Hopes, dreams, and wishes…fill our
minds and help us endure through the hard times. Hopes of love, dreams of the
impossible, and wishes of success. Each one of us has different goals and
dreams, but one thing we all have in common is our hope of Christ. Today I have
been asked to give a talk based on President Dieter F. Uchtdorf’s talk, Christ, Our Hope. He stated, “Hope is
one leg of a three-legged stool, together with faith and charity. These three
stabilize our lives regardless of the rough or uneven surfaces we might
encounter at the time. The scriptures are clear and certain about the
importance of hope.”
As I think about the
word hope, I think about my hope for my mission. I have wanted to serve a full
time mission since I was three. My hope is that I’ll be able to be spiritually,
mentally and physically prepared to bring God’s message to the people of
Brazil. I hope that this mission will transform me into a true disciple of
Christ. This opportunity I have to serve in Brazil has brought such high hopes
of more people returning to Christ. Not only must we hope for such prominent
opportunities, but we must extend our hope for life after death. Jesus Christ
has atoned for our sins that we might return to live with him and our Father
once more. Because of this, if we repent and turn to Christ with a changed
heart we can hope for that life with Christ in which we will live forever in
peace and happiness. President Uchtdorf declares, “Think of the worth of this
eternal gift. Surrounded by those we love, we will know the meaning of ultimate
joy as we progress in knowledge and in happiness. No matter how bleak the
chapter of our lives may look today, because of the life and sacrifice of Jesus
Christ, we may hope and be assured that the ending of the book of our lives
will exceed our grandest expectations.” Christ is the light at the end of our
tunnel; as long as we follow his teachings and example and repent of our wrong
doings, there will always be something to hope for. Nephi declared, “Press
forward with steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and
a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting
upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father:
Ye shall have eternal life.”
There
have been times I have thought about what my purpose is, and why I have been
given the challenges that I go through. What’s the purpose? I then realize I AM
a child of God, and God has hope that I’ll put my faith and trust in him so
that I may receive the blessing he has in store for me. In gaining a testimony
that Heavenly Father has such high hopes for me, I have then raised my hopes
and dreams that I may endure to the end and be an instrument in his hands. Hope
gives us strength through our trials, temptations and sorrows. They help us
look forward to the joy and feeling of success when we’ve gotten through our
difficult times. When we pray, we hope and have faith that our prayers are
heard and answered. As we continue to hope and have faith in God, we receive
courage and strength against fear, doubt and despair. In fact, Hope helps us
maintain our faith. For faith is to hope for things not seen which are true. President
Uchtdorf explained, “When frustration and impatience challenge charity, hope
braces our resolve and urges us to care for our fellowmen even without
expectation of reward. The brighter our hope, the greater our faith. The
stronger our hope, the purer our charity.” Faith, hope and charity all work
together, which the Gospel of Jesus Christ is dependent upon for good works. Whenever
you feel discouraged, worried or lonely, don’t give in! Don’t surrender! Don’t
ever allow despair to overcome you! There is so much to hope for and look
forward to, so long as we stay true to the teachings of Christ and endure to
the end. I like the saying that goes along with this that Christ said, “I never
said it would be easy, but it would be worth it.” It is a lot of work and effort, but when we put our hope in Jesus
Christ, he will never let us down.
My
junior year of high school, I was the pianist for my school’s production of
“Once Upon a Mattress.” The music that they had given me was a quite a bit
above my piano skills. They had given it to me about two weeks before the
production showed. When I sat down for the first time to practice, I was
stressed out because I felt it was a goal I wouldn’t be able to accomplish in
that time period. I thought there was no way I could do this on my own, so I
decided to get on my knees and ask for help. As I practiced each day after
school and all through the weekends, I felt I was getting nowhere. The night of
the performance I was unsure of how well I would do, scared I would mess up. I
then received a father’s blessing telling me I have done my part, and I would
do great. That gave me such hope that I went to the performance with great
confidence. When you feel that you’re way in over your head, and you can’t do
it alone, the Holy Ghost will give you what you need and will help you see your
great potential. I played that night with minimum mistakes which no one, except
me seemed to notice.
Near
the time my mom had converted into the church, she was asked to be the Laurel’s
advisor. My mom has never been a public
speaker, and had never before taught a lesson. She was very nervous about this
particular lesson one week, because it was about the holy ghost, She was
nervous being so new in the church that she wouldn’t be able to answer all
their question. All week she studied, pondered and prayed about what she could
say that would influence each of the young women. At the end of the week, she
felt flustered, because the lesson was not coming together for her. She feared
the lesson wouldn’t go well, and the young women would walk away without
learning anything. Right before she left for church, she opened her scriptures one
more time to find a few verses that gave her great hope in D&C 11:21 and section
100:5-8 which read, “Seek not to declare my word, but first seek to obtain my
word, and then shall your tongue be loosed; you shall have my spirit and my
word.” “Life up your voices unto this people; speak the thoughts that I shall
put in your hearts, and you shall not be confounded before men; for it shall be
given you in the very hour, yeah, in the very moment, what ye shall say. And I
give unto you this promise that inasmuch as ye do this the Holy Ghost shall be
shed forth in bearing record unto all things whatsoever ye shall say.” My mom
walked into the young women’s room with hope that the scriptures gave her in
which she would teach a good lesson. During the lesson the words came to her on
what to say; and every question the girls had, she was able to answer.
Don’t
give up, because Christ has not given up on you! He wants and hopes the best
for all of us no matter what our mistakes are! My Senior year of High school, I
did some things I’m not proud of, and lost a lot of trust from my family and
friends; and I even lost a lot of self confidence and hope. But because
Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love me, they gave me loving parents who
forgave me and helped me understand my consequences. I was given a wonderful
visiting teacher who talked to me about the atonement of Christ. I felt so low
that I felt I didn’t deserve forgiveness. It was then that my best friend told
me that if I felt that way, I didn’t understand the atonement, and I needed to
study and ponder it more. Today I now stand, grateful for the power of God’s
mercy and love in helping me gain my hope and confidence back through my
bishop, family, friends and visiting teachers. He knows we struggle, and it is
through those times that make us stronger and bring us closer to Heavenly
Father if we let them. We have to put our hope and faith in him and not give
up! The atonement of Christ has given me great hope; and I’m eternally grateful
to be able to repent of my mistakes and move forward with a sincere and repentant
heart ready to renew the covenants I have made with God as I partake of the
sacrament each Sunday. God’s hope in me, has helped me have hope in myself.
Heavenly
Father loves all of us, and he wants us all to succeed in this life, so that we
may return to live in happiness and peace with him once more and have all that He
has
As I
attended the Glady’s Knight event Friday evening they sang a hymn that really
shows that Christ is our hope and our joy. As they sang the hymn I stand all
amazed I then recognized that because of his great love for us, he has hope and
faith that we would use and understand the atonement he gave us. The hymn
reads, “I stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me; Confused at the grace
that so fully he proffers me. I tremble to know that for me he was crucified.
That for me a sinner, he suffered, he bled and died.” He didn’t do this for
himself. He did this because he believes in us and wants us to return to live
with him again. In the next part of this hymn, it shows the hope we have him
because of the atonement. “Oh it is wonderful that he should care for me,
enough to die for me! Oh it is wonderful, wonderful to me!” As we recognize what he has done for us, we
again realize that he does have hope in our future and knows us individually.
He knows our rebellious sides, our pride, yet he also knows our loving and companionate
sides. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have such mercy, love and devotion to
us, that he’s always willing to help us when we need it.
I know
this is the true and living gospel and that the scriptures are the word of God.
I know President Monson is a true and living prophet. I know that through the
atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved through obedience to the laws and
ordinances of the gospel; and that he gives us hope when we cannot fathom our
future on our own. We will be happier when we put our faith in Christ. In Romans
5:2, and 5 it states, “Rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And Hope maketh not
ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost
which is given unto us.” I testify that Christ does believe in you and you can put your hope and faith in him. I
know that when we do this, and believe in his word and follow his teachings and
example, we will all be blessed and be able to endure through our trials. As
Paul said in Ephesians 1, “…There is exceeding greatness of his power
to us who believe, according to the working of his mighty power.”
I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
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