President Henry B. Eyring had this to say during the April 2012 General Conference:
"Many of you are now passing through physical, mental, and emotional trials that could cause you to cry out, 'When I have tried all my life to be good, why has this happened to me?”'
"You know how the Lord answered that question for the Prophet Joseph Smith in his prison cell:
"'And
if thou shouldst be cast into the pit, or into the hands of murderers,
and the sentence of death passed upon thee; if thou be cast into the
deep; if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if fierce winds
become thine enemy; if the heavens gather blackness, and all the
elements combine to hedge up the way; and above all, if the very jaws of
hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that
all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good.
“'The Son of Man hath descended below them all. Art thou greater than he?
“'Therefore, hold on thy way, and the priesthood shall remain with thee; for their bounds are set, they cannot pass. Thy days are known, and thy years shall not be numbered less; therefore, fear not what man can do, for God shall be with you forever and ever.'
"There seems to me no better answer to the question of why trials come and what we are to do than the words of the Lord Himself, who passed through trials for us more terrible than we can imagine.
"You and I have faith that the way to rise through and above trials is to believe that there is a 'balm in Gilead' and that the Lord has promised, 'I will not … forsake thee.' That is what President Thomas S. Monson has taught us to help us and those we serve in what seem lonely and overwhelming trials.
"But President Monson has also wisely taught that a foundation of faith in the reality of those promises takes time to build. You may have seen the need for that foundation, as I have, at the bedside of someone ready to give up the fight to endure to the end. If the foundation of faith is not embedded in our hearts, the power to endure will crumble.
"Now, I wish to encourage those who are in the midst of hard trials, who feel their faith may be fading under the onslaught of troubles. Trouble itself can be your way to strengthen and finally gain unshakable faith. Moroni, the son of Mormon in the Book of Mormon, told us how that blessing could come to pass. He teaches the simple and sweet truth that acting on even a twig of faith allows God to grow it
"That particle of faith most precious and which you should protect and use to whatever extent you can is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Moroni taught the power of that faith this way: 'And neither at any time hath any wrought miracles until after their faith; wherefore they first believed in the Son of God.'
"If we have faith in Jesus Christ, the hardest as well as the easiest times in life can be a blessing. In all conditions, we can choose the right with the guidance of the Spirit. We have the gospel of Jesus Christ to shape and guide our lives if we choose it. And with prophets revealing to us our place in the plan of salvation, we can live with perfect hope and a feeling of peace. We never need to feel that we are alone or unloved in the Lord’s service because we never are. We can feel the love of God. The Savior has promised angels on our left and our right to bear us up. And He always keeps His word."
Source:
Eyring, H. B. (2012) "Mountains to Climb". Conference Report, April 2012. Accessed at http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2012/04/mountains-to-climb?lang=eng March 19, 2013.
Watch full address here:
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