How Can Faith Endure the Test?

How can faith endure the test?
By prayerful pursuit we are blessed
For time spent upon the knees
Feeds spiritual hunger and ever leads...

Father in Heaven above
Let me be reminded of Thy love
All those times of tender mercy
May I know and hold to so dearly

May I see Thy hand where e'er I go
Even this hour, as darkness does grow
Send Thy light to show me the way
Unto hope of a brighter day

Bless my heart to be full and warm
Secure in the gospel and safe from harm
And above all and more than anything
Help me learn what this trial is now offering...

As I rose, I knew faith must be applied
I turned to the resources God has supplied
And on a page, holy words spoke to me
That at serving others I must better be

To lose myself in the needs of others
Would strengthen my faith and that of my brothers
I felt a weight lifted from my worn back
Armed with the Truth, I was now back on track

The Influence of Righteous Women

The influence of righteous women
Has been noted throughout the ages
Alongside men, their works have been woven
As their names too lie upon holy pages

They've a place in our Father's plan
To aid in the well-being of His children
They know they hold the future in their hands
And strive to plant love and testimony with them

As big gates move on small hinges
They serve to make a difference to the one
That the influence for good further advances
Those upon the path prepared by the Son

In body and spirit they are proven
For each keeps the word of wisdom
That children will know what best improves them-
There to be firmly rooted in our Father's kingdom

These sisters have sought for and found what's better
And have laid aside the things of the world
That to this troubled earth they lift and succor
Offering hope and light for the gospel to unfurl



President Dieter F. Uchtdorf
The Influence of Righteous Women
Ensign, September 2009, 2

unfurl
verb: unroll, unfold, or spread out or be unrolled, unfolded, or spread out from a furled state
Example: "Unfurl a banner"

May Loving Words Comfort

May loving comfort be felt through me
As I hold a light for my family
My mother's passed to the grave to rest
May I express how with God we are blessed

For midst my heart so broken
With painful sorrow in swell
I have learned and awakened
Such that of God I want to tell

I was led to open a page
And read what lies therein
Though Sariah was of old age
She was not forgotten and left barren

Each of us have a place
In the heart of our God
Life here, we're to embrace
With feelings tender and broad

Looking back with gratitude
I know my mother's life was full
Through her, my faith's been renewed
With eternal thought strings that pull

I Had a Dream

I had a dream that would not fade
Such that I was sore afraid
For the vision stayed in my head
Oft to trouble me as I laid in bed

Therefore, I made a decree
"Bring all the wise men unto me!"
That I might receive an interpretation
And attempts were given at explanation

Magicians, astrologers
Chaldeans and soothsayers
With each being ineffectual
Until I came to one... Daniel

I gave him the name Belteshezzar
For I knew in Him the Spirit of God was not far
And I told him of the visions in my head
Hear my words and discover what he said...

I saw a tree in the midst of the earth
It had a trunk of enormous girth
The height thereof was the greatest given
Ever reaching broad and out to heaven

The leaves thereof were so fair
And meaty fruit was plentiful everywhere
The beasts of the field lay in the shadows below
While the fowls of the sky nest and sing "hello"

I saw a watcher- one who was holy
Descend from the heaven to then give a loud cry
"Hew down the tree and cut off the limbs
Shake off the leaves, fruits, and blossoms"

"Scatter the birds with one great sway
And cause the beasts to go along their way
Nevertheless leave the stump and roots
That I might someday resume his fruits"

"Give him a band of iron and brass
To encircle along the tender green grass
There, let stay the heavenly dew
That the beasts of the earth might still come and chew"

"Let his heart be changed from a man's to a creature
Until 7 times pass over him to then mature
That the living may know who ruleth on high
And the powers of heaven not be denied"

"For He giveth to whomsoever He will
And setteth up over the basest of men still..."
This is all that I remember to have seen
I the king Nebuchadnezzar of my dream

Then Daniel was astonished for one hour
And his thoughts troubled him to cower
My Lord, the dream be to them that hate thee
And the interpretation thereof to thine enemies

The tree that thou sawest which grew and grew
To reach out to heaven and all the earth knew
It is thou, O king, thou art grown and become strong
But, the watcher is coming and it won't be long

This is a dream of things in foretelling
Thy enemies shall drive thee from men and thy dwelling
They shall make thee to eat grass as an oxen
And they shall wet thee with the dew of heaven

All... till thou knows that the most High ruleth
And whatsoever to man He desireth He giveth
Then... thy kingdom shall again be sure to thee
As soon as thou turneth away from iniquity

From the stump will grow yet a new kingdom
Based upon righteousness and God's wisdom
So begin now and give mercy to the poor
That there might be tranquility from this point more...

Well, what happened next... I was surely mad
For I doubted the fall of the Babylon I had
And sure as the dream I took to the grass
Until all he spoke of came to pass

Then one day with my hairs like eagles' feathers
I came to my senses... at the end of 7 weathers
I lifted my eyes towards the vast bright heavens
And, unto praise of God, I was given... and extolled Him

Daniel 4

A Man Took to the High Seas for Proof

A man took to the high seas for proof
Of an eternal fountain of youth
And as to each island he stopped, he grew more sure
That somewhere he would find this water so pure

Although his efforts were filled with vigor
He found naught the magical elixir
Yet... still to each century this desire lives on
In the memory of the expired... once Ponce DeLeon

But there is no need to sail uncharted seas
For in this life we have much greater needs
Our Father in Heaven who has plotted our paths
Offers fountains of truth to those who but ask

Who will wax strong in the knowledge to drink?
Those who allow obedience and commandments to link
They in deed have found the way to eternal life
As they diligently prove to be more and more like Christ

He our Master has drunk from the bitterest cup
That we can be clean and with the Father then sup
Who will hear and heed His beckoning call, "Come follow me"
And live such that His works will ever more hallowed be.

Finding Strength Through obedience
Thomas S. Monson
Ensign October 2009, 5

The Race is Set Before Us

The race is set before us
That we must run with patience
As we train and learn to trust
In our lord who comes and strengthens

Let us be stripped of that
Which might wear us down
As to eternal goals we're at
Along the narrow path we bound

And lest sins come to trip us
Let us pray continually
For with our thoughts on Jesus
We become like Him habitually

For He finnished the race
And did so perfectly
If we've Him before our face
He'll guide us directly

Heb. 12:1-3

He'd Not Be Swallowed Up

Our sins given for handling
He sunk in the deepest mire
Alone without a standing
His soul gave flood to God's desire

Stripped of His parted cloak
He bore all men would impart
Midst the shame of their reproach
He expired wounded of heart

He'd not been swallowed up
In the bitterness of gall
From the dregs, He bore the cup
Magnified, humbly, for us all

Psalms 68