Category: Hope

Advent Day 11

Today, here is hope in the form of dance. Covid has unleashed new ways to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. The dancers in this video are missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and this is a tribute to a sister missionary who passed away recently. It’s also an expression of their testimonies. Whether you like the style of dance or not, I think it’s a beautiful way to share hope.

I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up.

Doctrine and Covenants 84:88

Advent Day 10

Mormon’s Miraculous Book by Joseph Brickley

My son, be faithful in Christ; and may not the things which I have written grieve thee, to weigh thee down unto death; but may Christ lift thee up, and may the showing of his body unto our fathers, and his mercy and long-suffering, and the hope of his glory and of eternal life, rest in your mind forever.

Moroni 9:25

I really love this video. I like how they convey music transporting them to another time, and experiencing the same feelings as the shepherds and wise men. “May Christ lift thee up.”

Advent Day 9

Let thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us, according as we hope in thee.

Psalms 33:22

For my Advent calendar of Hope today, I share a poem by Emily Dickinson. I like how the poem expresses that hope is strong during difficulty, and asks nothing of us. It gives and gives.

Advent Day 8

This December, my Advent theme is Hope. It’s my plan to share something each day leading up to Christmas. Today, I include some words by Elder Jeffrey R Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.

Hebrews 6:18-20

“Every one of us has times when we need to know things will get better. Moroni spoke of it in the Book of Mormon as ‘hope for a better world.’ For emotional health and spiritual stamina, everyone needs to be able to look forward to some respite, to something pleasant and renewing and hopeful, whether that blessing be near at hand or still some distance ahead. It is enough just to know we can get there, that however measured or far away, there is the promise of ‘good things to come.’

“My declaration is that this is precisely what the gospel of Jesus Christ offers us, especially in times of need. There is help. There is happiness. There really is light at the end of the tunnel. It is the Light of the World, the Bright and Morning Star, the ‘light that is endless, that can never be darkened.’ It is the very Son of God Himself. In loving praise far beyond Romeo’s reach, we say, ‘What light through yonder window breaks?’ It is the return of hope, and Jesus is the Sun. To any who may be struggling to see that light and find that hope, I say: Hold on. Keep trying. God loves you. Things will improve. Christ comes to you in His ‘more excellent ministry’ with a future of ‘better promises.’ He is your ‘high priest of good things to come.‘ -Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, “An High Priest of Good Things to Come,” Ensign, November 1999

Advent Day 7

This December, my Advent theme is Hope. It’s my plan to share something each day leading up to Christmas. On this day, I include some words of women in my family about enduring difficult times. Knowing these stories and others from my family history gives me strength and hope to endure my own difficulties. I thank my Heavenly Father for these stories of hope.

“…We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things…”

The Articles of Faith 1:13

My Great-grandmother Della Griggs Stewart, who lived during the flu epidemic of 1918:

“The influenza epidemic broke out and [my husband] Del was very ill for two weeks. This was a terrible time for everyone. The high school was closed and turned into a hospital, cots were sent in and everyone available was called in to nurse the sick. I helped what I could, nursing some and helped take care of children whose parents had died or who were very ill. We had to wear masks; no one could come into town or leave. Our friends and neighbors were dying two and three per day. Our families were spared.”

My Great-great-great grandmother Fanny Fry, who traveled without family as a sixteen-year-old across the plains, pulling a handcart in 1859:

“At the Elk Horn River, my feet were so swollen I could not wear my shoes. Then when the swelling went out, my feet were so sore from the alkali that I never had on a pair of shoes after that for the entire journey…

“We had to pull up quite a long hill, and part of it was steep. In climbing we got behind one of the teams for the oxen to help us, for it was all we could do to keep it moving. Captain Rowley came up and called us lazy, and I did not consider we were at all.

“While pulling this heavy load, I looked and acted strange. The first thing my friend Emmie knew I had fallen under the cart, and before they could stop it, the cart had passed over me, and I lay at the back of it on the ground. When my companions got to me, I seemed perfectly dead. Emmie could not find any pulse at all, and there was not a soul around. They were, she thought, all ahead, so she stood thinking what to do when Captain Rowley came up to us. ‘What have you got there, Emmie?’ he said. ‘Oh my, Fanny is dead,’ she said. It frightened him, so he got off his horse and examined me closely but could not find any life at all. He asked Emmie to stay with me and he would go and stop the company and send a cart back for me, which he did.

“When I came to myself, my grave was dug two feet deep, and I was in a tent. The sisters had sewed me up to the waist in my blanket, ready for burial. I opened my eyes and looked at them.

“I was weak for some time after. I did not fully recover during the rest of the journey. Through it all I found I had a great many friends in the company.”

My mother, who had a brother wounded in the Vietnam War when she was a teen in 1968:

“I was 14 years old and Doug was 11. We were home alone because Mom and Dad were out on a Sunday drive, and two Marines knocked on our front door. Finding out that our parents weren’t home, one asked if they could wait in our living room. I stayed in the back TV room with Doug and was dying inside and praying so hard for Mom and Dad to get home. They did arrive a little later (seemed like two years) and when they pulled into the driveway, they saw the Marine Corps car and wouldn’t get out! Finally, I heard them come in the front door and from the hallway I heard, “He’s not dead!” That’s when I lost it and ran to the back room again. We learned that my much-idolized-by-me big brother was barely hanging on to life. I couldn’t speak. Well, that’s when the daily telegrams started that always ended: ‘RECOVERY QUESTIONABLE’. Weeks later, when my mom was at least 10 pounds lighter, the ‘RECOVERY EXPECTED’ telegram came. Elder Bruce R. McConkie, an Apostle in the LDS Church had been in Vietnam at that time and had given David a Priesthood blessing. Elder McConkie told Grandpa Que later that David’s healing was a gift from God and a miracle.

“David recovered and honorably served for twenty-nine years in the Marine Corps.”

Advent Day 6

This December, my Advent theme is Hope. It’s my plan to share something each day leading up to Christmas. Today, I share one of my favorite stories of a person who brought hope to others.

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.

Ether 12:4
Hello Sarah and Bryan at minute 12:21!

“From little things come big things…”

Advent Day 4

This December, my Advent theme is Hope. It’s my plan to share something each day leading up to Christmas. Today, I want to share something Daniel showed me that is hopeful and happy. Remember those feelings?

Therefore, my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope.

Psalms 16:9

Advent Day 3

This December, my Advent theme is Hope. It’s my plan to share something each day leading up to Christmas.

For behold the field is white and already to harvest; and lo, he that thrusteth in his sickle with his might, the same layeth up in store that he perisheth not, but bringeth salvation to his soul; And faith, hope, charity and love, with an eye single to the glory of God, qualify him for the work.

Doctrine and Covenants 4:4-5
This is a mural in the Provo Missionary Training Center. We went on a tour of the new building in 2017 and this piece of art was what I remember. It depicts Nephi returning to Jerusalem for the plates of brass, something that would require all of his faith and strength. I think I loved it because it captures a moment of courage, when hope turns to acts of faith.

Advent Day 2

This December, my Advent theme is Hope. It’s my plan to share something each day leading up to Christmas.

Wherefore, we search the prophets, and we have many revelations and the spirit of prophecy; and having all these witnesses we obtain a hope, and our faith becometh unshaken.

Jacob 4:6

This photo of President Nelson inspires me. I think searching the scriptures has been the most important way I have found hope. In this practice, I try to be as faithful as a prophet. When the kids were younger and finding time to read the scriptures was harder, or now, in an emergency, I try to close my eyes and recite a scripture in my mind when I can’t read. The scripture I recite most often is Psalm 19:7. I memorized it in high school, and have repeated it on the most challenging days for 30 years. It’s the closest thing I have to a mantra.