Gaining Patience

In 2 Peter, he counseled the saints that to make their calling and election made sure, they needed to become sanctified and gave the “ladder of sanctification”.

Faith

Virtue

Knowledge

Temperance

Patience

Godliness

Brotherly kindness (how you treat others)

Charity  (how you love others)

The prophets still counsel us to become sanctified, as in the last 3 verses of the Book of Mormon:

Moroni 10:32 Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.

33 And again, if ye by the grace of God are perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then are ye sanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of the blood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins, that ye become holy, without spot.

34 And now I bid unto all, farewell. I soon go to rest in the paradise of God, until my spirit and body shall again reunite, and I am brought forth triumphant through the air, to meet you before the pleasing bar of the great Jehovah, the Eternal Judge of both quick and dead. Amen.

Patience is the 4^th rung on the ladder of sanctification. To learn patience we have to be tested and tried. We have to go through trials.

The Epistle of James was written by James who was a brother (technically a half-brother) of Jesus. He was one of the first that Jesus appeared to after the resurrection. His book includes the verse, “If any of you lack wisdom.” He also wrote: 

 James 5:10 Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.

11 Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.

All prophets have suffered afflictions. Harold B Lee said that the prophet is Satan’s prime target on the earth. We can look to them for examples of overcoming trials and living a happy life/finding joy through and in spite of the trials.

Following are examples of modern prophets and some of the  trials they suffered.

Joseph Smith – the family was poor farmers. Each time they moved was because of crop failure. Joseph suffered Typhus fever which caused an infection in the bone. It was a miracle they found a doctor who would operate instead of amputating, which he had without anesthetic then walked with crutches for 3 years – when he was 7, 8 and  9 years old. He walked with a limp the rest of his life and was well acquainted with pain. As a child he was taken by a man to New York but the man made him walk the whole way.

As a teen he was badly persecuted. False stories were spread even about his parents and family. He and Emma had 9 children but 6 died. While he was caring for one of the twins he was attacked, tarred and feathered. In the incident a tooth got chipped and he spoke with a lisp/whistle the rest of his life. (they couldn’t fix a chipped tooth back then.

When he was in prison in Liberty Jail, there was a very low ceiling so he could never stand up straight. It was cold on the dirt ground, and damp and they had very little food. HE LEARNED PATIENCE.

He was taken to court 46 times, but was promised that “whoever goes to law with thee shall be cursed by law.” His enemies hunted him constantly, so he was always hiding and had to be away from his family. He had very little contact with them for years. HE LEARNED PATIENCE. He was only 38 when he was murdered.

Brigham Young: His mother had TB so was an invalid. He was raided by his 13 year old sister. He had only 1 pair of shoes which he only used for Sundays. He had to make the bread and do the cooking. His mother died when he was 14 so he had to start working. When he got married, his wife also got TB and died 8 years later with 2 small girls. He remarried but then was called on a mission. He served 10 missions.

Section 126 speaks to Brigham that he would not have to serve any more missions. Then he led the saints thousands of miles. He was always the first up in the morning and the last to go to bed at night. He had rheumatism but was always looking for and caring for others.

John Taylor: He was with Joseph Smith and Hyrum when they were killed. He was hit with 5 bullets, one of which stayed in his leg the rest of his life.

Wilford Woodruff: His mother died when he was 15 months old, then his father remarried. He was very accident prone: He was scalded with boiling water 3 times; had 5 broken legs, bit by a dog, charged by a bull. He said that it seemed an invisible power was with him to destroy his life because of his future role in establishing temple work.

Lorenzo Snow: was called to serve a mission in Kentucky and had to walk 5,000 miles to get there. Then he served another mission in Hawaii where he drowned in the ocean. Someone with him prayed over him and was inspired to do artificial resuscitation which had not been invented yet. He spent 11 months in jail at 71 years old for polygamy before he was a prophet.

Joseph F Smith: When he was 5 his father, Hyrum was shot and killed. When he was 7 years old he drove an ox team to winter quarters. When he was 9 years old he drove the wagon to the Salt Lake Valley. He lived in the covered wagon a year after getting there. When he was 13 years old his mother died so he cared for his sisters. He started the Friend magazine and the Family Home Evening program.

Heber J Grant: His father died when he ws 9 years old. His mother sewed to support the family. They were very poor. He was the only child and very lonely. Boys teased him and said he threw a ball like a sissy so he practiced all the time and finally played on the district team that won the valley championships.  He was the one who said that when you learn to do something it becomes easier, not because the nature of the thing changes, but our ability to do it increases. He lost his only 2 sons.

George Albert Smith: He was always embarrassed by his homely appearance. He wrote a poem about hit. He had one wandering eye. He worked the railroad which damaged his eyesight and gave him chronic fatigue. When he met Lucy Woodruff, he was so interested in her that he decided to make his front yard nice to impress her. She did compliment him and saw his good traits. She died 15 years before him so he was single when he was a prophet.

David O McKay: When he was 6 years old, his 2 older sisters died and were buried in the same grave. When he was 7 his father served a mission in Scotland. When he was 9 years old he worked to provide for the family and worked from 7am to 5pm, delivering mail on horseback.

He had no time to play; he loved animals and had a great sense of humor. He wrote a poem called My Sweet Emma. He was in a bad car accident but was blessed and healed. He was the first prophet to not have a beard – he couldn’t grow one.

Joseph Fielding Smith: when he was young his father was in hiding from persecutors of the church. His mother was a midwife so he would have to get up and drive her to the ladies houses. He always wondered why most of the babies came in the middle of the night. He was a gospel scholar of the Church. As a child he loved to read the scriptures. For years he had a column in the newspaper where he answered Gospel questions. He served a mission in England for 2 years and did not have one single baptism. His wife died when she was pregnant with their 3^rd child. The 2^nd wife died.

Harold B Lee: His wife died and his daughter died. He taught that the death of a loved one was the most difficult trial we can have. He died at 74 and was the youngest prophet except for Joseph Smith

Spencer W Kimball: He was very short. He loved basketball but was too short to play. His mother died when he was 11. As an apostle he had boils on his waist. He had to wear a suit every day and the pain was terribly around his waist. He had a heart attack and Elder Russell M Nelson performed his surgery. He got cancer on his vocal cords so they had to be removed. He spoke with a raspy whisper after that. One of his sons went inactive and one brother went inactive. He wrote to them every week bearing his testimony and encouraging them to return.

Ezra Taft Benson: When he was 13 years old his father served on a mission so he had to run the family farm which helped prepare him to serve the country as Secretary of Agriculture later. He had that post while serving as an apostle and with a big family. He initiated prayer in all cabinet meetings.

Howard W Hunter: His father was a non-member so he couldn’t get baptized until he was 12 years old. Because of that he valued his baptism and membership in the church more than most of us. He was a great musician and played in a traveling band.

He was never taught about paying tithing so when he was ready to marry in the temple, he wasn’t allowed  because he wasn’t paying tithing and had to wait until he had paid long enough to be worthy. While speaking at BYU, it was announced that a crazy man had a bomb that he was going to detonate. He was able to remain calm through it.

His son died at 6 months from birth defects; while he was an apostle his wife was an invalid for 12 years and he cared for her. He had diabetes and had a hard time walking towards the end. He eventually lost the use of both legs.

Gordon B Hinckley: He was always optimistic. When he was 8 years old they received a telegram that his oldest brother had been killed in WW 1. As a young adult his other died of cancer. He was very shy; speaking in public was a great trial for him. So the thoughts of serving a mission was very hard for him but his mother had saved money from selling eggs so he went. He was terrified and wrote home that he was wasting his time and their money. His father wrote back for him to forget himself and get to work.

As a church leader he was accused of a moral transgression and they told awful lies. It was an horrible trial for him. Eventually the accuser confessed that he had been paid say it.

Thomas Monson: His parents weren’t active but sent him to church. He went to Priesthood alone and sometimes skipped out to go play. His daughter said he was not mechanically inclined; not handy at all. He was called to great responsibility at a very young age. He was 22 when called to be bishop; 32 was a mission president in Canada; at 36 was called to be apostle. He had poor health with type 2 diabetes which affected his vision, feet and general health. But he was always cheerful.

His biggest challenge was his wife’s health. Once she fell while he was gone and was unconscious for 22 days. When she woke up the first thing she was that she forgot to mail the tax bill.

Russsell M Nelson:  His parents were inactive so he went to church alone. He was not taught all about the church at home. In his teen years he was drawn to spiritual matters and was baptized when 16. He graduated from high school at 16 as valedictorian. He was very bright. He graduated medical school at 22.

His parents were still not interested in the church and had never been sealed in the temple. Every year he gave them thoughtful gifts that he hoped with help bring them back. When his dad was 80 he was able to ordain his father to the Priesthood and was finally sealed to his parents.

When he was a young doctor 2 girls died in the operating room. There was a padded room where the doctors would tell the parents – padded so the parents didn’t hurt themselves while dealing with the grief. He always wished he could share the gospel with them at that time.

He was the father of 9 daughters. One died as an adult leaving 5 of her children behind. 10 years later his wife died at 78 and he remarried.

When on a trip to Mozambique, men entered the home where they were visiting and beat him up. They also broke the mission president’s wife’s arm.

Elder Bednar’s father was a non-member so his Primary teacher picked him up for church. He was able to baptize his father after his mission. Many apostles had inactive fathers. Elder Holland’s father smoked until he was called to teach his Primary class.

Everyone is given trials; leaders of the Church and especially the prophets are Satan’s prime target. We can follow their example to find joy in spite of and through the trials we have in this life.