19 May 2013:
Dear Elder and Sister Scott,
I recently read an article by an ex-mission president that I found rather interesting. While I know this may not apply to all of the recipients of my letter, I hope it may give you some ideas to use during your missionary experiences. The article was entitled "Life is good; life is bad."
"So there is the paradox: Life is good in so many ways. We are blessed in so many ways. There is joy and peace and happiness to be had. But just around the next corner, even lurking close by, we may find, as Brigham Young said, 'sorrow, grief, mourning, woe, misery, pain, anguish and disappointment.'
"This is because we were sent to earth to gain experience and to prove ourselves. Unfortunately, the strongest and most resilient plants grow outside of the hothouse. That means that the Garden of Eden just wouldn't do as a proving ground. Or, to use another metaphor, the most precious metals are refined in the fire. As the Lord said, 'Behold I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work.
"For those who desire to become an instrument in the hands of God, those are sobering words.
"Elder Bruce R. McConkie tied adversity, in its many forms, to this testing, purifying process:
"I say that this life never was intended to be easy. It is a probationary estate in which we are tested physically, mentally, morally, and spiritually. We are subject to disease and decay. We are attacked by cancer, leprosy, and contagious diseases. We suffer pain and sorrow and afflictions. Disasters strike; floods sweep away our homes; famines destroy our food; plagues and wars fill our graves with dead bodies and our broken homes with sorrow . .
"Temptations, the lusts of the flesh, evils of every sort--all these are part of the plan and must be faced by every person privileged to undergo the experiences of mortality."
George q Cannon of the First Presidency explained it this way:
"The Saints should always remember that God sees not as man sees; that he does not willingly afflict his children, and that if he requires them to endure present privation and trial, it is that they may escape greater tribulations which would otherwise inevitably overtake them. If He deprives them of any present blessing, it is that He may bestow upon them greater and more glorious ones by-and-by.
Threshing is the process whereby the edible kernals of various cereal grains, such as wheat or oats, as separated from the inedible chaff that surrounds them" The ancient Romans had a threshing sled that in Lain they called tribulum. Do you see its similarity to "tribulation?" So often our trials do not come in a steady streams of trial, but in short bursts.
Someone once quipped, "The thing about life is that it's so daily" We must recognize that tribulation and adversity are "equal employers" in that they come to both rich and poor.
Tribulation will not always be a part of our lives. We live with the hope--as indicated by the scriptures--that if we have been faithful in this life, we will enter into a state of happiness.
We should really be grateful that the Lord trusts us enough to send a few tests. Let us vow to meet the trials with a smile and thank the Lord for His confidence in our ability to meet life's challenges well.
All my love, Brian
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