College life, for those who are wondering, is great! I am loving it so far, sure there are some hiccups and some hard things but all it's amazing knowing that you are exactly where you are supposed to be.

This week in institute we talked about Lehi's vision of the Tree of Life and that is something as members that we hear about ALL THE TIME even as a missionary I studied it extensively and thought I knew all there was to know but this week I realized I was wrong.

So the Iron Rod not only is the word of God but it also can be seen as Jesus Christ himself. In verse 30 (1 Nephi 8:30) it talks about people that when they got to the tree of life they fell down and then partook of the fruit. I don't know about you but it's kinda hard to take part of the fruit that is at the base of the tree and is moldy and rotten on the ground unless the tree is Jesus Christ himself. That is the only way that verse thirty makes sense and isn't it just a beautiful concept?

This life is hard, so incredibly hard, and we just keep clinging to the rod and as Jeffrey R Holland has said we just keep trying because one day we will be able to fall down at the feet of our Savior.  The end goal is not the Tree of Life, the end goal is to see our brother again and be able to stand in front of him and say I did the best I could, not I'm not perfect and I know that but I tried so hard and he will say I know.

Another amazing beautiful concept is in verse 19 of Chapter 8 it says, "And I beheld a rod of iron, and it extended along the bank of the river and led to the tree by which I stood"

Yet another amazingly beautiful concept.

The river is a scary dangerous place, one that we are not supposed to go to, so why on earth would Christ put the iron rod right next to it? Well back to verse thirty the Iron Rod can be seen as Jesus Christ himself, and Heavenly Father knew we would all spend time in that river.

We are all beyond perfection, the church is not a museum of perfect people it's a hospital for sinners. Because He knew that sometimes the river would seem preferable to holding on to the Iron Rod, life is hard and we try so hard and sometimes it seems that getting out of the river is impossible but that is why he put the Iron Rod right there.

That is why Christ's atonement is ALWAYS right there for you, Christ literally walks along that river every single day just wanting to pull us out but he knows that that is not how it works. We have to ASK for his help, he wants to be there for us so badly and that is why I want to encourage you this week to reach out. Ask him for help on that problem you've been having, great or small. He wants to help you with it.

He wants to help you secure your grip on the Iron Rod because he knows how hard it is, he's been there. And how frustrating for him it must be to watch his brothers and sisters float around in this river, sometimes even enjoying it, and just knowing he can't pull us out unless we ask for his help. He loves us too much to take away our agency like that.

So this week just remember, He loves you, you are so incredibly loved, and no matter how far away the Iron Rod may feel or how hard it is to just hold on to it keep going and know that you are not alone.