Strengthen the Foundation- Be the Generation that Prays

piano version

Strengthen the foundation
Of Christianity today
Be the generation
That reminds the world to pray

Ever the highest blessing
Must be sought out through prayer
As to God we're expressing
The need of His highest care

Prayer is a form of work
Of which we must not overlook
While sharing of God's word
Written within each holy book

Be a righteous example
Day by day, hour by hour
Be a light precious to sample
As evidence of God's power

Real happiness and peace
Comes through faithful living
Let charity increase
Through kind acts you are giving


pondering:
'Be the greatest,' Elder L. Tom Perry urges
Sunday, March 6, 2011
By Marianne Holman, LDS Church News

http://bit.ly/iaFL5I

What Supersedes All?

Love and family
Is central to mankind
We live more happily
When we've loved ones in mind

Marriage and family-centered priorities cut across and supersede any political, economic, or religious differences. When it comes to the love of spouse and hopes, worries, and dreams for children, we are all the same.

Why Marriage and Family Matter—Everywhere in the World ...

Family is the center of life and is the key to eternal happiness. ... me to see how marriage and family-centered priorities cut across and superseded any political,  ...

All is Well- Awake

—Elder L. Tom Perry, "Obedience through Our Faithfulness."

Obedience is a choice. Awake

and clearly define the goals you make.

Consecrate them to God on high.

Have faith. He blesses those who try!

All Is Well —Dieter F. Uchtdorf, "All Is Well"

"[The pioneers] woke up each morning with clearly defined purposes and goals that everyone understood: to serve God."

Take It Personally

Take it personally.
The Savior did.
He did so willingly
as the Father's bid.

bid (v)
to command; order; direct:

to bid them depart.

John 14: 31 But that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go hence.

Personally, I keep thinking about Elder Perry's parting words:
http://ldsliving.com/story/79111-elder-perrys-last-advice-to-church-members
Elder Ballard recounted the advice that Elder Perry wanted the people of the Church to hear. “[I wish I] could get every member of the Church to go and partake of the sacrament, and when they took the bread, they’d ask themselves, ‘Who am I? What am I doing? How am I living? Where am I going? What should I be accomplishing?’ as they renew their covenants with the Lord.” He finished, “The minute they’d pick up the bread, something [would] happen.” 

Elder L. Tom Perry: An Ordinary Man with an Extraordinary Calling

His pleasant attitude glowed.
Optimistic, he did his best.
Unfailing gratitude showed
As he preached the gospel to bless.

Here is a wonderful video he gave on strengthening missionaries and doing online missionary work.
https://www.lds.org/broadcasts/article/worldwide-leadership-training/2013/06/missionary-work-in-the-digital-age?lang=eng&query=perry

Why Marriage and Family Matter- Everywhere in the World

Everywhere found on the Earth
Marriage and family matter
As the foundation of our birth
Our fondest dreams here gather

L Tom Perry

Why Marriage and Family Matters

Why Marriage and Family Matter- Everywhere in the World

Marriage and family
Is central to mankind
We live life happily
When all are well and mind

Marriage and family
Is central to mankind
We live life happily
When welcomed home, we find
marriage and family-centered priorities cut across and superseded any political, economic, or religious differences. When it comes to love of spouse and hopes, worries, and dreams for children, we are all the same.


"Mind your manners,

Your tongue, and your business"

Family matters
Life's training you'll witness

Come to Yourself

Come to yourself 
Your spiritual senses
Seek the Lord's help
Let go of pretences

Men and women who ignore the gentle promptings of the Spirit will often learn, as the prodigal son learned, through the natural consequences of disobedience and riotous living. It was only after natural consequences humbled the prodigal son that “he came to himself” and heard the whisperings of the Spirit telling him to return to his father’s house (see Luke 15:11–32).

Why Limit Yourself?

Why limit yourself
To just a narrow view?
Seek the Lord for help
What would He have you do?

Obedience through Our Faithfulness

BY ELDER L. TOM PERRY

Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

Those who rely solely on themselves and follow only their own desires and self-inclinations are so limited when compared to those who follow God and tap into His insight, power, and gifts. It has been said that someone who is all wrapped up in himself or herself makes a very small package. Strong, proactive obedience is anything but weak or passive. It is the means by which we declare our faith in God and qualify ourselves to receive the powers of heaven. Obedience is a choice. It is a choice between our own limited knowledge and power and God’s unlimited wisdom and omnipotence. According to the lesson my grandfather gave to me, it is a choice to sense the spiritual bit in our mouths and follow the driver’s lead.

Agency is a Gift from God

Freedom and obedience 

are our gifts from God
For each great consequence. 

Let us give our all.

Obedience to Law Is Liberty - general-conference

• www.lds.org/general-conference/2013/04/obedience-to-law-is-liberty

Men and women receive their agency as a gift from God, but their liberty and, in
turn, ... may well depend, freedom from sin; for truly 'obedience to law is liberty.

Obedience to Law Is Liberty

BY ELDER L. TOM PERRY

Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostle

May We Be a Light

May we be a light 
Even a beacon
Before others, bright.
Like Christ to become.

May we, both members and missionaries, ever be united in fulfilling our missionary purpose to help others come unto Christ. May we be a light and a beacon to all the earth and particularly to God’s children who are seeking the Lord’s blessings. This is my prayer in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Missionary Work in the Digital Age

L. TOM PERRY

OF THE QUORUM OF THE TWELVE APOSTLES 

Obedience to Law Is Liberty

Today we're in a war
Of words, thoughts and deeds
Remember who we are
And plant gospel seeds

May we ever be a light
High upon a moral hill
Showing the way that is bright
Doing our Father's will

Blessings always come
Through our obedience
Then, liberty is won
And we are freed from sin, hence

Obedience to Law Is Liberty

"Today we find ourselves in another war. This is not a war of armaments. It is a war of thoughts, words, and deeds. It is a war with sin, and more than ever we need to be reminded of the commandments."

May we ever be a light on the hill, an example in keeping the commandments, which have never changed and will never change. Just as this small book encouraged LDS servicemen to stand morally firm in times of war, may we, in this latter-day war, be a beacon to all the earth and particularly to God’s children who are seeking the Lord’s blessings. Of this I testify in the name of Jesus Christ, amen. 

—L. Tom Perry, "Obedience to Law Is Liberty"
Topics: Obedience

The Missing Piece

We do not know what tests we will face.

What next piece of life's story will be put in place.

But what we do know is that blessings come.

If we seek to know what the Lord would we become.


Let Him Do It With Simplicity
Elder L. Tom Perry

Serve God Acceptably with Reverence and Godly Fear

It is not enough To just be reverent We ought to rise up Faithfully observant In all we have come to know About our living God We let  admiration flow When we show respect and awe "It is not enough to behave reverently; we must feel in our hearts reverence for our Heavenly Father and our Lord, Jesus Christ. reverence flows from our admiration and respect for Deity. Those who are truly reverent are those who have paid the price to know the glory of the Father and His Son." —L. Tom Perry, "Serve God Acceptably with Reverence and Godly Fear", Ensign and Liahona, November 1990 Topics: Reverence

Not an Easy Feat

The pioneers made the desert blossom
As a rose, fragrant, full, and sweet
They applied faith to every problem
None of which was an easy feat

The Strength of Our Heritage Posted: 27 Feb 2013 08:00 AM PST "Just as the pioneers made the desert blossom as a rose, so too our lives and families will blossom if we follow their example and embrace their traditions. Yes, pioneer faith is needed as much in the world today as in any period of time. Once again, we need to know that heritage. We need to teach it, we need to be proud of it, and we need to preserve it." —L. Tom Perry, "The Strength of Our Heritage", Liahona and Ensign, July 2012 Topics: Heritage

Becoming Goodly Parents

We earnestly pray and work to ensure

That the values of the gospel thrive and endure

And that for which we pray, at the top of the list

Is the sanctity of family and that it persist

The Power of Deliverance

Faith unto deliverance
Exists still today
Through the path of obedience
Along the narrow way

https://m.youtube.com › watchThe Power of Deliverance - YouTube

Elder Perry - We can be delivered from the ways of evil and wickedness by turning to the teachings of the holy scriptures. https://www.lds.org/general-confe

Fatherhood, an Eternal Calling - Elder L. Tom Perry

Father you are my anchor
When the waves grow high
Steadying me from danger
As what I face does try

Father you are what grounds me
To the truths I should hold
Though life's storms are pounding
I feel your courage, bold

Mormon Messages has 16 videos dedicated to fatherhood.  Put them on autoplay, sit back and be honored.  Fathers, you are what grounds us!

Wholesome Entertainment

Wholesome entertainment
Should inspire and uplift
While encouraging the obtainment
Of morals that do not shift

One can study Daniel
He was healthy and wise
He knew what to do when
Persecution arose

Let us search for examples
Of courage, faith, and trust
Avoiding that which tramples
To keep the Spirit more with us

L. Tom Perry
The Priesthood of Aaron

Wake Up America

Wake up America
And see where you are strong
You're the brightest hope of
Righting all that's wrong

What a shame it would be
If your light became dim
Not just for liberty
But, the service that you give

With your worldly power gone
So too your influence for good
What then of freedom's song
And foundations of brotherhood?

Rise again, America!
Renew the valiant fight
A resurgent beacon to the world
A champion of truth and right


'Keep up,' young adults told
By D. Ryan Efros
Church News contributor
Published: Saturday, April 24, 2010
click on title to go directly


my husband wrote the last verse....

Elder L. Tom Perry speaking to the youth of Las Vegas
"Unless this nation wakes up and realizes (its strength) and stands up for it, then we will lose it," he said, "and what a shame that will be- not because of the worldly power that will be lost, but because of the service that will be lost to other nations."