Prayer and Trees

Google Earth picture of the rough area for our land growing up, house had doubled in size since when we lived there

I lived for many of my childhood years in the country.  We had 10 acres of land in Richmond Utah that my siblings and I would run wild on.   We would build forts in the trees, go swimming in the canal behind our house.  We would take our BB guns and shoot everything that moved. The BB guns were so weak that the BBs would just bounce off the birds and the birds would just fly away.  I don't think we ever killed a bird with a BB gun.

Our House

 But it was not always fun and games, my dad loved trees and hard work.  It seemed that a week did not go by that we were not planting, transplanting, and watering trees.  Of course almost all of the land was on a dried creek bed, so it had tons and tons of rocks and gravel.   Water was scarce because our well did not produce that much water,  so we had to watch how much water we used to water the trees and used in the house or our well might run dry.  Because of these two issues we moved our garden down near the canal that ran in the back of our land.   This way we fill buckets of water to water the garden.  And there were not as many rocks.

It looked something like this.

This location had a lot of wild, non-useful trees and shrubs (which from Google Earth it looks like they have all grown back).  This meant that we had the pleasure of clearing all these trees and shrubs.  Most of it was relatively easy but there was one tree that was pretty big and was not easily moved.  My brothers said that we should just cut it down, but I wanted to dig it out because it was a nice tree and I thought we could transplant it to somewhere else.  Also if we were to cut it down we still had to deal with the stump and the roots which were in the way of the garden

Me and my Sister around 10 yrs old. 

I was little probably around 12 years old and the tree was big – by far the biggest tree that I have ever tried to dig out.  My brothers refused to help because they thought the tree was too big and that I was just wasting my time.  After a couple of hours working on digging it out, I realized that it was too much for me to do.  But I did not want to prove my brothers right so I had the idea that I would pray to have the tree moved.  I knew that God can move mountains so He can easily move this tree.  So I knelt down and start praying that the tree will be moved.  After praying for a little while, I step back expecting to see angels come down and magically move the tree.  But I soon realize that they were not going to come – at least not right then.  I decided that I should leave and that they would possibly come when I was not looking. Besides it was getting late,  so I went home for the rest of the day.

The next day I was disappointed to see that the tree was still there.   I started thinking: “God did not answer my prayer.” I had asked nicely I thought.  I was disappointed but I never did doubt that God could not move the tree.  Then the next Saturday my dad asked if I wanted help moving it.  Of course I said yes and we spent the next few hours digging out the tree.  I had a very nice time spending some one-on-one with my dad.  We talked the entire time and I really enjoyed it immensely. 

A little while later I realized that Heavenly Father had answered my prayer.  I had asked for the tree to be moved and it was moved.  He did not need to send angels down to do it.  He just sent my dad.  I might have enjoyed seeing angels come down and moving it but to be honest, I enjoyed spending the time with my dad more.  Also I had the satisfaction of moving the tree myself (with a lot of my dad's help) vice just watching it magically disappear.

My family around the time when I was 12 yrs old.  (I am the ugly boy with glasses on the right)

I know that Heavenly Father listens and answers ALL prayers.  It just might not be in the time or how we expect them to be answered but He will answer them.  I also know that He answers them in the best way for us – His children.  He loves us more that we possibly can imagine and He is standing by to bless us and help us in every way that He can.

Called to Work in His Vineyard

My son, like all five year olds, has a short attention span.  If I ask him to clean up his toys, he will start and put a few away until he gets distracted and start playing with some or doing something else.  Pretty much every five minutes I will have to remind him to put away his toys.  To be honest it would be a lot easier to put them away myself but then he will not learn the valuable lesson about cleaning up after himself.  Dinner is the same way,  I will have to keep reminding him to “eat your food”.  It has actually started to become a joke at the dinner table because of the number of times I have to remind him to keep eating.

But I have realized that he is not the only one with a short attention span. I was listening to a talk by ELDER JEFFREY R. HOLLAND from the April 2012 General Conference entitled: The Laborers in the Vineyard  He starts out by saying:

I wish to speak of the Savior’s parable in which a householder “went out early in the morning to hire labourers.” After employing the first group at 6:00 in the morning, he returned at 9:00 a.m., at 12:00 noon, and at 3:00 in the afternoon, hiring more workers as the urgency of the harvest increased. The scripture says he came back a final time, “about the eleventh hour” (approximately 5:00 p.m.), and hired a concluding number. Then just an hour later, all the workers gathered to receive their day’s wage. Surprisingly, all received the same wage in spite of the different hours of labor. Immediately, those hired first were angry, saying, “These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day.”1 When reading this parable, perhaps you, as well as those workers, have felt there was an injustice being done here. Let me speak briefly to that concern.First of all it is important to note that no one has been treated unfairly here. The first workers agreed to the full wage of the day, and they received it. Furthermore, they were, I can only imagine, very grateful to get the work. In the time of the Savior, an average man and his family could not do much more than live on what they made that day. If you didn’t work or farm or fish or sell, you likely didn’t eat. With more prospective workers than jobs, these first men chosen were the most fortunate in the entire labor pool that morning.Indeed, if there is any sympathy to be generated, it should at least initially be for the men not chosen who also had mouths to feed and backs to clothe. Luck never seemed to be with some of them. With each visit of the steward throughout the day, they always saw someone else chosen.But just at day’s close, the householder returns a surprising fifth time with a remarkable eleventh-hour offer! These last and most discouraged of laborers, hearing only that they will be treated fairly, accept work without even knowing the wage, knowing that anything will be better than nothing, which is what they have had so far. Then as they gather for their payment, they are stunned to receive the same as all the others! How awestruck they must have been and how very, very grateful! Surely never had such compassion been seen in all their working days.It is with that reading of the story that I feel the grumbling of the first laborers must be seen. As the householder in the parable tells them (and I paraphrase only slightly): “My friends, I am not being unfair to you. You agreed on the wage for the day, a good wage. You were very happy to get the work, and I am very happy with the way you served. You are paid in full. Take your pay and enjoy the blessing. As for the others, surely I am free to do what I like with my own money.”

I have heard this parable many of times before but this time it has taken a special meaning.  I realized that some of the laborers that the Savior call each hour were the SAME people.  They were called to the work and then after a while got distracted and started to do other things.  I realized that I was one of these Laborers.  The Lord has been very very patient with me.  He has called me again and again and will keep calling me back to the work.  I just need to listen and follow Him.

Just like my five year old son, I am doing the best I can right now--even if I do get distracted sometimes and I am still making a lot of mistakes. Just like my son I have a loving Father who cares enough for me to let me do the work so that I can grow and develop and become more like my Father.