LDS Place

“With all the differences in our lives, we have at least one challenge in common. We all must deal with adversity. . . . It is in the nature of our being human that comfort gives way to distress, periods of good health come to an end, and misfortunes arrive. . . . The arrival of suffering or the loss of material security can bring fear and sometimes even anger. . . .

“The very opportunity for us to face adversity and affliction is part of the evidence of [Heavenly Father and the Savior’s] infinite love. God gave us the gift of living in mortality so that we could be prepared to receive the greatest of all the gifts of God, which is eternal life.”

Henry B. Eyring

“I witnessed how [a] faithful family dealt with great adversity. Several members of the Quero family had died in a terrible car accident. Brother Abraham Quero lost his parents, two sisters, his brother-in-law and his niece in that accident. Brother Quero showed an admirable attitude when he said the following: ‘This was the time to show loyalty to God and to acknowledge that we depend on Him, that His will must be obeyed, and that we are subject to Him.’ ”

Rafael E. Pino

“No one wants adversity. Trials, disappointments, sadness, and heartache come to us from two basically different sources. Those who transgress the laws of God will always have those challenges. The other reason for adversity is to accomplish the Lord’s own purposes in our life that we may receive the refinement that comes from testing. It is vitally important for each of us to identify from which of these two sources come our trials and challenges, for the corrective action is very different.”

Richard G. Scott

“There are cycles of good and bad times, ups and downs, periods of joy and sadness, and times of plenty as well as scarcity. When our lives turn in an unanticipated and undesirable direction, sometimes we experience stress and anxiety. One of the challenges of this mortal experience is to not allow the stresses and strains of life to get the better of us—to endure the varied seasons of life while remaining positive, even optimistic. Perhaps when difficulties and challenges strike, we should have these hopeful words of Robert Browning etched in our minds: ‘The best is yet to be’ (“Rabbi Ben Ezra,” in Charles W. Eliot, ed., The Harvard Classics, 50 vols. [1909–10], 42:1103).”

L. Tom Perry

“No matter the burdens we face in life as a consequence of natural conditions, the misconduct of others, or our own mistakes and shortcomings, we are all children of a loving Heavenly Father, who sent us to earth as part of His eternal plan for our growth and progress. Our unique individual experiences can help us prepare to return to Him. The adversity and afflictions that are ours, however difficult to bear, last, from heaven’s perspective, for ‘but a small moment; and then, if [we] endure it well, God shall exalt [us] on high.’ We must do everything we can to bear our burdens “well” for however long our ‘small moment’ carrying them lasts.”

L. Whitney Clayton

7 My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment;

“Discipleship does not guarantee freedom from the storms of life. Even as we are wending our way carefully and faithfully along the strait and narrow path, we encounter obstacle and challenge. There are days, perhaps even months and years, when life is just hard. We experience our fair share of adversity, heartache, loneliness, pain, grief–sometimes; it seems more than our fair share.

“What to do when adversity strikes? There is only one thing to do. Stand steady and see it through. Stay steadfast, constant, and true. The real tragedy in the whirlwinds of life comes only when we allow them to blow us off our true course.”

David S. Baxter

“At times we may despair that our burdens are too great. When it seems that a tempest is raging in our lives, we may feel abandoned and cry out like the disciples in the storm, ‘Master, carest thou not that we perish?’ (Mark 4:38). At such times we should remember His reply: ‘Why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith?’ (v. 40).

“The healing power of the Lord Jesus Christ–whether it removes our burdens or strengthens us to endure and live with them like the Apostle Paul–is available for every affliction in mortality.”

Dallin H. Oaks

“Above and beyond the epic historical events . . . , the pioneers found a guide to personal living. They found reality and meaning in their lives. In the difficult days of their journey, the members of the Martin and Willie handcart companies encountered some apostates from the Church who were returning from the West, going back to the East. These apostates tried to persuade some in the companies to turn back. A few did turn back. But the great majority of the pioneers went forward to a heroic achievement in this life, and to eternal life in the life hereafter. Francis Webster, a member of the Martin Company, stated, ‘Everyone of us came through with the absolute knowledge that God lives for we became acquainted with him in our extremities.’ (David O. McKay, “Pioneer Women,” Relief Society Magazine, Jan. 1948, p. 8.) I hope that this priceless legacy of faith left by the pioneers will inspire all of us to more fully participate in the Savior’s work of bringing to pass the immortality and eternal life of his children.”

James E. Faust

“In order to bestow His blessings on His children in a just and equitable manner, the Lord has instituted laws that govern those blessings that He wants all of us to enjoy. He has revealed this principle of laws to His prophet of the Restoration: ‘There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated–and when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated’ (D&C 130:20-21). And again: ‘I, the Lord, am bound when ye do what I say; but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise’ (D&C 82:10).

“The Lord knew from the beginning that we, His children, would be faced with temporal and spiritual adversities during this mortal life. Indeed, these adversities are a vital part of this mortal probation. He knew that we would stand in need of His blessings throughout our lives in order to not only survive our individual trials, but also to enjoy a degree of comfort and even prosperity.

“Thus the law of tithing, which was instituted from the beginning.”

Daniel L. Johnson