Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles observed that the scriptures promise “thirty-four times—that people will prosper in the land only if they obey the commandments of God” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1985, 15; or Ensign, May 1985, 13). In the scriptures, the meaning of the word prosperity may also have other meanings not restricted to financial benefits. Further, prospering doesn’t mean that life will be free from trials. Lehi and his faithful family members kept the commandments, but they still suffered many afflictions (see 1 Nephi 15:5; 18:15–17; 2 Nephi 2:1–2).
President Joseph F. Smith (1838–1918) taught that a person who keeps the commandments will be sustained and prospered by the Lord: “The man who stays with the kingdom of God, the man who is true to this people, the man who keeps himself pure and unspotted from the world, is the man that God will accept, that God will uphold, that he will sustain, and that will prosper in the land, whether he be in the enjoyment of his liberty or be confined in prison cells, it makes no difference where he is, he will come out all right” (Gospel Doctrine, 5th ed. [1939], 257).