Hope - Steven E. Snow

  I have wondered why some people we know moved to the St. George area of Utah. It always seems so dry in that area and President Lorenzo Snow was frustrated when the Lord had promised rain if the Saints of that area would begin paying tithing. He ended up pleading with the Lord to fulfill that promise which He did. Now this Elder Snow who was raised in that area tells this story:

"The story is told there of the grandfather who took his five-year-old grandson for a walk around town. Ultimately, they found themselves at a small grocery store on Main Street where they stopped for a cold soda pop. A car from out of state pulled up and the driver approached the old-timer. Pointing to a small cloud in the sky, the stranger asked, “Do you think it’s going to rain?”“I certainly hope so,” replied the old man, “if not for my sake, for the boy’s. I’ve seen it rain.”"

  I recently read in a man's blog that as he has gotten older, his youthful hopes and expectations have caused him to think that HOPE is a mental activity that is best put aside because it so often results in disappointment and deflates a persons desire to try. That can certainly be said about many of the hopes we have recently seen dashed in the fallout of fickle economies. Thankfully, we look at HOPE differently. While we have little control over many of the situations of our lives, we know that we can remain hopeful about the areas that we do control. For an example to use in teaching our family you may use the Roger Bannister self imposed hope to break the four-minute mile. It was thought impossible in his day but in 1954 he succeeded.
  The great hope that we all can have with total assurance is the hope for eternal salvation through the Atonement of the Savior. Have a Scripture Chase with your family to find and discuss these foundational scriptures:

1. 1 Corinthians 9:10
2. 1 Peter 3:15
3. Moroni 10:20-21
4. 2 Nephi 31:20

  Then it might be helpful to discuss the story in the talk about Mary Murray Murdoch and put it in light of the 16 women mentioned in my recent post of August 13, LDS Women are Incredible.  The final challenge is to identify the "three legged stool" of Faith, Hope and Charity and how they must be intertwined in our lives to obtain that great Hope of eternal life.