Shaking an Oak Tree

"It is time for my response. Nineteen years ago, after my being set apart by the Quorum of the Twelve in the temple as an assistant to the Twelve Apostles, Elder LeGrand Richards gave me two pieces of wisdom that have come to me over and over in the past fifty-some-odd hours that I have known of this call. First was, “Oh, to be a boy and have your whole life ahead of you.” I was forty-two years of age. I am now sixty-one and am once again a boy. There are men sitting on this stand who have been Apostles and in the First Presidency for half my age.

"The second gem of wisdom that Elder LeGrand Richards gave me was that each time a new assignment in the Church came to him, it was like the shaking of an oak tree: when the tree shook, an acorn would fall and be planted, allowing him a new beginning in that assignment. “You know, my life has been like a great oak tree. From a tiny acorn, I would grow a great oak tree.” Then he said, “I did it in business, and the oak tree shook. An acorn came down, and they sent me out as a mission president. Then I grew another oak tree; they sent me out a second time as a mission president, and then a third.” Then he talked of being a Presiding Bishop. And each time the oak tree would shake, an acorn would be planted.

"At this time, I understand the oak tree has shaken. An acorn has been planted; it is a new beginning."

--Robert D. Hales, “The Unique Message of Jesus Christ,” Ensign, May 1994, 78