Survival and hope

It all started a couple years ago at the dinner table one Sunday evening when my dad asked us a thought-provoking question about survival. He had recently read an article explaining the motivations for people in different life threatening situations and what eventually helps them overcome and survive. We went around the dinner table sharing our thoughts of what motivates these people to endure all sorts of pain, discomfort, hunger, and fatige. The answers we came up with ranged from positive thoughts of family and loved ones to the desire for one last ice cream sundae. I turned inward and thought about what would get me through my own sort of harrowing experience.

What I subsequently learned has come to dominate my thoughts and feelings over the last several months.

Hope is the answer I came up with, an enduring hope for something better in the future.

I first started realizing the power of hope on my mission. I saw people I loved accept the gospel (or not accept it) and it taught me the reason to hope, to hope for the ultimate goal. I came home and hoped that I could succeed in the major I had chosen. When I met my first love I hoped for an eternal marriage. Ironically, it was when that didn't happen that I truly learned the power and meaning of hope. It was that small thread of hope, and oh was it small after the breakup, that got me through- a hope for another chance, a hope for something better for me, and a very big hope that I could be happy again.

Time does heal wounds and hope illuminates life once more.

I still hang on to my hope every day. I hope that I'm guided to where I need to be at the right place and at the right time. I hope that my hard work and dedication to my grades will bring success. I hope that I will find happiness and joy in life because there is so much good to be found. I hope for the ultimate hope, that of an exalted eternal life with my future spouse and children in the kingdom.

I hope.....