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Servants in the Vineyard
by Autumn Dickson
There are a ton of resources out there regarding the Allegory of the Olive Tree found in Jacob 5. You can find information about olive trees and why they’re such a fantastic symbol. You can find timelines for the gathering and scattering of Israel that very closely follow the timeline of the gathering and scattering of branches throughout the vineyard. There is so much out there given by extremely qualified people who have researched horticulture and religious history.
I am not one of those people, but maybe I can be helpful in a different way. If you get nothing else out of the Allegory of the Olive Tree, get this: the Lord is currently performing His last work among His people. He has spent a lot of time gathering and scattering His people, and this is the last time He is going to gather them before He comes again. We were always meant to be a part of gathering those people.
Jacob 5:70 And it came to pass that the Lord of the vineyard sent his servant; and the servant went and did as the Lord had commanded him, and brought other servants; and they were few.
There are so many reasons that we were meant to be a part of the gathering. However, actually jumping in and being a part of it can feel tricky. So let’s talk about some really basic ways to participate in gathering the House of Israel since President Nelson taught that it is the most important work occurring on the earth today. While we talk about it, consider following the action suggested in the Come Follow Me manual and make a list of ways that you feel like the Lord wants you to help with.
President Nelson is quoted in the manual as saying, “Anytime you do anything that helps anyone—on either side of the veil—take a step toward making covenants with God and receiving their essential baptismal and temple ordinances, you are helping to gather Israel. It is as simple as that.” That leaves the door wide open for options on how to help. Anytime you do anything that helps people take a step towards making covenants, you’re doing your job.
It starts with you
We’ve heard it a million times, but it starts with you. And I’m not talking about just learning the doctrine so you can answer questions. Learning the doctrine is fantastic; I highly recommend it. Unfortunately, the doctrine does nothing if it’s not sinking into our hearts. The fact that the Lord sacrificed Himself so that you could experience salvation doesn’t mean nearly as much when you’re not experiencing salvation. Let me describe what I mean. Here is how it looks when the doctrine of Christ has sunk into your heart:
You turn to Him like the Parent that He is. When you run into obstacles or unknowns, you turn to Him. You’re grateful for His advice and reassurances, and you’re also excited when He encourages you to make the decision for yourself. You know that He can support you in every step as He coaches you through building a life for yourself.
When darkness comes, you know your happy ending is safe with him. Let’s say there is a homeless person living on the street. They know that in three days time, they are going to be given a mansion with all of their needs provided for the rest of their lives. Those three days might be brutal. They might be hungry, scared, cold or hot, but the experience feels different when they know what’s coming in just a short time.
When you fail, it’s still easy to turn to Him. Even when you’re failing repeatedly, have some kind of addiction you’re trying to overcome, or have some major character flaw that likes to jump out at you repeatedly, you see it for what it is: opportunities to grow. Remember. Your happy ending is safe with Him. You cannot fail if you’re trying. He will never not invite you back. The fact that “it” happened again doesn’t matter nearly so much as the fact that you keep coming back. That’s what really counts at the end; did you keep coming back?
When you live your life with the truth in your heart, you feel hope and it touches every part of your life. The good times are sweeter; the bad times are worth it. People have much more intuition than we tend to give ourselves credit for. People will sense your hope and desire it for themselves. This doesn’t mean hiding the bad and the difficult; people can also sense insincerity. What it truly means is placing all the bad and difficult in the context of eternity. You were meant to experience difficulty in all of its extremes, but you know what it’s about. And as people go through their own difficulties, they will want to feel as you do.
When I say that gathering the House of Israel begins with you, I mean that the hope of the gospel begins in you and other people see it and desire it. Move beyond the doctrine, and let it change your heart.
Giving love
Perhaps this seems like a copout for missionary work, but after seeing what I’ve seen in the world, I’m convinced there are few things more powerful than loving like He would. We always think missionary work is inviting to church, and it absolutely is. But conversion is more than coming to church which means that missionary work extends beyond invitations to church.
The times when I have felt most converted have been the times that I have felt most loved by my Father in Heaven. If you can teach them what it is to feel love and be accepted and encouraged, you are opening the path for them to experience it from their Heavenly Father. Many of us only begin to comprehend His love when we have felt some measure of love from another person.
Think about all the people in your life who are faithful members of the church with healthy families; think about how many of them have a difficult time feeling the love of their Heavenly Father. Then think about how much harder it would be to find His love when you’re from a broken family and have never been taught about the idea that someone could love you so powerfully. If you can teach them about love, they will be so much closer to believing that a Father in Heaven could love them. They will be so much closer to feeling motivated to live a powerful life, to feeling capable of living a powerful life. Honestly, in my very unqualified opinion, I believe that’s half the battle. Feeling loved is the primary feeling of salvation.
Give the rest to Him
It is the Lord’s vineyard, and it is His work. Which means that He’s going to take care of it.
A couple years ago when we were still in Virginia, we had a very special event occurring in our area, and we were all asked to invite someone to come. I had been so excited to move to Virginia so that I could be around missionaries more often and share the gospel more easily. I was pumped and ready to have the Lord send me anyone who was ready. I wanted to actively and consciously seek opportunities to do missionary work.
I failed miserably. I invited a few people to this special event, and it never worked out. I tried so hard to coordinate schedules and pray and find someone. I tried starting conversations with strangers when I took my kids out to play. No one. I could find no one who could go. I finally gave up and let it go.
A couple of days later, I was sitting with friends at a city event. One of them brought up this special church event that I had been trying so hard to invite someone to. They had heard about it and wanted to go and asked me to take them. I suddenly found myself surrounded by four women and their kids who all wanted to go. We scheduled a time right there, and I got to go with them.
The Lord very distinctly taught me to stop trying to make it my work. If anything was going to be happening, it was not going to be because of me. It was going to be the Lord. I felt very distinctly that He had waited until I let go before He stepped in. I needed to learn that it wasn’t about me or my skills or knowledge.
And though this was on the eager end of the spectrum, the principle remains true on the other side of the spectrum. If you’re scared or nervous or feeling inadequate, it’s not about you nor is it your work. You’re not trying to sell yourself. Heavenly Father is planning on doing His work.
So how do we actually step aside and let Him do His work? Like all great things in the church, it’s more about adopting a specific type of heart than it is about any specific action. I have found that the most effective way to change my heart is to pray about it in the way that prayer was meant to be utilized. The entire purpose of prayer is to change our will to His, and it makes complete sense. Having a conversation with Someone who is all-loving and omnipotent tends to have that effect on you. It becomes easier to adopt their way of thinking.
Talk to your Heavenly Father. If you make no other goal for gathering the House of Israel, make it a goal to speak to Him regularly about it. There are a couple of things you can include in those prayers that will make it more powerful than simply praying for a missionary opportunity. If you just add in, “Help us find missionary opportunities,” into your prayers very often, you’re not going to feel very changed by it. It is not likely that you’ll be able to adopt that attitude that allows for the Lord to utilize you as effectively. So how do we make our prayers more effective so that we can become more effective?
Acknowledge how you really feel about missionary work. Heavenly Father doesn’t mind if it scares you so be honest with Him. In fact, when you approach Him with where you’re at, He’s given an opportunity to talk you through it. When Moses told the Lord that he was slow of speech, the Lord was like, “Who made man’s mouth?” I don’t believe He was trying to be sarcastic with Moses’ I believe He was trying to assure Moses that He could help Moses do whatever He needed to do, and it obviously worked. Moses listened and went on to change the world. If you tell Him where you’re at, He will respond with what you need to hear. I know this is true. I remember telling Him that there was no way I could start a blog about religious things; I wasn’t a seminary or institute teacher. I liked the scriptures, but I wasn’t any kind of scriptorian. I told Him that I felt ridiculous trying to teach others about the scriptures. I told Him exactly where I was at. He told me that if He could work through Joseph Smith with no education, He could work with me. So be honest with Him and give Him an opportunity to respond to how you’re really feeling. He makes good arguments.
Another way to change yourself while praying to Him is to acknowledge what you know about Him. You can say things like, “I know that You know who is ready. I know that You know how to bring those people into my life. I know that You can soften hearts and send the Spirit so that people don’t hate me if I try to invite them to do something religious.” Acknowledge all of the fears and inadequacies you have regarding missionary work, and then acknowledge specific ways that He can work with you despite your fears. After repeating this process somewhat regularly, you’re going to feel different about it. You’re going to believe that He can work with you and you’re going to be willing to work with Him. It is this attitude that enables the Lord to send His children your way.
I know that Heavenly Father wants us to participate in this work because He wants all of His children to feel close to Him, including those performing the work. I know that this work of gathering can change your life because it’s changed my life. I know that He can work with any of us, exactly where we’re at if we are able to adopt a willingness to help. I know that we have reason to have faith in Him and His ability to make us so much more than we are.
Autumn Dickson was born and raised in a small town in Texas. She served a mission in the Indianapolis Indiana mission. She studied elementary education but has found a particular passion in teaching the gospel. Her desire for her content is to inspire people to feel confident, peaceful, and joyful about their relationship with Jesus Christ and to allow that relationship to touch every aspect of their lives.
