A patriarch promised Heber J. Grant that he would "begin the ministry when very young."

During his youth, Heber and his widowed mother read the blessing repeatedly, assuming that the ministry to which the patriarch referred was a full-time mission. In his late teens, as Heber approached the age at which he would be elegible to go on a mission, he read of the adventures of other teenage missionaries, such as George Q. Cannon, Joseph F. Smith and Erastus Snow. He paid his debts and prepared to leave immediately on his mission.

In those days, mission calls were announced during general conference. As Heber sat in the Tabernacle during the April 1876 general conference, he was bewildered when the clerk did not read his name. During the next few days, Heber wept as he went about his work at Wells Fargo.

"I was tempted seriously for several years to renounce my faith in the Gospel because this blessing was not fulfilled," he later said. "The spirit would come over me . . . that the patriarch had lied to me, and that I should throw the whole business away."

He questioned many things, and began reading the writings of a 19th century "anti-Christian curmudgeon." While he retained association with active Latter-day Saints, he made friends with others he came to regard as disreputable. He later considered his situation to be grave.

This man, who, on Nov. 23, 1918, would become the seventh president of the Church, reflected: "I stood as it were upon the brink of usefulness or upon the brink of making a failure of my life." (The above information is taken from "Qualities that Count — Heber J. Grant as Businessman, Missionary, and Apostle," Essays by Ronald W. Walker, BYU Studies, Vol. 41, No. 1, 2004, pp. 41-55.)

Nursing hurt feelings and, perhaps, a bruised ego in not receiving a call to "begin the ministry when very young," Heber J. Grant could not see that the blessing would, indeed, be fulfilled. But it was.

At the very young age of 23, he was called to serve as president of the Tooele Stake. And, at the still-young age of 25, he was ordained to the Quorum of the Twelve.

Some members stand now where young Heber J. Grant stood: on the brink of making something useful of their lives or making a failure of their lives.

As did he, we must realize that the Lord's promises and blessings are fulfilled in the Lord's own time and in His own way, not ours. Sometimes, our patience and our faith are tried.

Some members have not had fulfilled the promise of marriage and family, and some who were married in the temple have had those marriages end in divorce. Some individuals remain childless although they were promised children. And there are parents whose children have gone astray even though their blessings speak of solid family units. The list of seemingly "unfulfilled blessings" could be long.

In their spiritual immaturity, those who feel their blessings have not been fulfilled might question the efficacy of patriarchal blessings or the teachings of the gospel. The spiritually mature member, however, puts full trust in the Lord, confident that He will be true to His word.

A message President Ezra Taft Benson delivered to the single sisters of the Church applies to members in many other circumstances, such as childless couples. He said:

"I . . . recognize that not all women in the Church will have an opportunity for marriage and motherhood in mortality. But if those of you in this situation are worthy and endure faithfully, you can be assured of all blessings from a kind and loving Heavenly Father — and I emphasize all blessings.

"I assure you that if you have to wait even until the next life to be blessed with a choice companion, God will surely compensate you. Time is numbered only to man. God has your eternal perspective in mind" ("To the Single Adult Sisters of the Church," Ensign, November 1988, p. 96).

When faced with seemingly unfulfilled blessings, we can choose to live, as President Grant referred to it, "a useful life."

As we make the most of what we have, rather than pining after or mourning over what we do not have, we will discover that we have received numerous other blessings — blessings that were not specifically pronounced by a patriarch.

Our blessings are so many that we cannot name them all despite the admonition of the hymn, "Count your blessings; name them one by one. . ." (Hymns, No. 241).

And if each of us lives "a useful life," remaining worthy and enduring faithfully, we can look forward to receiving all promised blessings.