1 Nephi 8:10-18

First, I wanted to stress Verse 10. Nephi shares that Lehi said that the tree had fruit that was desirable to make one happy. In Verse 11 he goes and then tastes the fruit and says that it is the most sweet he has ever tasted and the most white. (Nephi shares his interpretation of this dream with his brothers later on. So, I will wait on commenting on some of what the fruit, tree, etc. mean.) We can see with what is shared here that the tree and its fruit represent the most desirable thing ever when it is seen for the first time looking at it on the outside and it is even more joyous and sweet above all when one partakes of it.

Lehi's next thought about this fruit is for his family to receive it. This scripture was selected for instructing missionaries to use to help investigators to invite their friends and family to the next discussion based on what they felt at the first one. (Because of this, it seems that what the fruit represents is based on something gospel related.) When Lehi looks around for his family, he notices a river of water. His eyes follow the river and finds Sariah, Sam, and Nephi at the head thereof, a little ways off, wanting to go somewhere, but not knowing where to go. Lehi beckons them over to where he is by the tree. They come and partake of the fruit, as well. Lehi notices that Laman and Lemuel are not with them. This is an important distinction that was show to Lehi in his dream. Lehi then looks around for Laman and Lemuel, and sees them at the head of the river. However, they do not heed his calls and they do not come to the tree and partake of the fruit.

With respect to the pictures, in the Izapa sketch, we can distinctly see a tree in the center (outlined in red). We can also see a river of water running under the tree.



There are several people depicted here, but I wasn't sure which one was Lehi or his family. What do you think? I did see that there were some that had animal heads and some that do not.