Since we learned all about priorities and time management last week from Elder Ardern, I thought this week I’d really put you to the test.  Actually, I just selected two talks because they go really well together.  I know you’re all busy getting ready for Christmas, but I promise that slowing down to study these talks will give you some much-needed moments of peace and instruction.

These are both great talks.  All of us face challenges in different forms.  I often wonder at the challenges of others and how they possibly handle them, but the fact is:  God customizes our challenges just for us, and He has prepared us to face them.  He knows who we are, and He believes in us.  In addition to his faith, He also offers us His help.  Sometimes the most important thing we need to get through a challenge is the knowledge that we are not in it alone.  Both talks reassure us that Heavenly Father is nearby and willing to offer us support and relief in our trials.  Like the enslaved people we read about in Mosiah 24, we learn that our challenges are rarely removed, but that the Lord lightens our burdens and helps us find a cheerful heart even under the weight of them.  I’m looking to forward to reading what you love about these talks.

“Experience has taught me that if we, like President Monson, exercise our faith and look to God for help, we will not be overwhelmed with the burdens of life. We will not feel incapable of doing what we are called to do or need to do. We will be strengthened, and our lives will be filled with peace and joy.We will come to realize that most of what we worry about is not of eternal significance—and if it is, the Lord will help us. But we must have the faith to look up and the courage to follow His direction.”

“There are many kinds of challenges. Some give us necessary experiences. Adverse results in this mortal life are not evidence of lack of faith or of an imperfection in our Father in Heaven’s overall plan. The refiner’s fire is real, and qualities of character and righteousness that are forged in the furnace of affliction perfect and purify us and prepare us to meet God.”

What about these talks stood out to you? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

p.s. Waiting upon the Lord: Thy Will Be Done by Elder Robert D. Hales is another excellent talk about patience through trials, but we’ll study that one later.

To anyone who is checking out GCBC for the first time, the goal is to read one General Conference talk a week and discuss it together as an on-line “book club.” If you want to learn more, go here, and join the discussion.