God Made Us Special

God made us special,
Unique, and set apart
Each individual
Has a place in His heart

Infuse yourself with Light

Resist, diffuse
All that's not right
 Insist, infuse
 Yourself with light

There's a Light That Shines in Her Eyes that Smile

There's a light that shines
In her eyes that smile
And of what she knows
There is no denial

Sweetly, she has been gifted
With a witness of the truth
Warmly and so deeply
That her eyes shine as the proof

thoughts from Elizabeth's baptism

There is a God

There is a God. I know He lives
And would we speak to Him today
For oft I ask and His Spirit gives
Loving truth to Light my way

The Battle of Evil and Good

The battle of evil upon good ever rages
As the strengths of God's children increases to be
The buffets of darkness ever swirl through the ages
While casting dark shadows with subtlety

The forces of light must each take to handle
God's torches of brightness held high for the evening
As ever the night time is sleepless and painful
When others from torches are found soon leaving

Woe to the children of light who don't hold on
For the destroyer wants you and will take you home
Come precious children of light and please hold on
A drop at a time there'll be oil in that lamp of your own

But, one torch without oil has been left abandoned
In the brightness of day those left know what to do
They ever keep vigil o'er their love who's now stranded
Through a fast they have faith that God's light will shine through

The torches for brightness ever need new oil
Through covenants and good works- the deeds of the faithful
It must be received daily and weekly through toil
While those in the darkness become disdainful

Come open your eyes to see what's illuminated
As the doctrines from Christ are seen spiritually
Come open your heart till what's dark is eliminated
That your lamp might command the shadows to flee

The worth of each soul is great in the sight of our Father
He would that each repent and hear Him when called
He sent His own Son to redeem and to suffer
That we might hold torches and there be enthralled

Ever and ever the battle must be fought
The young must be prepared to join in the fight
Through the light of the gospel- through the spirit one's taught
As such our counsel must ever be right

Thus the war between darkness and light is still raging
While torch bearers stand tall with hope for victory
With the virtue of God's word a lost waif's now seeing
With a mind and heart opened to God's love and mysteries

Thoughts from
Teaching True Doctrine
President Henry B. Eyring
Ensign, April 2009, 5

From What We Learn

From what we learn
Come ways to cope
When to Christ we turn
We've light and hope

Wishing You Love Beyond Measure

Wishing you love beyond measure
Wishing you a Christmas to treasure
May it simply be a humble day
Celebrated in a simple way

Just as the single light on a dark night
Can be a welcome for those in need of sight
We can give dignity to the Savior's lowly birth
That the light of His love may fill the whole earth

May we scale back what's materialistic
And be focused on what's nobly simplistic
The Lord gave us the ultimate gift and His life
May we emulate Him- with charity that is kind

May we think of the children's need first
That their belief in Christmas might more burst
Take them out to see the lights everywhere
Then at home show them the warmth that's found there

Thoughts from the First Presidency Devotional
President Uchtdorf's memories of his childhood

Her View of Life Had Now Become Marred

A child has so much to investigate
When we've an answer, we should not hesitate
And when there's a question about faith
A parent can pray for the right thing to say

A window opens and lightens the mind
And a new discovery one can now find...
Here's an example from my dinner meal
When my daughter confessed how she did feel

Her view of life had now become marred
She asked why life had to be so hard?
How can I, a parent, on this shed light-
And provide God's viewpoint to give her insight?

I drew the gravitational pull
Through prayer, this object lesson became my tool
I showed tugging from two great forces
That do shift us unto opposing courses

One is as black as the darkest night
From what's dim we progress to the brightest bright
We move in stages t'wards either one
And light increases like the stars, moon, and sun

We can each become Christ's disciple
And lead others to light through our example
But as one converts unto what's bright
Satan will jerk back to tempt, frighten, and fight

Thus, each and every investigator
Needs to be warned of this instigator
Satan holds a great chain in his hand
Desiring to capture poor souls who can't withstand

When darkness surrounds to devour
We can pray it depart through heavenly power
As we journey towards an increase
We grow in strength for we've not moved with ease

When we're baptized, we sacrifice
Our sins- of which Satan would to us entice
This is the first level on our path
Towards all that Heavenly Father hath

The path to the Father has been perfectly paved
Through the works of the Son and His grace we are saved
I can picture the Savior running t'wards me
In His eagerness to shine His light for me

As He calls me, there's more He does teach
And, I've His splendid light more within my reach
He's there waiting till our day is through
With sanctification, after all we do

In Christ, we can become perfected
And from Satan's grasp we can be protected
The Holy Ghost is our special guide
T'wards spiritual muscles where the light resides

Our whole bodies can be filled with light
As with singleness we keep God in our sight
We can't substitute our Father's love
We're either being pulled below or more above

A member starts with light like the moon
With phases of reflected light in bloom
As it is borrowed- the tests will come
We need our own access to the brightest sun

This comes through our temple endowment
We’ve passed through the orbit where we circumvent
And we vow to show dedication
Through a life of service and consecration

In this bright light we see each weakness
To motivate us and not move us to bleakness
As we learn from more and more mistakes
Our heart's softened to do whatever it takes

Oh, that we could love as our Lord does
To feel sorrow and empathize just because
Both are but two sides of the same coin
Where a depth of love for people and Christ join

When we've this much light, we are God's friends
Not as servants but followers to the ends
Like still waters, His peace will run deep
And, we'll sense that "glorious thought, I am with Thee!"

Bruce C. Hafen
A Disciple's Journey
Devotional Address
5 February 2008

Brought Forth Out of Darkness

Brought forth out of darkness
Into His marvelous light
As each man does discern
How to do more of what's right

The Lord's temple stands tall
In the top of the mountains
With light it beacons all
To flow unto His fountains

Out of obscurity
We see brightly lit spires
Which proclaim purity
As to all it inspires

There's a light in our eyes
And a warmth in our hands
In the gospel there lies
Love, the soul understands

As it lights fires within
We come to recognize the source
As we journey from sin
We're on a beautiful course

We've each the Light of Christ
That we've brought with us to earth
To do good, it invites
Unto a light of great worth

Given to burn within us-
The Gift of the Holy Ghost-
Testifies of Jesus
When we're baptized, it's bestowed

As part of the Godhead
This spirit of personage
Guides us, spiritually led
T'wards the day when we're judged

Elder Robert D. Hales
"Out of Darkness into
His Marvelous Light"
Ensign, May 2002

Isaiah 2:2
2 And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.

D&C 1:30
30 And also those to whom these commandments were given, might have power to lay the foundation of this church, and to bring it forth out of obscurity and out of darkness, the only true and living church upon the face of the whole earth, with which I, the Lord, am well pleased, speaking unto the church collectively and not individually—

Micah 4: 1
1 But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it.