“Be Patient in…Afflictions” – Alma 17:11

When Ammon and his brothers traveled to the land of their enemies to preach the gospel, they knew they had taken on a difficult challenge. It seemed uncertain that they would be safe, let alone that anyone would be willing to hear their message. But as they traveled, they received the following admonition and assurance from the Lord:

Go forth among the Lamanites, thy brethren, and establish my word; yet ye shall be patient in long-suffering and afflictions, that ye may show forth good examples unto them in me, and I will make an instrument of thee in my hands unto the salvation of many souls.

Alma 17:11

Fourteen years later, as they returned home from their missionary service, Ammon recalled how this promise had been fulfilled:

Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about to turn back, behold, the Lord comforted us, and said: Go amongst thy brethren, the Lamanites, and bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give unto you success.

And now behold, we have come, and been forth amongst them; and we have been patient in our sufferings, and we have suffered every privation…

And we have suffered all manner of afflictions, and all this, that perhaps we might be the means of saving some soul.

Alma 26:27-28, 30

He then expressed gratitude for the tremendous success they had experienced, as evidenced by both the large number of converts and the depth and sincerity of their faith.

In August, 1831, the Lord gave a similar assurance to a group of church members arriving on the frontier in Independence, Missouri:

Ye cannot behold with your natural eyes, for the present time, the design of your God concerning those things which shall come hereafter, and the glory which shall follow after much tribulation.

For after much tribulation come the blessings.

Doctrine and Covenants 58:3-4

President Dallin H. Oaks testified that these promises apply to each of us:

Tribulation and challenges are the common experiences of mortality. Opposition is an essential part of the divine plan for helping us grow, and in the midst of that process, we have God’s assurance that, in the long view of eternity, opposition will not be allowed to overcome us. With His help and our faithfulness and endurance, we will prevail. Like the mortal life of which they are a part, all tribulations are temporary.

“Be of Good Cheer,” General Conference, October 2020

Today, I will be grateful for the knowledge that the challenges I and others face are temporary, and that blessings await on the other side. I will strive to be “patient in…afflictions” and to remember that “after much tribulation come the blessings.”