light.

I prayed for a mountain to climb.

"You are stronger than the tops of the mountains."

The tops of mountain face the wind and storms yet stand strong and immovable.

“And if thou shouldst be cast into the pit, or into the hands of murderers, and the sentence of death passed upon thee; if thou be cast into the deep; if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if fierce winds become thine enemy; if the heavens gather blackness, and all the elements combine to hedge up the way; and above all, if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my [daughter], that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good. 

“The Son of Man hath descended below them all. Art thou greater than he? 

“Therefore, hold on thy way, and the priesthood shall remain with thee; for their bounds are set, they cannot pass. Thy days are known, and thy years shall not be numbered less; therefore, fear not what man can do, for God shall be with you forever and ever.”²D&C 122:7-9

Hold on thy way. "One foot in front of the other."

For their bounds are set, they cannot pass:

1 Corinthians 10:13 

13 There hath no temptation ^ataken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be^btempted above that ye are able; but will with the ^ctemptationalso make a way to ^descape, that ye may be able to ^ebear it.

I have felt that the very jaws of hell have been gaping after me. I have had those moments. The very jaws of hell.

“all things work together for good to them that love God". Romans 8:28

Elder Martino, We may never know in this life why we face what we do, but we can feel confident that we can grow from the experience.Now, I realize that it is much easier to look back when a trial is over and see what we have learned from our experience, but the challenge is to gain that eternal perspective while we are going through our tests. 

Thank you today to Elder Eyring, Elder Martino (a member of the seventy and also my dear friend and mission president), and the Book of Mormon where my reading today was 2 Nephi 2 about opposition in all things.

 22 And now, behold, if Adam had not transgressed he would not have fallen, but he would have remained in the garden of Eden. And all things which were created must have remained in the same state in which they were after they were created; and they must have remained forever, and had no end. 

 24 But behold, all things have been done in the wisdom of him who ^aknoweth all things.

Moses 1:39

39 For behold, this is my ^awork and my ^bglory—to bring to pass the ^cimmortality and ^deternal ^elife of man.

Do I want to return to my Heavenly Father just the way I left Him?

No.