Uplifted Spirit

Wow what a wonderful conference weekend. OK, I know that I get preachy sometimes, however, I believe I am not the only blogger out there that thought Brother Dieter Uchtdorf's talk on Hope was absolutely one for the history books. I listened to it 3 times this weekend.
One of the hardest struggles I have is to keep HOPE alive in my life. I took notes on the 3rd time around and here are some thoughts that hit home with me:
1. Hope is one leg of a 3 legged stool, the other two being faith and charity
2. Discouragement and lack of hope leaves the heart sick, it kills ambition, drains all that is vibrant and hopeful, advances sickness, pollutes the soul and deadens the heart. Despair feels as if it leads forever downward.
3. Hope is like a ray of sunlight, It pierces the darkness,
4. Hope sustains us daily and leads to good works
5. Hope sustains us through despair
6. Sometimes we have to hope when all around us presents doubt.

His story about his mom leaving the children on the train while fleeing the Czech republic during the war and having the train gone when she returned ripped my heart from my chest. Karly and I were driving when we heard that story, and she had to run into a home and missed the rest of the story and that was the first thing she asked when she entered the car, Did she find them. His words were so sure and so reassuring that no matter how hard life may seem, we must keep HOPING and keep moving. His theme was: Move forward and put hope into action.

What a moving thought for all of us. Each person feels despair, discouragement, pain, and grief and how often do we want to give up. It is the hope of a new tomorrow that keeps us going.
Last week Syndea gave me the book the Last Lecture by Randy Pausch to read. I had heard his lecture on Oprah so I was familiar with the story. It has the same message of never giving up or giving in, but to live life the best you can and the most you can each and every day. There is no tomorrow, there's only today now has a new meaning when I sing those words.
Other thoughts that were terrific and hit home were:
One of the brothers talked about angels and how each of us is given the assignment to be an angel on this earth, to give hope and lighten the burdens of others. Others talked about our example of living and actions and how others learn from what we do more than what we say (that was William Oswald's on the jumping the rope story), and then there was Russell M Nielsen talk of Patterns of a shopper. How many of us make many of our choices using one of his examples of
study and find the best choice,
or bargain choice,
or splurger choice and jump in,
or steal what we need.
I thought about this analogy and how it applies to many of us as we make choices for all we do in life. I have made decisions in life using each of these choices (luckly the steal one has been very rare, but it has happened)

Needless to say, awesome weekend, so lucky to have a living prophet and leaders that inspire me to hang in there, to do my best, and to look forward with hope.