The Triumph of Hope

Elder Neil L. Andersen shared such a powerful message on hope. Hope is such an incredible feeling and gift. Sadly, I think it is one of those gifts we don’t really appreciate until feelings of hopelessness creep into our life. Then we see it for all of its goodness. I know in my life, feelings of hope have led me to do many different things – because of the hope I felt.

Elder Andersen spoke of the hope we can feel when our lives are centered on Jesus Christ. He spoke of the hope we can feel because of our Savior – the hope that one day we can return and live with our Father in Heaven, our Savior, and our families for eternity. He spoke of the gift of the Holy Ghost which brings hope and peace to our lives. He spoke of the hope we can feel as we hold on to our covenants that we have made in the Lord’s holy home.

Our world is filled with distractions. It is something I have become so aware of lately. It is so hard to not get wrapped up in the many distractions that are constantly put in front of us. But I love the hope that I can feel through my Savior, hope that I can overcome. That we all can, with Him.

Prompting

Demonstrate my hope in the Savior by pressing forward in faith, trusting that peace will come.

Promise

The peace you seek may not come as quickly as you desire, but as you trust in the Lord, His peace will come.

My Favorite Takeaways

“The scriptures link three words powerfully together: faith, hope, charity. The gift of hope is a priceless endowment from God.

My intent is to speak of our sacred and eternal hopes centered in Jesus Christ and the restored gospel and our “confident expectation[s] of…the promised blessings of righteousness.

Our hope of eternal life is assured through the grace of Christ and our own choices, allowing us the remarkable blessing of returning to our heavenly home and living forever in peace and happiness with our Heavenly Father, His Beloved Son, our faithful family and precious friends, and the righteous men and women from every continent and every century.

As we strengthen our faith in Jesus Christ, we see beyond our struggles to the blessings and promises of eternity.

The power of the Lord’s Spirit enlightens the faithful today, illuminating the reality of eternal life.

The Savior sends us a Comforter, the Holy Ghost, a companion bringing faith, hope, and peace “not as the world giveth.”

In times of difficulty, we choose to trust the Lord in faith. We quietly pray, “Not my will but thine be done.” We feel the Lord’s approval for our meek willingness, and we await the promised peace the Lord will send in His chosen timing.

My brothers and sisters, hope is a living gift, a gift that grows as we increase our faith in Jesus Christ…We build this substance – the evidence blocks of our faith – through prayer, temple covenants, keeping the commandments, continually feasting on the scriptures and the words of modern-day prophets, taking the sacrament, serving others, and worshipping weekly with our fellow Saints.

To fortify our hope in a time of increasing wickedness, the Lord has directed His prophet to dot the earth with His temples.

As we enter the Lord’s house, we feel the Spirit of God, verifying our hope.

There is…nothing that can darken our hope as we believe and hold tightly to our covenants with God in the house of the Lord. It is a house of light, a house of hope.

Brothers and sisters, the peace you seek may not come as quickly as you desire, but I promise you that as you trust in the Lord, His peace will come.

May we nurture our precious faith, pressing forward with a perfect brightness of hope. I testify that our hope is our Savior, Jesus Christ. Through Him, all our righteous dreams will be realized. He is the God of hope – the triumph of hope. He lives and He loves you.”

FULL text and video of Elder Neil L. Andersen’s talk can be found HERE.

Other messages from the October 2024 General Conference that I found particularly impactful:

• The Lord Jesus Christ Will Come Again by President Russell M. Nelson
• Welcome to the Church of Joy by Elder Patrick Kearon