Lessons in Mortality

A few days ago I watched a father bring in his 4 year old son to the hospital. The poor little boy was so scared. He was crying and fighting; doing anything he could so that he wouldn't be touched by anyone. I thought about how his spirit is probably about the same age as everyone else but he had not yet had physical experiences with pain or experienced feelings of being alone. He may have even heard about pain or thought about it before, but he had little experience with it. This made me think about how his experience with opposition in mortality would be vital to his eternal happiness, it would teach him to value the good and to develop the attributes he would need in order to return to live with Heavenly Father again-attributes like humility, long-suffering, compassion, faith, etc. Opposition is SO necessary in the plan of Our Father. "For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so...righteousness could not be brought to pass..." (2 Nephi 2:11) Only through opposition can we truly appreciate the atonement and become purified.

The next patient that came in was an old man who had a terrible infirmity, but I could see that his time in mortality had taught him a great deal-it had probably completely changed him. He was brave and wise, "submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love..." (Mosiah 3:19) The lessons he learned from his experiences with opposition in mortality had taught him to "put off the natural man" It was a beautiful thing.

I hope that when my time in mortality is finished, I will return a changed person. I hope that I will have used my experiences with opposition as learning opportunities to help me become like my Savior.

I know The Father is mindful of each one of his children; he knows what we go through. I know that all opposition has a great purpose-To bring to pass our eternal happiness through Christ our Savior if happiness is what we choose.

*Please see also:
2 Nephi 2
D&C 58:3-4
D&C 101:4-5
D&C 122:5-9
D&C 136:31