Crucibles

Many times in our life we have to go through the refiner's fire.  Just like the metals pictured here.  Their substance is changed in intense heat.  Then they have to go through a cooling process and then maybe some hammering after that.  But when everything is all done, you've become a beautiful piece, that is nice and shiny and perfected.  The trials that we have in life act in the same way.  They may round some corners for us, or change our thinking, might help us have more compassion, helps us become more like the Savior.  During those trials it is hard to see how they are benefiting us and making us better, but after the trail passes we realize that it did change us.  I love the analogy of that we are being molded and shaped into a more perfect person.  We start out as a block of clay and with each thing in our life it brings more shape and detail. 



There is a great quote by C.S. Lewis. It says: 

“Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of - throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.” 

This quote sums it up nicely.  It is hard to go through these different trial and tribulations in this life.  But when we look back we realize just as the scripture says that 
My son (or daughter), peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment;  D&C 121:7

Also President Uchtdorf in his talk Your Happily Every after has said:

"My dear young sisters, you need to know that you will experience your own adversity. None is exempt. You will suffer, be tempted, and make mistakes. You will learn for yourself what every heroine has learned: through overcoming challenges come growth and strength.

It is your reaction to adversity, not the adversity itself, that determines how your life’s story will develop.  Enduring adversity is not the only thing you must do to experience a happy life. Let me repeat: how you react to adversity and temptation is a critical factor in whether or not you arrive at your own “happily ever after.”"