This was a very good talk about hope. Elder Andersen also referred to the early pioneers and the Saints in Haiti following the earthquake this winter. Concerning the early Saints:
These early Saints were indeed homeless, but they were not hopeless. Their hearts were broken, but their spirits were strong. They had learned that hope, with its attendant blessings of peace and joy, does not depend upon circumstance. The true source of hope is faith - faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and in His infinite Atonement, the one sure foundation upon which to build our lives.
Then about the Haitian Saints: The faithful Haitian Saints . . . are teaching us that hope and happiness and joy are not products of circumstance but of faith in the Lord.
Then, speaking to the rest of us, Elder Andersen had these thoughts:
Some who at this very moment feel desperate or discouraged may wonder how they can possibly regain hope. If you are one of those, remember that hope comes as a result of faith. If we would build our hope, we must build our faith. Faith in the Savior requires more than mere belief. True faith requires work. Faith grows by keeping the commandments.
When we strive to keep the commandments of God, repenting of our sins and promising our best efforts to follow the Savior, we begin to grow in confidence that through the Atonement everything will be all right. Those feelings are confirmed by the Holy Ghost, who drives from us what our pioneer mothers and fathers called "our useless cares." In spite of our trials, we are filled with a sense of well-being and feel to sing with them that indeed "all is well."
Near the end of his talk, Elder Andersen cites a scripture in Helaman that I hadn't really thought of in this context - that, despite everything going on around us, we should have hope:
"Remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall bear upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall." (Helaman 5:12)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
His message is of hope. "Hope, with its attendant blessings of peace & joy deoes not depend upon circumstance." He gave the example of the Saints & how they had hope through their hardships. "The true source of hope is faith- faith in the Lord Jesus Christ & in His infinite Atonement." Even if we want to go through trials alone, not needing/wanting anyones help, we shouldn't. We need to rely on Jesus Christ & prayer to help us through. That is how we will trow from our trials, instead of just enduring them.
ReplyDelete