Hope

Well, Chris and I have to give talks this Sunday at church. I really don't like giving the talks, however I really enjoy preparing them. I always learn a lot and it seems that it touches onto a topic which I really needed to study. My family has been having some really serious challenges, unlike we have ever seen or experienced. Things have been tough for my parents, my brother, and relationships have been strained between a few people. I know that Chris and I are suppose to be here to help my family, and that this is where the Lord needs us right now. I have found a few quotes that I love and that I plan on using in my talk about hope in the face of adversity. I really just wish that my brother could accept some of the council of these church leaders. I hope that these quotes will inspire, encourage, and uplift any who are struggling.

"Hope is the anchor of our souls. I know of no one who is not in need of hope—young or old, strong or weak, rich or poor. As the prophet Ether exhorted, “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.”

"Everybody in this life has their challenges and difficulties. That is part of our mortal test. The reason for some of these trials cannot be readily understood except on the basis of faith and hope because there is often a larger purpose which we do not always understand. Peace comes through hope."
Hope, an Anchor of the Soul
President James E. Faust

"The adversary uses despair to bind hearts and minds in suffocating darkness. Despair drains from us all that is vibrant and joyful and leaves behind the empty remnants of what life was meant to be. Despair kills ambition, advances sickness, pollutes the soul, and deadens the heart. Despair can seem like a staircase that leads only and forever downward.

Hope, on the other hand, is like the beam of sunlight rising up and above the horizon of our present circumstances. It pierces the darkness with a brilliant dawn. It encourages and inspires us to place our trust in the loving care of an eternal Heavenly Father, who has prepared a way for those who seek for eternal truth in a world of relativism, confusion, and of fear."
The Infinite Power of Hope
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Both these talks can be found by following the links below! Please read them and enjoy, I know I have.

Hope, an Anchor of the Soul
President James E. Faust
Ensign, Nov 1999, 59

The Infinite Power of Hope
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf
October General Conference 2008