Poems Based on Talks by Elder Perry

I am surrounded by worldliness.
What is popular is abjectness.
How can I avoid what is not good?
How can I become all that I should?
When all I hear is profane, how do I stay sane?
The Holy Ghost, my companion, helps me to maintain.
May I ever be mindful of this precious gift,
As there's music to my ear that gives me a lift.
Through the blessed hymns I feel the love of Jesus.
The comforter helps me to be more courageous.
I can be bold just like Joseph Smith.
And call out for them to cease forthwith.

I am surrounded by worldiness.
What is popular is abjectness.
How can I avoid what is not good?
How can I become all that I should?
When all I see is obscene, how do I not look?
The Holy Ghost, my companion, helps me through a book.
May I ever be mindful of this precious gift,
Full of hope and charity which gives me a lift.
Through the blessed words I feel the love of Jesus.
The comforter helps me to be more courageous.
I can be bold like another Joseph.
When someone tried to tempt him- he just fled.

- Elder Perry

30–33, Jul 2007, L. Tom Perry,
“Thy Speech Reveals Thee, ” Liahona


Give Heed Unto the Word of the Lord


The body needs sunlight, exercise, good food and rest
To protect it from diseases ravaging effects
Our spirits need nourishment to wax strong in the truth
We've been told to feast upon the word as though it were food

In the preexistence, our spirits learned and developed
Now on the earth we've bodies to which its been enveloped
The body and the spirit must each define their role
If we travel in happenstance, how do we reach our goal?

For knowledge and experience is why to earth we came
We've agency, for good or bad, and we've no one else to blame
And after this second estate, there's much for which we've in store
One day, in perfect form, we'll have forever more

But, this is not as easy as it seems, it's a test
There's unseen opposition that works and doesn't need to rest
They without bodies, serve Satan, each a cast out spirit
And they're relentless and cunning and too, desperate

For safety, we must obtain and study God's holy record
And hold to the rod and heed the good word of the Lord
We must beware of all that's increasingly bad
And, avoid me-ism to enjoy all that God has

Our Lord, Jesus Christ, heals and prepares us for the last day
He has led a perfect life and our ransom he has paid
He is the perfect example of what we should be here
We should strive to always have His spirit to be near


Give Heed Unto the Voice of the Lord

Give heed unto the voice of the Lord
Which the spirit requires for light
It is more powerful than the sword
And helps people choose more of what's right
Until what's capturing them, now is abhorred.

As the words heal the wounded soul
We wax strong in knowledge of truth
And learn of the things which should be our role
As we learn of Christ and study things through
We gain Christ-like virtues, to use and extol

In a time of spiritual apathy
There are diseases that wait to attack
We are in need of His word's and healing
When we're left on our own, the strength we lack
Yet, with Christ we've a change of heart that's feeling!

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is a Wonderful Recipe

The gospel of Jesus Christ
Is a wonderful recipe
For salvation and eternal life
To become what we're meant to be

The perfect dishes we see
In a joyfilled cookbook lend
A promise for following
The steps from the start to end

Every ingredient is used
From the instructions contained
And, as the flavors infuse
The desired taste is attained

If the rules are mistaken
Or if we miscalculate
The proper care is not taken
And once it's cooked- it's too late

Still, looking at the picture
There's motivation to try again
For its promise does assure
What is created in the end

When we think of eternal life
We should have a clear and true vision
We'd then yearn, no matter the strife
To work towards the goal of our mission

With faith in Jesus Christ
And in the atonement
We're baptized in this life
To do as we were meant

But, first we must repent
To have the Holy Ghost
For us it has been lent
And, how we need this host!

Cleansing water begins
Our purification
And the Spirit then lends
The best education

Doing as God commands
We have entered His gate
And made binding covenants
While the world we forsake

In the name of Jesus Christ
We walk the narrow path
With a newness of life
T'wards all the Father hath

With Christ-like service to man
We reach the fatherless and widows
By preaching His gospel we can
To others open heaven's windows

Repenting from moment to moment
We're humble and show remorse
And, too we take the sacrament
As we endure along the course

As a member we're a part
Of the body of Christ
Each with a role we're to play
On the path to eternal life

We pray and fast; and we read
From the Holy scriptures
There's exceeding joy indeed
From the visions the spirit pictures

Elder L. Tom Perry
The Gospel of Jesus Christ
Ensign, May 2008, 44