"My dear young sisters, you need to know that you will experience your own adversity. None is exempt. You will suffer, be tempted, and make mistakes. You will learn for yourself what every heroine has learned: through overcoming challenges come growth and strength.
It is your reaction to adversity, not the adversity itself, that determines how your life’s story will develop.
There are those among you who, although young, have already suffered a full measure of grief and sorrow. My heart is filled with compassion and love for you. How dear you are to the Church. How beloved you are of your Heavenly Father. Though it may seem that you are alone, angels attend you. Though you may feel that no one can understand the depth of your despair, our Savior, Jesus Christ, understands. He suffered more than we can possibly imagine, and He did it for us; He did it for you. You are not alone.
If you ever feel your burden is too great to bear, lift your heart to your Heavenly Father, and He will uphold and bless you. He says to you, as He said to Joseph Smith, “[Your] adversity and [your] afflictions shall be but a small moment; and then, if [you] endure it well, God shall exalt [you] on high.”3
Enduring adversity is not the only thing you must do to experience a happy life. Let me repeat: how you react to adversity and temptation is a critical factor in whether or not you arrive at your own “happily ever after.”
We all search for happiness, and we all try to find our own “happily ever after.” The truth is, God knows how to get there! And He has created a map for you; He knows the way. He is your beloved Heavenly Father, who seeks your good, your happiness. He desires with all the love of a perfect and pure Father that you reach your supernal destination. The map is available to all. It gives explicit directions of what to do and where to go to everyone who is striving to come unto Christ and “stand as [a witness] of God at all times and in all things, and in all places.”4All you have to do is trust your Heavenly Father. Trust Him enough to follow His plan."
I know that President Uchtdorf was inspired to give this talk. We all have things in this life that we feel alone and that no one knows how we feel but when reading this talk I could feel that Heavenly Father really knows me and is aware of me. All of us will experience adversity in this life and I know that what he says about how we react to adversity is true. When we turn to our Savior and focus on what we can learn from different trials in our lives we can be blessed. I know that God knows each of us and our individual circumstances. I am so grateful for my Savior and the atonement. It is the root of the gospel and without it we would be nothing. I am so grateful to be a member of this church and to have the knowledge of how to overcome adversity and how to return back to our loving Heavenly Father.
Kenzie
Kenz.. I love this talk! I read it every so often and I always feel better! Thanks for sharing, you shared some of my favorite parts! I just love it!
ReplyDeleteThe other day I was sitting in my car and my thoughts turned to the amazing thing that here I am just sitting in my car and then I thought about everyone else around me in their cars and how small that number was and then all those other cars driving by (which seemed like a lot)....I was amazed at how that was just a small number compared to all the people in the world. Then I thought there is so many people in this world how can Heavenly Father truly know us? But I know through the spirit just as you, that he does know each and everyone of us individually and is aware of us. He knows how strong we are and what we can withstand even if we think we are not strong enough to endure it. I trust Him in knowing that He will provide and make up for me after all I can do. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteBrittney