Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles talked about burdens that people carry throughout their lives.
He shared a story of his friend who wanted to buy a four-wheel drive truck. After counseling with his wife, he bought the truck. To demonstrate the utility of the truck, the man drove up a mountain to find firewood. He drove higher up the mountain in the snow and got stuck. Since there was nothing else to do, he began to load the bed of the truck with wood. After filling the bed full of wood he tried one more time to get out of the snow. This time he was successfully able to get out of the snow and get back onto the road because the truck was carrying a load.
“Brothers and sisters, each of us also carries a load,” Elder Bednar said. “Our individual load is comprised of demands and opportunities, obligations and privileges, affliction and blessings, and options and constraints.”
He explained that this load is necessary for us to be happy in life because it can give us spiritual traction like the truck gained traction in his story.
“Sometimes we mistakenly may believe that happiness is the absence of a load. But bearing a load is necessary and essential part of the plan of happiness,” Elder Bednar said.
He continued to say that the Savior helps us carry our load. He compared it to a yoke placed between animals so they can work together to accomplish a task.
“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,” Elder Bednar said.
He talks about how the Savior is always with us.
“We are not and never need be alone,” Elder Bednar said. “We can press forward in our daily lives with heavenly help.”
Elder Bednar talked about how covenants with the Lord will help people with their loads.
“Covenants received and honored with integrity and ordinances performed by proper priesthood authority are necessary to receive all of the blessing made available through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.”
He continued to explain how the Atonement helps lighten people’s loads.
“It is one thing to know that Jesus Christ came to earth to die for us,” Elder Bednar said. “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.”
He talked about how the Savior knows everything everyone goes through.
“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,” Elder Bednar said.
He finished up his talk by referencing the load of his friend’s truck again, reminding the audience that our loads bring us back to the presence of our Heavenly Father.
“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,” Elder Bednar said.
