“Sisters, it is for us to be wide awake to our duties. The kingdom will roll on, and we have nothing to fear but our own imperfections. May God bless you and endow you with energy and determination to act.” (Zina D. Young, Special Meeting of the Young Ladies’ Mutual Improvement Association of the First Ward, held in the Schoolhouse, Sept 26th, 1877, as reported in the Women’s Exponent)
The handcarts we must pull
Sister Stephens shares with us this story:
Recently I participated in a pioneer trek with young men and young women in our ward. ...
On the second day of the trek we had pulled our handcarts eight miles when we came to a place on the trail called “the women’s pull.” Men and women were separated, and the men were sent ahead up a hill. As we started to pull our handcarts, I looked up to see our priesthood brethren, young and old, lining both sides of the trail, hats off in respect for the women.
The path was easy at first, but soon we were in deep sand, and the hill grew steep. I had my head down and was pushing with all my might when I felt a tug on the cart and looked up to see Lexi, one of our young women and my neighbor. She had pulled her handcart to the top and, seeing our need for help, ran back. When we reached the top, I wanted so much to run back to help those following me, but I was breathing heavily and my heart was pounding so hard, the words heart attack entered my mind more than once! I watched with gratitude as other young women dropped their handcarts and ran to help.
I had no idea what the women's pull even was. So after a little research via Google, I not only learned what it was and what it symbolized, but I found this story (
Peculiar&Co) of the women's pull:
We started up the hill, slipping and grunting…I stepped on my skirt and ripped the ruffle off, stopping momentarily to tear the entire ruffle off of the perimeter of the skirt to make myself less cumbersome. The heat was immense. We kicked up dust and debris. It was a painstakingly slow process. We had to keep going forward, up that hill, otherwise we would start rolling backward. I felt myself getting sick to my stomach. I could hear all of us panting, trying to catch our breath. Drops of sweat ran down our faces, dripping onto the thirsty trail below. Occasionally we would have to stop, to accommodate a handcart in front of us. Stopping was both a blessing and a curse: we lost our momentum and we also had a chance for sweet rest.
In what felt like hours, we had climbed the top of a hill and now looked onward to another. We could see the group of men at the top, waiting and watching somberly, at their families struggling to bring their hand carts and join them. Onward we trudged. I had to look at the ground. I had to look at each step because looking up toward our goal seemed so painful. Even though it was a few hundred feet uphill it felt so very far away.
As I watched each rock that we passed, soon I began to see the feet of those who had been waiting for us. I couldn't look up. I couldn't look at their faces. I felt as if I were about to collapse both physically and emotionally at the same time.
Yet another story... from 2013. A young man's wife is brutally murdered by their best friend. At her memorial service he tells the story of Ted Kennedy, Jr (as told by TKJ himself at his father's funeral).
When I was 12 years old, I was diagnosed with bone cancer. And a few months after I lost my leg, there was a heavy snowfall over my childhood home outside of Washington D.C. And my father went to the garage to get the old Flexible Flyer, and asked me if I wanted to go sledding down the steep driveway.
And I was trying to get used to my new artificial leg. And the hill was covered with ice and snow. And it wasn't easy for me to walk. And the hill was very slick. And as I struggled to walk, I slipped and I fell on the ice. And I started to cry and I said, I can't do this. I said, I'll never be able to climb up that hill.
And he lifted me up in his strong, gentle arms and said something I will never forget, he said, I know you can do it. There is nothing that you can't do. We're going to climb that hill together, even if it takes us all day.
Her husband then relates to the hundreds of people gathered to honor the life of his wife, that he is at the bottom of a hill that seems insurmountable.
"Nearly 20 percent of the women in those early handcart companies were alone for at least part of the way. These were women who had not married, were divorced, or were widowed. Many were single mothers. They all pulled together—covenant daughters, young and old, in different life circumstances, on the same path, with the same goal.
I thought of the men who were separated on the journey from families, leaving them to pull the handcart alone. Many men died on the journey. Some sons stayed behind to serve missions in their native lands. Others had emigrated earlier to prepare for their families’ arrival in the Salt Lake Valley. Some men were absent by choice, having chosen not to keep their covenants."
Like those who went before, many today live in circumstances that are not ideal. "We each pull our own handcart, our burden, with us. Whether we travel alone or with the aid of others, our little handcart is what we try so hard to bring along for the ride. The contents may change over time–be it illness or sorrow, death or change, even happiness and blessings–we pull our handcart and it’s contents over hills and valleys. It is easier with others and nearly impossible alone." (Peculiar&Co)
What does it feel like to be wide awake?
It's been so long since I've felt wide awake, I'm not sure I could describe it accurately.
What awakens us?
Sometimes we are startled awake. Think about the comments made after September 11th, or more recently, the attack at the Boston Marathon. Sometimes the terror hits closer to home... the loss of a spouse, the illness of a child, the betrayal of a friend....Our hearts are slapped awake!
On the flip side of the coin is our achievements. Think about our renewed sense of commitment with every milestone... marriage, the birth of a child, sending a child on a mission, the 60th birthday... Our hearts are proud to be awake!
Spiritual awakenings can occur in either instance I believe. And every time we spiritually awaken, we yoke ourselves with Christ. Matthew 11: 28-30: Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly of heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
What do we awaken to?
The fact that we need to lighten the load. We lighten the load by yoking ourselves with Christ. We yoke ourselves with Christ when we keep the commandments (John 14:15). So...when we become wide awake to, and do, our duties, we yoke ourselves to Christ.
Being wide awake comes in knowing that we all have a vital role to play in Heavenly Father’s kingdom. We know we received our first lessons in the world of spirits and we know were prepared to come forth in this time to labor in His vineyard to do His work. (President Linda Burton, April 2012, BYU Women's Conference)
The duty to what...
The duty to make and keep sacred covenants
When we make and keep covenants, we are coming out of the world and into the kingdom of God. (Elder Robert D. Hales)
"We are changed. We look different, and we act different. The things we listen to and read and say are different, and what we wear is different because we become daughters of God bound to Him by covenant."
Many were the blessings we had received in the house of the Lord, which has caused us joy and comfort in the midst of all our sorrows and enabled us to have faith in God, knowing He would guide us and sustain us in the unknown journey that lay before us. (Sarah Rich, Nauvoo)
"When we make the covenant of baptism, we also receive the gift of the Holy Ghost; but for that gift to work to its full potential, we must realize our duty to check the condition of our hearts. Sister Stephens asks, "Is our heart soft? Do we have a humble heart, a teachable heart, a gentle heart? Or have our hearts become gradually hardened as we have allowed too much of the noise of the world to distract us from the gentle promptings that have surely come from the Spirit?""
Alma chapter 5 also provides a good self interview of internal heart conditions.
When we master the duty to make and keep sacred covenants, by which our hearts are softened, we are awakened to act. "The early Saints trusted in and followed the prophet. They knew the journey would be long, their duty difficult. They knew that sacrifice would be required, but sustained by their faith and cleaving to their covenants, they were spiritually prepared."
They were prepared to sacrifice it all.. The duty to sacrifice...and to follow. "Before leaving Nauvoo, a group of Saints wrote a message in the assembly hall in the temple they were forced to abandon. It read, "The Lord has beheld our sacrifice: come after us."" As Sister Stephens started the trek with her ward, she relates that every morning she would ask herself, “What is my sacrifice? How do I come after them?”
Identifying the "helpers"
Are you a helper?? At the end of the women's pull, Sister Stephens relates, "When everyone reached the top, we took some time to record feelings in our journals. I wrote: “I didn't prepare well enough physically so didn't have the strength to help those following me. I may never need to pull a handcart again, but I never want to let my sisters down spiritually, never!”
"Those who ran to help their sisters in need reminded me of rescuers, both seen and unseen, who are quick to observe, see a need, and act.
Lining both sides of the trail were faithful, obedient, covenant-keeping men. Their priesthood power—the power God uses to bless all His children—lifted, strengthened, and supported us. They were a reminder that we are never alone. We can have this power with us always as we keep our covenants."
What's the point?
"Like those who went before, many today live in circumstances that are not ideal. We continue to teach and strive for the ideal because we know that continually striving will keep us progressing along the path and prepare us for opportunities to receive all promised blessings as we “wait upon the Lord.”
Each of us has had and will continue to have adversity in our lives. This mortal life is a time of testing, and we will continue to have opportunities to use our agency to choose what we will learn from the adversity that will surely come.
As daughters of God, we continue on the path in faith because we recognize, as President Thomas S. Monson taught, “The saving ordinances received in the temple that permit us to someday return to our Heavenly Father in an eternal family relationship and to be endowed with blessings and power from on high are worth every sacrifice and every effort.”
It isn't enough to just be on the journey; we must be awake to our duty and continue with faith as we draw upon the comforting, strengthening, enabling, and healing power of the Atonement.
Relief Society prepares women for the blessings of eternal life by awakening us spiritually to increase in faith and personal righteousness. Let us begin with ourselves. Let us begin where we are. Let us begin today. When we are spiritually awake, we will be better able to strengthen families and homes and help others."
The blessing:
“Sisters, it is for us to be wide awake to our duties. The kingdom will roll on, and we have nothing to fear but our own imperfections. May God bless you and endow you with energy and determination to act.” (Zina Young)
“I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up.” (D&C 84:88)
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3 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
