askandanswer

Two relevant scriptures
5  Know ye not, my son, that these things are an abomination in the sight of the Lord; yea, most abominable above all sins save it be the shedding of innocent blood or denying the Holy Ghost?
(Book of Mormon | Alma 39:5)
 
 
11  Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
12  Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
(New Testament | Matthew 5:11 - 12)

When Christ says “my yoke is easy” I’m interpreting this to mean Him saying that living the gospel is easy, or keeping the commandments I have given you is easy. It must be true because Jesus said it, but at the moment, I don’t understand how it is true.
I see a major disconnect between what Christ said – “my yoke is easy” and the lived experience of many, many people and I’m not sure how to reconcile this lived experience with what Christ said.
Jesus isn't saying that keeping the commandments or living the Gospel is easy. On the contrary, because he IS cognizant of the fact that we're weak individuals and living the Gospel isn't always a walk in the park...he shows us exceedingly love and compassion by offering to take away our burdens! SIN WEIGHS US DOWN.
We also know that the Law of Moses prohibited yoking an ox and donkey together because they weren't the same kind. And here we have Jesus's invitation!...even though we could never compare ourselves to him... He sees our hearts and invites us to take HIS yoke upon us to show us how he truly sees us: Family!
And if THAT is not a perfect example of how we ought too see everyone we meet I don't know what else will. 

All of a suddent this discussion below is making much more sense
 

Two relevant scriptures
5  Know ye not, my son, that these things are an abomination in the sight of the Lord; yea, most abominable above all sins save it be the shedding of innocent blood or denying the Holy Ghost?
(Book of Mormon | Alma 39:5)
 
 
11  Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
12  Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
(New Testament | Matthew 5:11 - 12)

You live in Utah - I thought you were already there.  

You live in Utah - I thought you were already there.  

I think His yoke is easy in comparison to pulling our burdens alone (D&C 19: 15-20).

Going to compile / rearrange a bunch of different posts here:
That's good!  A lot of folks fall into the trap of thinking a foreign mission is "cooler" or "better" than going somewhere like Boise Idaho.  It's not.  But we humans do like bling.
- How long a person stays in an area varies hugely from mission to mission and missionary to missionary.  A year is on the long side, but not remotely unheard of.
-I would not assume that his not getting transfer is due to meds and/or just due to meds.   There's likely a ton different in play.
100% normal. 
We culturally... I feel fail at points at accurately portraying missions.  Yes, it is a noble service, and great opportunity for spiritual growth.  It's also HARD.  physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually, etc.  There's a ton of pressure (rightful and wrongful), lots of rejection, you're out of your element, etc.  Truthfully the hardness is true about any young adult experience.  
 
It's also REALLY hard being a mom with the first chick flying out of the nest!  And I also feel that we as a society really suck at prepping moms for that too.  Starting at 18: mom's are completely out of any loop.  Except for how much the young adult wishes to share.  You need to trust them, and that's TERRIFYING at points.  
Some tips for helping teenagers be prepare to be better functioning young adults:
- Know how to do your own laundry.  Like literally, so many young adults don't know how to properly wash their clothes.  And likewise just basic "how to tend to yourself and your house" skills.
- Develop goal keeping, and owning your choices (both good and bad).  Young adults need to be able to make decisions, hopefully foresee consequences, and accept them.  Yes, that means when the consequence is a big mess, they need to clean it up.  Other folks stepping in to rescue them doesn't promote maturity, rather encourages de-evolution into adult-sized toddlers.  Having them know of to develop goal and think things through are essential skills.
- Maintain an open communication bridge and promote love.  

Wow. Just wow. I honestly would give a complaint to not only the store manager, but at corporate as well. And I would provide names--this is seriously unacceptable. They should not be in any type of customer service job if they can't serve everyone with respect--they can think what they want, but they shouldn't treat someone like that while at their job. 
I wouldn't want them to be doxed but they either need to be reprimanded or fired. 

I'd like to share an experience about "commercial racism".
DESCRIPTION: We know about violent racism.  We also know about stereotypes.  We know about ethnic jokes.  And we know about those individuals who, well... bless their hearts... just don't know how racist they sound when they say or do certain things.
COMMERCIAL RACISM is what I'm calling those things that people do in commerce/business/employment, etc based on race.
While I've experienced this before, there was always some shame in it.  They always hid it in such a way that there was a small (sometimes tiny) level of plausible deniability.  Yesterday, I came across blatant, open, admitted commercial racism.
I have a Sam's Club membership.  As such I have a credit card that provides a lot of cash back.  Every April/May I cash in (that's the cycle I'm in).
I went to the club  to get a few things.  I went to a checkout line that had the "open" sign on.  I began to unload when the checkout lady (let's call her Shayna) said that she was closed.  She was just standing there doing nothing.  Just waiting for... something.  Then as I moved away another woman came with her cart and began to unload.  Shayna began to help her unload and started checking her stuff.
I waited in another line and checked my stuff out there.  I asked about cashback.  They said that I could cash out at the membership desk.  Once all loaded up in the car, I went to the membership desk and asked for my cashback.  The lady there said that she couldn't do it at the membership desk. I told her what the checkout lady said.  She told me that I'd been misinformed.  I needed to go back to the checkout area and speak to someone in a green vest (one of the supervisors).
I found that Shayna had a green vest.  So, I began waiting at her line.  When she was all out of customers, I asked her about he cashback.  She said that she was not going to help me.  Then she proceeded to wave someone else forward to unload.  I asked her why she told me she was closed earlier.
She said, "I don't want to serve you people.  You're the reason we've got COVID."
"I'm actually Korean, not Chinese." (in some half-effort to appeal to her).
"Same difference."
She then began to ignore me and got the next person to unload.
Just then I noticed that another green vest came by.  I spoke with him.  He said that it is taken care of at the membership desk.  I rebutted.  He took me there personally.  The lady then looked at me with some disgust and went through the motions.  I got all my money.  She didn't need any instruction from the green vest.  She knew exactly how to do it.
After it was all done, she walked briskly away from me and began a conversation with another worker until I left.  As I was far away, I noticed she came right back her station again.  No customer.  Just the lack of "me".

29  Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
30  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
(New Testament | Matthew 11:29 - 30)
Last night I was asked to give a sacrament talk in two weeks on Matthew 11:30. While thinking about it this morning, I came across a possible difficulty. At the moment, I would find it difficult to agree with the proposition that “my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” When Christ says “my yoke is easy” I’m interpreting this to mean Him saying that living the gospel is easy, or keeping the commandments I have given you is easy. It must be true because Jesus said it, but at the moment, I don’t understand how it is true. I, and probably many others, find that there are times when it living the gospel is not at all easy and that it requires real work and effort. If it was easy, it would not be a growth promoting gospel. I see a major disconnect between what Christ said – “my yoke is easy” and the lived experience of many, many people and I’m not sure how to reconcile this lived experience with what Christ said. For me to feel comfortable giving a talk on this topic, I would either need to find a way to reconcile these two positions, or find a way to give this talk without committing myself to either positions, and of those two possibilities, the former is far more preferable. I acknowledge that living the gospel gets easier the longer we have been in the yoke, but I think that for some people, maybe for all people, there are aspects of the gospel that will always require work and effort and that never really become easy.
So I guess my main question is how do I reconcile Christ’s teachings that his yoke is easy with the lived experience of many people that it is hard?
 

Right. 
 
As a child we tend to think there are good and bad choices, and there are. 
 
You grow up a lot when you realize that in some circumstances, there are bad, and very bad choices, and you are forced to make one of them. 

I think that in all cases, a dead person is reunited with far more family members than they ever leave behind when they die. From one perspective, it could perhaps be said that grief is rather selfish - it focuses on the loss and sadness felt by the griever, rather than being thankful for the improvement in the condition of person that often comes about as a result of their death.

Well on the one hand, by not allowing Australian citizens in India to return to Australia, the government is protecting Australians in Australia, as the figures are clear that when flights from India were arriving here, the passengers were testing positive at a much higher rate than flights from other countries. On the other hand, by not allowing Australians to return, they are being left unprotected in a country with enormously high infection rates and an extremely limited capacity to care for infected people. 

The response from the legal and human rights fraternities and from the Indian community has forced the government to backtrack. The Prime Minister has recently said that no one would ever be punished to the full extent allowable by this law and that the ban would almost certainly not be extended beyond the two weeks that have been announced.

During the height of Covid-19 a similar item occurred in the US, though I understand it was not as strictly enforced.  I had thought to go to Utah to visit some family during the time when it appeared that Covid-19 was on the downward slope but found out that Utah and many other states had a ban on others entering the state at the time or travel through their states.  I think it was that if you entered in the states from another (and this was from travel within the United States, not just travel from a foreign nation) you would have to quarantine for 2 weeks. 
Currently, the US also has had a ban from some nations where you cannot enter the US if you have a positive Covid-19 Test...citizen or not.  There were stories of the US citizens that were kept in Mexico for almost two weeks or more because of a positive test from Covid-19.  I think that applies to any nation out there with people trying to enter the US.  I had a friend who travelled overseas recently who got vaccinated and took precautions, but still prepared just in case they were barred from entering the US due to Covid-19.
I do not know the fine or what the punishment is if you defy the US ban.  I have not heard much outcry from the public on this, but I have heard some concerns about it from those who travel.  I am gearing up for my annual research travel and it has me concerned, though I have all the papers in order to actually do research this summer.  It is somewhat talked about to various degrees for and against it by those in the community who travel, I haven't heard a ton about it from the general public though.
It may not be as extreme as the Australian ban but it is similar and done for a similar reason I suppose. 

The talk won't be until May 16. I hope to start writing down a few rough thoughts today. I'm starting to think that the answer to my question might lie somewhere in the idea that the Saviour's yoke is indeed relatively easy compared to the adversary's yoke. 

The thoughts that came to my mind:
The yoke of keeping the Word of Wisdom is easy compared to the burden of addiction, cost to support the bad habit/s, withdrawal, staying clean, etc.
The yoke of doing family history work is easy compared to the blessings you get in return = light burden.
The yoke of emergency prep is easy when you consider the peace of mind you have. Being unprepared for what is to come is the heavy burden!
Regarding your statement that the gospel is hard to live - it's harder for those who look at it that way. Maybe Christ saying this is to help us look at things differently since the world/Satan would have you believe otherwise. Also, growth doesn't always have to come from hard work/experiences. There is also growth when you say 'no' to things (ie gambling, tattoos...) and live with integrity and a clear conscience.
Hope this helps a bit and that your talk goes well.

I think there are many facets to this verse, as there seems to be with much of the teachings of Jesus. I like clwnuke's interpretation relating to the atonement. I also think that the term "easy" is relative. This promise is being made to those who "labour, and are heavy laden" so Christ's yoke will feel significantly lighter than what we would labor under otherwise. And it still is a yoke and there still is a burden to be borne so it's not a removal of work or responsibility just not the kind that will weigh us down like sin does. Kind of like the Sabbath being a day of "rest" when it can be filled with so much spiritual work. There's also the promise that "who the Lord calls the Lord qualifies." I think in many instances it is not the work that is lightened but rather it is our strength and ability that has increased that makes the work easy and light. 

My wife and I cringe every time we hear someone at church say "Jesus never said it would be easy, he just said it would be worth it."  because (as far as we know) he never said that.  
A yoke, is was a piece of wood that is fastened to the necks of two animals and then attached to a plow or cart.  It is not the burden itself.  It is the method of uniting two animals together.  
In addiction recovery, we often say "One day at a time."  When I first started, my wife was often upset that I couldn't/wouldn't promise to be clean the rest of my life.  I could promise that today, I will be good.  I start my mornings dedicating the day to the Lord and asking for His guidance and help.  Every morning, I yoke myself with Him and it's easy to do.  There may be difficulties and at times I want to fight or pull away, but when I tie myself to Him, it works out.  

Simple:
If the President/Congress are of your political party, they're only doing it to protect the rest of the population. If the President/Congress are of the opposing political party, they're obviously bringing down the yoke of oppression upon us to lead us into a dictatorship.

After many years of pondering I've come to believe that Christ's yoke was His Atonement. It was something only He could do. Hence, I interpret this verse to mean that if I will take His Atonement upon myself (i.e. change and seek forgiveness), and learn of His love for me, that I will indeed find rest for my soul. And I have, many times. He freely forgives, so His yoke and burden have been easy and light for me. 
Along your thought-line above, I would say that in my life things have been far easier when I have kept the commandments without hesitation or concern, than when I did not. Life is hard. But when I have striven to faithfully follow the Lord's plan for me, those difficulties have seemed to melt away as either unimportant or unworthy of more of my time and concern.
Good luck on your talk!
 

This is a suggestion for a new feature to be added to Third Hour. The suggestion is that a space be created where people can upload their lesson notes, or maybe even talks, and people can then view and download that material. The notes could be sorted by topic and when a forum member has a talk or lesson to prepare, the material that has been uploaded could be a resource that they could use to assist them in their preparation. How much interest is there in this idea, does something similar already exist, and if this did become a new feature on Third Hour, how likely is it that you would use it?

I just realized my explanation was incomplete.
The person voiced in the video from the Church website seemed to be saying that he still has the desires and impulses.  But he's been able to control it.  So, as far as is practical, it is exactly the same.
Yes, that is what I was getting at when I postulated that even if having the trait itself is not exactly a sin, it is still a trait that has a tremendous propensity towards sinful behavior.  So, we need to do everything we can to get rid of it.
When it comes to sin, the idea is that we would NEVER purposefully get closer to the edge of the cliff.  If we're forced there, or if there is somehow a lesser of two evils situation, I guess I could see it.  But I would never see it as a positive thing.

Just musing here, but what makes you think one of you isn't right? Can't both of you have correct assumptions about the situation? Perhaps you both have false narratives in your thinking as well. We are all of course human. As divided as managing this issue is, it is important to try and stay on the Lord's side as His is the one that really matters. 
His definition of marriage is the union of man and woman. Anything else is not recognized by Him, and will not bring lasting happiness. Same sex attraction is nothing more than a temptation to sin. It is never a virtue or a good thing, and has never been the means of bringing anything good into the world...only more anger, confusion, division, and frustration.
Others have temptations to steal, lie, abuse drugs, etc... These are all widely condemmed...so why are some trying to give gayness a pass? The adversary is having so much success confusing kids with it; telling them that acceptance is love, and that if we don't accept them we are judging in a way the Savior told us not to. he is expert in distorting truth.
It is possible that this sister just included her remarks off the cuff, and the RS pres were taken off guard. Unlikey, but possible. I do not like what was said, but will not condem the RS pres as they are more in the loop then I.
It is also possible that the church knows what they are doing, and are trying to keep those struggling with this issue involved with the church. There aren't many better places those people could be. I know several parents who have children struggling with this issue, and who pray so earnestly that their children won't leave the church...that someone else will help them stay active. Sadly, most of them have left the church. Their reasons are weak and immature at best, but I am also not in their shoes, and do not know the struggle with that particular temptation. The Lord knows though, and He can help them overcome their weaknesses if they choose Him over indulgence.
Unfortunately, for a myriad of reasons, the current young generarion just doesn't think or communicate in the same way as older ones. Sin is still sin though, and as accepting and understanding as the church tries to be, worthiness and chastity standards will not change. We are all learning and should do our best to help eachother along.