Spiritual Quotes That Have Helped Me Get Through

This is another one of those posts I debated on writing, mainly due to its spiritual nature lending to Latter-Day Saint theology.  

It was May, 2019, and President Nelson was finishing up his tour of the Pacific Islands.  It was an amazing tour, and he was finishing up in Tahiti when he said, "There’s trouble ahead.  Prepare for attacks from the adversary. Please protect yourself from Satan’s traps, including harmful drugs and pornography."  Pretty standard warning, really, as the Adversary is always attacking.  It's the "trouble ahead" that kept echoing in my mind.  I mean, there's always something to look out for.  Life is full of highs and lows.  Despite my internal dialogue I took the warning to heart, still living life, still hopeful for the future, just glancing at the storm on the horizon that seemed to circle as if in a holding pattern.

This year has been crazy, there's no denying it.  Memes abound for coping and remembrance.

The first quote is from Elder Neil A. Maxwell.  Funny enough I shared this quote about two years ago on this blog, and then removed it.  I was afraid it was too deep to share, but I'll share it again.  It's from 1984, when I was two years old, and Elder Maxwell is speaking to the children of the church: 

"It’s extremely important for you to believe in yourselves, not only for what you are now, but for what you have the power to become. Trust in the Lord as He leads you along. He has things for you to do that you won’t know about now, but that will be revealed later. If you stay close to Him, you will have some great adventures. You will live in a time when instead of just talking about prophecies that will sometime be fulfilled, many of them will actually be fulfilled. The Lord will unfold your future bit by bit.  All the easy things that the Church has had to do have been done, so you’re going to live in a time of high adventure. You were brought to this earth because you can handle that time of adventure, and you will do well."

This quote has brought me a lot of comfort these last couple years.  I look at that quote and think, "High Adventure."  What does that even mean, and does it mean what I think it means?  Are we in those times of adventure now?  Or are we not quite there?  Whenever it is, we have the strength to overcome.

On August 5, 2020, Russell M. Nelson tweeted: "Dear friends, the road ahead may be bumpy, but our destination is serene and secure. So, fasten your seatbelt, hang on through the bumps, and do what's right. Your reward will be eternal."

Here are two more quotes by President Nelson. "You were taught in the spirit world to prepare you for anything and everything you would encounter during this latter part of these latter days. That teaching endures within you!" "Plead with the Lord for the gift of discernment.  Then live and work to be worthy to receive that gift so that when confusing events arise in the world, you will know exactly what is true and what is not."

There's many more quotes that have helped me find strength through discouragement, but these are the main ones.  Life is crazy and uncertain, but we will survive.  We have the strength to overcome.

"The Father is at this moment aware of you, your feelings, and the spiritual and temporal needs of everyone around you." ~ Henry B. Eyring