According to the signs of the times listed in many places in the scriptures, we still have a long way to go before our Savior will come again.  Not only do we have to take the gospel to the enormous countries of India and China, but to the Muslin countries as well. According to Elder Bruce R. McConkie, we still have to build a temple in Jerusalem.  These events seem to be far in the future, and according to the brethren in the last conference, we are to hold tight to the iron rod and proceed through this time of great unrest and difficulty throughout the world, continuing to spread the gospel.  And all the while we must choose righteousness and keep our faith bright.

It is possible.  However, it has been many generations since we have had to have the kind of individual relationship with the Lord that we need now.  Each of us needs to internalize guidance from the Spirit to keep us optimistic and headed in the right direction to build the Kingdom.  There is something required of each one of us.  That something can most often be found as we fight to overcome trials and in doing so forge the faith that the pioneers had. 

Our true identities do not become clear while we are living a life of ease.  They only become clear when our way has become so difficult that we must take the Savior's hand and follow him through the rocky terrain.  The feel of our hand in His, the presence of Him in our lives, will sanctify us, and if we stay true to the covenants we have made to sacrifice and consecrate, we will find that we have power for good that we never dreamed of.

I found a scripture the other night as I was reading 1Nephi that engraved itself on my soul and made all fear of the future flee.  Nephi was being shown our day:

And I, Nephi, beheld the power of the Lamb of God, that it descended upon the saints of the church of the Lamb, and upon the covenant people of the Lord, who were scattered upon all the face of the earth; and they were armed with righteousness and with the power of God in great glory (1 Nephi 14:14).

I realized in those few moments another reason for temples.  They are not only to prepare us for eternal life, they are to give us "the power of God in great glory" as we live in the here and now.  As we attend frequently, we become more and more sanctified, our lives more and more in line with the Savior's.  The Saints received this power in the Nauvoo temple, enabling them to cross the plains under harsh circumstances, and commence to build new homes in the desert of the Salt Lake basin.

We receive this power to build Zion in a harsh and difficult world.  "The power of God in great glory" is a gift that we can suffer any privation to receive.  It is the power that created the universe, that parted the Red Sea, that helped Nephi build a ship.  Whatever our mission in this world that is seemingly going mad, the power of God is sufficient to help us do great things: carry the Gospel to the ends of the earth, become a mighty force for good in the world, excel at the arts and sciences, raise a righteous posterity, overcome personal weakness, serve and love God with ALL our hearts, might, mind, and strength.  Ours is the job to sanctify ourselves and put off the natural man by seeking the power of the Holy Ghost, and then to offer ourselves to our Heavenly Father and Savior completely, saying, "Here I am.  What wouldst thou have me do?"

It is not by simply enduring that we will make it through these times.  It is by acting in the name of the Lord with great power.  His power.