--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 25 number: 11 published: 1922-09 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: 'Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations, "Stuck, and Nothing to Unload", *Improvement Era* 25, no. 11 (September 1922): 1025–1026.' source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera25011unse transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers. identifier: improvementera25011unse start_page: 1025 end_page: 1026 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1922-09) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera25011unse publication_year: 1922 note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1922, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # Stuck, and Nothing to Unload STUCK, AND NOTHING TO UNLOAD 1025 heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden light." We have a testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ. What more valuable "cargo" can anyone carry? Apostle Paul says the gospel of Christ "is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth." We may be very poor salesmen or peddlers; in fact, I am almost convinced that such is the case, because we find it ex- tremely difficult to persuade people to accept our "cargo" even as a gift. It is all too common for people to prize highest the cheapest things, measured in terms of eternal value, and to esteem least the things of greatest worth. It is comparatively easy to sell life insurance pertaining to this worldly kingdom, but oh, how difficult to give away a "policy" which will assure one of eternal life in the kingdom of God. The easy, and perhaps logical way to get out of the creek is to get out with the empty wagon and gather the apples after- ward. I am sure this is the course most of us would take if we should follow our immediate inclination when we realize that our thoughts have vanished as we face the audience. But experienced teamsters say it is sometimes advisable, dealing with animals which possess only "horse-sense" to insist that the horse move the entire load, if it is within its power to do so, that the next time the contingency arises, the horse may continue with less trouble. So we, as amateur missionaries, realize we must collect our "apples" while we are yet "in the creek", and proceed with our cargo that,, perchance, next time we may "cross" with less difficulty. Development or success in the things worth while in life does not come by following the easy path. As expressed in the oft repeated words of the poet Holland: "Heaven is not gained at a single bound; But we build the ladder by which we rise From the lowly earth to the vaulted skies, And we mount to its summit round by round." As also expressed by another poet: "It is not just as we take it, This mystical world of ours, Life's field will yield as we make it, A harvest of thorns or flowers." We get our best electric lights by passing the current through a substance of great resistence to the electric current. The greatest developments in civilization are not found in the tropical climates, where food is plentiful, and shelter and cloth- ing are unnecessary, but in colder regions, where people must struggle and battle with the obstacles of nature. 1026 IMPROVEMENT ERA All great achievements demand sacrifice. Of missionaries it requires a sacrifice, if we may call it such, to spread the gospel of Christ; at least it calls for an expenditure of time, means, and energy. But is the accomplishment worth the sacrifice? Many fold. Christ has said, as recorded in the Doctrine and Covenants 18:16: "And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father." Think of the trouble, suffering and persecution the Prophet Joseph Smith and his followers endured in the early history of the Church for the gospel's sake, and of the trials hardships, and hunger of the Utah pioneers in establish- ing the great inland empire. Did they follow the easy way, the path without obstructions? Yet, is not the legacy they have left us, the established Church and the restored gospel of Jesus Christ worth the sacrifice? This is second in magnitude and im- portance only to the divine sacrifice of the only Son of God in the flesh for the redemption of mankind, that we may gain eternal salvation in his presence, through obedience to his laws. May we, then realize the value of these great free gifts, accept them, and live according to those divine laws which will entitle us to one of those "eternal life insurance policies" which is of- fered freely to everyone who will accept it. Denver, Colorado. The Chosen Road By Elmer W. Pratt I recently heard a sectarian minister say to a large congre- gation that there were a great many railroads running into Chicago, and as these all carry their passengers to the Union station, even so do the various Christian denominations lead their followers to the Kingdom of Heaven. It was a beautiful illustration; but it is a lamentable fact that an educated Chris- tian minister should be ignorant of the fact that Christ taught that there was only one road to glory. Hear the words of the Savior: "Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, that leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." Again: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber." There is evidently but