Hope, on the other hand, is like the beam of sunlight rising up and above the horizon of our present circumstances. Despair can seem like a staircase that leads only and forever downward. Despair kills ambition, advances sickness, pollutes the soul, and deadens the heart. Despair drains from us all that is vibrant and joyful and leaves behind the empty remnants of what life was meant to be. The adversary uses despair to bind hearts and minds in suffocating darkness. Doubt, despair, and failure to care for our fellowmen lead us into temptation, which can cause us to forfeit choice and precious blessings. The scriptures say that there must be “an opposition in all things.” 15 So it is with faith, hope, and charity. In the twilight of the Nephite nation, Moroni wrote that without hope we cannot receive an inheritance in the kingdom of God. Moroni in his solitude-even after having witnessed the complete destruction of his people-believed in hope. 10 The hope of salvation is like a protective helmet 11 it is the foundation of our faith 12 and an anchor to our souls. Hope in our Heavenly Father’s merciful plan of happiness leads to peace, 7 mercy, 8 rejoicing, 9 and gladness. 5 This kind of hope is both a principle of promise as well as a commandment, 6 and, as with all commandments, we have the responsibility to make it an active part of our lives and overcome the temptation to lose hope. 4 It is a hope that through the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the power of His Resurrection, we shall be raised unto life eternal and this because of our faith in the Savior. 2 Its absence-when this desire of our heart is delayed-can make “the heart sick.” 3 Hope has the power to fill our lives with happiness. The Apostle Paul taught that the scriptures were written to the end that we “might have hope.” 1
The scriptures are clear and certain about the importance of hope. These three stabilize our lives regardless of the rough or uneven surfaces we might encounter at the time. Hope is one leg of a three-legged stool, together with faith and charity. Today I would like to speak with you about the infinite power of hope. While that is impossible, perhaps today I could sit by your side and by the side of any who might feel discouraged, worried, or lonely. I would ask about faith and hope and how she overcame despair. If I could go back in time and sit by her side, I would ask her how she managed to go on in the face of her fears. I have often thought about that night and what my mother must have endured. There, at last, she found her children again. It had been moved to a remote area of the station. She put her faith and hope into action.Īnd so she ran from track to track and from train to train until she finally found our train. She was not a woman who would sit and bemoan tragedy.
I know with certainty: her faith overcame her fear, and her hope overcame her despair. I am certain it crossed her mind that if she did not find this train, she might never see her children again. Perhaps I will never know all that went through my mother’s heart and mind on that black night as she searched through a grim railroad station for her lost children. She frantically searched the large and dark train station, urgently crisscrossing the numerous tracks while hoping against hope that the train had not already departed. She was weighed down with worry desperate prayers filled her heart. When she returned, to her great horror, the train and her children were gone! One night during one of these stops, my mother hurried out of the train to search for some food for her four children. Everywhere we went, the sound of explosions, the stressed faces, and ever-present hunger reminded us that we were in a war zone.Īlong the way the train stopped occasionally to get supplies. Traveling during that time was dangerous. She bundled us up and somehow managed to get us on one of the last refugee trains heading west. We lived in Czechoslovakia, and with every passing day, the war came nearer and the danger grew greater.įinally, during the cold winter of 1944, my mother decided to flee to Germany, where her parents were living. Though I was only three years old, I can still remember this time of fear and hunger. Toward the end of World War II, my father was drafted into the German army and sent to the western front, leaving my mother alone to care for our family. My dear brothers and sisters and friends, what a glorious day for us to witness the announcement of five new temples by our beloved prophet.