Mental illness, in its various causes, forms, and manifestations, ranks high on any list of the ailments that try and torment mankind. In its publication The Global Burden of Disease, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimated, for example, that one form of mental illness, depression, was the fourth most important reported health problem in the developing world in 1990. The WHO predicts that by 2020, depression may rank as the number one health problem in that portion of the globe.

While our daily challenges may vary in type, intensity, and frequency, there seem to be three general areas in which we can seek and receive divine help in our lives. The strengthening power of Christ is designed and available for all three of these types of daily tests.

I remember feeling many times that I was just marking time, waiting for my life to happen.

A great number of righteous men and women from the Old Testament and Book of Mormon, including prophets, priests, kings, and others, served as types and shadows of Jesus Christ. Their personal purity and righteousness, as well as events in their lives, foreshadowed Jesus’ righteousness and his works. The parallels between these individuals and Christ are so striking that these persons “were types and shadows of our Lord’s coming; they were living, walking, breathing Messianic prophecies.”1 Elder Jeffrey R. Holland wrote: “Jehovah used an abundance of archetypes and symbols. Indeed, these have always been a conspicuous characteristic of the Lord’s instruction to his children. Examples of those figures—especially prefigurations of Christ—are present throughout the pre-Messianic record. . . .

I have been interested in a statement made about Abraham by Moses in Genesis 24:

Introduction

To commemorate the martyrdom of Joseph Smith on June 27, here are some powerful quotes about him from every modern-day prophet from President Brigham Young to President Russell M. Nelson.

“Go home! You can’t enter Jerusalem! Go back!” the soldier at the checkpoint screamed at me. This soldier who had invaded my country was now telling me that I was denied access to the city of my birth. I tried to form angry words to respond to his unjust act but was halted by the words of the Savior echoing in my ear: “Love your enemies.”

Years ago, before the Church instituted the three-hour block schedule for our Sunday meetings, we used to go to the chapel for meetings three times every Sunday—once in the morning for priesthood meeting, a second time for Sunday School opening exercises and classes, and finally a third time for a ninety-minute sacrament meeting. When I was a very young man, our ward’s Sunday School superintendent, Brother Marchant, came to our class one Sunday to ask for volunteers who would be willing to give the prayer, the 2½-minute talks, and the sacrament gem (a verse of scripture shared before the sacrament was passed) in the following week’s Sunday School opening exercises. My strategy was to quickly volunteer to say either the prayer or the sacrament gem. I was motivated by the desire to avoid having to give a talk at all costs! Unfortunately for me, I wasn’t the only person in the class with that strategy, and I missed out on my first choice, the prayer. I was quick enough, however, to score the sacrament gem assignment. Given the other alternative, I felt lucky.

It hasn’t even been a year since President Nelson became President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but in this short time, we have seen numerous blessings and experienced massive changes in the Church.