David A. Bednar told the story of his friend who bought a pickup, took it up in the snowy mountains to get a load of firewood, and promptly got stuck.  He was unable to extricate the pickup from where it was stuck in the snow.  Lacking any plan, he proceeded to make firewood and to load it in the pickup.

When the load was complete, Elder Bednar’s friend got back into his pickup to try one more time to get unstuck.  To his complete surprise and delight, the pickup simply drove off without so much as spinning a wheel.

Elder Bednar’s point in telling the story was that each of us needs to have a load put on us so that we can get traction in this world.

Here in Vanuatu, our pickup gets plenty of traction.  Since only three members of the Church own vehicles on the island, we transport a lot of people around.  I’ve counted as many as 21 people get out of our pickup in one trip.  It’s really us, and not the pickup that’s getting traction because we go from one act of service to another.  We have a load on.  Our mission is causing us to grow in many ways.

We’ve observed this happening with our granddaughter, too.  Abby is serving a mission in North Carolina.  Prior to her mission, Abby tried to be shy and retiring.  She was sent to Winston-Salem, a dangerous city filled with black people to which other missionaries dreaded being sent.  She loved it.  The mission president left her there for the first half of her mission.  She became a bold and fearless missionary.  Everybody was her friend.  She learned that she was capable of anything.  A load was placed on her shoulders, and she found traction.  She loves her mission.

This morning I observed to Marjorie that Abby’s mission will be half over in just 13 more days.

Thinking of how Abby is enjoying her mission, Marjorie asked, “Do you suppose the day will ever come when the Church will allow young missionaries to serve back-to-back missions?”

“I’m sure that day won’t come,” I answered, “because it would go against the purpose of life, and the Plan of Salvation.  These young people need to go home, get married, and have children so that they can keep growing and answer the purpose of their creation.”

Having learned that with the Lord’s help she can do anything, Abby now needs to get married and become a mother.  That’s the load that will really give her traction and prepare her for exaltation.  Right now, as a missionary, she thinks that with the Lord’s help she can do anything; but when she becomes a mother—the mother of three or four small children—that’s when she’ll know that with the help of the Lord she can do anything.

A mission is excellent preparation for motherhood, but motherhood is the best preparation for exaltation.  I suspect that we men might have a more difficult time qualifying for exaltation than women because our priesthood roles are often easier than the motherhood roles of our wives.  Our loads are less, so we spin our wheels more.  Mothers don’t have the luxury of being able to spin their wheels.  When the baby needs fed, it needs fed now, never mind how tired the mother is.  When the child is sick, it needs attention now, never mind all the other things that need to be done.  The same is true for children’s appointments, school, sibling arguments, discipline, teaching opportunities, homework, housework, laundry, meals, dirty dishes, church callings, and church assignments.

I’ve tried being a mother before when my wife has been gone, and it’s the hardest work I’ve ever done.  Talk about a load!  Women in the Church have traction.

I wisely had my wife sealed to me.  By hanging onto her, her traction will pull us both back to God.