Moroni 9:6

And now, my beloved son, notwithstanding their hardness, let us labor diligently; for if we should cease to labor, we should be brought under condemnation; for we have a labor to perform whilst in this tabernacle of clay, that we may conquer the enemy of all righteousness, and rest our souls in the kingdom of God.

Our calling is to labor to the end. The outcome is in the Lord's hands. We count our success in sharing the gospel not by the number of converts, but by our faithfulness in the work. In the eyes of the Lord, a missionary who works diligently and tirelessly every day is as successful as one who baptizes hundreds. God is far more impressed with intent and effort than with numbers. The same is also true in the work we do in our families. We must labor to the end with our family, regardless of how unpromising the results may appear. God labors with each of us to the very last day. He expects us to do the same with each other.

Moroni 8:3

I am mindful of you always in my prayers, continually praying unto God the Father in the name of his Holy Child, Jesus, that he, through his infinite goodness and grace, will keep you through the endurance of faith on his name to the end.

Mormon is an example of a father who prays for his children He prays always and continually for his righteous son. He prays that God will bless his son with grace (enabling power) and goodness (love and mercy) so that he can endure in faith. This father and son lived in a harsh, violent world. To stay true to Christ was not easy in their day. Our world is becoming increasingly harsh and violent, and staying true to faith in Christ is not easy for our children, either. If Mormon felt the need to pray for his son, surely we should feel the need to pray for our children.

Moroni 6:2-3

Neither did they receive any unto baptism save they came forth with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, and witnessed unto the church that they truly repented of all their sins. And none were received unto baptism save they took upon them the name of Christ, having a determination to serve him to the end.

The qualifications for baptism are a broken heart (godly sorrow), a contrite spirit (humility), repentance, taking the name of Christ (faith in Christ), and a willingness to serve (endure) to the end. These principles are the same through the ages because they are eternal. Only one way leads to salvation, and that is through Christ, his doctrine, his gospel, and his covenants, which we make through ordinances. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Alma 55:31

But behold, the Nephites were not slow to remember the Lord their God in this their time of affliction. They could not be taken in their snares; yea, they would not partake of their wine, save they had first given to some of the Lamanite prisoners.

When we remember God in our afflictions, then those afflictions are a blessing to us. Everyone has afflictions. The difference is how we respond to them. God's purpose in allowing affliction is to draw us to him and give us a weight against which our faith can push to build strength. The natural man wants to avoid all affliction and live a life of ease, but he is always frustrated, for comfort is not the goal of mortality. If we embrace the natural man, we curse God for our trials. On the other hand, if we embrace God and his will, though we will still have trials, the outcome will be to our eternal advantage and glory.

Alma 50:1

And now it came to pass that Moroni did not stop making preparations for war, or to defend his people against the Lamanites; for he caused that his armies should commence in the commencement of the twentieth year of the reign of the judges, that they should commence in digging up heaps of earth round about all the cities, throughout all the land which was possessed by the Nephites.

We cannot let down our guard or think that we have ever beaten Satan as long as we live on this earth. He never gives up on us, and so we cannot give up. Even when Christ commanded Satan to depart from him after the temptations in the wilderness, the scripture says that Satan departed only for a while. We must always be vigilant and prepared.

Alma 5:13

And behold, he preached the word unto your fathers, and a mighty change was also wrought in their hearts, and they humbled themselves and put their trust in the true and living God. And behold, they were faithful until the end; therefore they were saved.

After we receive a witness from the Holy Ghost, we must stay humble, trust in God, and stay faithful to keep it. President Ezra Taft Benson explained: “Repentance means more than simply a reformation of behavior. … True repentance is based on, and flows from, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no other way. True repentance involves a change of heart and not just a change of behavior” (The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson 1988, 71).

Mosiah 27:32

And now it came to pass that Alma began from this time forward to teach the people, and those who were with Alma at the time the angel appeared unto them, traveling round about through all the land, publishing to all the people the things which they had heard and seen, and preaching the word of God in much tribulation, being greatly persecuted by those who were unbelievers, being smitten by many of them.

Just because we repent and turn our lives around does not mean everything will run smoothly from now on out. Sometimes our hardest times and greatest trials can come just at that point when we think we've got our game together. We are finally doing the right things. We are going to church, paying our tithing, attending the temple, and serving in our callings. We think we are making solid progress, and then the roadblocks appear, and the storms rage, and everything we do seems to go wrong. These are not the times to despair but to persevere. The blessings come after the trial of our faith. Trials are just tests, they are not judgments or punishments. If God didn't think we could stand the heat, he wouldn't put us in the furnace.

Mosiah 23:24

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.

If God did not let us have hard times, he would not have the opportunity to demonstrate his power in delivering us. When times are particularly tough, we should look forward all the more to seeing God's hand in our life. The end result, if we endure well in faith, will always be rejoicing.

Jacob 1:8

Wherefore, we would to God that we could persuade all men not to rebel against God, to provoke him to anger, but that all men would believe in Christ, and view his death, and suffer his cross and bear the shame of the world; wherefore, I, Jacob, take it upon me to fulfil the commandment of my brother Nephi.

To believe in Christ means to believe all he said. We believe he is who he said he is, does what he said he can do, overcomes what he said he has overcome, forgives whom he said he will forgive, saves whom he said he will save. To view his death means to observe his death, acknowledge it, and accept it as ransom for us. To suffer his cross means to accept the cross of Christ and be willing to bear the load with him if need be. To bear the shame of the world is to accept the mocking and derision that the wicked of the world will heap upon humble believers. It means to stay by the Tree of Life when the masses in the great and spacious building point their fingers and taunt us to cross over to their side. This is the Christian duty: to believe, to view, to accept, to suffer, to bear, and to endure.