I Don't Want to Go Back to the Past

I don't want to go back to the past
Save to learn how to face the future
Some left a legacy ever to last
With but faith and ingenuity... they were secure

I think of the pioneers
Who labored and pressed on
Of the posterity they reared
Who carry forth their glad song

I go inside their buildings
Carved with but old fashioned tools
And see many reliefs and gildings
Of their sacrifice...how compassion pools

For... I know some died in the challenge
As they worked unto exhaustion
And there was not always safety on a ledge
But they did their best and used caution

Now the world has become modern
The rules of sacrifice have changed
But still we need strength of character and honor
That our lofty goals might be attained

For God's ambassadors who have been called
The four corners of the world await
Let not our efforts at home be stalled
In reaching those just outside our gate

The Past Way of Facing the Future
L. Tom Perry
November Ensign 2009, 73

great quote in this talk:
I do not want to go back to the past; I want to go back to the past way of facing the future- Ronald Reagan