I was asked to speak gainging strength from trials

Elder Maxwell Encircled in the arms of his love.

Life is hard. We all struggle with our own problems.
sin, addiction, depression, lonelyness, loss of loved ones. Many times bad thing
s just happen to good people regardless of their actions. The world can be cruel
and uncaring and they are growing more an more so it seems.
The lord said this about our times
Mathew 24:12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
whether we caused our problems or if our problems just happened to us they are j
ust as real and they can be devastating.
When times get really bad it is easy to lose sight of the fact that god cares de
eply for us.
Elder maxwell says
Brothers and sisters, by divine appointment, these are [our] days (Hel. 7:9), sinc
e all things must come to pass in their time (D&C 64:32). Moreover, though we live
in a failing world, we have not been sent here to fail.
Recall the new star that announced the birth at Bethlehem? It was in its precise
orbit long before it so shone. We are likewise placed in human orbits to illumi
nate.
When we are in the hum drum of everyday work and things of the world it is easy
to forget this is true. God however does not forget us.
In Luke 12:6 Christ said
6 Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten
before God?
7 But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye
are of more value than many sparrows.
As hard as it is to comprehend god does actually watch over an almost numberless
amount of his children personally all the time. We have all probably heard that
before but if we truly believed that would we have reason to sin?
Keeping an eternal perspective is one of lifes great secrets.
We take the sacrament every week at church.In the sacramental prayer it says
"that they are willing to take upon them the name of thy Son, and always remembe
r him"
Always remembering him will help us keep away from sin and do the things that wo
uld be pleasing to god instead. It is not easy to always remember him but we mus
t strive to do so.
During these troubles we must remember that God loves and knows each of us indiv
idually and wants us to suceed.
Elder Maxwell Says:
How can we know that God is aware of us and loves us? He tells us by the scriptu
res likewise, by our honestly counting the blessings and bestowals of His grace in
our lives. Most of all, He tells us by the still, small voice of the Spirit! (s
ee Alma 34:38; D&C 78:17 19).
Discipleship may seem roller-coaster like, as soaring revelations bring the grav
ity of humbling perspective. It was so with Moses, who fell unto the earth and exc
laimed, Man is nothing, which thing I never had supposed (Moses 1:9 10). Then came,
however, the divine, reassuring disclosure: For behold, this is my work and my gl
ory to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man (Moses 1:39).
How can we always remember him especially in our trials? How can we have that sp
irit that helps us remember god loves us?
We have to listen to him when he tries to help us. God wants to communicate with
us and help. We to consistently keep the simple commandments.
1. Pray daily
2. Scripture study
3. Go to church
These are so simple and yet I am as guilty of forgetting them at crucial times i
n my life.
Pray
36 Yea, and cry unto God for all thy support; yea, let all thy doings be unto th

e Lord, and whithersoever thou goest let it be in the Lord; yea, let all thy tho
ughts be directed unto the Lord; yea, let the affections of thy heart be placed
upon the Lord forever.
If you think about the sacrament prayer this really echoes that I think
Scriptures
I can t tell you how many times I have been told to pray and read my scriptures. B
ut apparently just keep telling me.
Scripture study is not that hard. I am ashamed to think of the things that have
replaced it at times in my life.
Excuses that are so weak its sad stand in my way.
The same excuses can be used for church and prayer and we just have to decide if
we want to be happy or not and just do it.
In my younger days my bishop once asked me if I was reading my scriptures regula
rly and I told him that truthfully I wasn t. He told me that he noticed a pattern
serving as bishop. Whenever people come into his office with problems they are a
lmost always leaving out the simple daily scripture study and prayer.