Elder Gary E. Stevenson

The Message

Elder Stevenson compared gospel truths to the delicious fruit in Lehi’s vision of the tree of life. We can learn about fruit, look at it, and imagine what it tastes like—but we don’t really know its sweetness until we taste it.

Gospel truths work much the same way. They become sweet to us as we live them. Elder Stevenson highlighted three especially precious truths: we are children of a loving Heavenly Father, God’s plan of happiness centers on Jesus Christ, and the gift of the Holy Ghost can guide, comfort, warn, and testify to us.

He invited us to love, share, and invite so others can experience the joy we have found.

Start the Conversation

Read the summary of the message and the Try This at Home ideas with your family. Then say: “Let’s choose one gospel truth to actually try this week and see what happens when we live it.”

Try This at Home

Taste the Fruit
Choose one gospel principle you’ve heard about many times—prayer, gratitude, forgiveness, service, scripture study, kindness, Sabbath worship, or something else. Instead of just talking about it, deliberately live it this week and notice what happens.

Remember Who You Are
Elder Stevenson taught that being a child of Heavenly Father is our most important identity. When someone in the family has a difficult moment, remind each other: “You are a child of God, and He knows you.” Notice whether remembering that changes anything.

Try the Plan of Happiness on a Hard Day
When something goes wrong, ask: “What does the gospel give me reason to hope for right now?” The problem doesn’t have to disappear for hope to enter the picture.

Listen for the Whisper
During prayer, scripture reading, church, or a quiet moment, pay attention to a peaceful thought, warning, prompting, or reassurance. Don’t force an experience. Simply make enough quiet to notice.

Love, Share, Invite
Elder Stevenson gave these three simple words. Choose just one:
Love someone deliberately.
Share something good you’ve experienced.
Invite someone to join you in something meaningful.

Find It in the Scriptures
Read 1 Nephi 8:10–12. Notice what Lehi did after tasting the fruit and experiencing its joy. Ask: Why do we naturally want to share something once we’ve discovered for ourselves that it is good?

Choose Your Own
Choose another gospel truth your family would like to “taste” by actually living it this week.

Try It Before You Judge It

Choose one gospel principle and treat it as a small experiment. Don’t begin with: “Will this really make me happier?” Begin with: “I’ll try living this more deliberately and see what I notice.” You aren’t trying to prove anything or manufacture a particular result. Then pay attention:

Did anything change in the way you felt?
The way you treated someone?
The way you handled a problem?
Your sense of peace, hope, gratitude, or closeness to God?

Experience it first. Then notice what the experience teaches you.

Check Back In

At the end of the week, talk as a family about what you noticed. What gospel truth did you decide to “taste”? What happened when you actually lived it? Was anything different from what you expected? Did you notice happiness, peace, hope, guidance, or greater love? Did anything make more sense after experiencing it rather than merely talking about it? Did your experience help you understand why Elder Stevenson compared gospel truths to fruit that becomes sweet when we taste it?

No grading. No guilt. Just notice what happened.