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.