The lessons you and we learn because of the constraints and limitations imposed by the COVID-19 virus will live on long after the pandemic has been eradicated. And as hard as it may be for you to imagine today, you will be better, stronger and more capable because of the constraints, the limitations and the deprivations you have experienced.
Elder David A. Bednar, BYU-Idaho Commencement Exercises on December 16, 2020
Elder Bednar talked about how the saints, who left Nauvoo in the 1840s, did so in 3 waves. In the first wave, as they migrated west, they built cabins, in which "they did not sleep". They built bridges which they "only used once". And they planted crops that they "did not harvest and eat". This was done for those that followed.
Likewise, everything we go through today, will be consecrated for our good, or the good of others, tomorrow. The lessons we are learning, the wisdom and insight we are gaining, the trails we are blazing now, will be used by others so that their paths are easier to navigate. Most likely, this knowledge and wisdom and trail blazing will be most used by our own children. However, that influence can also be used for countless generations, across the spectrum.
We may not be called to blaze trails through the rain soaked and muddy lands of Iowa, but we have been called to blaze trails and be pioneers through this COVID pandemic and other "pandemics", including social and political, that disrupt our lives and peace. We are spiritual and emotional pioneers.
Regardless of how difficult the journey, those faithful pioneers of the 1840s were optimistic, happy and hopeful. Are we of the same mindset?