Biking Through Life

If I were to ask you to think of a Mormon missionary, among your first thoughts would probably involve a bike of some sort. And you would be right -- we do a lot of biking out in the field, and thus we have a lot of time to think while biking up and down the numerous hills that cover the beautiful landscape. Usually it involves thinking about how many more miles we have to go, if the sun will ever let up, or what on earth was going through the head of that driver that just about drove us off the road, but occasionally we are able to give some good thought to matters of a little more weight.

One time, my companion and I were biking through the backstreets of Durham, NC. He was taking the lead up a particular hill, and I was behind. I realized that as I followed closer, the easier the biking became, and the farther back I fell, the more difficult it became for me to keep up the pace and the more tired I became.

That day, a connection to the gospel came to me as I was riding up that hill. I saw that my companion, who was taking the lead, could be a type of Christ and I could represent myself, or any one of us biking up our "road of life."

If, and when, we do fall behind life will most definitely become more and more difficult and dark the further and further we become from Christ, the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2), all is not lost. You may feel alone. You will probably feel unhappy. I sure did when biking up some hills. The great thing is that we are never alone. That may sound like a very cliche statement, and it is used a lot. that is because it is true.

I am reminded of a talk called, "None Were With  Him," by Elder Jeffery R.  Holland of the Quorum of  the 12 Apostles. He does very well at describing  the  sacrifice of Jesus Christ- a sacrifice of much  more weight than a couple mile  bike ride up a windy  road.
 It is because of that  sacrifice that we can become  whole. It is because of that sacrifice that we can  endure to the finish line.
 How was this possible? why did he "go forth,  suffering pains and afflictions and  temptations of  every kind?"(Alma 7:11) That was something that  has always  been a struggle for me- What would  cause someone go up every path, up every  climb, and out of every pit that we place ourselves in just to help us? What  possibly could cause the only perfect person to live to go through so much pain  for me?

Quite simply it was because he loves us.


I'm still working on figuring out what entirely means, and I'm sure it's going to take all of us a lifetime to discover. But what is more fun than a problem to be solved or a question to be answered? Let's see how much we can help each other on this search for happiness!