Although everyone faces many trials in life, opportunities to find hope are abundant, and LDS youth are well-positioned to find hope in Christ.
Randy B. Clegg addressed a crowd of teens at BYU Education Week, outlining four ways to hold on to hope through the teachings of Moroni on faith, hope and charity.
Hope can be found in the rest of the Lord, he said, referring to Moroni 7:3, a scripture that talks about having sufficient hope to enter in the rest of the Lord.
“We can find hope in the rest of the Lord now, but that means yielding ourselves to the will of the Lord,” Clegg said.
Hope can also come from what the scriptures describe as a peaceable walk with the children of men. This means that hope can be found through becoming disciples of Christ.
Clegg recounted an experience he had shortly after his mission meeting Elder Neal A. Maxwell, “He whispered in my ear and said, ‘Be a disciple.’ I’ve never forgotten that.”
Being a disciple of Christ means striving to reach out to others, holding on to the word of God and letting go of yourself, Clegg said. Through following a path that leads us to being disciples of Christ, Latter-day Saints can find hope.
A requirement of becoming a disciple of Christ is to make righteous judgments — another way to find peace and hope in life. Clegg cited Moroni’s writings on how to make righteous judgments and said it is important to eliminate anything that does not entice one to do good and persuade all to believe in Christ.
“One of the ways to have more hope in your life is to choose righteously the things that are good and eliminate the things that are bad,” Clegg said. “It may be harder to live — but the principle is easy.”
Lastly Clegg asked the youth to ponder, “What good things can I hold on to?” and promised them that they can find hope by laying hold of good things. Holding on to Christ, the words of the prophets, the Atonement, the Holy Ghost and prayer are all examples of “good things” listed in the Book of Mormon. Clegg testified that hope found in charity never fails.
“May each of us hold on, find rest in the Lord, be a disciple, make righteous judgments and ultimately find hope in Christ,” Clegg said.
