There is hope smiling brightly before us.

A few thoughts on hope:

Hope is the abiding trust that the Lord will fulfill His promises to you. It is manifest in confidence, optimism, enthusiasm, and patient perseverance. It is believing and expecting that something will occur. When you have hope, you work through trials and difficulties with the confidence and assurance that all things will work together for your good. Hope helps you conquer discouragement. -Preach My Gospel

I love this definition more than I can say. I think this is the section of Preach My Gospel that I have read more frequently than any other and this is the quote that has given me such love and appreciation for the topic of hope. Hope sustains us. 

When dark clouds of trouble hang o'er us And threaten our peace to destroy, There is hope smiling brightly before us, And we know that deliverance is nigh. We doubt not the Lord nor his goodness. We've proved him in days that are past. The wicked who fight against Zion Will surely be smitten at last. "We Thank Thee Oh God For a Prophet" verse 2

Deliverance is nigh. I doubt not the Lord. He's been perfectly trustworthy in the past so He will continue to fulfill promises and help me in the future. 

This is my favorite Mormon Message to date, and it comes from my favorite conference talk to date, President Uchtdorf's October 2008 address called "The Infinite Power of Hope."



Excerpts from that same talk:

The adversary uses despair to bind hearts and minds in suffocating darkness. Despair drains from us all that is vibrant and joyful and leaves behind the empty remnants of what life was meant to be. Despair kills ambition, advances sickness, pollutes the soul, and deadens the heart. Despair can seem like a staircase that leads only and forever downward.

Hope, on the other hand, is like the beam of sunlight rising up and above the horizon of our present circumstances. It pierces the darkness with a brilliant dawn. It encourages and inspires us to place our trust in the loving care of an eternal Heavenly Father, who has prepared a way for those who seek for eternal truth in a world of relativism, confusion, and of fear.

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No matter how bleak the chapter of our lives may look today, because of the life and sacrifice of Jesus Christ, we may hope and be assured that the ending of the book of our lives will exceed our grandest expectations. “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” ²⁶

The things we hope in sustain us during our daily walk. They uphold us through trials, temptations, and sorrow. Everyone has experienced discouragement and difficulty. Indeed, there are times when the darkness may seem unbearable. It is in these times that the divine principles of the restored gospel we hope in can uphold us and carry us until, once again, we walk in the light.

We hope in Jesus the Christ, in the goodness of God, in the manifestations of the Holy Spirit, in the knowledge that prayers are heard and answered. Because God has been faithful and kept His promises in the past, we can hope with confidence that God will keep His promises to us in the present and in the future. In times of distress, we can hold tightly to the hope that things will “work together for [our] good” ²⁷ as we follow the counsel of God’s prophets. This type of hope in God, His goodness, and His power refreshes us with courage during difficult challenges and gives strength to those who feel threatened by enclosing walls of fear, doubt, and despair.

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There may be times when we must make a courageous decision to hope even when everything around us contradicts this hope.

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Hope sustains us through despair. Hope teaches that there is reason to rejoice even when all seems dark around us.

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The Lord has given us a reassuring message of hope: “Fear not, little flock.” ⁴¹ God will wait with “open arms to receive” those who give away their sins and continue in faith, hope, and charity.

And to all who suffer—to all who feel discouraged, worried, or lonely—I say with love and deep concern for you, never give in.

Never surrender.

Never allow despair to overcome your spirit.

Embrace and rely upon the Hope of Israel, for the love of the Son of God pierces all darkness, softens all sorrow, and gladdens every heart.

Excerpts from Elder John H. Groberg's BYU Devotion in 1984, "There is Always Hope":

A person without hope is like a person without a heart; there is nothing to keep him going. As the heart gives life to the body, so it seems that hope is an enlivening influence to the spirit—which is the real us. It is a fact that there is always hope, for our spirits are eternal. No matter what people try to say, it’s always there—that hope is within us. It just depends on how brightly we allow it to shine in our lives. The degree of “shining” (or the strength) of this hope that is in all of us is in direct proportion to our faith in God and particularly to our faith in (belief in, love of, hope in, etc.) Jesus Christ. Specifically then, the basis of all righteous hope is the person of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. In him all hope has its existence. Without him there is no hope. But because he was and is and ever will be, there is always hope—hope in all areas. He is hope. 
... One of Satan’s ultimate weapons (if not the ultimate) is to remove hope from your life. He tries to convince you that you can’t do it, that there is no hope. Thus, by removing hope, he removes Christ from your life, for Christ is hope. Satan can never quite accomplish that fully—at least not here—because it is a lie. There is hope built within all of us. There is always hope. 

Favorite scriptures on hope:

Alma 58:11 Yea, and it came to pass that the Lord our God did visit us with assurances that he would deliver us; yea, insomuch that he did speak peace to our souls, and did grant unto us great faith, and did cause us that we should hope for our deliverance in him.

Ether 12:4  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.

THIS is how hope is manifest through optimism. When we really are filled with hope, we are optimistic about our futures and the future of the world in which we live. We have that kind of cheerful faith, knowing that God will come through for us. 

Moroni 7: 40 And again, my beloved brethren, I would speak unto you concerning hope. How is it that ye can attain unto faith, save ye shall have hope? 41 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. 42 Wherefore, if a man have faith he must needs have hope; for without faith there cannot be any hope. 43 And again, behold I say unto you that he cannot have faith and hope, save he shall be meek, and lowly of heart.

Romans 8:24 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? 25 But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.