At a Cemetary I oft Visit

At a cemetery I oft visit
For contemplating life
I found a bench to sit
And ponder death and strife

Adorning the weathered tombstones
Family names were mostly Swiss
Pioneers buried long ago
When there was little food to subsist

Trials surrounding harvests never ceased
They worked hard all their lives
Now buried, they did rest in peace
Their legacy... sacrifice

Feeling tender emotions
My thoughts went afar to France
Where in war's cauldron of commotion
Lives were cut short in an instant

I reflected on shattered dreams,
Unfulfilled hopes, grief stricken hearts
On the sorrow that death brings
Of lost loved ones...a lone tear starts

Thinking back to when I was a Bishop
At the bedside of a young man
Harrowed between life and the great beyond
Pleadingly...he took my hand

Looking in my eyes, he said
"Bishop, I know I'm soon to die."
He asked what happens...and I read
How we are taken home...unto paradise

For the righteous will be received
Unto a state of happiness,
A state of rest, a state of peace
Freed from sorrows and what troubles us

This young father of two
Closed his eyes... never again to open
And after saying "thank you"
Slipped away to that place of which we'd spoken

Each...having come here to earth
To live, learn, and progress
Just as surely, came with that birth
Uncertainty and need for rest

The victory over the tomb
Was best described in Luke
Both Marys came with perfume
But found angels when they looked

Appearing in shining garments
One of the two said unto them,
"Why seek ye the living among the dead
He is not here, but is risen"

This is the clarion call of Christendom
Promising resurrection and peace
Surpassing understanding... God's wisdom
Providing universal hope for increase

He is Risen
President Thomas S. Monson
Ensign, April 2010, 11

Alma 40:
11 Now, concerning the state of the soul between death and the resurrection—Behold, it has been made known unto me by an angel, that the spirits of all men, as soon as they are departed from this mortal body, yea, the spirits of all men, whether they be good or evil, are taken home to that God who gave them life.
12 And then shall it come to pass, that the spirits of those who are righteous are received into a state of happiness, which is called paradise, a state of rest, a state of peace, where they shall rest from all their troubles and from all care, and sorrow.

Luke 24:2-6
2 And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre.
3 And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus.
4 And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments:
5 And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead?
6 He is not here, but is risen...