Latter-day Saints are presently living in what President Russell M. Nelson believes is “a most complicated time in the history of the world.”
“The complexities and challenges leave many people feeling overwhelmed and exhausted,” he said in his Sunday morning address during the October 2022 general conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
President Nelson was one of several general conference speakers who discussed the difficult trials of life and how to overcome adversity through faith and reliance on Jesus Christ.
The power of covenants
President Nelson said he grieves for those who feel Church membership requires too much of them and decide to leave because they have not discovered the answer to finding peace.
“They have not yet discovered that making and keeping covenants actually makes life easier,” President Nelson said. “Each person who makes covenants in baptismal fonts and temples — and keeps them — has increased access to the power of Jesus Christ.”
“The reward for keeping covenants with God is heavenly power — power that strengthens us to withstand our trials, temptations, and heartaches better. This power eases our way. Those who live the higher laws of Jesus Christ have access to His higher power,” the Prophet said.
“My plea to you this morning is to find rest from the intensity, uncertainty and anguish of this world by overcoming the world through your covenants with God.”
Leaning on loved ones
The mortal experience was designed to be hard for a good reason, said President Henry B. Eyring, second counselor in the First Presidency.
“As my mother told me when I complained of how hard something was, ‘Oh, Hal, of course it’s hard. It’s supposed to be. Life is a test,’” he said during the Sunday afternoon session.
“Wherever you are on the covenant path, you will find a struggle against the physical trials of mortality and the opposition of Satan.”
Everyone needs to have encouraging examples and loving friends.
“When you sit with someone as their ministering sister or brother, you represent the Lord,” he said. “Think of what He would do or say. He would invite them to come unto Him. He would encourage them. He would notice and praise the beginning of the changes they will need to make. And He would be the perfect example for them to emulate.”
Cost and path of discipleship
In the Sunday morning session, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, said he knows people in and outside the Church who live with or who care for those with severe physical disabilities, those who are fighting mental illness, single adults who yearn to be married with children, people who wrestle with matters related to identity, gender and sexuality, as well as those who live with poverty. The senior apostle said he weeps for them and with them.
This is the cost of discipleship.
“To be a follower of Jesus Christ one must sometimes carry a burden — your own or someone else’s — and go where sacrifice is required and suffering is inevitable,” Elder Holland said. “A true Christian cannot follow the Master only in those matters with which he or she agrees. No. We follow Him everywhere, including, if necessary, into arenas filled with tears and trouble, where sometimes we may stand very much alone.”
Sister Michelle D. Craig, first counselor in the Young Women general presidency, related an 1857 account of pioneer women pulling handcarts “like beasts” across the Nebraska plains, including one that fell in the black mud. How did they keep going amid the many challenges?
“To be such men and women is the call of our day — disciples who dig in and find the strength to keep pulling when called to walk through the wilderness, disciples with convictions that have been revealed to us by God, followers of Jesus who are joyful and wholehearted in our own personal journey of discipleship,” she said in the Saturday evening session. “When I stumble I will keep getting up, relying on the grace and enabling power of Jesus Christ. … This is my path of discipleship.”
‘Best lessons, hardest times’
Whatever the source of life’s challenges, they can be a golden opportunity to grow, said Elder Isaac K. Morrison, a General Authority Seventy, during the Sunday afternoon session.
“Reflecting on my own experiences, I realize I have learned some of my best lessons during the hardest times, times that took me out of my comfort zone,” he said. “The more I cheerfully respond to difficult circumstances with faith in the Lord, the more I grow in discipleship.”
