- “Accept trials, setbacks, and “surprises” as part of your mortal experience. Remember that you are here to be proved and tested, “to see if [you] will do all things whatsoever the Lord [your] God shall command [you]” ( Abraham 3:25 )—and may I just add, “under all circumstances.” Millions of your brothers and sisters have been or are being thus tested, so why would you be exempt? Some trials come through your own disobedience or negligence. Other trials come because of the negligence of others or simply because this is a fallen world. When these trials come, the adversary’s minions begin broadcasting that you did something wrong, that this is a punishment, a sign that Heavenly Father does not love you. Ignore that! Instead, try to force a smile, gaze heavenward, and say, “I understand, Lord. I know what this is. A time to prove myself, isn’t it?” Then partner with Him to endure well to the end. Spiritual confidence increases when you accept that “often trials and tribulations are allowed to come into [your life] because of what [you] are doing right” (Glenn L. Pace, “Crying with the Saints” [Brigham Young University devotional, Dec. 13, 1987], 2; speeches.byu.edu ).” Jörg Klebingat, October 2014 General Conference
- “We were taught in the premortal world that our purpose in coming here is to be tested, tried, and stretched. 3 We knew we would face the evils of the adversary. Sometimes we may feel more aware of the negative things of mortality than we are of the positive. The prophet Lehi taught, “For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things.” Despite all of the negative challenges we have in life, we must take time to actively exercise our faith. Such exercise invites the positive, faith-filled power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ into our lives.” Richard G. Scott, October 2014 General Conference
- “The Fall was an essential part of man’s mortal probation … Had Adam and Eve not partaken, the great gift of mortality would not have come to them. Moreover, they would have had no posterity, and the great commandment given to them by the Lord would not have been fulfilled. 7 The fall of Adam brought to pass all of the vicissitudes of mortality. It brought pain, it brought sorrow, it brought death; but we must not lose sight of the fact that it brought blessings also … It brought the blessing of knowledge and understanding and mortal life. 8” Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Fielding Smith, (2013), 58–71
- “Aim for 7 or more hours of sleep each night. A large study of adults found that people who sleep at least 7 hours have the lowest risk of mortality.” The New Abs Diet: The 6-Week Plan to Flatten Your Stomach and Keep You Lean for Life (The Abs Diet) (David Zinczenko and Ted Spiker). Page 21
- “I have thought of that a good many times. We choose carefully the atmosphere that we breathe, that we may live in health. But sometimes, in our carelessness, we place ourselves in subjection to immoral influences that destroy our resistance of evil, and we are led to do things that we ought not to do and would not do if under the influence of the Lord. If we would only be humble, if we would only be prayerful, if we would only live in such a way that each hour of our lives we could truthfully say, “Father in heaven, I am willing and anxious to do what thou wouldst have me do,” our lives every day would be enriched as we go through this earth experience.” Teachings of Presidents of the Church: George Albert Smith, 2010, Page 14
- “No righteous man is ever taken before his time.” Joseph Fielding Smith, the funeral of Richard L. Evans
- “We knew before we were born that we were coming to the earth for bodies and experience and that we would have joys and sorrows, ease and pain, comfort and hardships, health and sickness, successes and disappointments, and we knew also that after a period of life we would die. We accepted all of these eventualities with a glad heart, eager to accept both the favorable and unfavorable. We eagerly accepted the chance to come earthward even though it might be for only a day or a year. Perhaps we were not so concerned whether we would die of disease, of accident, or of senility. We were willing to take life as it came and as willing to organize and control it, and this was without a murmur, complaint, or unreasonable demands.” Spencer W. Kimball, Faith Precedes the Miracle p. 106
- “The veil which separates us from the spirit world sometimes seems very thin to us…however, surely those who have passed beyond, can see more clearly through the veil back here to us than it is possible for us to see them from our sphere of action. I believe we move and have our being in the presence of heavenly messengers and heavenly beings. We are NOT separate from them ….we are close to our kindred, to our ancestors, to our friends, and associates and co-laborers who have preceded us into the spirit world. They see us better than we can remember them….they know us better than we know them…I claim we live in their presence, they see us, they are solicitous of our welfare, they love us now more than ever…For they see the dangers that beset us; they can comprehend, better than ever before, the weaknesses that are liable to mislead us into dark and forbidden paths. They see the temptations and the evils that beset us in life and the proneness of mortal beings to yield to temptation and to do wrong; hence their love for us, the solicitude for us, and their love for us, and their desire for our well being, must be greater than that which we feel for ourselves.” Joseph F. Smith, Gospel Doctrine p.429