refer in this text to Moro. 7:40-44
“Admittedly, we have ample reason to be deeply concerned because we see no immediate answers to the seemingly unsolvable problems confronting the human family. But regardless of this dark picture, which will ultimately get worse, we must never allow ourselves to give up hope! Moroni, having seen our day, counseled, ‘Wherefore, there must be faith; and if there must be faith there must also be hope’ (Moro. 10:20).” (M. Russel Ballard, Ensign, Nov. 1992, p. 31)
“Let me compare [hope] … to this ingenious fan-hat that was given to me in Tonga… . If it’s hot and muggy, you can use this fan to provide a cooling breeze, and its curved ribs provide an even greater current of air than a flat fan. But if it should start to rain, the fan can quickly become a hat and provide shelter from the storm. In much the same way, hope is a virtue for all seasons and all adversities, whether the problem is a storm or too much pleasant weather. What is the opposite of hope? Despair, of course, but despair comes when we feel powerless to influence events and when the sources of meaning in our life disappear. Despair is a kind of disorientation so profound that we lose contact with the sources of life itself… . Hope does not calculate odds. It is a double-sided virtue. Like this fan-hat, it is prepared for either sunny or stormy weather. To choose hope is to choose life. To choose hope is to choose love… . We literally cannot despair—unless we choose to… . We can choose to feed the darkness and death in our lives, or we can choose to feed the brightness of hope in our lives. We can worry. We can deny the light. We can refuse to ally ourselves with Jesus Christ, the already triumphant master of life… . We can cooperate with the killing of our spirits and the strangling of our hopes until meaninglessness and despair overcome us… . If we choose, if we even desire to choose, if we even hope for the desire to choose, we set in motion powerful forces for life that are led by Jesus Christ himself. He responds to those tender tendrils of crippled life with the force and energy that will bring them to flowering… . Choose hope even though despair seems close! Choose to grow even though circumstances oppress you! Choose to love, even though ours are days of violence and vengeance. Choose to forgive, to pray, to bless another’s life with simple kindness.” (Chieko N. Okazaki, Ensign, Nov. 1996, pp. 89-91)
“Real hope keeps us ‘anxiously engaged’ in good causes even when there appear to be losing causes on the mortal scoreboard (see D&C 58:27). Likewise, real hope is much more than wishful musing. It stiffens, not slackens, the spiritual spine. Hope is serene, not giddy, eager without being naive, and pleasantly steady without being smug. Hope is realistic anticipation which takes the form of a determination—not only to survive adversity but, moreover, to ‘endure … well’ to the end (D&C 121:8)… . Genuine, ultimate hope helps us to be more loving even while the love of many waxes cold (see Matt. 24:12). We are to be more holy, even as the world ripens in iniquity; more courteous and patient in a coarsening and curt world, and to be of strong hearts even when the hearts of others fail them (see Moro. 10:22).” (Neal A. Maxwell, Ensign, Nov. 1998, pp. 62-63)