How Can The Atonement Help Me During My Trials?

Let's talk trials
(and how they benefit us in the 'long run')

Life is hard.  It just is.  Here's the thing though, life was MEANT to be hard.  Can you believe that? Can you believe we knowingly, willingly signed up and fought for something we knew would be hard (sometimes, ridiculously so)?  The more I think about it, the more happily I can say, "Yes, I can believe it!"  How many things that are truly worth obtaining in this life come easily?  How many amazing, wonderful things fall into our lap?  I can think of very few.
Elder Orson F. Whitney penned these words:
"No pain that we suffer, no trial that we experience is wasted.  It ministers to our education, to the development of such qualities as patience, faith, fortitude, and humility. ...It is through sorrow and suffering, toil and tribulation, that we gain the education that we come here to acquire."
The hard things we experience, sometimes simply mustering through, are all for our good.  And I would add, the good of others.  The Savior himself knew that the best way to help us all was to experience exactly what we would experience.
Isaiah 53:3-5 (With his stripes we are healed)
"It will comfort us when we must wait in distress for the Savior's promised relief that He knows, from experience, how to heal and help us. ...And faith in that power will give us patience as we pray and work and wait for help.  He could have known how to succor us simply by revelation, but He CHOSE TO LEARN BY HIS OWN PERSONAL EXPERIENCE." -President Henry B. Eyring

Alma 7:11-12 "That his bowels may be filled with mercy,...that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities."
Christ chose to experience all of our pains and afflictions so that he could know us better.  Maybe it's only through experiencing the trials of mortality that WE get to better understand HIM?  Maybe by experiencing these things we in turn, become more like HIM.

Similarly, by experiencing trials ourselves, we can be as the Savior, if only but for a moment, when we empathize, befriend, and counsel those who are experiencing the same thing we are.  We can be His mouthpiece and offer peace and understanding to those we love because we truly understand what they are experiencing.
(My personal stories that accompany my miscarriage, as well as other hard things-being a parent, wife, sister, student, etc.)

So...life is hard, and that's good, right?  Right. That perspective is helpful, BUT we still need MORE than a good perspective to get us through our trials.  Can you tell me what the Savior has promised to do for us?  Let's read some scriptures:
Matthew 11:28-30 (He will give us rest, will lighten our load)
Philippians 4:13 (He strengthens us)
1 Nephi 17:3 (He will nourish, strengthen, provide means for us)
D&C 19:23 (He will give us PEACE)
1 Nephi 1:20 (Make us mighty "unto deliverance")
Matthew 8:16 (Healed all that were sick)-more on healing to come
What other things can we think of that Christ can help us with? (below are a few examples I thought of but there are many, many more)
-Gaining a knowledge, understanding or clarity with a principle/concept/situation
-Learning to have sympathy
-Helping us have patience
-Allows us to feel love, even when we don't feel it from anyone else, or feel as though we don't deserve it
-Sometimes, through the priesthood he will HEAL us physically, other times we need to be healed emotionally and spiritually
"As Nephi saw in vision, much of Christ's mortal ministry was devoted to blessing and healing the sick with all kinds of maladies--physical, emotional, and spiritual.'And I beheld multitudes of people who were sick, and who were afflicted with all manner of diseases...And they were healed by the power of the Lamb of God.'" (Richards, quoting Nephi)
Matthew 8:16 "When the even was come, they brought unto him many...and he...healed ALL that were sick." He healed ALL that came to Him.  None were turned away.
-Keep us from feeling alone
-Prompts others to help us
-"Perhaps His most significant work is in the ongoing labor with each of us individually to lift, to bless, to strengthen, to sustain, and to forgive us."-Kent F Richards
Because of the atonement, we are promised all these blessings from a brother that truly understands as no other person can.

Of all the things we are promised, what sticks out to you?  What do you want THE MOST, when you are going through a trial?  Might I venture to guess two?  How about 1, to be healed, and 2, peace.  Let's chat specifically about those.
Who can define 'peace'?
In the scriptures, peace can mean either [1] freedom from conflict and turmoil or [2] the inner calm and comfort born of the Spirit that God gives to his faithful Saints. (lds.org)
-Let's talk about the different kinds of peace.
Is it possible to have one kind of peace, but not another?

"We earnestly hope and pray for universal peace, but it is as individuals and families that we achieve the kind of peace that is the promised reward of righteousness. This peace is a promised gift of the Savior’s mission and atoning sacrifice.

This principle is succinctly captured in the Doctrine and Covenants: “But learn that he who doeth the works of righteousness shall receive his reward, even peace in this world, and eternal life in the world to come.”¹⁴

President John Taylor taught that peace is not only desirable, but “it is the gift of God.”¹⁵

The peace to which I am referring is not just a temporary tranquility. It is an abiding deep happiness and spiritual contentment.¹⁶

President Heber J. Grant described the Savior’s peace this way: “His peace will ease our suffering, bind up our broken hearts, blot out our hates, engender in our breasts a love of fellow men that will suffuse our souls with calm and happiness.”^17"

-If we have repented and are at peace with our choices, other forms of peace come way easier...regardless of our physical state/earthly struggles we face.

Healing...let's chat about healing.
What different kinds of healing will the Savior do on our behalf?  Is it always the kind of healing WE want/ask for? (NO) Is it always what we need? (ALWAYS)  The saying, "not as I wilt, but as thy wilt" is pretty poignant here.  Christ heals ALL.  He always has, he always will.  But in order to become the kind of people our Father in Heaven needs us to be, we simply have to go through hard things.  This means we have imperfect bodies, families, finances, etc. And when we ask to be healed, those things might not change.  BUT, if we ask for the Lord's help, WE WILL CHANGE.  Through the ATONEMENT of JESUS CHRIST, we can, should and will grow as the result of our trials. Those changes will bring us closer to our Father in Heaven and to the people we ache to be.

"Healing blessings come in many ways, each suited to our individual needs, as known to Him who loves us best. Sometimes a 'healing' cures illness or lifts our burden. But sometimes we are 'healed' by being given strength or understanding or patience to bear the burdens placed upon us"-Elder Dallin H. Oaks

Does anyone have a personal story they can/want to share in regard to these principals?

-Activities:

• -Divide the young women into groups. Have each group read one or more of the scriptures in this outline and summarize what they read. Invite the young women to write down how the things they learn from these scriptures can help them overcome their trials. Encourage them to share what they wrote, if they feel comfortable doing so. Consider sharing your own experiences.

-Invite the young women to list some of the tragedies that have happened in the world (for some examples of tragedies, see the first seven paragraphs of Elder Quentin L. Cook’s talk “Personal Peace: The Reward of Righteousness”). How would they help a friend who is experiencing personal hardships?

Ask the young women to share what they learned today. Do they understand how the Atonement can help them during their trials? What feelings or impressions do they have? Do they have any additional questions? Would it be worthwhile to spend more time on this doctrine?

My testimony:
I know life is hard.  I also know our Savior and our Father in Heaven love us.  And if that's the case (which it is!) then these are things we face MUST be for our good.  I know that if we simply ask, our Father and our Brother will always be at our side, ready to help us; to heal us and fill us with peace.

Jean A. Stevens, “Fear Not; I Am with Thee,”
Quentin L. Cook, “Personal Peace: The Reward of Righteousness,”Shayne M. Bowen, “Because I Live, Ye Shall Live Also,” 
Kent F. Richards, "The Atonement Covers All Pain"