No Pain or Trial Is Wasted

I've been listening to President Nelson's book, "The Gateway We Call Death".  It is an awesome book by the way which I highly recommend.  Anyway in that book President Nelson relays the following quote which I had heard before but didn't know the source.

I really love this quote so I took the time to find it so I could post it on my blog for you.

“No pain that we suffer, no trial that we experience is wasted. It ministers to our education, to the development of such qualities as patience, faith, fortitude and humility. All that we suffer and all that we endure, especially when we endure it patiently, builds up our characters, purifies our hearts, expands our souls, and makes us more tender and charitable, more worthy to be called the children of God . . . and it is through sorrow and suffering, toil and tribulation, that we gain the education that we come here to acquire and which will make us more like our Father and Mother in heaven.”

-- Elder Orson F. Whitney (1855-1931) Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

Sometimes we may wonder why we suffer pain or experience trials. But as Elder Whitney explains they are part of our mortal education. We are here on earth to grow and develop and progress towards becoming more like our Heavenly Father. The way we do that is through pains and trials. They teach us and help us develop divine qualities.

When the prophet Joseph Smith was falsely imprisoned in Liberty Jail, the Lord explained the following as recorded in The Doctrine and Covenants:

Doctrine and Covenants 121:7-8

7 My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment;

8 And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes.

Let us all remember that our adversity, trials, pains and afflictions are not wasted.  They are part of our mortal education. They aid in our progression and help build our characters as we develop divine qualities.  Mortality is such a short experience compared to eternity.  Let us not squander our education while here in mortality.

May we face our adversity, trials, pains, and afflictions with faith knowing that these experiences are not wasted.  Let us endure it well that we may soon be exalted on high having developed the qualities and characters necessary to become more like our Father in Heaven.

That's my two cents.