Trials

LDS Quotes on Trials

Richard G. Scott Portrait
“Sadness, disappointment, and severe challenge are events in life, not life itself. I do not minimize how hard some of these events are. They can extend over a long period of time, but they should not be allowed to become the confining center of everything you do. The Lord inspired Lehi to declare the fundamental truth, “Men are, that they might have joy.” That is a conditional statement: “they might have joy.” It is not conditional for the Lord. His intent is that each of us finds joy. It will not be conditional for you as you obey the commandments, have faith in the Master, and do the things that are necessary to have joy here on earth.”

Richard G. Scott  |  “Finding Joy in Life,” Ensign, May 1996, p. 24

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“Many years ago this conference heard of a young man who found the restored gospel while he was studying in the United States. As this man was about to return to his native land, President Gordon B. Hinckley asked him what would happen to him when he returned home as a Christian. “My family will be disappointed,” the young man answered. “They may cast me out and regard me as dead. As for my future and my career, all opportunity may be foreclosed against me.”

“Are you willing to pay so great a price for the gospel?” President Hinckley asked.

Tearfully the young man answered, “It’s true, isn’t it?” When that was affirmed, he replied, “Then what else matters?” That is the spirit of sacrifice among many of our new members.”

Elder Dallin H. Oaks  |  “Sacrifice”

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“There is a divine purpose in the adversities we encounter every day. They prepare, they purge, they purify, and thus they bless.”

James E. Faust  |  The Refiner's Fire, Ensign, May 1979, 53

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I don’t think of all the misery, but of the beauty that still remains.

Anne Frank  |  The Diary of a Young Girl

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Thomas S. Monson

“Life is full of difficulties. Some are minor and others are major. There seems to be an unending supply of challenges for one and all. Our problem is that we often expect instantaneous solutions to such challenges, forgetting that frequently the heavenly virtue of patience is required.”

Thomas S. Monson

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Thomas S. Monson

“The Lord will shape the back to bear the burdens placed upon it.”

Thomas S. Monson

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“Adversity should not be viewed as either disfavor from the Lord or a withdrawal of His blessings. Opposition in all things is part of the refiner’s fire to prepare us for an eternal celestial destiny.”

Elder Quentin L. Cook  |  "Foundations of Faith"

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“If God deprives His children of any present blessing, it is so that He may bestow upon them a greater and more glorious one by and by.”

George Q. Cannon

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When personal difficulty, doubt, or discouragement darken our path, or when world conditions beyond our control lead us to wonder about the future, the spiritually defining memories from our book of life are like luminous stones that help brighten the road ahead, assuring us that God knows us, loves us and has sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to help us return home.

Elder Neil L. Andersen  |  Spiritually Defining Memories

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The first principle of the gospel is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Faith means trust – trust in God’s will, trust in His way of doing things, and trust in His timetable. We should not try to impose our timetable on His. . . . Indeed, we cannot have true faith in the Lord without also having complete trust in His will and in His timing. . . .

The Lord’s timing also applies to the important events of our personal lives. A great scripture in the Doctrine and Covenants declares that a particular spiritual experience will come to us “in his own time, and in his own way, and according to his own will” (D&C 88:68). This principle applies to revelation (see Oaks, “Teaching and Learning by the Spirit,” Ensign, March 1997, 11) and to all of the most important events in our lives: birth, marriage, death, and even our moves from place to place. . . .

It is not enough that we are under call, or even that we are going in the right direction. The timing must be right, and if the time is not right, our actions should be adjusted to the Lord’s timetable as revealed by His servants. . . .

Elder Dallin H. Oaks  |  “Timing,” Ensign, October 2003

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