Worthy of the Lord: Lessons from the Taro Field

By Elder Frederic T. Riemer

Area Seventy

Many years ago, I had the desire to learn how to plant taro, which is our Polynesian potato. To help me in this endeavor, I went to see a very good friend—an elder in the ward—who knew a lot about agriculture, and who, over the years, had accumulated all the necessary expertise to produce beautiful taro in his fa’a’apu (field). I asked him if he could come to my house to teach me the basic techniques for planting beautiful taro. He accepted my invitation. He was excited to share his knowledge.

We talked for 30 minutes, and I took as many notes as possible of all the necessary steps to plant taro. I followed my notes to reproduce the advice my friend had given me. Every day, I would enjoy watering my taro after work. I could see the foliage of the taro plants growing day after day; it was radiant. I could envision myself eating my taro.

The long-awaited moment came to harvest the taro; seven months had gone by. I couldn’t wait to see the size of my taro tubers in the ground. I took my shovel to remove the soil around the plant to extract the taro. To my surprise, I found no taro under the plant. The taro had not grown. It was a total failure! I could see that the foliage of the plant had reached maturity—at least one meter, and it was green, which is a sign that the plant is doing well.

What happened to my taro which did not grow like my friend’s taro? I had followed every advice he had given me.

I would like to share with you some of the lessons I learned from this experience and especially how these lessons have helped my wife and I raise our children to stay on the covenant path, and to produce fruits worthy of the Lord.

The first lesson I learned was that taro needed much more water to grow. I don’t think I watered my taro plants enough. The “corme” (bulb) which is the base of the plant’s stem should not be completely submerged; or if so, only temporarily. However, the soil must constantly remain moist for the roots to grow and bear fruit.

As with taro, our children need to be nourished regularly with the good word. Sometimes we think it is enough to bring our children to Sunday meetings. Unfortunately, they cannot survive in this world if nourished only on Sundays. We need to take the time to teach our children regularly in our homes. The Lord reminded parents that they should teach their children “to understand the doctrine of repentance, faith in Christ, the Son of the living God, and of baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands” (Doctrine and Covenants 68:25). Until our children understand, we must continue to teach them the principles and doctrine of Jesus Christ.

Why does the Lord want parents to fulfill this responsibility? The answer is found in Doctrine and Covenants, when the Lord declares that “Satan seeketh to turn their hearts away from the truth, that they become blinded and understand not” (Doctrine and Covenants 78:10); or that the “wicked one cometh and taketh away light and truth, through disobedience, from the children of men, and because of the tradition of their fathers” (Doctrine and Covenants 93:39). As parents, we must have good traditions in our homes to educate our children in the gospel of Christ.

When the “Come, Follow Me” program was introduced during the October 2018 general conference, President Russell M. Nelson said, “It is time for a home-centered Church, supported by what takes place inside our branch, ward, and stake buildings.”¹ May we show the necessary faith to make our homes the center of gospel learning for our children. This is the way given by the Lord through His living prophet, even Russell M. Nelson, so that Satan does not turn our children’s hearts away from the truth.

The second lesson was that in addition to living in a humid environment, taro needed to be fertilized regularly because the taro plant needs plenty of nitrogen; and that’s something I hadn’t done, unfortunately. I must have overlooked this important information when I talked to my friend.

In the same way, our children need to be consistently spiritually “fertilized.” It would be so tragic for us as parents, after so many years of raising our children, to realize that their foundations are not strong enough—that they are not solidified in Christ.

Let us ask ourselves the following questions: What do our children need to grow spiritually? What fertilizers do they need? Here are a few examples that I think are important.

The fertilizer of faith in our Savior Jesus Christ.
The fertilizer of knowledge of His gospel through regular and thorough study of the scriptures.
The fertilizer of love for our Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ.
The fertilizer of knowing how to communicate with the Holy Spirit.
The fertilizer of always wanting to follow the recommendations of the living prophet.

Let’s make sure that these fertilizers are part of the daily life of our youth, and of our children. Without them, our youth and our children may end up like the rising generation of the Nephites (See Mosiah 26:1–4) and the Lamanites (See 3 Nephi 1:29–30) described in the Book of Mormon, who could not understand the word of God.

May we favorably respond to the call of our prophet, Russell M. Nelson, to save our rising generation.