A perfect example of the power of hope is the story of King Lamoni’s father in the Book of Mormon. He didn’t even know if there was a God. But with a sense of hope he prayed, “If there is a God, and if thou art God, wilt thou make thyself known unto me, and I will give away all my sins to know thee” (Alma 22:18).
He hoped there was a God. He hoped he was being taught the truth. Eventually he and his household were converted. Then he opened his entire kingdom for the preaching of the gospel, and thousands of people joined the church. (See Alma 23:1–5.) He had found hope, and that hope changed his life.
When I was a child in Scotland, I was also looking for hope. We were a poor, little family—my mother and four children, of which I was the oldest. After my parents’ divorce when I was five, there came a stepfather who was not a good man. We hadn’t experienced much love at home. My mother cleaned houses to make ends meet. Life was tough.