Sunday, March 1, 2015

WINT O GREEN LIFESAVERS MINTS


I've developed a fairly recent love for Wint O Green Lifesavers Mints.  Sure, I've always enjoyed a good lifesaver. As a kid I preferred the fruity ones, like cherry or lime or lemon, but I don't think I ever turned down a mint lifesaver either.  And it was always fun to try and get them to spark as you crunched in the dark, right?   I've always actually preferred chocolate when it comes to sweet treats or candy, and I will usually choose a chocolate candy bar over a roll of lifesavers if given the choice.  But lifesavers are a convenient, inexpensive, easily stored and easily portable source of a quick sugar fix.  And Wint O green lifesavers have the added bonus of being an effective breath mint too!  Now days I like to have them in my purse, on my desk at work, and in a bowl on the kitchen table.

I've discovered another use for Wint O Green Lifesavers Mints:  I use them as a tasty visual aid in teaching lessons about the Prophet Lehi's dream of the Tree of Life as found in The Book of Mormon.   In this dream, or vision, the prophet Lehi was led by a heavenly messenger through a dark and dreary waste to a beautiful white tree laden with delicious brilliant white fruit which proved to be very satisfying to his soul.  The tree laden with fruit was  a representation of the love of God.  A narrow path to the tree through the dark and dreary waste ran alongside river of water.  Between the river bank and the path was a rod of iron (representing the gospel of Jesus Christ) which was there to safeguard the travelers from falling off the narrow path into the river or wandering off the path into the darkness.

When I teach this scripture story, I like to prepare a visual aid of a tree representing the Tree of Life, and on this tree I attach an abundance of individually wrapped Wint O Green Lifesavers Mints to represent the exceedingly beautiful, white, and deliciously sweet fruit of the Tree of Life.  Class members then take turns following a narrow path holding on to a rod or a rope to the tree where they can partake of the delicious "fruit" that represents the Love of God.

Most children and youth that I share this lesson with appreciate the visual aid and the delicious white treat of a Wint O Green lifesaver.  I'm grateful that I can share my knowledge of the story with them, and hopefully strengthen their belief in our Savior Jesus Christ and the precious gift His atonement and His love for all mankind.

I'm also grateful whenever I can share a delicious Wint O green lifesaver with someone else!

(For a more comprehensive explanation of this story you may want to read The Iron Rod, April 1971 General Conference Address by Harold B. Lee .)


1 comment:

  1. They were always my favorite even as a kid. My one Aunt always gifted them to us, she was a favorite Aunt so I think I always thought of the candy and her at the same time. Gearing up and doing some visiting for the up coming A-Z Looking forward to getting acquainted with more bloggers.

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