In the conference just past (October 2014), Elder Richard G. Scott spoke about our being “tested, tried, and stretched.”  As he said “stretched,” he held his fists close to one another, and pulled them apart as if stretching an object between them.

I began reviewing the major events of my life to analyze how the Lord has used them to test, try, and stretch me.

Tried.  My teenage years were a great trial.  The older I got, the more depressed I became.  Life was very hard.  Looking back I think there was a purpose in my depression.  It was preparing me for the gospel.  Having experienced those very dark years, I can better appreciate the light and peace that I have enjoyed ever since receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Stretched.  When the Lord and life had tried me sufficiently, a Book of Mormon was placed into my hands.  Thus began three months of intense study, prayer, and preparation.  Light came flooding into my life.  My whole being underwent a complete renovation as I repented of my sins and became a new person.  In those three months I read the Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants.  Those three months stretched me immensely.

Tested and Stretched.  Thirteen days following my baptism found me in Navy boot camp in San Diego.  I was a new person suddenly being thrust into a new, totally unfamiliar life.  The experience could have either made me or destroyed me.  It was a test.  It was also a time for me to learn about myself and my capabilities.  I was on cloud 9 because I was having prayers answered daily.  I’d never prayed before being introduced to the gospel, so I had no idea that such powers and help existed.  I read the entire New Testament while standing beside my bunk in boot camp.  (We were forbidden to lie down).  I was a much-talked-about oddity.  I didn’t care.  I was friendly to everyone.  I found out that I had the capacity to keep up with anyone in anything.  My 59 peers elected me the outstanding recruit of our company.  The base commander chose me as the outstanding recruit of 1,500 men.  The testing and stretching continued throughout my four years of service in the Navy.  The test was to show myself and the Lord that I was firm in my conversion.  I never wavered.  I never wavered because I so cherished the light that stood in such stark contrast to the darkness that had formerly been my lot.

Nothing.  I got married one year before my discharge from the Navy.  Marriage neither tested, tried, nor stretched me.  Neither Marjorie nor I had to make any adjustments in our lives.  Marriage was just the natural thing to do.  We were sealed for time and for all eternity in the Salt Lake Temple, and left for a 15-month honeymoon in Morocco, North Africa where I finished my naval service.  It was a time of pure happiness.

Stretched.  Parenthood was a stretching experience!  Marjorie has said that “Everything I am I owe to being a mother.”  Parenthood is a post-doctoral education in every field.  And we were the parents of 10!  We look back and wonder, how did we do it?  No other endeavor in the world could possibly have been of more value.

Stretched.  Parenthetically I need to add a statement that Marjorie just made.  She’s never told me this before.  She says, “Do you know what was stretching for me?  It was having to accompany the high school choirs.  Up to that time I thought I was doing well if I learned to play two hymns per week.  As I accompanied the choirs the teacher would say, ‘I want to work on these pieces tomorrow.’  I’d say which ones in particular?  He’d say, ‘Well, all of them.’

“I’d work on those pieces from the time I got home until 11:00 or 12:00 at night.  We were performing Handel’s Messiah!  Mr. Smith was expecting me to be able to play the Hallelujah Chorus along with all the other pieces.  That’s where I learned how to sight-read.  It was the quantity of work that I had to do.  Along with that I was taking piano lessons, and had 4 or 5 pieces that I was trying to learn at once.  I was also serving as Sunday School organist.  I made lots of mistakes, but it was stretching.”

Nothing.  I graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in Agronomy and Horticulture.  Before joining the Church I attended Oregon State University for a little over a year.  That was a great trial because it was during my years of depression.  After serving in the U.S. Navy I went to school at BYU.  Those years were very pleasurable.  I enjoyed college, but it neither tested, tried, nor stretched me.  I’m glad I got the education.  I’ve sometimes wondered if I should have gotten another degree, but have concluded that my life took the paths that it should.  All my college education did for me was to teach me where to go for answers to my questions.

Nothing.  I was a farmer and rancher all my life.  My vocation neither tested, tried, nor particularly stretched me.  I later became a woodworker.  Learning the new skills that I needed to know stretched me a little.

Stretched.  My church callings have all stretched me.  Each calling stretched me just enough to prepare me for the next.  My 6-plus-year calling as bishop was the most stretching.  Serving in the stake presidency for nine years was a trial, and not particularly stretching.  Serving for four years in the temple was pure joy—neither a test, trial, nor stretching.  My present service as a missionary is probably stretching me, but it’s certainly neither a test nor a trial.

Tried.  My six months of rheumatoid arthritis and being unable to walk was a trial.  I tried hard not to murmur, but it was the hardest thing I’ve had to endure in my life.  It turned out to be one of my biggest blessings, however, and I don’t regret the experience in the slightest.  I’m now very grateful for it.  That big trial was a test and a stretch as well.