A House of Hope

In the most recent general conference Elder Andersen highlighted the difficulties of the life of Moroni who related his sad state in these words: “I am alone. My father hath been slain in battle, and all my kinsfolk, and I have not friends nor whither to go; and how long the Lord will suffer that I may live I know not” (Mormon 8:5). Despite this seemingly hopeless situation, as Elder Andersen pointed out, he still recorded these great words on hope from his father: “And what is it that ye shall hope for? Behold I say unto you that ye shall have hope through the atonement of Christ and the power of his resurrection, to be raised unto life eternal, and this because of your faith in him according to the promise” (Moroni 7:41). No matter what our situation, there is hope in Jesus Christ because He descended below all things. He comforted His apostles with these words near the time of His death: “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). We have hope because He overcame the world. Because of that, He has power to help us overcome and conquer all the challenges we may face. As Elder Andersen declared, “On earth we experience joy and sorrow as we are tested and proven. Our victory comes through faith in Jesus Christ as we triumph over our sins, difficulties, temptations, unfairness, and the challenges of this mortal life. As we strengthen our faith in Jesus Christ, we see beyond our struggles to the blessings and promises of eternity. Like a light whose brilliance grows, hope brightens the darkened world, and we see our glorious future.”

                Elder Andersen quoted these words from President Nelson: “It doesn’t seem possible to feel joy when your child suffers with an incurable illness or when you lose your job or when your spouse betrays you. Yet that is precisely the joy the Savior offers. His joy is constant, assuring us that our ‘afflictions shall be but a small moment’ [Doctrine and Covenants 121:7] and be consecrated to our gain.” One powerful symbol of that constant hope He offers is the temple. Each dedicated house of the Lord is a beacon of hope to the Saints who enter there. After someone attends the temple to receive their endowment for the first time, every subsequent visit to the House of the Lord is done in behalf of one or more people who have passed away. Thus their visit is a physical witness of their belief in the resurrection of the dead through Jesus Christ. Each temple stands as a testimony that death is not the end, that our spirits continue to live, and that we all have hope in a glorious resurrection someday. Our time in the temple would be meaningless if there was no resurrection of the dead.” Elder Andersen put it this way: “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. The temple testifies of the empty tomb and that life beyond the veil continues for all…. There is no pain, no sickness, no injustice, no suffering, 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.” As Paul put it, “If Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain…. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable” (1 Corinthians 15:14, 19). But Christ did rise from the grave as temples powerfully witness, and even if our trials are as excruciating as Moroni’s, no one can ever take away our “hope through the atonement of Christ and the power of his resurrection, to be raised unto life eternal.”