It's pretty safe to say that at some point in your life, you will face a problem you never expected.
How will you handle it?
Will you handle it by becoming someone the Lord intended you to be, by becoming someone He can trust, by becoming more of your true self: courageous, determined and filled with light?
The Lord expects you to live your life fully — even the unexpected life. Why? Because facing the unexpected things in our lives and learning to manage them — perhaps even conquer them, rather than having them conquer us — can actually help us become more and more of our true selves. Does that sound impossible? That is what our lives are for.
How can we grow more into our true selves?
1) Remove every obstacle that is preventing you from being your true self. Obstacles may be relationships that are blocking our progression. They may be addictions that hold us prisoner or resentments that eat away at the light and truths we know and that fill us with bitterness.
There is power in prayer. There is power in praying to have obstacles removed that are preventing us from being our true selves.
2) Remember that you lived pre-mortally. Your true self came into being eons ago. Prior to mortality we lived as spirit beings in the presence of our Heavenly Parents for a very long period of time. We learned from them. We loved them, and we were loved by them. Established then was the essence of who we really are.
When you are seeking to know who you really are — when you feel as though you are going through an identity crisis and don't know what to do — know this: You are a god or goddess in embryo!
3) You can be your true self only when you are obedient to the Lord and are near to Him. In the midst of really difficult situations, we need to affirm our determination to be obedient to all that the Lord requires of us. And before really difficult situations occur, we need to draw closer to Him by being more obedient to His commandments.
Obedience to what the Lord requires of you always leads to your growing more and more into your true self.
4) You can be your true self only when you are increasingly pure and leave the world behind., As you come more and more out of the world, you are free to be more of your true self. As you are more of your true self, you will desire to be less and less of the world.
5) To be your true self, you need to stay immersed in truth and seek in every way to be infused with light. When we are serious about immersing our lives in the Spirit and infusing our homes with the light and truth of the gospel, we will find a way to do it.
It really is true: the words spoken in our homes lodge in the walls of our homes, in the cells of our bodies and in our spirits.
Living these five principles will help you be more of your true self as you move forward, with faith, through whatever difficult situations you are in.
Ask the Lord: How can I be more of my true self at the end of this experience? And listen for His answer.
— Wendy Watson Nelson worked as a professor of marriage and family therapy at BYU for 13 years prior to her marriage to Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Twelve in 2006. She is the author of several books, including "Change Your Questions, Change Your Life," from which this article was excerpted.
