"For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater" (Isaiah 55:10).

Some days, when it rains, mud appears. It happens. Mud gets on my boots, my clothes, and then my floor and I don't even know it. So, I have to clean. But there are benefits to mud and rain. As I walked home the other day, there were tiny buds poking their heads out of the ground, through the mud, indicating that spring is about to come. Hallelujah! I need spring. Spring means flowers, warmer weather, and more sunshine. It also means rebirth. I love seeing these buds coming out of the ground after their rest all winter long. As I have pondered this, I think it is a perfect metaphor for life. We all have cycles of good days, bad days, periods of rest and rejuvenation, also rebirth and growth. There is no getting around it, it's part of life to have to go through the "winter" of life in order to enjoy the "spring" of life.

The prophet Isaiah said, "For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater" (Isaiah 55:10). Every stage of life is a process and has to be done in order. Gratefully, rain and mud and dung help in this process. Dung is the "fertilizer" that gives us the strength and wisdom to learn and know the difference between right and wrong, truth and error. And we get to do this! We don't have to do it. All the steps are important so that we can the bread that comes from the process, "eat the good of the land of Zion in these last days" (D&C 64:34)

The Savior said, as He has taken care of His vineyard, (the vineyard being symbolic of His people): "Have I slackened mine hand, that I have not nourished it? Nay, I have nourished it, and I have digged about it, and I have pruned it, and I have dunged it; and I have stretched forth mine hand almost all the day long, and the end draweth nigh" (Jacob 5:47). He cares for and nourishes us, even fertilizing us with dung. Sometimes, the "dung" in our lives is awful, smelly, terrible and very difficult to deal with. Dung isn't something we want to lay around in, but there is always a purpose. Dung as a fertilizer makes us stronger, healthier, and more vibrant. Without fertilizer, eventually plants don't get the nourishment they need and aren't strong enough to withstand the trials and challenges that come their way. Too much dung can also have the same effect and make us weak. We don't need to go around looking for dung to walk in and bring it into our homes, adding an extra burden to our already overloaded garden of life. But sometimes we step in it and we have to clean it up. Dung is part of life...we can choose to wallow in it or clean it up and throw it out where it belongs.

Rest is definitely needed, probably even more than we get in our fast paced, busy lives. In the vineyard, there is a time to rest. Spring reminds me that rest is a good thing. It's funny that winter isn't the reminder of that, but spring is. As these tiny buds are poking their heads out of the ground they are waking up from a long winters rest. We are all seeking to "enter into His rest while in the wilderness, which rest is the fulness of His glory" (D&C 84:24). When we are in the "rest of the Lord" the prophet Joseph F. Smith taught:

 “The ancient prophets speak of ‘entering into God’s rest’; what does it mean? To my mind, it means entering into the knowledge and love of God, having faith in his purpose and in his plan, to such an extent that we know we are right, and that we are not hunting for something else, we are not disturbed by every wind of doctrine, or by the cunning and craftiness of men who lie in wait to deceive. … The man who has reached that degree of faith in God that all doubt and fear have been cast from him, he has entered into ‘God’s rest,’ … rest from doubt, from fear, from apprehension of danger, rest from the religious turmoil of the world” (Gospel Doctrine, 58; see also Matthew 11:28–30)" (New Testament Teacher Resource Manual, (2002), 223–25).

Just as the tiny buds need the "snow from heaven" to water them and they in turn give us beauty and joy, our lives too need water, "that [we] might have joy" (2 Nephi 2:25). Christ said, "But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life" (John 4:14). As we "drink" of His water, it will fill us up, bringing forth "the fruit of the Spirit...love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith" (Galatians 5:22). Who doesn't need more of that kind of fruit in their lives these days? I know I sure do. This spring we can drink of His water through small acts of kindness, feeling His love spread as the buds of love push their way through the mud and make a wonderful garden in our lives. Gratefully, we have a new day, every day to keep trying, to work in our "garden of life" and keep "pressing forward with a steadfastness in Christ" (see 2 Nephi 31:20), planting seeds of faith (see Alma 33:1) and try again.

I love spring. I love the signs of new life, of hope, of rebirth popping out of the ground all around us at this time of year. Every day is a new day, for all things "are the typifying of [Christ]" (2 Nephi 11:4). Christ lives! And we can too can live with renewed faith in Him, every day, a little at a time, just as the tiny buds push their way up through the mud and grow into a beautiful garden. Gratefully we only have to do it one day at a time. This I testify is His way, "by small and simple things are great things brought to pass" (Alma  37:6).

"I have nourished it, and I have digged about it, and I have pruned it, and I have dunged it..." (Jacob 5:47)

We have an apple tree in the back yard that has been pruned a lot over the years in various manners. In taking care of this tree I have learned that when I prune it, it will grow more where it has been cut. I find that very interesting. In order for new growth, I must cut away some of the tree. If I want the part of the tree to grow that seems to be smaller to get larger, I must cut it back a bit in order to help it grow.

This is what Christ does with us. He has done this with all the generations of time, He will "prune it, and dig about it, and nourish it, that perhaps it may shoot forth young and tender branches, and it perish not" (Jacob 5:4). When He "prunes" us to help us grow by having us go through afflictions, trials, and challenges, we sometimes don't like it at all because it isn't easy and it definitely hurts. Being "pruned" hurts us because we think we are growing just beautifully and want to stay in the same shape we are in. If it were that simple, none of us would ever need to exercise or worry about eating correctly again. But it takes some real "pruning" to change some of the behavior that we have grown accustomed to doing.

Notice that the Lord also tells His servants to "nourish" the trees (nourish or nourished is found 22 times in Jacob 5). The Lord does nourish us and strengthen us, but sometimes we refuse to accept the nourishment He is offering. It is just like my son who refuses to eat what I have made for dinner even though he has eaten it numerous times in the past, because he just discovered that I have been putting mushrooms in the dinner all this time, and he supposedly hates mushrooms. Don't we do this, at times, to the Lord? He offers us nourishment, but because it isn't convenient, or in a form we like, or is something new, we refuse to even read, or listen, or try what is offered because it isn't to our "taste". It takes real faith to open our hearts and minds to accept that God knows more than we do (see Mosiah 4:9), that truth doesn't change, neither does God, for He is a God of miracles (see Mormon 9:9-11). It takes real faith to be humble enough to follow a prophet who speaks out and tells us to "ever be courageous and prepared to stand for what we believe" (Pres. Thomas S. Monson) especially in a world where wrong is right and right is wrong.

The Lord will "dig about [us] and dung [us]" (see Jacob 5:76). He will make sure we are properly cared for through His servants the prophets. We have been promised "...the President of the Church will not lead the people of the Church astray. It will never happen" (James E. Faust). Yes, dung can be fertilizer, but I also believe that in life, sometimes, dung just happens. Everyone has it in their lives, some more than others. I can tell you right now, the grass is greenest where you are standing. Just open your eye, your spiritual eyes (see 2 Nephi 16:10), and you will see just how much you have been blessed. It is awful when we compare ourselves to others because we are comparing our worst to others best, or sometimes our strengths to others weaknesses. We don't see the whole picture when we are doing the comparing. That isn't our job to makes such judgements, that is called "incorrect judgement". It will and does make you unhappy, ungrateful, and only see the "dung" in your life rather than the incredible gift that fertilizer brings, growth!

You know, when the tree is pruned, digged about, pruned and then dunged, the fruit comes. "By their fruits ye shall know them (Matthew 7:20). What fruit do I want to produce? Do I want good fruit? Let your roots soak up the nourishment that Christ has given us in the "good word of God" (Hebrews 6:5), produce "good fruit" (Matthew 7:17) and trust that when you are being "pruned" the Lord, the Master Gardner, knows exactly what He's doing and that you are being shaped into the most beautiful tree you could ever imagine. You are in His care. Christ is the Master Gardner and knows exactly what He is doing. Even when we have a lot of "fertilizer" in our lives. This I testify.