Flecks vs. Nuggets

In his April 2011 General Conference address Elder M. Russell Ballard spoke of finding peace in this life through giving loving service.  He introduced his message with the interesting story about a young prospector.  Here is the story in its entirety in case you have forgotten it.  By the way, this story has been made into a short movie which can be seen on YouTube.  Search for “Flecks of Gold” under Mormon Messages.

Oftentimes we are like the young merchant from Boston, who in 1849, as the story goes, was caught up in the fervor of the California gold rush. He sold all of his possessions to seek his fortune in the California rivers, which he was told were filled with gold nuggets so big that one could hardly carry them.

Day after endless day, the young man dipped his pan into the river and came up empty. His only reward was a growing pile of rocks. Discouraged and broke, he was ready to quit until one day an old, experienced prospector said to him, “That’s quite a pile of rocks you are getting there, my boy.”

The young man replied, “There’s no gold here. I’m going back home.”

Walking over to the pile of rocks, the old prospector said, “Oh, there is gold all right. You just have to know where to find it.” He picked two rocks up in his hands and crashed them together. One of the rocks split open, revealing several flecks of gold sparkling in the sunlight.

Noticing a bulging leather pouch fastened to the prospector’s waist, the young man said, “I’m looking for nuggets like the ones in your pouch, not just tiny flecks.”

The old prospector extended his pouch toward the young man, who looked inside, expecting to see several large nuggets. He was stunned to see that the pouch was filled with thousands of flecks of gold.

The old prospector said, “Son, it seems to me you are so busy looking for large nuggets that you’re missing filling your pouch with these precious flecks of gold. The patient accumulation of these little flecks has brought me great wealth.”

This story can have several meaningful interpretations.  Elder Ballard’s purpose in using the story was to illustrate how service in the kingdom should be simple and frequent (fleck-like) and does not need to be large or heavy (nugget-like).  I would like to share two other interpretations that have occurred to me as I have pondered this story.

Interpretation 1:

The story of the flecks and the nuggets can be applied to our building a foundation of testimony of the Gospel of Christ.  A solid testimony comes from the continuous collection of small, fleck-like experiences with the spirit.  The Holy Ghost may whisper to us that something is true as we are listening to a lesson in a Sunday class, or hearing a talk in Sacrament Meeting, or reading and pondering a scripture during personal study.  These small, spiritual incidents become a heavy bag of gold when patiently collected and saved over many years of willing exposure to Gospel-centered activities.  As Elder Bednar expressed in the same April conference, testimony rarely comes as one suddenly turning on an electric light, but slowly grows brighter and brighter as the gradual sunrise on a clear morning.   We may be fortunate enough to pick up large nuggets of testimony along our way.  These could be in the form of dreams or visions, visits from heavenly messengers, or a powerful missionary experience with the spirit, but such incidents are rare and their convincing effect is often short-lived as it was for Nephi’s brothers, Laman and Lemuel.   The still, small flecks of gold from the spirit have more staying power than the Hollywood-style nuggets that impress for the moment but soon fade.

There is an important lesson here about how parents influence the development of testimony in their children.  The consistent exposure of children to family prayer, family scripture reading, simple, happy Family Home Evenings, and wholesome recreational activities will go a long way towards filling the testimony sack full of flecks.  It may be tempting, as it was for the young prospector, to neglect the boring, everyday testimony-building activities and hope that a few good-sized nuggets will come along and fill the bag, nuggets like Seminary, a well-organized Youth Conference, an expensive week at EFY, etc.   Relying on such nuggets to fill the pouch instead of patiently accumulating flecks is risky indeed.

Interpretation 2:

I sometimes worry about the students who participate in the popular BYU event called “The Business Plan Competition.”   I have sometimes helped students with their contest entries when they involved solving manufacturing problems.  My concern with this competition is that some entries are calculated to generate a large return in a short period of time and with fairly high risk.  These projects do not lead to lasting enterprise but only to immediate, high profits.  These students are seeking nuggets.  The danger I see is that they may be forming an attitude that will continue with them into the work place.   They will look with disdain at the regular, often drab and difficult accumulation of gold flecks that we call work and rather be always looking for that elusive nugget that will make them a fortune in a short time with as little work as possible. 

There is nothing wrong with innovation and exciting breakthroughs, but they usually are the result of long and patient efforts such as those demonstrated by Thomas Edison.  If they are like a firework that lights up the sky for a moment and then fades away with no lasting contribution, they are probably benefitting only a small group of clever observers.  Such enterprises may be looked upon as nuggets and will be rare and unreliable as a source of livelihood for the serious prospector.  Again, the consistent and reliable getting up every morning and going to work will fill our pouch with gold and ultimately make us wealthy.

Those are my two interpretations of Elder Ballard’s prospector story.  I’m sure there are more.  It is a fitting metaphor for many gospel principles because Christ’s gospel is a plan that calls for consistent hard work, generously sprinkled with adversity, and requiring that we endure to the end.  Fortunately it is a work also filled with joy as we fill our bag with loving relationships and tiny flecks of knowledge, but that is another thought.