I have a dear friend who, in
the early years of his marriage, was convinced he and his family
needed a four-wheel-drive pickup truck. His wife was sure that he did
not need but merely wanted the new vehicle. A playful conversation
between this husband and wife initiated their consideration
of the advantages and disadvantages
of such a purchase. "Sweetheart, we need a
four-wheel-drive truck." She asked, "Why do you
think we need a new truck?" He answered her
question with what he believed was the perfect
response: "What if we needed milk for our children
in a terrible storm, and the only way I could
get to the grocery store was in a pickup?" His wife replied with a
smile, "If we buy a new truck, we won't have money for milk. So why worry about getting to
the store in an emergency?" Over time they continued
to counsel together and ultimately decided
to acquire the truck. Shortly after taking
possession of the new vehicle, my friend wanted to demonstrate
the utility of the truck and validate his reasoning
for wanting to purchase it. So he decided he would cut
and haul a supply of firewood for their home. It was in the
autumn of the year, and snow already had
fallen in the mountains where he intended to find wood. As he drove up the
mountainside, the snow gradually became
deeper and deeper. My friend recognized
the slick road conditions presented a risk. But with great confidence in
the new truck, he kept going. Sadly, my friend went too
far along the snowy road. As he steered the
truck off of the road at the place he had determined
to cut wood, he got stuck. All four of the wheels on the
new truck spun in the snow. He readily recognized
that he did not know what to do to
extricate himself from this dangerous situation. He was embarrassed and worried. My friend decided, "Well,
I will not just sit here." He climbed out of the vehicle
and started cutting wood. He completely filled the back
of the truck with a heavy load. And then my friend
determined he would try driving out of the
snow one more time. As he put the pickup into
gear and applied power, he started to inch forward. Slowly the truck
moved out of the snow and back onto the road. He finally was free to go home,
a happy and a humbled man. I pray for the assistance
of the Holy Ghost as I now emphasize
vital lessons that can be learned from this story
about my friend, the truck, and the wood. It was the load. It was the load of wood that
provided the traction necessary for him to get out of the
snow, to get back on the road, and to move forward. It was the load that enabled
him to return to his family and to his home. Brothers and sisters, each
of us also carries a load. Our individual load is comprised
of demands and opportunities, obligations and privileges,
afflictions and blessings, and options and constraints. Two guiding questions
can be helpful as we periodically and
prayerfully assess our load: "Is the load I am
carrying producing the spiritual traction that
will enable me to press forward with faith in Christ on
the strait and narrow path and avoid getting stuck? Is the load I am
carrying creating sufficient spiritual
traction so I ultimately can return home to
Heavenly Father?" Sometimes we
mistakenly may believe that happiness is the
absence of a load. But bearing a load is a
necessary and essential part of the plan of happiness. Because our
individual load needs to generate spiritual
traction, we should be careful to not
haul around in our lives so many nice but
unnecessary things that we are distracted
and diverted from the things that
truly matter most. The Savior said, "Come unto
me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I
will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn
of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall
find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy,
and my burden is light." A yoke is a wooden
beam, normally used between a pair of oxen
or other animals that enables them to pull
together on a load. A yoke places
animals side by side so they can move together in
order to accomplish a task. Brothers and sisters,
please consider the Lord's uniquely individual invitation
to "take my yoke upon you." Making and keeping
sacred covenants yokes us to and with
the Lord Jesus Christ. In essence, the Savior is
beckoning us to rely upon and pull together with Him, even
though our best efforts are not equal to and cannot
be compared with His. As we trust in and
pull our load with Him during the journey of mortality,
truly His yoke is easy and His burden is light. We are not and
never need be alone. We can press forward in our
daily lives with heavenly help. Through the Savior's
Atonement, we can receive capacity and
strength beyond our own. As the Lord
declared, "Therefore, continue your journey and
let your hearts rejoice; for behold, and lo, I am
with you even unto the end." Consider the example
in the Book of Mormon as Amulon persecuted
Alma and his people. The voice of the Lord
came to these disciples in their afflictions:
"Lift up your heads and be of good comfort, for
I know of the covenant which ye have made unto me; and I
will covenant with my people and deliver them
out of bondage." Now, please note the
centrality of covenants to the promise of deliverance. Covenants received and honored
with integrity and ordinances performed by proper
priesthood authority are necessary to receive all
of the blessings made available through the Atonement
of Jesus Christ. For in the ordinances
of the priesthood, the power of godliness is
manifest unto men and women in the flesh, including the
blessings of the Atonement. Recall the Savior's statement
"For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light" as
we consider the next verse in the account of
Alma and his people: "And I will also ease the
burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even
you cannot feel them upon your backs." Many of us, perhaps, may assume
this scripture is suggesting that a burden suddenly and
permanently will be taken away. The next verse,
however, describes how the burden was
eased: "And now it came to pass that
the burdens which were laid upon Alma and his
brethren were made light; yea, the Lord did
strengthen them that they could bear up
their burdens with ease, and they did submit
cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord." The challenges and
difficulties were not immediately removed
from the people. But Alma and his followers
were strengthened, and their increased capacity
made the burdens lighter. These good people were
empowered through the Atonement to act as agents and
impact their circumstances. And "in the strength of the
Lord," Alma and his people were directed to safety
in the land of Zarahemla. My beloved brothers
and sisters, not only does the Atonement
of Jesus Christ overcome the effects
of the Fall of Adam and make possible the remission
of our individual sins and transgressions,
but His Atonement also enables us to do good and become
better in ways that stretch far beyond our mortal capacities. Most of us know that
when we do things wrong and need help to overcome the
effects of sin in our lives, the Savior has made it
possible for us to become clean through His redeeming power. But do we also understand
that the Atonement is for faithful men and women
who are obedient, worthy, and conscientious
and who are striving to become better and
serve more faithfully? I wonder if we fully acknowledge
this strengthening aspect of the Atonement in our lives
and mistakenly believe we must carry our load all
alone--through sheer grit, willpower, and discipline and
with our obviously limited capacities. It is one thing to know that
Jesus Christ came to the earth to die for us, but we also need
to appreciate that the Lord desires, through His Atonement
and by the power of the Holy Ghost, to enliven us--not only
to guide but also to strengthen and heal us. Alma explains why and how
the Savior can enable us: "And he shall go forth,
suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind;
and this that the word might be fulfilled which
saith he will take upon him the pains and the
sicknesses of his people. And he will take upon
him death, that he may loose the bands of
death which bind his people; and he will take upon
him their infirmities, that his bowels may be
filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may
know according to the flesh how to succor his
people according to their infirmities." Thus, brothers and
sisters, the Savior has suffered not just for
our sins and iniquities, but also for our physical pain
and anguish, our weaknesses and shortcomings, our
fears and frustrations, our disappointment and
discouragement, our regrets and remorse, our despair and
desperation, the injustices and the inequities
we experience, and the emotional
distresses that beset us. There is no physical
pain, no spiritual wound, no anguish of soul or
heartache, no infirmity or weakness you or I ever
confront in mortality that the Savior did
not experience first. In a moment of weakness,
we may cry out, "No one knows what it is like. No one understands." But the Son of God perfectly
knows and understands, for He has felt and borne
our individual burdens. And because of His infinite
and eternal sacrifice, He has perfect empathy and can
extend to us His arm of mercy. He can reach out,
touch, succor, heal, and strengthen us to be
more than we could ever be and help us do that
which we could never do relying only
upon our own power. Indeed, His yoke is easy
and His burden is light. I invite you to
study, pray, ponder, and strive to learn more
about the Savior's Atonement as you assess your
individual load. Many things about the Atonement
we simply cannot comprehend with our mortal minds. But many aspects
of the Atonement we can and need to understand. For my friend, the load of wood
provided life-saving traction. The empty truck could not
move through the snow, even equipped with
four-wheel-drive. A heavy load was necessary
to produce traction. It was the load. It was the load that
provided the traction that enabled my friend
to get unstuck, to get back on the
road, to press forward, and to return to his family. The unique burdens
in each of our lives help us to rely upon
the merits, mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah. I testify and promise
the Savior will help us to bear up our
burdens with ease. As we are yoked with Him
through sacred covenants and receive the enabling power
of His Atonement in our lives, we increasingly will
seek to understand and live according to His will. We also will pray
for the strength to learn from, change, or
accept our circumstances rather than praying relentlessly
for God to change our circumstances
according to our will. We will become
the agents who act rather than objects
that are acted upon. We will be blessed with
spiritual traction. May each of us do and become
better through the Savior's Atonement. Today is April the 6th. We know by revelation that today
is the actual and accurate date of the Savior's birth. April the 6th is
also the day on which The Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints was organized. On this special
and sacred Sabbath day, I declare my witness
that Jesus the Christ is our Redeemer. I testify He lives and will
cleanse, heal, guide, protect, and strengthen us. Of these things I
joyfully testify in the sacred name of the
Lord Jesus Christ, amen.
