In the Andes of Peru I held a nation on my lap

In the Andes of Peru, in a city high
I sat in a room open to the street
Soon to take the sacrament, when I
Saw a boy walk quietly, with bare feet

His eyes were on the tray of broken bread
A woman shooed him out the door
As an orphan, he longed to be fed
He inched again, eyes to the floor

I motioned for him to come to me
And he darted for the aisle
His ragged shirt came to his knees
I held him on my lap for a while

The sacrament came, he was reverent
Then I gave him the speaker's chair
Could he know what all this meant?
Or sense of the Savior's care?

At the closing, the boy ran out
Still hungry, into the night
To make shelter, I have no doubt
And search for food at day's light

Days later, I told the prophet
Of this little boy I had held
He said, "You held a nation on your lap."
And upon his words oft I have dwelled

I have looked for that boy in the faces
Of varied people ever since
As I travel to many places
And share of God's existence

And a Little Child Shall Lead Them
President  Packer
May 2012 Ensign, 6