Bishop Richard C. Edgley, first counselor in the Presiding Bishopric, spoke about how pain, heartache and suffering are part of the plan of salvation.

He said that when the plan was lain before us in the premortal life, we said, "I can do that. That is a risk worth taking."

Because of Christ's Atonement, we can withstand trials and also be strengthened by them, he said.

He quoted a passage from Alma 34 that says there must be a great and last sacrifice. "It had to be a sacrifice of a God...infinite and eternal," he said.

Bishop Edgley said that the real challenge in life is to have the same faith now that we had when we accepted the plan before we came to earth.

He said that through the Atonement, all things will eventually be reconciled. “To the righteous, all that seems wrong will be made right,” he said.

Edgley recounted the story of the blind man in the New Testament. He said that just as the blind man was healed through his faith, we might also be healed if we have the same kind of faith.

"We can be strenghtened to bear our tribulations in peace," he said. "And then the power of the Atonement will be made manifest."

He also talked about how the Atonement is not only infinite and eternal, but also personal. "The Atonement was for you," he said.

Bishop Edgley said that when we are tried, we would be wise to read the account of Joseph Smith's suffering in D&C 122 that says, "all things will give you experience, and be for your good."

"I believe in you, and so does your Father in Heaven," he said.

Copyright Brigham Young University 7 Apr 2002