Challenges = Experience

Okay I am going to start out with the quotes from Elder Hales from the May 2009 Ensign:

"Our challenges, including those we create by our own decisions, are part of our test in mortality. Let me assure that your situation is not beyond the reach of our Savior. Through Him, every struggle can be for our experience and our good (see D&C 122:7). Each temptation we overcome is to strengthen us, not destroy us. The Lord will never allow us to suffer beyond what we can endure (see 1 Corinthians 10:13)."

D&C 122:7-9
"And if thou shouldst be cast into the pit, or into the hands of murderers, and the sentence of death passed upon the; if thou be cast into the deep; if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if fierce winds become thine enemy; if the heavens gather blackness, and all the elements combine to hedge up the way; and above all, if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good.
The Son of Man hath descended below them all. Art thou greater than he?
Therefore, hold on thy way, and the priesthood shall remain with thee; for their bounds are set, they cannot pass. Thy days are known, and thy years shall not be numbered less; therefore, fear not what man can do, for God shall be with you forever and ever."

1 Corinthians 10:13
"There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it."

I am so glad that I read this today! I have really been feeling bogged down. My feet hurt all of the time, I can't loose this weight that I have put back on the easy way by just walking. This time it will be harder, the challenge is harder. But not so much that I can't overcome it with the Lords help. I have been feeling so bad about myself that I haven't been able to feel guidance from the Lord. Well I am not going to be shackled any more. The Lord knows exactly what I am going through and I know that He will help me. There is a way to escape and if I will rely on God, He will be with me forever.

One last quote from Elder Hales:
"I testify that the appetite to possess worldly things can only be overcome by turning to the Lord. The hunger of addiction can only be replaced by our love for Him. He stands ready to help each one of us. 'Fear not,' He said, 'for you are mine, and I have overcome the world' (D&C 50:41)."