Having Hope In Adversity

Talk presented March 7, 2020, in Joplin Stake Conference:

Life is beautiful … Life is amazing … Life is hard … Life is Challenging …

Life can be a really tough row to hoe!

Priesthood leaders on the Stake sugar beet farm
in Granger posing with their work hoes, including
Bro. Peterson, second from left; Dwayne Johnson;
and Gordon Evans, second from right.  

There’s adversity of numerous kinds – including genetical, physical and emotional ones. There are ones caused by the actions or decisions made by others -- or even those brought upon ourselves by our own choices.

When I was in my early teens, we were often called to work on our stake welfare farms, including planting tomatoes, harvesting tomatoes and picking corn. The hardest assignment was weeding the sugar beets.

How many have had that great opportunity?

How many have ever seen a sugar beet?

John Havlicek of
the Boston Celtics
from 1962 to 1978.

I could do about three rows, each about 100 yards long, before my back and arm were aching, and I was drenched in sweat. Those types of activities made me realize I shouldn’t make a career out of manual labor.

When I was in 8^th grade, my father had a personal chat with me about my future career plans. I told him I was going to be a professional basketball player. I pictured myself as the next John Havlicek of the Boston Celtics.

Mario Lanza,
1921-1959

He then asked what I would do if I couldn’t be a pro player. What was my backup plan? I quickly said I’d be a professional singer, maybe like Mario Lanza. 

The same year I was
on West Lake Junior
High basketball team,
I was named the
"Most Fit" in
Coach Newton's
gym classes.

Then he asked: What then, if that doesn’t work out? I wrestled with my thoughts for a bit, then suggested I would become a writer or journalist – despite the fact my spelling and grammar were terrible. I figured I’d have an editor to fix those things.

After a lot of practice and overcoming many injuries, my basketball career reached all the way up to – the last spot on the bench of our junior high basketball team. 

And the pinnacle of my singing career was – high school madrigals and Concert Choir. I had a great time in both

Granger High School Madrigals
1967-68. I'm on the 2nd row, far right.

pursuits, but those career dreams were dashed. Still, I was confident my Father in Heaven would help me find something else.

That something else was a career in writing and journalism, starting with our high school newspaper, then as church mission public relations director, and then as an editor of the BYU newspaper, which led to a 35-year career as an editor at the daily newspaper, The Deseret News.

Sounds simple enough, but actually that path was filled with challenges and adversity!

Elder Neal A. Maxwell once said: “One’s life . . . cannot be both faith-filled and stress-free. . . . Therefore, how can you and I really expect to glide naively through life, as if to say, ”Lord, give me experience – but not grief, not sorrow, not pain, not opposition, not betrayal, and certainly not to be forsaken. Keep from me, Lord, all those experiences which made Thee what Thou art! Then let me come and dwell with Thee and fully share Thy joy!” (end quote)

The Lord knows we need to experience the bad and the good in life as we climb that figurative ladder back to him.

Growing up, I had real trouble with my shoulders – which led to surgeries on both. But those setbacks didn’t stop me from playing basketball as much as time would permit.

The large rock nicked my left-leg calf muscle, which
put my leg into spasms and I was helped down!

And at a Scout camp, I was almost killed when a large boulder came crashing down the mountainside, and I stood there frozen. In a split second, my brother pushed me out of the way. I was nicked in the left-leg calf muscle, but was alive! The rock, however, plummeted down the mountainside and killed a member of our troop. We were devastated.

Elder Adhemar Damiani of the Seventy has said: “As part of our mortal probation, we pass through affliction, pain, and disappointment. Only in Jesus Christ can we find peace. … His gospel gives us the strength and the eternal perspective to face what is coming with good cheer.” (end quote)

Elder Hunt on crutches and
left leg in full cast at San
Jose, Costa Rica, airport set
to fly home to Granger.

The words, eternal perspective, played a critical part in the challenge I faced when I was 20 years old, more than half a century ago, and serving a mission in Costa Rica. After several months of pain in my left leg and two surgeries, the doctors discovered I had bone cancer. One day later, I was on my way back home to Utah where I was told that the only way to maybe beat the cancer was to have my left leg amputated. Remember, this was before chemo and radiation therapy.

Two things happened to turn my hope into faith. The night before the surgery, I prayed long and hard about my future. Was I going to survive? And if I survived, could I make it without basketball and as an amputee?  Finally, I received a spiritual assurance that I had a good life ahead, even that I would eventually marry and have a family.

Elder Hunt standing in front of Pres. Milton E. Smith,
left, and Elder Delbert L. Stapley of the Quorum of
Twelve, and other missionaries in the San Jose area. 

Then, a couple of days following the surgery, I received a blessing from Elder Delbert L. Stapley, who I had previously met when he visited our mission in Costa Rica. His blessing was amazing: He first spoke with God and explained to Him my situation. Then, after a pause, he proceeded to bless me. Part of that blessing was a command that if there was any cancer left in my body that it would leave and never return.

Five years later, the doctor who had performed the surgery, said he really hadn’t expected me to survive. He credited Elder Stapley’s blessing for the miracle.

I soon was back in school at BYU and receiving assistance from the Utah Division of Rehabilitation, which made it possible for me to go on and earn my college diploma.

I was blessed in many ways, but those college years and the ensuing couple of years were really tough, emotionally. My self-esteem suffered, and I started my career at Deseret News emotionally and spiritually low. What saved me was realizing that I could actually change and repent. That I could break the chains Satan had wrapped around me.

That spiritual reawakening came while reading Pres. Kimball’s book “The Miracle of Foregiveness” – that, along with getting involved in Young Adults, which is where I met Nancy. She was the one who helped me through the repentance process. Finally I had hope again – I had regained my eternal perspective.

The Lord makes no secret that He will test our faith and our obedience. “We will prove them herewith,” He said, “to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them.”

Elder Dallin H. Oaks has said: “Most of us experience some measure of what the scriptures call ‘the furnace of affliction.’ Some are submerged in service to a disadvantaged family member. Others suffer the death of a loved one or the loss or postponement of a righteous goal like marriage or childbearing. Still others struggle with personal impairments or with feelings of rejection, inadequacy, or depression.

Pres. Dallin H. Oaks

[But] Through the justice and mercy of a loving Father in Heaven, the refinement and sanctification possible through such experiences can help us achieve what God desires us to become....

Father Lehi promised his son Jacob that God would ‘consecrate [his] afflictions for [his] gain.’

The Prophet Joseph was promised that ‘thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; and then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high.’ (end quote)

Joseph Smith Jr.

Enduring well means living faithfully despite our trials and misfortune. It means learning from these trials and experiences and thus becoming more like our Father in Heaven.

Eternal perspective allows us to understand that if we endure well these things and learn from them, then we can look forward to living with our Father in Heaven – and even eventually living the kind of life that God lives! That’s a pretty awesome promise!

Lee & Nancy Hunt

Now, more than 60 years since that blessing from Elder Stapley, I’m still hanging on – married to my sweet Nancy for nearly 45 years, and treasuring my five children and 17 grandchildren. But I still have daily afflictions and challenges.

So, I pray that we will hold on through our trials, become closer to our Father in Heaven as we do so, and hold tight to our eternal perspective, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

These quotes I wasn’t able to use due to time constraints, but well worth review on the subject:

Pres. Russell M. Nelson

Pres. Russell M. Nelson has said: “True repentance is not an event. It is a never-ending privilege. It is fundamental to progression….” (end quote)

Why does our Father in Heaven allow these burdens?

Wouldn’t it be nice to not have any? Life would be so easy – but would we learn anything if life was all bliss?

Is there a reason for life’s adversities?

Elder Quentin L. Cook

Elder Quentin L. Cook has said: “Adversity should not be viewed as either disfavor from the Lord or a withdrawal of His blessings. Opposition in all things is part of the refiner’s fire to prepare us for an eternal celestial destiny.” (end quote)

And many of these adversities and afflictions require us to turn away from sin and despair and take hold of Christ’s Atoning Sacrifice through repentance.

Elder Bruce C. Hafen

Elder Bruce C. Hafen has said: “The great Mediator asks for our repentance not because we must ‘repay’ him in exchange for his paying our debt to justice, but because repentance initiates a developmental process that, with the Savior’s help, leads us along the path to a saintly character.” (end quote)

Pres. Russell M. Nelson has said: “True repentance is not an event. It is a never-ending privilege. It is fundamental to progression….” (end quote)

Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf testified: “… that when we

Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf

embark upon or continue the incredible journey that leads to God, our lives will be better. This does not mean that our lives will be free from sorrow. We all know of faithful followers of Christ who suffer tragedy and injustice–Jesus Christ Himself suffered more than anyone.... In fact, sometimes it seems that our lives are more difficult because we are trying to live our faith. Following the Savior will not remove all of your trials. However, it will remove the barriers between you and the help your Heavenly Father wants to give you.” (end quote)

Elder M. Russell Ballard

Elder M. Russell Ballard has said: “No matter how difficult the trail, and regardless of how heavy our load, we can take comfort in knowing that others before us have borne life’s most grievous trials and tragedies by looking to heaven for peace, comfort, and hopeful assurance. We can know as they knew that God is our Father, that He cares about us individually and collectively, and that as long as we continue to exercise our faith and trust in Him, there is nothing to fear in the journey.” (end quote)

I’ve always loved the Book of Mormon story of Alma and his people who fled into the wilderness and were eventually captured by the Lamanites and forced to labor for them. But the Lord, instead of immediately rescuing them from the Lamanites, he first helped them handle their burdens:

 In Mosiah, Chapter 12, verse 15: And now it came to pass that the burdens which were laid upon Alma and his brethren were made light; yea, the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord.”

Elder D. Todd
Christofferson

Elder D. Todd Christofferson has said: “Exercising agency in a setting that sometimes includes opposition and hardship is what makes life more than a simple multiple-choice test. God is interested in what we are becoming as a result of our choices. He is not satisfied if our exercise of moral agency is simply a robotic effort at keeping some rules. Our Savior wants us to become something, not just do some things. He is endeavoring to make us independently strong …” (end quote)

Holding to the prophets' promises of Christ's Coming

Christus Statue

The people of this Chosen Land of America in past centuries have seen numerous wars and rumors of wars, but God has always blessed them in their times of need.(1) There even was a time when the vast majority of the people were believers in God and his son, Jesus Christ – who would come to Earth and save his people. In their faithfulness, the people became prosperous and exceedingly rich in the bounties of the earth.(2)

Then many – including many major business owners, lawyer establishments, and government officers (3) – grew proud of their newfound station in life and belittled those who they felt were inferior. All the people then began to be characterized by their job positions, wealth, and prestigious learning degrees.(4) As part of that growing cancer, they began to reject their Christian heritage (5) and persecute the believers.

Not many years passed before the people were again pitted against each other: those who still clung to their Christian beliefs, and those who – like a dog returning to his vomit (6) -- had turned away from those beliefs, thinking them to be archaic and restrictive to a worldly lifestyle.

Sin was rampant as the people yielded themselves to the enticements of Satan (7) – in their homes, places of entertainment and even their fanciful houses of worship.(8) At the heart of their evil was their secret covenant to bring down and then transform their own government.(9) Part of that covenant included plots to take down the chief judge.(10)

Those who held tight to their hope in Christ and his coming were thus targeted for all types of physical abuse and slander.(11) Rioting, plundering, and killings were part of the tools the anti-Christians used in targeting their own government and those who still believed in their government and in that God, who they believed, was the author of their rights and privileges.(12)

Finally, a day was set for all to decide on their rights and their future form of government.(13)

On the one side in this conflict, was a man who flattered his followers (14) and promised them virtually everything they desired, including sweet pies in the sky. So desirous were his promises, that many Christian believers were swept up in the euphoria.(15)

In opposition, was a man who had led the people to great victories over their enemies,(16) and who had helped his people to the greatest post-war prosperity they had ever known. In his efforts to persuade the people, he hoisted a flag of liberty that was emblazed with the words: “In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children.”(17) With that Flag of Liberty, he rallied the people in all parts of the land to help retain God’s anointed form of government for this Chosen Land, and impress those ideals in the hearts of all the people and their children.

Thus, the two sides advanced their charge, looking forward to that special date: Nov. 3, 2020.

Over and over, the Nephites in the Book of Mormon rode the rollercoaster of repentance, prosperity, pride, rebellion, and suffering. All the while the faithful looked forward to the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

In our era as Gentiles in the Chosen Land (18), the Dark One has enticed people to turn evil into normal, normal into evil, false into truth and truth into false. (19) We are in the last of The Last Days. Will our nation survive? Will our God-inspired Constitution and Bill of Rights endure?    

1.      2 Nephi 10:19, 23-24    2.      Alma 62:48-51       3.      3 Nephi 6:11

4.      3 Nephi 6:12                5.      Alma 46:14-15        6.      3 Nephi 7:8

7.      Moroni 7:12                8.      4 Nephi 1:26            9.      Helaman 2:8

10.   3 Nephi 1:1                11.   Alma 11:20             12.   Mormon 2: 27-28

13.   3 Nephi 1:9-10          14.   Alma 46:5               15.   Alma 46:7-9

16.   Alma 44:2-4              17.   Alma 46:12             18.   2 Nephi 10: 11

19.   2 Nephi 15:20