Lessons of 2026
Lesson No. Thirty-One

Growing Old Gracefully with Cheerful Patience

My experience and observation concerning growing old. I am well into my 83rd year and Susan is in her 81st year, and most of our friends are about the same age. Over the last several years we have experienced increasing health challenges and various other issues related to aging. This is the normal course of life. Even minor health challenges are exacerbated by age.

For most people growing old is the final test and the finishing school of mortality. A required course in our twilight years is the, less discussed, Christ-like virtue of patience.

Patience. “To fill the full measure and purpose of our mortal probation, we must have patience. This mortal existence is the Lord’s sifting sphere, the time when we are subject to trials, testing, and tribulations. Future rewards will be based on our patient endurance of all things” (Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, Patience).

The experience of the people of Alma provides a marvelous example of the importance of patience and how it is closely associated with faith. (After quoting verses from Mosiah 23-24, parts of which I emphasize by bolding, my explanation follows and is italicized).

“And it came to pass that they began to prosper exceedingly in the land; and they called the land Helam. And it came to pass that they did multiply and prosper exceedingly in the land of Helam; and they built a city, which they called the city of Helam. Nevertheless the Lord seeth fit to chasten his people; yea, he trieth their patience and their faith” (Mosiah 23:19-21).

The people of Alma were covenant keepers and as a result they prospered. The Lord knew that they were strong enough to endure a severe trial which lasted many months. He also knew that this trial would greatly increase their faith in Him. He has promised that when His people endure trials cheerfully and with patience He will deliver them in the way and at the time He knows best.

“Nevertheless—whosoever putteth his trust in him the same shall be lifted up at the last day. Yea, and thus it was with this people. For behold, I will show unto you that they were brought into bondage, and none could deliver them but the Lord their God, yea, even the God of Abraham and Isaac and of Jacob. And it came to pass that he did deliver them, and he did show forth his mighty power unto them, and great were their rejoicings” (Mosiah 23:22-24).

I know by personal experience that the Lord does deliver his people by showing forth His mighty power, and great are my rejoicings.

“And it came to pass that the voice of the Lord came to them in their afflictions, saying: Lift up your heads and be of good comfort, for I know of the covenant which ye have made unto me; and I will covenant with my people and deliver them out of bondage. And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witness for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions” (Mosiah 24:13-14).

My experiences have taught me that the Lord does not immediately remove a specific burden, but rather He tries our patience and faith by offering His grace or His enabling power which allows us to endure all things. (The grace Jesus Christ enables us to do all things that are expedient in Him.) Faith and patience are companion virtues, and often go together. For example, we can have faith sufficient to be healed, but we must endure patiently and wait upon the Lord according to His time table as He knows best.

“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. And it came to pass that so great was their faith and their patience that the voice of the Lord came unto them again, saying: Be of good comfort, for on the morrow I will deliver you out of bondage” (Mosiah 24:15-16).

Cheerful patience is the key to ageing: We must have faith in the Lord and submit to His will, but it must be done “cheerfully and with patience.”

“Yea, and in the valley of Alma they poured out their thanks to God because he had been merciful unto them, and eased their burdens, and had delivered them out of bondage; for they were in bondage, and none could deliver them except it were the Lord their God” (24:15 16 21).

If we age with cheerful patience, calling on the Lord in faith, He will give us strength to endure. He will start to ease our burdens. If we are to be healed, it will likely come through small improvements, each step of which will give us greater faith and rejoicings, and we will know that it was the Lord who delivered us from our afflictions.

Jesus Christ brings joy regardless of our age and circumstances. I believe what President Russell M. Nelson taught: “the joy we feel has little to do with the circumstances of our lives and everything to do with the focus of our lives. When the focus of our lives is on God’s plan of salvation…and Jesus Christ and His gospel, we can feel joy regardless of what is happening—or not happening—in our lives. Joy comes from and because of Him. He is the source of all joy… For Latter-day Saints, Jesus Christ is joy!” (Joy and Spiritual Survival, Gen Conf. Oct 2016).

Testimony. The solution to all of life’s challenges, including growing old, is to be righteous and cheerfully stay on the covenant path. Elder Richard L. Evans, an Apostle and known world- wide as the voice of the Tabernacle Chior for over 40 years, died unexpectedly at the relative young age of 65. To many his death seemed untimely. At Elder Evans funeral President Joseph Fielding Smith, the Lord’s prophet, gave one of the great doctrinal sermons of this dispensation.

“Brother Evans has been taken by the Lord to another field of labor, where his great talents will be multiplied a hundred-fold; where he will continue to use them in the furtherance of the Lord’s work; and where they are now needed even more than they were here among us.

“And may I say for the consolation of those who mourn, and for the comfort and guidance of all of us, that no righteous [person] is ever taken before his time. In the case of the faithful Saints, they are simply transferred to other fields of labor. The Lord’s work goes on in this life, in the world of spirits, and in the kingdoms of glory where men go after their resurrection.

“Life and labor and love are eternal, and Brother Evans is now assigned to continue his work in the spirit world, until that day when he shall come forth in glorious immortality to receive his place in the mansions that are prepared.

“He held the holy priesthood in this life and was ordained to stand as a special witness of the Lord’s name; he holds that same priesthood in the world of spirits and is there assigned to continue his labors for the salvation of our Father’s other children who have passed on without a knowledge of the saving principles of eternal truth which have been restored in this day.

“The church on earth has lost the services of one of its most able and competent leaders who was endowed with special talents and abilities which are seldom equaled. But the same Church, which has an even more perfect and effective organization among the righteous dead, has gained another pillar of strength to use in the great labors that are performed there.

“His influence in this life extended to the ends of the earth, and we shall miss his voice, his counsel, and his wisdom as it was heard and felt among us. But in that sphere where the limitations and restrictions of mortality no longer curtail the spirit children of our Father, his voice, his counsel, and his wisdom will influence greater hosts who seek and need the words of life and truth found only in the gospel of Jesus Christ” (Ensign, December 1971, emphasis mine).

Released on August 23rd. 2026.