When we go to our Father in Heaven in prayer to tell Him about our hard times, we may receive comfort and assurance.

Without opposition we could do no good.

Trials are natural. Some trials are tailored for our own growth and development.

The incident I just recounted, while a difficult travel situation, was brief, and there were no lasting consequences. However, many of the trials and hardships we encounter in life are severe and appear to have lasting consequences. Each of us will experience some of these during the vicissitudes of life.

Elder Harold B. Lee taught, “Sometimes the things that are best for us and the things that bring eternal rewards seem at the moment to be the most bitter, and the things forbidden are ofttimes the things which seem to be the more desirable.” (Harold B. Lee, The Fall of Man (address delivered at a meeting for seminary and institute teachers, June 23, 1954).)

Elder Neal A. Maxwell explained, “The sharp, side-by-side contrast of the sweet and the bitter is essential until the very end of this brief, mortal experience.” (Neal A. Maxwell, “Enduring Well,” Ensign, Apr. 1997, 7.)

Sister Whitney’s words resonate with an idealistic optimism. Sister Bathsheba Smith’s recorded feelings are also full of faith but evidence some trepidation. . . Both of these LDS pioneer women remained strong in the gospel throughout their lives and provided wonderful service in building Zion, but they faced many additional trials and hardships, which they both faithfully endured.

The challenges we face today are in their own way comparable to challenges of the past. . . We know from the scriptures that some trials are for our good and are suited for our own personal development. We also know that the rain falls on the just and the unjust. It is also true that every cloud we see doesn’t result in rain. Regardless of the challenges, trials, and hardships we endure, the reassuring doctrine of the Atonement wrought by Jesus Christ includes Alma’s teaching that the Savior would take upon Him our infirmities and “succor his people according to their infirmities.”

The scriptures and modern prophets have made it clear that there will be lean years and plentiful years. The Lord expects us to be prepared for many of the challenges that come. He proclaims, “If ye are prepared ye shall not fear.” Part of the trauma I experienced crossing the Sierras in that blizzard many years ago occurred because I was not prepared for this sudden, unexpected event. One of the great blessings of the scriptures is that they warn us of challenges that are unexpected but often occur. We would do well to be prepared for them. One form of preparation is to keep the commandments.

I was so centered on my grief and pain that I had not even thought about the young man and his family.

Sister Yates says, “When times become too hard to bear, I look at this picture and remember that Christ knows me personally. He knows my loneliness and my trials.” . . . She testifies that “there is no grief, no pain, no sickness so great that the Atonement of Christ and the love of Christ cannot heal.” (Ellen Yates, personal account delivered at the Grantsville Utah Stake conference, Saturday evening session, Feb. 16, 2008.)

Instruction:

• The Lord expects us to be prepared for many of the challenges that come.
• One form of preparation is to keep the commandments.
• Find someone who is having a hard time, . . . and do something for them. (Thomas S. Monson, quoted in Gerry Avant, “Prophet’s Birthday: Milestone of 81,” Church News, Aug. 23, 2008, 4.)