Not Evidence That the Lord Has Abandoned You

 

“Brothers and sisters, your proving and strengthening may not look like Moroni’s or Jacob’s or the Prophet Joseph’s. But it will come. It may come quietly, through the trials of family life. It may come through illness or disappointment or grief or loneliness.

“I bear witness that these moments are not evidence that the Lord has abandoned you. Rather, they are evidence that He loves you enough to refine and strengthen you. He is making you strong enough to carry the weight of eternal life.”

President Henry B. Eyring “Proved and Strengthened in Christ,” general conference, Oct. 2025, Gospel Library

The Answer is Always Jesus

" Jesus is the Answer"

By Kevin R. Duncan (BS ’91, MACC ’91, JD ’91) in the Spring 2025 issue, BYU Magazine

Have ye any that are sick among you . . . or that are afflicted in any manner? Bring them hither and I will heal them. [3 Ne. 17:7; emphasis added]...

 The Church isn’t a showroom for the perfect. It’s a hospital for the spiritually weary, for the lonely, and for anyone who feels like they don’t belong—which I now realize is just about everyone at some point in their life....

My friends, your challenges might not look like mine did, but the answer is always the same: the answer is Jesus Christ. Every challenge you will face is an opportunity to draw closer to the Savior and see Him perform miracles in your life....

Brothers and sisters, the Savior’s tender invitation echoes through the ages: “Have ye any that are sick among you . . . or that are afflicted in any manner? Bring them hither and I will heal them.”

His power to heal extends far beyond physical ailments; it reaches into the depths of our hearts, restoring hope, peace, and strength.

The Lord Proves Us to Strengthen Us

 

“The Lord proves us ... to strengthen us. That proving does not come in moments of ease or comfort. It comes in moments when we feel stretched beyond what we thought we could bear. The Lord teaches that we are to continue to grow and never tire in our efforts, that we never give up, that we keep trying.”

Henry B. Eyring “Proved and Strengthened in Christ,” general conference, Oct. 2025, Gospel Library

To Prove Something Means to Increase its Strength

 

Proved and Strengthened in Christ

By Elder Henry B. Eyring

The word prove has several meanings. To prove something is not simply to test it. It is to increase its strength. To prove a piece of steel is to place it under strain. Heat, weight, and pressure are added until its true nature is enhanced and revealed. The steel is not weakened by the proving. In fact, it becomes something that can be trusted, something strong enough to bear greater burdens.

The Lord proves us in much the same way to strengthen us. That proving does not come in moments of ease or comfort. It comes in moments when we feel stretched beyond what we thought we could bear. The Lord teaches that we are to continue to grow and never tire in our efforts, that we never give up, that we keep trying....

Brothers and sisters, your proving and strengthening may not look like Moroni’s or Jacob’s or the Prophet Joseph’s. But it will come. It may come quietly, through the trials of family life. It may come through illness or disappointment or grief or loneliness.

I am the gardener here

 Elder Hugh B. Brown of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (1883–1975) once shared such a lesson he learned while pruning a currant bush on a farm in Canada.

As he went about cleaning up and repairing his property, he came across a currant bush that had grown over six feet high and was yielding no berries. Therefore, he pruned it back drastically, leaving only small, teardrop-shaped stumps. The sight made it appear as if the currant bush were crying, and Elder Brown thought he heard the bush say:

“‘How could you do this to me? I was making such wonderful growth. … And now you have cut me down. … I thought you were the gardener here.’”

Elder Brown replied, “‘Look, little currant bush, I am the gardener here, and I know what I want you to be. If I let you go the way you want to go, you will never amount to anything. But someday, when you are laden with fruit, you are going to think back and say, “Thank you, Mr. Gardener, for cutting me down, for loving me enough to hurt me.”’”

Hugh B. Brown, “God is the Gardener” (Brigham Young University commencement, May 31, 1968), 6, speeches.byu.edu.

1836 Temple Dedication to 1837 Trials

 

The Blessings of 1836 and the Difficulties of 1837

By Matthew J. Grow

Church History Department

The Lessons of 1836–37

Why remember the tragedy of 1837 and not just the triumph of 1836? Because, of course, the two can never be separated. It is such in our own lives. God grants all of us periods of spiritual blessings, times when He speaks to our souls and leads us by the hand along the covenant path. He grants us periods of stability, times in which we have enough and to spare, times in which our families are healthy and happy, times in which our friends are close at hand and commune with us. We all live through times that are like 1836.

But God never promised that we would only experience 1836. For each of us, 1837 comes. It comes with economic instability, when we worry about where money will come from. It comes with personal instability, when our families suffer from sudden illnesses, chronic diseases, depression, or anxiety. It comes with social instability, when our friends drift away or betray us.

If we don’t remember our own 1836 experiences—our own times in which we have felt the Lord’s hands in our lives—1837 might bring spiritual instability. It can tempt us to say, “This isn’t worth it.” It can tempt us to say, “God doesn’t love me.” It can tempt us to say, “Joseph Smith wasn’t a prophet” or “President Nelson isn’t a prophet of God.” It can tempt us to say, “The covenant path is not for me.”

But if we do the spiritual work of remembering and dwelling spiritually in 1836 even as we experience the trials of 1837, we can still be grounded in our faith in Jesus Christ, we can still know that God loves us, and we can still know that the Restoration of the gospel and Church of Jesus Christ is real and that the Lord leads His Church through His chosen servants.

We Should Not Be Surprised When Hard Times Come Upon Us

 

Mortality Works!

By Elder Brook P. Hales

Of the Seventy

Nonetheless, if we are to be the beneficiaries of the Lord’s “work and … glory,” even “immortality and eternal life,” we must expect to be schooled and taught and to pass through the refiner’s fire—sometimes to our utter limits. To completely avoid the problems, challenges, and difficulties of this world would be to sidestep the process that is truly necessary for mortality to work.

And so we should not be surprised when hard times come upon us. We will encounter situations that try us and people who enable us to practice true charity and patience....

When we feel distraught or anxious about our problems or feel that we might be receiving more than our fair share of life’s difficulties, we can remember what the Lord said to the children of Israel:

“And thou shalt remember all the way[s] which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what [is] in thine heart, whether thou [would] keep his commandments, or no.”

As Lehi taught his son Jacob:

“Thou hast suffered afflictions and much sorrow. … Nevertheless, … [God] shall consecrate thine afflictions for thy gain. … Wherefore, I know that thou art redeemed, because of the righteousness of thy Redeemer.”...

Nevertheless, I bear personal witness that the Lord can strengthen us and bear us up in whatever difficulties we are called upon to experience during our sojourn in this vale of tears....

We don’t know what Paul’s “thorn in the flesh” was. He chose not to describe whether it was a physical ailment, a mental or emotional infirmity, or a temptation. But we don’t need to know that detail to know that he struggled and pleaded with the Lord for help and that, ultimately, the Lord’s strength and power are what helped him through it.

Like it was for Paul, it was through the Lord’s help that I was eventually strengthened emotionally and spiritually and finally recognized after many years that I have always been a person of worth and worthy of the blessings of the gospel. The Savior helped me to overcome my feelings of unworthiness and to extend sincere forgiveness to the offender. I finally understood that the Savior’s Atonement was a personal gift for me and that my Heavenly Father and His Son love me perfectly. Because of the Savior’s Atonement, mortality works.

Let Christ Author Your Story

 

Invite Christ to Author Your Story

By Camille N. Johnson

Primary General President

• What kind of personal narrative are you writing for your life?

• Is the path you describe in your story straight?

• Does your story end where it began, at your heavenly home?

• Is there an exemplar in your story—and is it the Savior Jesus Christ?

I testify that the Savior is “the author and finisher of our faith.”¹ Will you invite Him to be the author and finisher of your story?...

Frankly, few of us would probably write into our stories the trials that refine us. But don’t we love the glorious culmination of a story we read when the protagonist overcomes the struggle? Trials are the elements of the plot that make our favorite stories compelling, timeless, faith promoting, and worthy of telling. The beautiful struggles written into our stories are what draw us closer to the Savior and refine us, making us more like Him....

In April 2021, our prophet, President Russell M. Nelson, asked us to consider what we could do if we had more faith in Jesus Christ. With more faith in Jesus Christ, we could ask a question to which we do not know the answer—ask our Father in Heaven, in the name of Jesus Christ, to send an answer through the Holy Ghost, who testifies of truth. If we had more faith, we would ask the question and then be willing to accept the answer we receive, even if it doesn’t fit our comfortable narrative. And the promised blessing that will come from acting in faith in Jesus Christ is an increase in faith in Him as our author and finisher. President Nelson declared that we “receive more faith by doing something that requires more faith.”

How Do You React to Your Afflictions?

 

Favored of the Lord in All My Days

By Elder Moisés Villanueva

Of the Seventy

"My dear brothers and sisters, how do we react to our afflictions? Do we murmur before the Lord because of them? Or, like Nephi and my former missionary friend, do we feel thankful in word, thought, and deed because we are more focused on our blessings than on our problems?...

Jesus Christ showed us that during times of trial and adversity, we can recognize the difficulties of others. Moved with compassion, we can reach out and lift them. And as we do so, we are also lifted by our Christlike service."

........................

Aang not wanting us there on Christmas 2023 :(

Guaranteed Sucess

 

Focus on Jesus Christ and His Gospel

By Elder I. Raymond Egbo

Of the Seventy

...when we ignore the distractions of the world and focus on Christ and His gospel, we are guaranteed success beyond what we can fully imagine and can feel great joy....

Even severe trials can be “swallowed up in the joy of Christ.”

Living in Convenience Does Not Bring Power

 

Wholehearted

By Sister Michelle D. Craig

First Counselor in the Young Women General Presidency

I am learning that Heavenly Father is more interested in my growth as a disciple of Jesus Christ than He is with my comfort. I may not always want it to be that way—but it is!

Living in convenience does not bring power. The power we need to withstand the heat of our day is the Lord’s power, and His power flows through our covenants with Him.⁸ To lean in with our faith when facing strong headwinds—to sincerely strive each day to do what we covenanted with the Savior we would do, even and especially when we are tired, worried, and wrestling with troubling questions and issues—is to gradually receive His light, His strength, His love, His Spirit, His peace....

As disciples of Jesus Christ, we understand that faith in Him requires action—especially in hard times.⁹

Many years ago, my parents decided to recarpet the house. The night before the new carpet arrived, my mom asked my brothers to remove furniture and rip out bedroom carpets so the new carpet could be installed. My then seven-year-old sister, Emily, was already asleep. So, while she slept, they quietly removed all the furniture from her room, except the bed, and then tore out the carpet. Well, like older brothers sometimes do, they decided to pull a prank. They removed the rest of her belongings from the closet and off the walls, leaving the room bare. Then they wrote a note and tacked it to the wall: “Dear Emily, we moved. We’ll write in a few days and tell you where we are. Love, your family.”

The next morning when Emily did not come for breakfast, my brothers went to find her—there she was, sad and alone behind a closed door. Emily reflected on this experience later: “I was crushed. But what would have happened if I had just opened the door? What would I have heard? What would I have smelled? I would have known I was not alone. I would have known I really was loved. The thought never even crossed my mind to do something about my situation. I just gave up and stayed in my closet crying. And yet if I had simply opened the door.”¹⁰

My sister made an assumption based on what she saw, but it wasn’t a reflection of the way things actually were. Isn’t it interesting that we, like Emily, can become so weighed down in sadness or hurt or discouragement or worry or loneliness or anger or frustration that it doesn’t even occur to us to simply do something, to open the door, to act with faith in Jesus Christ?...

When hard times come, I try to remember that I chose to follow Christ before I came to earth and that challenges to my faith, my health, and my endurance are all part of the reason I’m here. And I certainly should never think that today’s trial calls into question God’s love for me or let it turn my faith in Him into doubt. Trials do not mean that the plan is failing; they are part of the plan meant to help me seek God. I become more like Him when I endure patiently, and hopefully, like Him, when in agony, I pray more earnestly.