And Are Willing

¹“And it came to pass that he said unto them: Behold, here are the waters of Mormon (for thus were they called) and now, as ye are desirous to come into the fold of God, and to be called his people, and are willing to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light; Yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in, even until death, that ye may be redeemed of God, and be numbered with those of the first resurrection, that ye may have eternal life— Now I say unto you, if this be the desire of your hearts, what have you against being baptized in the name of the Lord, as a witness before him that ye have entered into a covenant with him, that ye will serve him and keep his commandments, that he may pour out his Spirit more abundantly upon you?” (Mosiah 18:8-10). These verses outline the covenants we make when we are baptized. Some of the clauses or provisions of this covenant may seem a little demanding. We must stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, even unto death? That’s a lot to commit to when we are just barely starting out on the path of discipleship. But it is important to remember that when it comes to bearing burdens and comforting and mourning and all of the rest, we do not covenant that we will always do these things without fail. Rather, we covenant that we are willing to do these things. Often our spirit is willing but our flesh is weak. We may strive to do the right thing but come short of our goal, or do the wrong thing for the right reasons, or the right thing for the wrong reasons. Earnestly desiring to live up to the promises that we have made and failing to do all that we can does not mean that we have broken our covenants. As long as we are willing, we are pointed in the right direction. In JRR Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring, at the time that the members of the fellowship are selected, Elrond tells each of the volunteers, “No oath or bond is laid on you to go further than you will. For you do not yet know the strength of your hearts, and you cannot foresee what each may meet upon the road.” We have all been given opportunities to bear one another’s burdens and we were too busy or self-absorbed or timid to heed the promptings of the Spirit. We have all felt urges to bear witness of God’s love and felt too embarrassed or insecure to speak what is in our hearts. The fact that we were willing and desirous to do those things means that we were living up to our covenants, at least to a certain degree. “But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.” (Luke 22:32). Faithful and diligent effort convert our willingness and desire into action. We may start out merely willing but unable to strengthen our brethren and sisters, but once we have converted willingness into action, then we will be able to strengthen them, and bear their burdens and comfort them and mourn with them and all the rest.