How long could he continue to carry such great burdens?

Work is a blessing in our lives and can serve to prepare us spiritually to listen to the spirit. We can be softened by affliction (like a beefsteak 😉 )

How we treat the poor among us is a measure of how we think of and respond to our Lord. it is not how we treat the royalty and the leaders among us, but how we treat the unfortunate. Being willing to steal from others in order to help the poor is not an indication of our willingness to help – it indicates weakness of character. Being willing to enlist the help of others is another story.

Some burdens are the natural product of the conditions of the world in which we live. Other burdens are imposed on us by the misconduct of others. 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 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, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon [us], even as a child doth submit to his father.” Thus burdens become blessings, though often such blessings are well disguised and may require time, effort, and faith to accept and understand.

The suffering we experience through the offenses of others is a valuable, though painful, school for improving our own behavior. Further, bearing up under our own burdens can help us develop a reservoir of empathy for the problems others face.

The Savior offers us sustaining strength and support, and in His own time and way, He offers deliverance.

Because of their goodness and their obedience to their baptismal covenants, Alma and his people in Helam were delivered in stages. The Lord said to them: I will ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage.

The burdens which were laid upon Alma and his brethren were made light; the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease. So great was their faith and their patience that the voice of the Lord came unto them again, saying: Be of good comfort, for on the morrow I will deliver you out of bondage.

Mercifully, the Son of God offers us deliverance from the bondage of our sins, which are among the heaviest of all the burdens we bear.