When Evil Increases, So Does God’s Help

pink and purple sunset

The more darkness grows, the more God will help us if we rely on him.  It’s not easy to be a person of faith in our day, let alone to be a faithful Latter-day Saint. With the moral decline of society and the growing opposition against religion, it is easy… Continue reading

Applying the Savior’s Atonement to My Own Life

Hand in the dark.

I realized that I had been so focused on working to take the gospel to other people that I had forgotten to let the gospel work in me. Early in my mission to Tennessee, my companion shared with me part of Sister Linda K. Burton’s address from the October 2012 General… Continue reading

How Burdens Can Become Blessings

an image of a man kneeling down with a dog in his lap

Through faith and patience, we can learn how the burdens of today can become the blessings of tomorrow. Experiencing an overload? Obligations, illnesses, decisions—each of us carries a load. Sometimes our loads seemingly become too heavy to bear. But Elder L. Whitney Clayton shows us that our burdens don’t have to… Continue reading

In My Afflictions: Missionary Trainer for Two

an image of a view of a city from a high angle

After spending weeks as a missionary punching bag, I stopped fighting and got down on my knees to call for backup. I bit back my words as the three of us walked to our apartment. The tension between us was palpable and strangled any patience I still maintained. I was… Continue reading

Embracing Our Forever Trials

Sun shining through a hole in a dried leaf.

There are some trials that you just can’t shake—no matter how much you’ve healed, they’ll be with you for the rest of your life. And that’s okay. One day you wake up and your whole life is different. Maybe you’ve lost a loved one. Maybe you’ve suffered from an accident,… Continue reading

How Jacob 5 Helped Me Cope with Sickness and Grief

Trees in field

Jacob 5 isn’t just a story about some olive trees and a few blue-collar workers; it’s a testament that Christ loves each one of us and that he, the Lord of all, rejoices and weeps with us through our mortal experience. In October 2018, I was diagnosed with a lifelong… Continue reading

You Can Find Peace amid Mental Health Trials

Man sitting at a table covering his face with his hand

God cares about our mental health, and he hopes that through these trials we will choose to lean on him and trust in his healing process. Facing unrelenting fear can be destructive. When I was diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder, I experienced days where I couldn’t function emotionally or physically.… Continue reading

Turning Trials into Opportunities

an image of a group of white flowers growing out of a pile of rocks

We cannot learn by study alone. We must also learn through experience and action. Chronic illness. Natural disasters. Premature death. Many trials surface in our lives, often seeming random, with no one to blame for their appearance. It’s easy to ask, “Why? Why do good people suffer such hardships?” In… Continue reading

When It Doesn’t Get Easier

an image of a woman looking out a window on a train

When the unrelenting trials in my life were threatening to tear me down, I was reminded by a general conference talk that “hard is good.” By the time the weekend of the October 2017 general conference arrived, I was completely overwhelmed. I felt like I had thirty-five hours of work… Continue reading

I Shall Come Forth as Gold

an image of a tall building with a triangular roof and a sky background

Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, we can rise from our trials to become stronger and more capable. The fire was roaring, engulfing not only the plane and its passengers but also the life that Stephanie Nielson once knew. Whether or not our trials arrive in the form of… Continue reading