Wilford Woodruff on the Savior's help in enduring trials

Wilford Woodruff (1807-1898) was called as an apostle in 1839 by Joseph Smith, and sustained as the 4th president of the Church in 1889.  He served until his death in 1898 at age 91.

[Words given at the funeral services of John Houseman, aged six years, and Willie Franklin, aged four years, sons of William and Ann Wheeler, burned to death at Wanship, Summit County, U. T., June 24, 1875]

"Jesus... descended below all things that he might rise above all things and comprehend all things. No man descended lower than the Savior of the world. Born in a stable, cradled in a manger, he travelled from there to the cross through suffering mingled with blood to a throne of grace; and in all his life there was nothing of an earthly nature that seemed to be worth possessing. His whole life was passed in poverty, suffering, pain, affliction, labor, prayer, mourning and sorrow until he gave up the ghost on the cross. Still he was God's firstborn son and the Redeemer of the world....

"In the dispensations and providences of God to man it seems that we are born to suffer pain, affliction, sorrows and trials; this is what God has decreed that the human family shall pass through; and if we make a right use of this probation, the experience it brings will eventually prove a great blessing to us, and when we receive immortality and eternal life, exaltation, kingdoms, thrones, principalities and powers with all the blessings of the fulness of the gospel of Christ, we shall understand and comprehend why we were called to pass through a continual warfare during the few years we spent in the flesh."

- Wilford Woodruff, "Little Children Are Innocent, and All Will Be Saved," discourse delivered June 27, 1875, in the Second Ward Schoolhouse, Salt Lake City. See JD 18:33.
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What a tender setting that must have been when President Woodruff gave these remarks. Imagine the feelings of family and neighbors at the tragic death of two young boys. President Woodruff's remarks shared the depth of understanding and caring that the Savior had, truly and completely comprehending their "suffering, pain, affliction... mourning and sorrow." He reassures us that it will all make sense eventually; but the challenge for us, in this mortal proving-ground, is to retain the faithful perspective that would enable us to "understand and comprehend why we were called to pass through a continual warfare" during our brief time on the earth.