Alma 17:9

And it came to pass that they journeyed many days in the wilderness, and they fasted much and prayed much that the Lord would grant unto them a portion of his Spirit to go with them, and abide with them, that they might be an instrument in the hands of God to bring, if it were possible, their brethren, the Lamanites, to the knowledge of the truth, to the knowledge of the baseness of the traditions of their fathers, which were not correct.

When we are in the wilderness of our lives, prayer and fasting are critical in keeping the Holy Ghost with us. God may not rescue us immediately from the wilderness, but he will not leave us comfortless or without guidance.

Mosiah 23:3

And they fled eight days’ journey into the wilderness.

Alma and his people, like all repentant people, spent time in the wilderness, living in tents, subsisting on the bare necessities, stripping themselves of the world, and becoming sanctified. Because they were humble and teachable, they did not suffer in the wilderness for long. They turned the wilderness from an affliction into a home and a refuge. The wilderness is what we make it. If we fight it, it can be a miserable existence. If, however, we accept it and work with it, the wilderness can become an Eden.

Mosiah 22:2

And it came to pass that they could find no way to deliver themselves out of bondage, except it were to take their women and children, and their flocks, and their herds, and their tents, and depart into the wilderness; for the Lamanites being so numerous, it was impossible for the people of Limhi to contend with them, thinking to deliver themselves out of bondage by the sword.

The Lord uses the wilderness to purge us of the baggage of pride and sin. While the wilderness is always a trial full of afflictions, it is not a curse, but a cleansing. If we endure our wilderness experiences well, they change us and sanctify us and bring us closer to God. They are indispensable legs in our journey through mortality towards eternal life.