2012 04 1070 President Henry b Eyring Eng

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answer to the question of why trialscome and what we are to do thanthe words of the Lord Himself, whopassed through trials for us more terri-ble than we can imagine.

You remember His words when Hecounseled that we should, out of faithin Him, repent:

“Therefore I command you torepent—repent, lest I smite you by therod of my mouth, and by my wrath,and by my anger, and your sufferingsbe sore—how sore you know not,how exquisite you know not, yea,how hard to bear you know not.

“For behold, I, God, have sufferedthese things for all, that they might notsuffer if they would repent;

“But if they would not repent theymust suffer even as I;

“Which suffering caused myself,even God, the greatest of all, to trem-ble because of pain, and to bleed atevery pore, and to suffer both bodyand spirit—and would that I might not

drink the bitter cup, and shrink—“Nevertheless, glory be to the Father,

and I partook and finished my prepara-tions unto the children of men.”3

You and I have faith that the wayto rise through and above trials isto believe that there is a “balm inGilead”4 and that the Lord has prom-ised, “I will not . . . forsake thee.”5 Thatis what President Thomas S. Monsonhas taught us to help us and those weserve in what seem lonely and over-

whelming trials.6

But President Monson has also wisely taught that a foundation of faithin the reality of those promises takestime to build. You may have seen theneed for that foundation, as I have,at the bedside of someone ready togive up the fight to endure to theend. If the foundation of faith is notembedded in our hearts, the power toendure will crumble.

mental, and emotional trials thatcould cause you to cry out as didone great and faithful servant of GodI knew well. His nurse heard himexclaim from his bed of pain, “WhenI have tried all my life to be good,

why has this happened to me?” You know how the Lord answered

that question for the Prophet JosephSmith in his prison cell:

“And if thou shouldst be cast into

the pit, or into the hands of murderers,and the sentence of death passed uponthee; if thou be cast into the deep; if thebillowing surge conspire against thee;if fierce winds become thine enemy; ifthe heavens gather blackness, and allthe elements combine to hedge up the

way; and above all, if the very jaws ofhell shall gape open the mouth wideafter thee, know thou, my son, that allthese things shall give thee experience,and shall be for thy good.

“The Son of Man hath descendedbelow them all. Art thou greaterthan he?

“Therefore, hold on thy way, and thepriesthood shall remain with thee; fortheir bounds are set, they cannot pass.

Thy days are known, and thy yearsshall not be numbered less; therefore,fear not what man can do, for God shallbe with you forever and ever.”2

There seems to me no better

By President Henry B. EyringFirst Counselor in the First Presidency

Iheard President Spencer W. Kimball,in a session of conference, ask thatGod would give him mountains to

climb. He said: “There are great chal-lenges ahead of us, giant opportuni-ties to be met. I welcome that excitingprospect and feel to say to the Lord,humbly, ‘Give me this mountain,’ giveme these challenges.”1

My heart was stirred, knowing, as Idid, some of the challenges and adver-

sity he had already faced. I felt a desireto be more like him, a valiant servantof God. So one night I prayed for a testto prove my courage. I can remem-ber it vividly. In the evening I knelt inmy bedroom with a faith that seemedalmost to fill my heart to bursting.

Within a day or two my prayer was answered. The hardest trial ofmy life surprised and humbled me. Itprovided me a twofold lesson. First,I had clear proof that God heard and

answered my prayer of faith. Butsecond, I began a tutorial that stillgoes on to learn about why I felt withsuch confidence that night that a greatblessing could come from adversity tomore than compensate for any cost.

The adversity that hit me in thatfaraway day now seems tiny com-pared to what has come since—tome and to those I love. Many of youare now passing through physical,

Mountains to Climb If we have faith in Jesus Christ, the hardest as well asthe easiest times in life can be a blessing.



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My purpose today is to describe what I know of how we can lay thatunshakable foundation. I do it withgreat humility for two reasons. First,

what I say could discourage some who are struggling in the midst ofgreat adversity and feel their foun-

dation of faith is crumbling. Andsecond, I know that ever-greater testslie before me before the end of life.

Therefore, the prescription I offer youhas yet to be proven in my own lifethrough enduring to the end.

As a young man I worked witha contractor building footings andfoundations for new houses. In thesummer heat it was hard work toprepare the ground for the form into

which we poured the cement for the

footing. There were no machines. Weused a pick and a shovel. Buildinglasting foundations for buildings washard work in those days.

It also required patience. After wepoured the footing, we waited for it tocure. Much as we wanted to keep the

jobs moving, we also waited after thepour of the foundation before we tookaway the forms.

And even more impressive to a

novice builder was what seemed to bea tedious and time-consuming processto put metal bars carefully inside theforms to give the finished foundationstrength.

In a similar way, the ground mustbe carefully prepared for our founda-

tion of faith to withstand the stormsthat will come into every life. Thatsolid basis for a foundation of faith ispersonal integrity.

Our choosing the right consistently whenever the choice is placed beforeus creates the solid ground under ourfaith. It can begin in childhood sinceevery soul is born with the free gift ofthe Spirit of Christ. With that Spirit wecan know when we have done whatis right before God and when we have

done wrong in His sight. Those choices, hundreds in mostdays, prepare the solid ground on

which our edifice of faith is built. Themetal framework around which thesubstance of our faith is poured is thegospel of Jesus Christ, with all its cov-enants, ordinances, and principles.

One of the keys to an enduring faithis to judge correctly the curing timerequired. That is why I was unwise

to pray so soon in my life for highermountains to climb and greater tests.

That curing does not come auto-matically through the passage of time,but it does take time. Getting olderdoes not do it alone. It is serving Godand others persistently with full heart

and soul that turns testimony of truthinto unbreakable spiritual strength.

Now, I wish to encourage those who are in the midst of hard trials, who feel their faith may be fadingunder the onslaught of troubles.

Trouble itself can be your way tostrengthen and finally gain unshakablefaith. Moroni, the son of Mormon inthe Book of Mormon, told us howthat blessing could come to pass. Heteaches the simple and sweet truth

that acting on even a twig of faithallows God to grow it:“And now, I, Moroni, would speak

somewhat concerning these things; I would show unto the world that faithis things which are hoped for and notseen; wherefore, dispute not because

ye see not, for ye receive no witnessuntil after the trial of your faith.

“For it was by faith that Christshowed himself unto our fathers, after



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he had risen from the dead; and heshowed not himself unto them untilafter they had faith in him; wherefore,it must needs be that some had faithin him, for he showed himself notunto the world.

“But because of the faith of menhe has shown himself unto the world,and glorified the name of the Father,and prepared a way that thereby oth-ers might be partakers of the heavenlygift, that they might hope for thosethings which they have not seen.

“Wherefore, ye may also havehope, and be partakers of the gift, if

ye will but have faith.”7

That particle of faith most pre-cious and which you should protectand use to whatever extent youcan is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.Moroni taught the power of thatfaith this way: “And neither at anytime hath any wrought miracles untilafter their faith; wherefore they first

believed in the Son of God.” 8

I have visited with a woman whoreceived the miracle of sufficientstrength to endure unimaginable losses

with just the simple capacity to repeatendlessly the words “I know that myRedeemer lives.”9 That faith and those

words of testimony were still therein the mist that obscured but did noterase memories of her childhood.

I was stunned to learn that another woman had forgiven a person whohad wronged her for years. I wassurprised and asked her why she hadchosen to forgive and forget so many

years of spiteful abuse.She said quietly, “It was the hardest

thing I have ever done, but I just knewI had to do it. So I did.” Her faith thatthe Savior would forgive her if sheforgave others prepared her with afeeling of peace and hope as shefaced death just months after she hadforgiven her unrepentant adversary.

She asked me, “When I get there,how will it be in heaven?”

And I said, “I know just from what Ihave seen of your capacity to exercisefaith and to forgive that it will be a

wonderful homecoming for you.”I have another encouragement to

those who now wonder if their faithin Jesus Christ will be sufficient forthem to endure well to the end. I wasblessed to have known others of you

who are listening now when you were younger, vibrant, gifted beyond mostof those around you, yet you chose todo what the Savior would have done.Out of your abundance you found

ways to help and care for those youmight have ignored or looked downupon from your place in life.

When hard trials come, the faith toendure them well will be there, built as

you may now notice but may have notat the time that you acted on the purelove of Christ, serving and forgiving oth-ers as the Savior would have done. You

built a foundation of faith from lovingas the Savior loved and serving for Him.

Your faith in Him led to acts of charitythat will bring you hope.

It is never too late to strengthen thefoundation of faith. There is alwaystime. With faith in the Savior, you canrepent and plead for forgiveness. Thereis someone you can forgive. There issomeone you can thank. There issomeone you can serve and lift. Youcan do it wherever you are and how-

ever alone and deserted you may feel.I cannot promise an end to youradversity in this life. I cannot assure

you that your trials will seem to youto be only for a moment. One of thecharacteristics of trials in life is thatthey seem to make clocks slow downand then appear almost to stop.

There are reasons for that. Knowingthose reasons may not give muchcomfort, but it can give you a feeling

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of patience. Those reasons come fromthis one fact: in Their perfect love for

you, Heavenly Father and the Savior

want you fitted to be with Them to livein families forever. Only those washedperfectly clean through the Atonementof Jesus Christ can be there.

My mother fought cancer for nearly10 years. Treatments and surgeries andfinally confinement to her bed weresome of her trials.

I remember my father saying as he watched her take her last breath, “Alittle girl has gone home to rest.”

One of the speakers at her funeral was President Spencer W. Kimball. Among the tributes he paid, I remem-

ber one that went something likethis: “Some of you may have thoughtthat Mildred suffered so long and somuch because of something she haddone wrong that required the trials.”He then said, “No, it was that God

just wanted her to be polished a littlemore.” I remember at the time think-ing, “If a woman that good neededthat much polishing, what is aheadfor me?”

If we have faith in Jesus Christ, thehardest as well as the easiest timesin life can be a blessing. In all condi-tions, we can choose the right withthe guidance of the Spirit. We havethe gospel of Jesus Christ to shapeand guide our lives if we choose it.

And with prophets revealing to us ourplace in the plan of salvation, we canlive with perfect hope and a feelingof peace. We never need to feel that

we are alone or unloved in the Lord’sservice because we never are. We canfeel the love of God. The Savior haspromised angels on our left and ourright to bear us up.10 And He alwayskeeps His word.

I testify that God the Father livesand that His Beloved Son is ourRedeemer. The Holy Ghost has con-firmed truth in this conference and

will again as you seek it, as you listen,and as you later study the messagesof the Lord’s authorized servants, whoare here. President Thomas S. Monson

is the Lord’s prophet to the entire world. The Lord watches over you.God the Father lives. His Beloved Son,

Jesus Christ, is our Redeemer. His loveis unfailing. I so testify in the name of

Jesus Christ, amen. ◼

NOTES

1. Spencer W. Kimball, “Give Me ThisMountain,” Ensign, Nov. 1979, 79.

2. Doctrine and Covenants 122:7–9. 3. Doctrine and Covenants 19:15–19. 4. Jeremiah 8:22. 5. Joshua 1:5. 6. See Thomas S. Monson, “Look to God and

Live,” Ensign, May 1998, 52–54. 7. Ether 12:6–9. 8. Ether 12:18. 9. “I Know That My Redeemer Lives,” Hymns,

no. 136. 10. See Doctrine and Covenants 84:88.

To watch the video of PresidentEyring’s address, scan thisimage with a QR-enabledsmartphone.

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2012 04 1070 President Henry b Eyring Eng