Hope

The Importance of Hope

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. The Apostle Paul taught that the scriptures were written to the end that we “might have hope.”1

Hope has the power to fill our lives with happiness.2 Its absence—when this desire of our heart is delayed—can make “the heart sick.”3

Hope is a gift of the Spirit.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.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. Hope in our Heavenly Father’s merciful plan of happiness leads to peace,7 mercy,8 rejoicing,9 and gladness.10 The hope of salvation is like a protective helmet;11 it is the foundation of our faith12 and an anchor to our souls.13

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf
Second Counselor in the First Presidency

I am working at increasing my hope every day.

A new hope is being born within me. For well over a year now we were approached by a friend to go into business with him training bomb dogs. He would be in charge of the legal side and acquiring the license and the like, Ross would be doing the training. Now the license is in place and Ross picked up his first dog today to begin the training! I am so excited!!
I am so grateful for this wonderful blessing to be happening in our lives right now. We really need something... especially with Ross being laid off this week and looks like next week as well. I know that if we but put our complete faith and trust in the Lord that He will take care of us and everything will work out better than we hoped it to be!

Tomorrow morning we have a guy coming out to tune my great-grandmother's upright piano! It is well over a hundred years old and is in really good condition, now we just need to find someone that Rae, Jerry and I can take lessons from. I am so thrilled and grateful for this blessing. I love music. I don't have musical talents other than recognizing it when I hear it, but I want to learn how to play and my daughter is good at playing by ear and I want to further hers and Jerry's talents.

I am so thankful for the hope that I have in my Savior and Heavenly Father. I know that He knows our hearts and needs and that we have no need to worry when our hope is placed in the right things.