In the December issue of the Liahona article, Elder Gary E. Stevenson shares the tender story of Hope Gentile, a child who was diagnosed with cancer at 19 months old.
Elder Stevenson writes that Hope’s father, Nicholas, was reading her a book before bed one night. In a silly voice, Nicholas asked her, “What does the owl say?” To which the toddler responded, “Hoo! hoo!” Then he asked, “What does the cow say?” “Moo! moo!” Hope said back, giggling.
Then, a picture of Jesus hanging on the wall caught Nicolas’s attention. Following a prompting by the Spirit, he asked his little daughter, “Hope, and what does Jesus say?”
Hope snuggled closer to her dad and said, “‘Hold you.’ Jesus says, “Hold you.’”
“Jesus was holding our family in His loving arms,” Nicolas said. “Since that sacred night, I have pondered the tender truth God taught me through my daughter’s words: Jesus will hold us and bless us during our trials if we let Him. These blessings come according to His perfect time, way, and will, but they do come. I know these truths because the Holy Ghost helped me to feel them in Hope’s room on that dark night.”
Read the full article at ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
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