The Hope of Latter-Day Saints

Hope is the confident expectation of and longing for the promised blessings of righteousness. President Uchtdorf said, "Hope is a gift of the Spirit. 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. This kind of hope is both a principle of promise as well as a commandment, and, as with all commandments, we have a responsibility to make it an active part of our lives and overcome the temptation to lose hope. Hope in our Heavenly Father's merciful plan of happiness leads to peace, mercy, rejoicing, and gladness. The hope of salvation is like a protective helmet; it is the foundation of our faith and the anchor to our souls."

The Scriptures say there must be opposition in all things. Faith, hope, and charity are opposed by doubt, despair, and failure to care for our fellowmen. This opposition leads us to temptation, which can cause us to forfeit "choice and precious blessings."

Hope is not knowledge, but rather abiding trust that the Lord will fulfill His promise to us. It is confidence that if we live according to God's laws and words of His prophets now, we will receive desired blessings in the future. It is believing and expecting that our prayers will be answered. It is manifest in confidence, optimism, enthusiasm, and patient perseverence.

2 Nephi 31:20 says, "Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men."

Ether 12:4 says, "Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God."

We can all find hope through our personal prayers and scripture study. Hope can be found through priesthood blessings, especially our patriarchal blessings, as well as direct personal revelation and the Atonement.

Samuel Smiles wrote, "Hope is like the sun, which, as we journey towards it, casts the shadow of our burden behind us."

The unfailing source of our hope is that we are sons and daughters of God and that His son, Jesus Christ., saved us from death.

For those who feel hopeless due to sin, Elder Russell M. Nelson has said that, " Hope is linked to repentance."

Moroni 8:26 says, "And the remission of sins bringeth meekness, and lowliness of heart; and because of meekness and lowliness of heart cometh the visitation of the Holy Ghost, which Comforter filleth with hope and perfect love, which love endureth by diligence unto prayer, until the end shall come, when all the saints shall dwell with God."

Moroni 10:22 says, "And if ye have no hope, ye must needs be in despair; and despair cometh because of iniquity."

In Matthew 13:19-23, Jesus Christ told the twelve apostles that allowing ourselves to fall into temptation, not enduring affliction, tribulation, and persecution, fearing the cares of this world, seeking wealth first, giving up instead of enduring to the end, and allowing false prophets to deceive us make us destroy hope.

Moroni 7:40-43 says, "And again my beloved brethren, I would speak unto you concerning hope. How is it that ye can attain unto faith, save ye shall have hope? And what is it that ye shall have hope for? Behold I say unto you that ye shall have hope through the atonement of Christ and the power of His resurrection, to be raised unto life eternal, and this because of your faith in Him according to the promise. Wherefore, if a man have faith, he must needs have hope; for without faith there cannot be any hope. And again, behold I say unto you that he cannot have faith and hope, save he shall be meek and lowly of heart."

Julie S. Beck said, "The first great hope is the atonement of Christ. Your hope and faith in the Savior will increase as you repent and make personal changes. The second great hope is the resurrection. The third great hope is the hope of eternal life."

Jacob 4:4 says, "For, for this intent have we written these things, that they may know that we knew of Christ, and we had a hope of His glory many hundred years before his coming; and not only we ourselves had a hope of his glory, but also all the holy prophets that came before us."

In Alma 32:21 it says, "And now as I said concerning faith-faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true."

Our everyday usage of the word hope includes how we "hope" to arrive somewhere on time or how we "hope" it doesn't rain. Larry Hiller, of church magazines, said, "That used this way, hope is the verbal equivalent of keeping your fingers crossed." Real hope, however, is associated with things immortal and eternal. Because our worldly hopes are vulnerable to the unexpected, the world is full of despair.

Real hope is much more than wishful thinking. Elder Neal A. Maxwell says "it stiffens, not slackens, the spiritual spine. It is serene, not giddy, eager without being naive, and pleasantly steady without being smug. Hope is a realistic anticipation which takes the form of a determination-not only to survive adversity but, moreover, endure well to the end."

Hope is contagious. In I Peter 3:15 it says, "But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear."

Hope is maintained through faith in Christ. In Alma 25:16 it says, "Now they did not suppose that salvation came by the law of Moses; but the law of Moses did serve to strengthen their faith in Christ; and thus did they retain a hope through faith, unto eternal salvation, relying upon the spirit of prophecy, which spoke of those things to come."

Hope helps us walk by faith, not by sight. In Romans 5:2-5, it says. "By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts because of the Holy Ghost which is given unto us."

Romans 15:4 says, "For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope." Reading our scriptures can bring us hope. By hearing the word of God, we gain access to the Holy Ghost.

To have hope, we must have complete trust in our Father's plan of happiness and our Savior's part of that plan. We must have courageous obedience. Hope comes from striving to live the teachings of Jesus and obeying his laws and commandments. Responding to the promptings of the Spirit and giving gratitude to the Lord for this gift brings hope.

In the June Ensign, Larry Hiller wrote a poem entitled, "Walking with Two Sisters":
Faith walks before me,
Holding her lamp.
As I try not to stumble in the ink dark hours before the dawn.
Her light illuminates
One step and then another
Beside me, Hope, arm linked with mine, encourages and steadies.
Sometimes in the tedium,
Distracted by the pain,
My mind begins to wander, then my feet, I hesitate
Unsure, I look to Hope
Her hand takes mine.
The touch reminds me of another hand held out to me,
One pierced and scarred,
Yet oh so tender
Lifting me and blessing me when I had fallen and despaired.
Remembering
I move ahead
Buoyed up by Hope,. who sees the end with perfect clarity.

All quotes are from lds.org