Hope

Hope is a word that I hear a lot yet feel like I don't really understand. Just recently one of the General Authorities in the church came to visit our mission. He was able to talk with the mission in a large group setting and discuss certain principles of the gospel. Many things were brought up during the meeting but one of the items was hope. Over the past couple days I have been thinking a lot about what was said and how I could increase my own hope. Sometimes the word hope is used to describe something that we hope will happen, something like winning a prize from a drawing. Hope in more of a gospel sense though has come to me to mean that there is something better. In our church we believe that our hope should be centered on Jesus Christ and how through Him we can return to live with our Heavenly Father. This knowledge has meant everything to me and is the reason why I do what I do. If I didn't have hope that there was something better to look forward to after this life then it would make it almost meaningless. But because I know that God is there and that He has prepared a plan so that we can return back to Him I feel as though I can get through the trials that life throws at me. Hope to me has come now to mean having a clear vision of where I am going and doing what I need to so that I can get there. Many things in life can really cloud our vision if we let them but the gospel of Jesus Christ can give us hope for a better future.