"A Perfect Brightness of Hope," by Elder Holland

A Perfect Brightness of Hope (by Elder Jeffrey Holland)

Sisters, as Barbara so appropriately shared in our last blog, I too miss seeing your beautiful faces and hearing the wonderful insights you have received from the spirit and your life experiences.  I hope that as you have listened to or read this wonderful conference address “A Perfect Brightness of Hope” by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland that you will take just a minute and share with us one or two of your thoughts.  We all will be blessed and enriched.

 

“Because the Restoration reaffirmed the foundational truth that God does work in this world, we can hope, we should hope, even when facing the most insurmountable odds…..We all need to believe that what we desire in righteousness can someday, someway, somehow yet be ours….”  May I add my testimony and witness to the truth of Elder Holland’s message of hope, a hope born from exercising faith in Jesus Christ. 

 

I love an account shared by Sister Elaine Dalton in a past conference address of a young woman named Florence Chadwick.  “From the age of 10, Florence discovered that she was a talented swimmer. She swam the English Channel in record time of 13 hours and 20 minutes. She later attempted to swim between the coastline of California and Catalina Island—some 21 miles. On this swim she grew weary after swimming 15 hours. A thick fog set in that obscured the view of the coastline. Her mother was riding alongside her in a boat, and Florence told her mother that she didn’t think she could finish. Her mother and her trainer encouraged her to continue, but all she could see was the fog. She abandoned her swim, but once inside the boat, she discovered she had quit within one mile of the coastline. Later, when she was interviewed and asked why she had abandoned her swim, she confessed that it wasn’t the cold water and it wasn’t the distance. She said, “I was licked by the fog.” Later she attempted the swim again, and once more, a thick fog set in. But this time, she kept going until she successfully reached the coastline. This time when she was asked what made the difference, she said that she kept a mental image of the coastline in her mind through the thick fog and throughout the duration of her swim.

 

I believe that each of us during this mortal experience can feel “licked by the fog”, but as Elder Holland shared (echoing) “ the sentiment of a ...young returned sister missionary …..‘We did not come this far only to come this far’”.

 

Florence eventually succeeded in her swim though long, cold, hard, and again in thick fog, when she kept the image of the coastline in her mind.  In a similar way, I felt Elder Holland’s encouragement that we too can succeed, when we keep the mental image of Christ in our minds, “His power to lift us above any adversity we may face,” and remembering His goodness personally, and collectively as a church.

 

The memory of the coastline gave Florence hope.  For me, remembering that Christ’s promises are sure helps me to “press forward …with a perfect brightness of hope.  I hold on to the testimony and reassuring words of Elder Holland when he said…. “the future is going to be as miracle-filled and bountifully blessed as the past has been. We have every reason to hope for blessings even greater than those we have already received because this is the work of Almighty God…this is the gospel of Christ’s unlimited grace and benevolence.”  “We can hope….we should hope”. 

 

Additional Study suggestions:

-Ask yourself: “What does hope look like in my life?”

- “Good things to Come” a 5 minute video/ a personal experience of Elder Holland – found on: youtube; churchofjesuschrist.org; or Latter-Day Saints Channel

-“An High Priest of Good Things To Come” (October 1999 Conference Address) by Elder Holland

-“Hope, an Anchor of the Soul” (Conference Report, Oct. 1999) by James E. Faust

-Moroni 7: 40-44