Eighteen months ago, I was called to serve as a leader in the Young Women's organization at church. With this calling, I was also put in charge of Personal Progress. In the program, the leaders are encouraged to work on Personal Progress along with the girls. So, I chose to grow and maintain a vegetable garden over the summer to fulfill one of the projects. I learned more than I expected.
Part of the garden included a plan for a small pumpkin patch and I frequently checked on the progress of the plants. For two weeks, I watched the progress of the pumpkin plants with pride and anticipation for how great the pumpkins would be.
Then, one day I went out and noticed that one of the pumpkin plants had been chopped off. At least that's what I thought had happened. The second pumpkin plant looked slightly tattered and the leaves seemed to be torn. I was really confused and thought maybe it wasn't getting enough water. So, I made sure to leave the water on longer to give it a boost.
I went out the next day to check on the surviving plant and found it to had been chopped to the ground, too. At this point, I realized something wasn't right and began to look around the garden for signs of what had happened. That's when I came across several snails hiding in the flower bed next to the vegetable garden. That's when I realized, the pumpkin plants hadn't been cut and vandalized by some cruel neighbor. No, they had been eaten by the nasty snails in the garden. I was both furious and sad. My beautiful pumpkin plants were gone!
Once the cause of the problem was discovered, I left for the hardware store, purchased several bags of poison to take care of the snails, and also bought new pumpkin plants to replace the devoured patch. From that day on, I had a vendetta against slugs and snails and went through several bags of poison. Luckily, my abrasive actions and unwillingness to surrender allowed us to have the pumpkins we hoped for.
This turned into a great metaphor for me and I now understand why growing a garden is one of the suggested activities to learn more about faith. When I started the project, I thought the goal was to have faith that a seed would produce fruit or vegetables and that faith and a garden had to be constantly cared for. It turns out that the lesson I learned was deeper than I expected. Yes, faith must be cared for, just like a garden must be watered and weeded. The pumpkin plants represented the faith each of us have. Faith has potential to grow into something great, but we must be diligent. I was not diligent in protecting new pumpkin plants from snails that saw the plant as dinner. Worldly influences can be like the snails and slowly devour our faith if we don't protect ourselves and do the gospel basics to keep us strong like praying, reading the scriptures, and going to church.
If for some reason our faith is attacked and diminished, the Lord allows us to repent and start over. Just like I had to replant the pumpkins and continue to lay snail bait the rest of the summer, we also have the opportunity to make things right, adjust our course, and put up protective barriers to help us stay strong. It may take work and it may not always be easy, but the reward at the end is irreplaceable and so incredibly worth it!
Then, one day I went out and noticed that one of the pumpkin plants had been chopped off. At least that's what I thought had happened. The second pumpkin plant looked slightly tattered and the leaves seemed to be torn. I was really confused and thought maybe it wasn't getting enough water. So, I made sure to leave the water on longer to give it a boost.
Once the cause of the problem was discovered, I left for the hardware store, purchased several bags of poison to take care of the snails, and also bought new pumpkin plants to replace the devoured patch. From that day on, I had a vendetta against slugs and snails and went through several bags of poison. Luckily, my abrasive actions and unwillingness to surrender allowed us to have the pumpkins we hoped for.
This turned into a great metaphor for me and I now understand why growing a garden is one of the suggested activities to learn more about faith. When I started the project, I thought the goal was to have faith that a seed would produce fruit or vegetables and that faith and a garden had to be constantly cared for. It turns out that the lesson I learned was deeper than I expected. Yes, faith must be cared for, just like a garden must be watered and weeded. The pumpkin plants represented the faith each of us have. Faith has potential to grow into something great, but we must be diligent. I was not diligent in protecting new pumpkin plants from snails that saw the plant as dinner. Worldly influences can be like the snails and slowly devour our faith if we don't protect ourselves and do the gospel basics to keep us strong like praying, reading the scriptures, and going to church.
