Peace by Piece--Mosiah 24:14

I have many fond Boy Scout memories of summers spent in Utah's wilderness. My Scout troop's proudest tradition was a fifty-mile hike in the Uinta Mountains, during which every boy carried his food, shelter, and other supplies for the week on his own back. Naturally, I was always the guy who packed books. (You'd think so much reading would have given me some sense.)

One day I was studying the Book of Mormon by our little campfire and these words leaped out at me: "I will ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your [back]." The premortal Christ said this to an oppressed group of people who had more to worry about than physical weight on their shoulders, but I couldn't help but apply it to my own immediate situation. My back and shoulders hurt from carrying a heavy pack up and down mountains; if Christ was offering to ease burdens, I'd take it!

I've treasured and come to understand these words better over the years. I've remembered them through some major physical trials--but also mental, spiritual, emotional, social, and any other weight I could stuff into my proverbial pack. Some days, that's made all the difference.

---

More Peace by Piece picture quotes