Posted on Jul 11, 2025

LDS Bishop's Life of Trials and Triumphs

LDS Bishop's Life of Trials and Triumphs

Sometimes the most unexpected conversations change the entire trajectory of our lives. For Jason Bringhurst, that moment came when an inactive teenager with long hair found himself called into his bishop's office, facing a challenge that seemed impossible. Jason, a father of six, podcaster, columnist, and business executive, brings a unique perspective to discussions about faith during trials because he has lived through some of the most devastating experiences a parent and spiritual leader can face.

Jason's credentials as a current bishop and technology entrepreneur give weight to his insights about navigating faith during crisis, but it's his personal journey through unimaginable trials that offers the most valuable lessons about spiritual resilience. In the episode of theWhy We Believe show with host Nathan Gwilliam, Jason reveals a man who has been tested in every possible way yet discovered that trials offer a choice - we can either turn away from God or fall to our knees seeking His help.

The central theme of Jason's experience centers on a truth he learned through years of heartbreak and healing - that everyone around us is fighting battles we cannot see, and that our response to these battles determines whether we grow closer to God or drift away. His journey teaches us that even in our darkest moments, divine peace and compensatory blessings await those who choose to turn toward heaven instead of away.

The Transformation That Started With One Conversation  

Jason's spiritual journey began in an unlikely place - the office of Bishop Moroni Whitaker. After spending his teenage years away from church, Jason had little reason to expect his bishop to see potential in him. The young man with longer hair who rarely attended services hardly fit the typical missionary profile. Yet this bishop followed a spiritual prompting that would alter Jason's entire life path.

The conversation itself was simple but life-changing. Bishop Whitaker challenged Jason to consider serving a mission, despite his inactive status and apparent unpreparedness. Rather than dismissing the idea immediately, Jason chose to pray about it. This decision to seek divine guidance, even while living away from gospel principles, demonstrated that somewhere deep within him, believing blood still flowed. He had never doubted the truth of the church or the Book of Mormon, but had simply chosen to walk a different path.

The process of preparing for a mission became Jason's first major spiritual transformation. Working with his bishop to identify necessary changes and recommit to gospel living, Jason discovered that God knew his heart despite his outward circumstances. This experience taught him that divine vision sees beyond our current state to our eternal potential, a lesson that would serve him well in future trials when he needed to see others - and himself - through God's eyes rather than mortal limitations.

Mission Experiences Build Unshakeable Foundation  

Jason's mission to Bordeaux, France became the spiritual greenhouse where his testimony took root and flourished. Starting at the Missionary Training Center in Provo, he experienced what he describes as catching fire with a desire to learn everything about the gospel. This intensity came partly from feeling behind his peers spiritually, creating a determination to catch up that served him well throughout his mission.

The mission provided Jason with lifelong friendships and mentors who would influence his spiritual development for decades. His first mission president was a young Neil L. Anderson, now a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. These relationships offered Jason examples of faithful leadership and deep gospel understanding that shaped his own approach to serving others. The spiritual defining moments during Book of Mormon studies with his mission presidents created foundational experiences he still draws upon as a bishop today.

Perhaps most significantly, the mission transformed Jason's entire life trajectory. His second mission president encouraged him to apply to Brigham Young University, something Jason had never considered. This decision led to meeting his wife, choosing his career path, and continuing his French studies. The mission experience taught Jason that when we align ourselves with God's will, He opens doors we never imagined possible. This principle would become essential during later trials when he needed faith that God could make a way forward even when no path seemed visible.

When Trials Test Everything You Believe  

Jason's real test of faith began when his sixth child, Xavier, was born three months premature and developed hydrocephalus. The condition required immediate brain surgery to install a mechanical shunt, and complications led to over twenty additional surgeries at Primary Children's Hospital and later Seattle Children's Hospital. Standing in the NICU, trying to place his fingers on his tiny son's head to give a blessing, Jason faced a moment of spiritual reckoning about whether his faith was strong enough for the crisis before him.

The financial and emotional strain of constant medical crises tested every aspect of Jason's life. Years of hitting high insurance deductibles while managing a self-employed business created additional stress. Yet these experiences taught Jason about the sacred nature of places like children's hospitals, where families face life and death decisions daily. He witnessed other children pass away and families grieve, gaining deep compassion for the battles everyone around us fights in silence.

Business failure during COVID added another layer of difficulty to Jason's trials. As a bishop watching his company fail, Jason struggled with pride and the humbling reality of needing to find employment after sixteen years of entrepreneurship. The answer came during General Conference when he received clear spiritual guidance to walk away from his business and seek other work. This experience taught him that even faithful service doesn't guarantee protection from economic hardship, but divine guidance is available when we surrender our will to God's plan.

The Ultimate Test and Divine Peace  

The most devastating trial came when Jason's second-oldest daughter was killed in a car accident while traveling to a wedding in California. The car rolled with no other vehicles involved, and she died instantly. This tragedy forced Jason to confront the reality that there are no mortal words adequate to comfort such loss. The experience of identifying his daughter's body and bringing her home for burial tested every principle he had learned about faith and God's love.

Yet even in this darkest moment, Jason discovered the divine peace that comes only through Christ's atonement. While the healing won't be complete in mortality, he gained unshakeable testimony that through Jesus Christ, all things will be made right. This peace cannot be manufactured through human effort or positive thinking - it comes only as a gift from God to those who turn to Him during their most desperate hours.

Jason's experience as a bishop has taught him that this pattern of choosing our response to trials applies universally. Looking out at his congregation during sacrament meetings, he can identify the struggles each person faces. Everyone has something difficult they're dealing with, which validates President Eyring's teaching about treating everyone as if they're in serious trouble. This perspective has given Jason unusual compassion and the ability to love his ward members in ways that would be impossible without his own experiences of suffering and divine comfort.

Choices That Define Our Spiritual Growth  

Jason's journey reveals several key principles about navigating faith during trials:

  1. Trials offer a choice - We can either turn away from God or fall to our knees seeking His help

  2. Divine peace is real - Christ's atonement provides comfort that no other source can offer

  3. Everyone is fighting battles - Compassion comes from recognizing the hidden struggles around us

  4. Compensatory blessings exist - God provides tender mercies even in our darkest moments

  5. Small things matter - We each serve as important pieces in God's larger plan

  6. Timing is divine - God's timeline for blessings may extend beyond mortality

The most significant lesson from Jason's experience is that our response to trials determines our spiritual growth more than the trials themselves. Suffering alone doesn't create faith - choosing to turn toward God during suffering creates the conditions for divine intervention and peace. This choice must repeatedly be made, sometimes daily or even hourly during the most difficult seasons of life.

Discovering Your Response to Life's Trials  

Jason Bringhurst's story offers hope for anyone currently facing trials that seem too heavy to bear. His journey teaches us that while we cannot control what happens to us, we retain complete control over our response. The peace he describes - divine comfort that surpasses human understanding - awaits those who choose to seek God during their darkest hours rather than turning away in anger or despair.

If you're currently struggling with trials that test your faith, remember Jason's experience standing in that NICU, wondering if his faith was strong enough to give his premature son a blessing. The answer came not through feeling prepared or strong enough, but through choosing to act in faith despite uncertainty. Your trials may be different, but the same divine peace and compensatory blessings are available when you choose to turn toward God rather than away.

Consider how you can become a lifter for others around you, just as Bishop Moroni Whitaker became for a wayward teenager with longer hair. Everyone you encounter is fighting battles you cannot see. Your compassion, born from your own experiences with divine comfort, may be exactly what someone else needs to choose faith over despair. As Jason learned, we are all small but important pieces in God's great work, and our willingness to serve despite our own trials contributes to the healing available through Christ's atonement.

Thank you for listening to this week’s episode of Why We Believe. If you are interested in more like this, you can check out our other blog posts and episodes here.

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