Elder L. Whitney Clayton: That Your Burdens May Be Light

Elder Clayton starts off with a story of a man in Peru carrying a large burlap bag of firewood on his back - the bag was bigger than he was. It was his burden.

Elder Clayton talked about burdens coming from three sources:

• A natural product of the conditions of the world we live in. Things like illness, physical disability, hurricanes, earthquakes, etc. These are not fault of our own. We can prepare for them, but and we will all confront them at one time or another
• Another source is from the misconduct of others. These could include abuse, addictions, sin, incorrect traditions, repression, crime, gossip, and unkindness.
• The third type of burdens are those made by our own mistakes and shortcomings.

Burdens come to us all, but we are allowed to experience them for our benefit and growth. I like these three points that he makes about why and how burdens are for our benefit.


Our unique individual experiences can help us prepare to return to Him. The adversity and afflictions that are ours, however difficult to bear, last, from heaven's perspective, for "but a mall moment; and then, if [we] endure it well, God shall exalt [us] on high." We must do everything we can to bear our burdens "well" for however long our "small moment" carrying them lasts.


Burdens provide opportunities to practice virtues that contribute to eventual perfection. They invite us to yield "to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and [put] off the natural man and [become] a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and [become] as a child . . . "


Thus burdens become blessings, though often such blessings are well disguised and may require time, effort, and faith to accept and understand. 


Elder Clayton gave four examples of burdens becoming blessings.

• Adam: Work is a continual burden, but it is also a continual blessing "for [our] sake." for it teaches lessons we can learn only "by the sweat of [our] face."
• Alma: Our economic challenges may help prepare us to hear the word of the Lord. (Or to set proper priorities.)
• The Nephites and Lamanites during the time of the Gadianton Robbers: Political unrest, social disorder . . . may humble us and motivate us to see heavenly shelter from societal storms.
• Joseph Smith: The suffering we experience through the offenses of others is a valuable, though painful, school for improving our own behavior.

He also adds: Bearing up under our own burdens can help us develop a reservoir of empathy for the problems others face. 


Keeping our baptismal covenants helps relieve our own burdens as well as those burdened souls we serve. Those who offer such assistance to others stand on holy ground. [Remember] "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."


Elder Clayton reminds us that our burdens may be lifted through repentance: When we repent and keep the commandments, forgiveness and relief from our burdened conscience come with the help that only the Savior offers, for "surely, whosoever repenteth shall find mercy."