Yesterday, our high councilman came to speak to us in Sacrament meeting. I have to be honest and say that through most of his talk I was in the hallway trying to bounce a baby boy to sleep. He finally did, so I snuck back in for the last 10 minutes of his talk. He shared a story that I thought was powerful, and made me think.
He said that Elder Bednar came to visit at a recent regional conference in our area and shared a story that he wanted to share with us. Now, he was paraphrasing Elder Bednar, and I am paraphrasing him, so hopefully the story will come out in a way that will impact you like it did me.
Elder Bednar told a story about a friend of his that lived in Idaho. He wanted to buy a new truck. His wife was against the idea since they had very little money even for the necessities. He tried to justify it to her by saying that it would be better to have a four-wheel drive truck in the snow so it would be easier to go out when there is a storm. When she still was not going for the idea, he promised her that the truck would actually save them money because he could go up into the mountains and cut down their own firewood for the winter, thus saving them money on wood. So, she agreed. When the first winter storm rolled around and they needed firewood, he took his truck into a densely wooded area and started to chop down a tree. As he was chopping, the snow drifts started to become deeper and he decided that he better head home. When he got into the truck to start it, it was stuck in the snow. He tried everything he could to get it out, but it would not budge. He decided that to stay warm, he would get out and chop some more until he could think of something to do to solve the problem. He chopped until he had filled the bed of the truck with firewood and could not carry any more load. When he got in the truck to start it, he put it in gear, and it moved! He was able to get out just fine due to the heavier load that he was carrying. The heavier load actually helped him get to his destination. Home.
Our high councilman then relayed to us that Elder Bednar likened the load to the loads that we all have to carry in this life. The right kind of load will strengthen us and lead us back home to our Heavenly Father. The absence of a load does not necessarily make us stronger. It does not mean that we will have more happiness.
When I think of my own life, I realize that when I am carrying a heavier load, I do rely on the Lord more. I do become stronger. I can look back at trials and realize that I was strengthened because of them. I also think of our callings in the church and the load that they can sometimes be. I thought of my current calling, and my husband’s current calling. The two callings together can sometimes seem like too much of a burden for our young family. However, when I think of all of our blessings right now, we have a lot of them. And, I know that Heavenly Father will bless me in the future for my service, too.
So maybe when we feel our load is too heavy to carry, whatever it is, we can think of this story. We can picture how this heavier load will help us get to our destination. Back home to a loving Heavenly Father.
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