Hope letters

Finding hope through noticing God's fingerprints in our lives.

  • Hope letters

    He Knows What We Need

    I had my little dog, Lilly, for 18 years. Her kidneys were failing, so it was only a matter of time before I lost her. Since I had lost Kris in June, I didn’t know how much more loss I could take in just a few month’s time. I was thinking about the dogs I would get when Lilly passed on. The vet suggested I put Lilly down because she wouldn’t last long. She actually got a second wind after being hospitalized for 3 days. She was with me 3 months longer than the vet thought she would last! Let me tell you, I really needed that extra time with…

  • Hope letters

    God’s Orchestration

    For several years, I have longed to reconnect with my grandparents’ family. I felt that I could feel their longing for their family to care for each other. Beaver, Utah was their family home site. Even though my grandparents’ home was demolished, the town still holds lots of sweet summer memories that make it a special place on the map. Recently however, it had become more meaningful to me. I had reconnected with a first cousin there whom I had never known well. When her parents died many years earlier, she had fallen out of the family focus. It had been years since I’d seen her, and had begun catching…

  • Hope letters

    Listen

    On Mother’s Day one year my husband unburdened me with my daily tasks and gave me time to do some family history research. I was really making some progress on my family history that I decided to work on it the next day while my boys were playing in their room.   As I was working on it the thought came to me to get the boys some lunch. I looked at the time and it was only after 11 and thought it was too early to feed them lunch.  I dismissed the thought and I started on my research.  Not 5 minutes later one of my sons came to me…

  • Hope letters

    The Train Ride

    Sometimes it’s the little tender mercies that remind us that God is in the details. Earlier this year, our son got a mission call and was able to go to the MTC, prior to flying out to his mission which was out of state.  We were excited for him to go, but it was a little hard knowing we wouldn’t see him for two years. My husband works in Salt lake and regularly takes the train rather than driving in traffic.  This particular day, my husband ended up taking a train to work that was a little later than usual.  When he stepped onto the train, he noticed missionaries on…

  • Hope letters

    See The End From The Beginning

    Allow me to share with you an experience from my own boyhood. When I was 11 years old, my family had to leave East Germany and begin a new life in West Germany overnight. Until my father could get back into his original profession as a government employee, my parents operated a small laundry business in our little town. I became the laundry delivery boy. To be able to do that effectively, I needed a bicycle to pull the heavy laundry cart. I had always dreamed of owning a nice, sleek, shiny, sporty red bicycle. But there had never been enough money to fulfill this dream. What I got instead was…

  • Hope letters

    A Prayer of Protection

    Our family was headed to spend the weekend with my parents who were living in Providence Utah with us living in West Jordan at the time.  Before we would leave to go on a trip we would make it a point of praying and asking for safety and protection while doing so. This has proved to be a blessing many times over and I’m very thankful that we have always made a point to do so.  On this occasion we had made it to Brigham City and stopped at the stop light before starting up the hill that would take us into Sardine canyon. After the light turned green we…

  • Hope letters

    The Dream

    My dad was a brilliant accountant.  He had retired from the family company and decided to pick up a few accounts to do on the side, never really wanting to retire fully.  Sometimes, being the teacher he was, he would ask me to come help him balance out his accounts, teaching me little by little his business.   At the time, I had a full time job.  I never planned on doing accounting for a living so working with my dad was good because I got to spend time with him.   The beginning of the new year, my dad found out he had cancer, and it was terminal.  I felt confident…

  • Hope letters

    Never Miss a Prompting

    On one occasion many years ago, I was swimming laps at the old Deseret Gym in Salt Lake City when I felt the inspiration to go to the University Hospital to visit a good friend of mine who had lost the use of his lower limbs because of a malignancy and the surgery which followed. I immediately left the pool, dressed, and was soon on my way to see this good man. When I arrived at his room, I found that it was empty. Upon inquiry I learned I would probably find him in the swimming pool area of the hospital, an area which was used for physical therapy. Such…

  • Hope letters

    The Angel at my Door

    When I first moved to Pleasant Grove, I brought with me my two daughters and my mother.  It was a big step.  I had moved into a town where I knew almost no-one.  I had purchased this big old home that needed work but I loved it. I had spent many hours dreaming of how to fix up and decorate this home and had so many ideas!   I remember one specific day, really wanting to go shopping.  It was a Saturday, and I wanted to get out of the house and go shopping.  Maybe to a yard sale.  Or maybe to the Deseret Industries.  I was hoping I might get…

  • Hope letters

    Out of Gas

    Sometimes I say in jest, “If I didn’t have bad luck, I’d have no luck at all”, but the truth is I am so lucky, so very blessed with the best family and friends.   Last night, I drove to my dad’s home, spent a few precious hours with him, slept, had breakfast with Dad, and then spent the day at a wedding and other festivities. Then I had to drive back to St. George, leaving Lindon at 7:30. On the way back to StG, I did something tonight that I have only done once before in my life. I ran out of gas.  Almost to the top of the Scipio hill,…