Burdens

Yesterday, while at an establishment, I overheard the conversation between two men. At first their conversation seemed light enough as they spoke of their children and some of their accomplishments, then as their words turned direction I felt a sense of sadness for them. It seemed that they had both been active members of the LDS church at some point in their lives but were now very inactive and attending other churches. It wasn't that information that necessarily saddened me the most, rather it was what they had said about the church that had more of an impact. They began talking about all of the callings and so-called obligations that they had while they were active members and how burdensome it all had felt. One man continued to say, "I just want to go to church and worship and then be able to go home or go out to eat if I want and enjoy my time and my day without being expected to help out all of the time." Now, I wish that I could say that I never felt burdened by a calling but I cannot. I was and am fortunate enough to be able to realize that the problem is not with the calling nor the church but rather within myself and my own attitude and once I am able to recognize that I know that I have the power to change it. Citing Doctrine and Covenants 121:7-8 and a quote by Elder L. Whitney Clayton:

7 My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment;

8 And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes.

"Our own mistakes and shortcomings produce many of our problems and can place heavy burdens on our own shoulders. The most onerous burden we impose upon ourselves is the burden of sin. We have all known the remorse and pain which inevitably follow our failure to keep the commandments."[he also includes that burdens may be natural products of the conditions of the world, or can be imposed on us by the misconduct of others.]

I could go on and on but I will just say that I hope that those two men will come to the realization that though the churches which they are currently attending may try to spread good messages, they do not have the fullness of the gospel. We can go to school or church every day and listen to the messages that are shared with us but we will never truly learn or understand those principles and practices until we begin to apply them and use them in our lives. I am grateful to those men for helping to remind me of my love of the church and Christ and for helping me strengthen my testimony.

I know that if we keep His commandments that He helps us with our burdens and offers us the strength and ability to overcome all. If we are obedient to Him we will be richly blessed. We can strengthen and grow our faith and testimony by doing His works. I leave these words with you in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.