“On February 4 of 1990, our third son and sixth child was born. We named him Tyson. …
“When Tyson was eight months old, he aspirated a piece of chalk that he had found on the carpet. The chalk lodged in Tyson’s throat, and he quit breathing. His older brother brought Tyson upstairs, frantically calling, ‘The baby won’t breathe. The baby won’t breathe.’ We began to administer CPR and called 911.
“The paramedics arrived and rushed Tyson to the hospital. In the waiting room we continued in fervent prayer as we pled to God for a miracle. After what seemed a lifetime, the doctor came into the room and said, ‘I am so sorry. There is nothing more we can do. Take all the time you need.’ She then left.
“As I felt the guilt, anger, and self-pity trying to consume me, I prayed that my heart could change. Through very personal sacred experiences, the Lord gave me a new heart, and even though it was still lonely and painful, my whole outlook changed. I was given to know that I had not been robbed but rather that there was a great blessing awaiting me if I would prove faithful. …
“I testify that … ‘as we rely on the Atonement of Jesus Christ, He can help us endure our trials, sicknesses, and pain. We can be filled with joy, peace, and consolation. All that is unfair about life can be made right through the Atonement of Jesus Christ’ [Preach My Gospel: A Guide to Missionary Service (2004), 52]” (“Because I Live, Ye Shall Live Also,” 17).
Some translations of Mark 5:30 state that “virtue” went out of Jesus Christ when the woman was healed. In the original Greek text of the New Testament, the word corresponding to virtue is dynamis, which means “power” or “strength.”
"Do you remember the biblical story of the woman who suffered for 12 years with a debilitating problem? [see Luke 8:43–44 ]. She exercised great faith in the Savior, exclaiming, “If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole” [ Mark 5:28 ].
"This faithful, focused woman needed to stretch as far as she could to access His power. Her physical stretching was symbolic of her spiritual stretching. …
"When you reach up for the Lord’s power in your life with the same intensity that a drowning person has when grasping and gasping for air, power from Jesus Christ will be yours. When the Savior knows you truly want to reach up to Him—when He can feel that the greatest desire of your heart is to draw His power into your life—you will be led by the Holy Ghost to know exactly what you should do [see Doctrine and Covenants 88:63 ].
"When you spiritually stretch beyond anything you have ever done before, then His power will flow into you."
(Russell M. Nelson, “Drawing the Power of Jesus Christ into Our Lives,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2017, 41–42)
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles asked students and teachers to “be not afraid, only believe.” He encouraged us to have complete confidence in God and to speak with conviction that the gospel of Jesus Christ is “the most certain, the most secure, the most reliable, and the most rewarding truth on earth and in heaven, in time and in eternity.” He testified that fears, doubts, and anxieties can be overcome as we focus on the “majestic, eternal, first-level truths [that are] central to the grandeur of the whole gospel message”—such as the plan of salvation, the Atonement of Jesus Christ, the First Vision, the restoration of the priesthood, and the Book of Mormon—and not set aside or dismiss the whole truth by “obsessing over second- or third- or fourth-level pieces of that whole.” (See “Be Not Afraid, Only Believe” [an evening with Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, Feb. 6, 2015], lds.org/broadcasts.)
“Challenges, difficulties, questions, doubts—these are part of our mortality. But we are not alone. As disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, we have enormous spiritual reservoirs of light and truth available to us. Fear and faith cannot coexist in our hearts at the same time. In our days of difficulty, we choose the road of faith. Jesus said, ‘Be not afraid, only believe’ [Mark 5:36]” (“You Know Enough,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2008, 14).