Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles speaks during a Thanksgiving Day devotional at the Provo Missionary Training Center on Nov. 24, 2016.
Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles spoke on gratitude during trials as he delivered a Thanksgiving day devotional held in the Provo Missionary Training Center the morning of Nov. 24. He addressed hundreds of missionaries gathered in the Provo MTC, as well as the other Missionary Training Centers around the world.Elder Andersen shared the stage with eight of his grandchildren, who shared what they were grateful for.

He told the missionaries that "your very life, your breath, your ability to lift your arms, or to move your fingers in and out, or to have your eyes see — now as you know not everyone has those capabilities — but you come to understand that this is given to you by God. And because He gives it to us, we can never repay Him — never — in all of our doing, can we give back to Him what He has given to us."

"The goodness of our Heavenly Father is incalculable," Elder Andersen said. He told the missionaries that they would face trials and afflictions, but God never stops blessing His children. Like Lehi told his son, Jacob, in 2 Nephi 2:2, Elder Andersen said, "He will consecrate your afflictions for your gain."

Elder Andersen then shared a scripture he was exposed to by Elder Neal A. Maxwell: "And in nothing doth man offend God, or against none is his wrath kindled, save those who confess not his hand in all things, and obey not his commandments" (Doctrine and Covenants 59:21).

"Don’t be resentful of the trials and difficulties that come upon you," Elder Andersen said. "It is part of mortality. Of course, we would much rather have the blessings than the trials. Don’t be afraid to take a deep breath and say, ‘I will be grateful for everything. And I will confess the hand of the Lord in all things, and accept them and do my best in them.’"

The last scripture Elder Andersen shared was Doctrine and Covenants 78:19: "And he who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious; and the things of this earth shall be added unto him, even an hundred fold, yea, more."

"We do not look upon our lives as our mortal lives only," Elder Andersen said. "Our lives are eternal. They are everlasting. Who you are, you will be for a very long time. Forever."

Elder Andersen shared the experience of Michael Kunka, who was one of his missionaries while he presided over the France Bordeaux Mission. Elder Kunka came from a family who could barely afford to send him on a mission. In one day, he had a bike accident that wrecked his $300 bike and tore his one good suit, then came home to discover a thief had stolen a watch his family had given him for serving a mission, as well as his reserve cash. That day, he called his mission president and said he wanted to go home.

"Now Brother Kunka would never have actually gone home," Elder Andersen said. During that conversation, "I told him, 'Elder Kunka, if you just had a day like that, you must have something great in your future.'"

Soon Elder Kunka met Maruice and Brigitte Renal. Through his work, the two were baptized. Twenty-seven years later, the Renal family has seven children, two of whom are serving missions.

"Many times, we cannot see our blessings unless we see them in arrears," Elder Andersen said. "You cannot see everything that is good that is coming to you many times at the time you receive them."

In closing, Elder Andersen testified, "I know that [Jesus Christ] lives. I know this is His sacred work, to go about all the earth to take His gospel restored to every nation, kindred, tongue and people that there might be a righteous people to receive Him and embrace Him."

vjohnson@deseretnews.com