The Word Hope is Sometimes Misunderstood.

Hello!
This last week was great!
Monday we went and visited a few people from my first area!
Tuesday we helped some elders out with their baptism. The font was not
filling so we had to fill buckets and dump them in the font!
We took a young man out teaching with us and the first person that
talked to us just yelled at us for a few minutes. It was a great first
experience for him. The rest of the week was great!
So this week we had a big focus on hope!

The word hope is sometimes misunderstood. In our everyday language,
the word often has a hint of uncertainty. For example, we may say that
we hope for a change in the weather or a visit from a friend. In the
language of the gospel, however, the word hope is sure, unwavering,
and active. Prophets speak of having a “firm hope” (Alma 34:41) and a
“lively hope” (1 Peter 1:3). The prophet Moroni taught, “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”
(Ether 12:4).

When we have hope, we trust God's promises. We have a quiet assurance
that if we do “the works of righteousness,” we “shall receive [our]
reward, even peace in this world, and eternal life in the world to
come” (D&C 59:23). Mormon taught that such hope comes only through the
Atonement of Jesus Christ: “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).

As we strive to live the gospel, we grow in our ability to “abound in
hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost” (Romans 15:13). We increase
in hope as we pray and seek God's forgiveness. In the Book of Mormon,
a missionary named Aaron assured a Lamanite king, “If thou wilt repent
of all thy sins, and will bow down before God, and call on his name in
faith, believing that ye shall receive, then shalt thou receive the
hope which thou desirest” (Alma 22:16). We also gain hope as we study
the scriptures and follow their teachings. The Apostle Paul taught,
“Whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our
learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might
have hope” (Romans 15:4).

The principle of hope extends into the eternities, but it also can
sustain us through the everyday challenges of life. “Happy is he,”
said the Psalmist, “that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose
hope is in the Lord his God” (Psalm 146:5). With hope, we can find joy
in life. We can “have patience, and bear with … afflictions, with a
firm hope that ye shall one day rest from all your afflictions” (Alma
34:41). We can “press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a
perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men.
Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of
Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall
have eternal life” (2 Nephi 31:20).

Love,

Elder Rush

Awesome house!

Beautiful sunset looking over Pocatello from the Highland area where Elder Rush lives.

Elder Rush and Elder Duff.

"The whole point of Superman, as originally created, was to be the ally of those who had no allies. It put that magnitude of power, the most powerful guy in the world, in the service of those who had no hope, no chance."

This is how I see my Mitchell and all the Missionaries. Our Supermen and women!