and I hadn't taken the time to figure out what the real problem was. After I realized what was going on I let him leave the room and join the family for lunch. Imagine the amount of trust I would have destroyed in my son if I hadn't taken the time to understand the issue. I would have sent him to his room for no legitimate reason, and in essence told him, I don't care what the truth is I only care about what I think the truth us. I am glad I did listen, but then I also know that there are times when I don't take the proper time to understand what the problem is. I shudder to think of the unintended consequences of no listening to my boys, and flying off the handle. I am grateful for the inspiration to take the time to here what he. In reality it turned out to be a great experience.