Hope

After I heard about the bombings at the Boston marathon, I felt lost.  I couldn't believe someone could be so cruel, and it was just another reminder to me of how dark and disastrous the world had become.  I was beginning to lose faith in humanity.
But then I remembered something I realized during my Book of Mormon course this year.  I always get so sad reading the last few chapters of the Book of Mormon, because you see a civilization who had once been so full of light and love and faith turn from God and destroy themselves in their own hatred of each other.  For the past few months, I've felt a bit like that was the way the world was heading, that in spite of all the efforts of people who are trying to make the world a better place, eventually we would all fall to darkness.  But then I realized, these are the last days, and we are not destined to follow the Nephites and Jaredites.  We have so much bad in the world, but there is an equal amount of good!  The darkness may seem more powerful, because it causes so much pain, but then you remember those who help afterward.  You remember those who help before, who have prevented these kinds of things from happening.  The bad will continue to get worse, but the good will also continue to get better.  I think that's why we enjoy the epic tales so much, stories like The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, The Chronicles of Narnia.  They all remind us that even though it seems for a moment that the darkness is winning, the light can and will always rally... and win.

Fare thee well, friend!
Mira