President James E. Faust on living life with an eternal perspective

President James E. Faust (1920-2007) was called as a Seventy in 1976, then as a member of the Quorum of Twelve in 1978. He served as a counselor to President Hinckley from 1995 until his death in 2007 at age 87.

"Mortality is a precious drop in the bucket of eternity. Why not make each minute pleasant and fulfilling? We must make our own happiness. As President Spencer W. Kimball once said, 'Happiness does not depend upon what happens outside of you, but on what happens inside of you. It is measured by the spirit with which you meet the problems of life.'

"Problems, challenges, and heartaches come to all of us regardless of gender, whether we are married or single, or whether or not we are limited physically or mentally.... The key to happiness does not lie alone in gender or marital status or parenthood or being free of physical challenges. Happiness comes from living the teachings of the Savior and having the vision to see what He would have us become. Remember what he said: 'He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it' (Matt. 10:39). Because we have been given the challenges of mortality, this life is a proving ground for the eternities."

- James E. Faust, "A Vision of What We Can Be," Ensign, Mar. 1996, p. 10
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"Mortality is a precious drop in the bucket of eternity"—that's a beautiful image to convey the very brief nature of our time here. But yet, how crucial that short time is! And how important to make the best of every minute—to "make each minute pleasant and fulfilling." I continue to be thrilled and impressed at the prophetic understanding and vision of eternity, and how that vision can influence our mortality.

So with that perspective, President Faust teaches how to keep mortal challenges in the divine perspective:

In spite of all the challenges life may present, true happiness comes only in "living the teachings of the Savior."

(Compilation and commentary by David Kenison, Orem, Utah, 2022)
December 12, 2016