Why Are We Grateful For Our Trials?

"There is a great responsibility resting upon us, each and everyone. And it is my opinion that our greatest persecution, our greatest test rather, will not be from the outside people prosecuting or persecuting us, but our great test will come from within our own ranks. You can follow it throughout the history of the Church, and the great persecutions that came upon the saints in Missouri were agitated and caused more by those who had an insight into the Gospel of Jesus Christ and then apostatized. And those who were the cause of the Prophet's death were men who had stood by the side of him in the presidency and had walked with him in the Priesthood capacity, then left the Church and apostatized. The Spirit of God had left them and the spirit of persecution, of evil, took possession of their bodies. And that is what is going to happen in the future. The greatest persecution and the greatest test that will come to this people will be from those who have drawn away from the true line of Priesthood and accepted the priesthood of Satan as their guide and companion."---Quoted From LSJ Vol. 1 Pg 9


"There never has been a day for ages and ages, not since the true church was destroyed after the days of the Apostles, that required the faith and the energy of godly men and godly women, and the skill, wisdom, and power of the Almighty to be with them, so much as this people require it at the present time. There never was that necessity; there never has been a time on the face of the earth, from the time that the church went to destruction, and the Priesthood was taken from the earth, that the powers of darkness and the powers of earth and hell were so embittered, and enraged, and incensed against God and godliness on the earth, as they are at the present. And when the spirit of persecution, the spirit of hatred, of wrath, and malice ceases in the world against this people, it will be the time that this people have apostatized and joined hands with the wicked, and never until then; which I pray may never come".---Quoted From JD 4:326-327 Brigham Young


And last but not least from the Master Himself:

3 Yea, blessed are the poor in spirit who come unto me, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4 And again, blessed are all they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.

5 And blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

6 And blessed are all they who do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled with the Holy Ghost.

7 And blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.

8 And blessed are all the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

9 And blessed are all the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.

10 And blessed are all they who are persecuted for my name’s sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 And blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake;

12 For ye shall have great joy and be exceedingly glad, for great shall be your be your reward in heaven; for so persecuted they the prophets who were before you.

13 Verily, verily, I say unto you, I give unto you to be the salt of the earth; but if the salt shall lose its savor wherewith shall the earth be salted? The salt shall be thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out and to be trodden under foot of men.

Heaven and hell

What is Hell? What does it mean to be damned? Is it a lake of lava, with pitchforks and a big red guy with horns making everyone there shovel coal? NO!

Let me explain what it is, according to Mormon Theology. From The D&C 19:10-12-

“For, behold the mystery of godliness, how great is it! For, behold, I am endless, and the punishment which is given from My hands is endless punishment, for Endless is My name. Wherefore- Eternal Punishment is Gods punishment. Endless punishment is Gods punishment.”

This means that the punishment we receive after this life is owned by God. HE decides. It implies that at some point in time He will stop the punishment. OK so what is the punishment? Horsewhipping? Solitary confinement? Ugly people? No, the punishment is the exquisite pain of soul that is called “Disappointment”. As in OOOPS. I KNOW what this is.

Joseph Smith said (Teachings of the Prophet page 356-357)-
“I have a declaration to make as to the provisions which God hath made to suit the conditions of man- made before the foundation of the world. What has Jesus said? All sin, and all blasphemies, and every transgression, except one, that man can be guilty of, may be forgiven; and there is a salvation for all men, either in this world or the world to come, who have not committed the unpardonable sin, there being a provision either in this world or the world of spirits. Hence God hath made a provision that every spirit in the eternal world can be ferreted out and saved unless he has committed the unpardonable sin which cannot be remitted to him either in this world or the world of spirits. God has wrought out a salvation for all men, unless they have committed a certain sin; and every man who has a friend in the eternal world can save him, unless he has committed the unpardonable sin. And so you can see how far you can be a savior. …Knowledge saves a man; and in the world of spirits no man can be exalted but by knowledge. So long as a man will not give heed to the commandments, he must abide without salvation. If a man has knowledge, he can be saved; although, if he is guilty of great sins, he will be punished for them. But when he consents to obey the Gospel, whether here or in the world of spirits, he is saved.A man is his own tormenter and his own condemner. Hence the saying, They shall go into the lake that burns with fire and brimstone. The torment of disappointment in the mind of man is as exquisite as a lake burning with fire and brimstone. I say, so is the torment of man.”

In Mormon theology eternal punishment is “exquisite disappointment because of sins, until we repent and God decides Himself to forgives us” So the next time you here the preacher yell “REPENT OR YOU WILL GO TO HELL AND FACE ETERNAL DAMNATION IN THE LAKE OF FIRE AND BRIMSTONE!!” Just realize that God is in doing good, according to what He as shown you, through that still, small, quiet voice; and you won't be punished for not living someone else’s religion.

The point I am making is that we believe that hell is just the same kind of life that we experience here, it is actually just as heavenly as life is here. Damnation is the pain of KNOWING you did not live up to what you were taught. You won't be different after you die than you are before you die, and you will associate with those who you are most like in the heaven you earn. But no matter where you were born here, if you do the best you know how, you will have the option of learning more and participating more in God's kingdom in the next life. Repentance is continually doing better, and changing your ways includes restitution, and punishment for sin, also called atonement.