My dear young friends, what a privilege it is for Yvonne and me to be with you—and with our friends President Meredith and amazing Jennifer. They are quiet, steady disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, and we love them for their examples, as I am sure you do as well.
I will confess that when this assignment appeared in my calendar last November, I was so excited. Immediately, a topic came to mind and has remained ever since, and I learned just a few weeks ago why, but I will share that later. I have prayed, fasted, worked, and even wept over it (really) and now pray that the Holy Ghost will help me deliver, and you receive, something of worth.
I speak today to the tired and the troubled, to the discouraged, disappointed, and heartbroken, and to any who feel like you are hanging on by the very tips of your spiritual fingers. I speak of what I will term “Christlike resilience”—the holy capacity, through Jesus Christ and His Atonement, not only to survive our trials but to be sanctified by them.
Years ago, during my banking career, I attended a loan servicing conference. Between sessions I was in the hotel gym, trying to stay in shape just in case the Lakers finally called, when I met a conference attendee who ran one hundred‑mile ultramarathons.
As we talked, he urged me to consider running an ultramarathon. He promised to send me some of his favorite books on the subject. I begged him not to, but a few weeks later four books arrived in the mail.
I noticed right away that not one of them was about running. They were about survival. They were about enduring pain, overcoming adversity, and learning how not to quit. What amazed me was that to my new friend, training for an ultramarathon was not about running at all; it was about resilience.
I recently read a story from the French and Indian War in 1756 of a woman (Mrs. Neff), in what would now be West Virginia, who was taken hostage by a party of Shawnee warriors. To humiliate and disorient her, they cut her petticoat up to her knee and made her wear moccasins. In that terrifying situation, Mrs. Neff withstood the mental abuse, kept her composure, and later when she saw that her guard had fallen asleep, Mrs. Neff escaped. Even though she heard gunshots behind her, she was able to run to the safety of a nearby fort. I think of her courage and resilience to overcome fear and uncertainty and run to safety when the opportunity presented itself.
Sometimes life feels like you are captive and humiliated and there seems to be no way home. But the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ is that there is always a way home. In the Savior, there is always a path to stand up and run to Him. That is Christlike resilience.
Remember the resilience of the Savior in Gethsemane. The scriptures teach that He “fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt.” [1] There is agony there, real and raw, and there is submission, majestic and complete. And that little conjunctive adverb, “nevertheless,” may be the most resilient word in all of scripture.
President Dallin H. Oaks said, “Adversity will be a constant or occasional companion for each of us throughout our lives. We cannot avoid it. The only question is how we will react to it.” [2] This morning I want to talk about how we react to it—how we maintain faith—when the cup does not pass, or at least not as quickly as we would hope it would.
I will speak about five principles that I have found that lead to Christlike resilience.
1. Anchor Your Hope in Christ
First, anchor your hope in Christ.
We sometimes feel we are out of chances, out of time, out of spiritual credit. To those who have felt that way, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland taught: “However late you think you are, however many chances you think you have missed, however many mistakes you feel you have made … I testify that you have not traveled beyond the reach of divine love.” [3]
In the Book of Mormon, while Alma’s people were in bondage, the Lord assured them of divine resilience when he promised, “I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs.” [4] He did not first change their circumstances; He changed their strength. He made them more capable of bearing their burdens. He made them resilient. That is what hope in Christ does—it doesn’t always calm the storm, but it can always calm you in the storm.
Christlike resilience starts with hope in Christ. Not a hope anchored in naïve optimism, but hope in the “infinite virtue of His atoning sacrifice.” [5] The key to Christlike resilience, the ability to not only withstand trials but to grow from them, is to set an anchor firmly in the hope of “Christ, and him crucified.” [6]
2. Be Faithful in Making and Keeping Covenants
Second, be faithful in making and keeping covenants. Christlike resilience is not just about inner toughness; it is about holy connections.
In His darkest hour, the Savior still prayed to His Father. [7] That covenant relationship was His lifeline. On the cross, in a moment of unspeakable abandonment, He did say, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” [8] He felt forsaken, yet He refused to forsake.
Our trials can be stumbling blocks or stepping stones. One way we turn stumbling blocks into stepping stones is by making and keeping sacred covenants that bind us to the Father and the Son.
Baptismal, priesthood, and temple covenants provide the comfort and calm to face challenges, trials, and tribulations with holy Christlike resilience. It is resilience that grows from confidence in the sacred covenantal relationship with the Father and the Son and their promise that we will find joy and sanctification in challenging times. And remember, the Father will fulfill all His promises made to us given by the Savior’s glorious atoning sacrifice.
When everything in you wants to run, run towards the sacrament. When all you want to do is hide, be seen by your Savior in His house—the holy temple. Don’t drift away from the Lord, draw close unto Him. Keeping covenants when we hurt is one of the deepest manifestations of Christlike resilience.
3. Pray with Importunity
Third, pray with importunity—that beautifully descriptive scriptural word means to keep asking, keep knocking, and keep pleading.
The Savior referenced importunity in the parable of the friend at midnight in Luke 11, who knocks and knocks until his neighbor finally gets up to help him, and then the Lord promises, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” [9] That is praying with importunity—respectful but relentless, unassuming yet unyielding.
In the Book of Mormon, Enos hunts beasts but ends up wrestling before God “in mighty prayer and supplication” all day and into the night. He said, “my soul hungered; and I kneeled down before my Maker, and I cried unto him in mighty prayer … and there came a voice unto me.” [10] That is importunity: praying until something changes in you, then in your circumstances.
If all you can manage some nights is “Father, please,” then start there. Heaven hears “Father, please.” Pray—and keep praying with importunity—until heaven’s quiet, resilient strength settles upon you.
4. Find Strength in Your Ancestors
Fourth, find strength in your ancestors. One of heaven’s choicest resources for resiliency comes from knowing our ancestors and finding strength in their experiences.
Research from Emory University found that children who knew a lot about their families “tended to do better than other children when they faced challenges” and “proved to be more resilient and able to moderate the effects of stress.” They had “a stronger sense of control over their lives,” “higher self-esteem,” and “felt that they belonged to something larger than themselves.” [11]
That is all secular language for a deeply spiritual truth: knowing your ancestors steadies your soul and creates Christlike resilience. As our hearts turn to our ancestors, we will feel that their hearts have already turned to us, and we will feel of their strength and encouragement.
At RootsTech, a few years ago, President and Sister Oaks taught that if you want a happier, more resilient family, you should “create, refine, and retell the stories of your ancestors’ positive moments. Emphasize their ability to bounce back and persist through adversity. That act alone will increase the odds that your family will thrive for many generations to come.” [12]
Trust me, heaven does not populate our family tree with strangers! Let me return to the story of Mrs. Neff that I mentioned before. You remember she was taken hostage during a battle in the French and Indian War. Her captors threatened, humiliated, and held her against her will. She withstood it all, stayed strong and resilient, and eventually escaped to safety.
Mrs. Neff was born Elizabeth Magdalena Feg who married Hans Leonhard Neff in 1745 and she is President Meredith’s sixth great grandmother. I can see her Christlike resilience in him as he leads this great institution or as a young man standing up for his status as a disciple of Christ even when adults told him that he could not possibly be a Christian because he was “Mormon.” Christlike resilience of our ancestors is a family treasure that blesses generations, and in the specific case of Mrs. Neff through President Meredith also blesses you!
Part of Christlike resilience comes as we learn of our ancestors and their stories. I promise that you will see them in you. It will bring peace, comfort, and resilience. Let them assure us, as certain as any scripture, “We are with you. We endured. With Christ, so can you.”
5. Turn Outward, Not Inward, in Adversity
Finally, turn outward, not inward, in adversity. If there is anything most distinctively Christlike about resilience, it is this—turning outward in adversity.
On the cross, in unspeakable agony, the Savior pleaded, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” [13] He comforted a dying thief: “To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.” [14] He provided for His mother: “Woman, behold thy son!” [15] Having experienced a week of the greatest suffering and disappointment that any being has ever felt, even on that cruel cross, He was still blessing, still forgiving, still caring, and still comforting.
In 3 Nephi, after inviting the Nephites to feel the prints of the nails “one by one,” [16] He healed their sick and blessed their children “one by one.” [17] The Risen Lord, with palpable wounds in His hands and feet, used those very hands to lift and bless.
He always reached outward to minister to one who was suffering or in need —even as He himself experienced pain, trial, and disappointment. That needs to be our pattern. Christlike resilience is not just about getting through; it is about reaching out to bless others while we are getting through.
It feels appropriate to share a very personal experience that I rarely talk about. It speaks to turning outward in times of personal turmoil and how the Lord provides opportunities to use our challenging times to help others in their time of need.
The story begins when I was a ward mission leader in Los Angeles trying to find a part-time member family, I will call the Safavi family. I tried for years to find the Safavis but could not. Years later, I was called as bishop of that ward, my beloved Westwood First Ward. This was the photo taken the day that I was set apart as bishop. My mom is standing right behind me. January 28, 2001 was a good day. I was baptized as a teenager into that ward and now I would be serving as bishop. It was exciting but also overwhelming.
The next day, Monday, I received a call at work informing me that my mom lost her life in a carjacking that went terribly wrong. You can imagine the incredible swing in emotions in just 24 hours. Suddenly, I was not just responsible for preparing for my first Sunday as bishop, but for my first funeral as bishop.
Then, on Wednesday night, I received a call from a sister in a neighboring stake looking to speak with the new bishop. She said that her friends in the ward, who were not active members, had just experienced a tragedy in their family. The father of the family, living in a foreign country, was killed during a civil protest. She gave me their address and asked if I would visit them. As you might have guessed, it was the elusive Safavi family—the family I had been looking for as ward mission leader for so many years. I was able to go to their home to minister them in their time of need.
The Lord, in His great wisdom, knew that the very week that I would have a life-changing ordeal, I would be an instrument in His hands to help and bless others during their life-changing ordeal.
Now, when I think back on that week, I remember very clearly the joy that came from finding meaning in my experience in that I could truly understand and empathize with the Safavi family and their experience.
These experiences are what Paul taught the Philippians when he spoke about knowing the “fellowship of [the Lord’s] sufferings.” [18]
In the most recent General Conference in April, Elder David A. Bednar taught: “The Redeemer of the world turned outward in love and service when He faced spiritual adversity or physical pain—in contrast to the natural man in each of us that turns inward in self-interest, self-centeredness, and selfishness.” [19]
Heavenly Father’s plan of happiness ensures that we pass through trials and tribulations in this life so that we can learn to turn to Him for healing, to receive Christlike resilience, and to help others in their healing as we share our experiences. A great joy in this life is to be an instrument in the Lord’s hands to bless others in their time of need. I promise you that one day you will look down at your scars and realize they have helped you know the Master Healer, and that He has put you in the right place, with heavenly timing, to help others who are wounded turn to Him for healing.
Trust the plan—it is divinely perfect. To have faith in the plan of happiness is to believe that one day, in eternity’s bright morning, you will see that God has not designed destructive, malicious, or unfair experiences as part of your story, but has woven even your most difficult life experiences into a tapestry of joy, peace, resilience, redemption and exaltation.
A Closing Plea
I believe in Christlike resilience. The Son of God, in His matchless life, provided us an example in all things—including dignity, grace and resilience in the face of trials and tribulations. In those trying times, when hope and comfort seem out of reach, remember these five principles that will surely extend your reach:
- Anchor your hope in Christ. Even if you cannot see the silver lining of light around the dark clouds, God can; He is the source of all light.
- Be faithful in making and keeping covenants. Embrace the sacrament, cling to the House of the Lord, hold fast to the covenants that bind you to the Father and to the Son and to your family. Rejoice in the power of covenants with God the Father and His Son, and in keeping those covenants to always take care of one another, particularly in times of need.
- Pray with importunity. Pray out loud when you can. Pour out your soul to the Father who loves you more profoundly than anyone else ever will.
- Find strength in your ancestors. Learn, remember, and retell their stories so their courage becomes part of your own spiritual DNA. Add what you know and learn to family search so that others can draw strength from them, too.
- Turn outward, not inward, in adversity. Follow our Savior who, with nails in His hands and wrists, still ministered “one by one.” Be patient and trust your loving Heavenly Father and His perfect plan for you.
Now, as life would have it—as it sometimes heartbreakingly insists—I needed to put these five principles to the test recently in a situation I never could have imagined. On May 11, my dear and closest friend, Elder W. Mark Bassett, stepped unexpectedly through the veil. For more than a decade, we spoke weekly, even when we served in different countries. We sat next to each other in every meeting we were in together—the last time just in front of President Meredith in our temple meeting in Salt Lake just days before Mark passed. His friendship was steady, familiar, and deep. I miss my friend, but the Lord knew in November, when I received this assignment, what I would need in May.
In the days that followed, I did the only things I could do when life changes suddenly and hearts break. I anchored my hope in Christ, the One who has already descended below all things. I sought solace in the covenants that bind earth to heaven. I prayed with importunity for his wife, Angie, and for their precious children and sweet grandchildren. I reflected on my own family story and on Mark’s, seeing in both the unmistakable fingerprints of a God who keeps His promises. And I tried, however imperfectly, to reach outward to others who were in mourning with me.
And I testify that heaven did not remain silent. There came peace. There came comfort. Not the erasing of loss, but an abundance of hope, a quiet assurance that death is not destruction, separation is not abandonment, and loss is certainly not permanent. It was the kind of comfort that does not deny sorrow but guides you through it.
With absolute and complete conviction, I testify that our Heavenly Father and His Beloved Son are the united source of all true and lasting resilience. Christlike resilience will ensure that “all these things shall give thee experience and shall be for thy good” [20] and the good of others! The Savior who drank the bitter cup, who walked alone through Gethsemane and Golgotha, walks now with you.
I joyfully leave my witness that He lives and that He loves us profoundly and perfectly, in His holy name, Jesus Christ, amen.
Notes
[1] Matthew 26:39.
[2] Dallin H. Oaks, “Adversity, Brigham Young University devotional, Jan. 17, 1995.
[3] Jeffrey R. Holland, “The Laborers in the Vineyard,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2012, 33.
[4] Mosiah 24:14.
[5] “The Living Christ: The Testimony of the Apostles,” Gospel Library.
[6] 1 Corinthians 2:2.
[7] Matthew 26:39.
[8] Matthew 27:46.
[9] Luke 11:5–9.
[10] Enos 1:2–5.
[11] Bruce Feiler, “The Stories That Bind Us,” The New York Times, March 15, 2013, accessed 6/2/2026.
[12] Maurine Proctor, “Pres. And Sister Oaks: The Power of Family Stories,” Meridian Magazine, latterdaysaintmag.com, Mar. 4, 2018.
[13] Luke 23:34.
[14] Luke 23:43.
[15] John 19:26.
[16] 3 Nephi 11:15.
[17] 3 Nephi 17:21.
[18] Philippians 3:10.
[19] David A. Bednar, “All Who Have Endured Valiantly,” Liahona, May 2026.
[20] Doctrine and Covenants 122:7.
About Elder Mark A. Bragg
Elder Mark A. Bragg was sustained as a General Authority Seventy on April 2, 2016. At the time of his call, he was serving as an Area Seventy in the North America West Area. He has served in the South America South Area Presidency and as President of the North America West Area. He currently serves as Executive Director of the Family History Department and Chairman of FamilySearch International.
Elder Bragg additionally has served as a full-time missionary in the México Monterrey Mission, ward mission leader, high councilor, bishop, stake president, and Area Seventy. Elder Bragg majored in marketing and Spanish at the University of Utah and began his career as vice president of Great Western Bank in Los Angeles. Most recently, he worked as a senior vice president at Bank of America.
Mark Allyn Bragg was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. He married Yvonne King in 1984 in the Los Angeles Temple. They are the parents of four children and five grandchildren. Elder Bragg enjoys all sports, particularly basketball and pickleball.