Departure at Hand

This poem was written about the coming end to my service as a full-time missionary. I have two months left and it is starting to feel real. However, I wrote it to also double as an end to this life. I find that the most growth comes in those moments where we evaluate where we are and create a vision of where we want to go. I want to be faithful to what I know and believe in to the very end of my life, always being found in the service of others.

Is is really my time,
Oh, Lord must I go?
At the end of the road,
Do my efforts now show?

Did I labor with all
My heart and my might
Or was I distracted
And lost out on light?

Did I keep all my cov'nants
Or just see the rules?
Did I learn from His wisdom
Or seek to please fools?

Did I trust in my Savior?
Did I truly become?
When I struggled within
To His feet did I run?

Did I make my Lord proud?
When I see him again
Will I praise Him aloud
Or hide shameful in sin?

Now I look back and see
Through the course of my days
He saved my poor soul
In a number of ways.

No words can express
The thoughts of my heart.
He whispers to me
"You've finished your part."

There's really no ending
It's time to move forward
To another beginning
So keep looking onward.

Yes, I'm ready to go
My departure is near
And the love of my Lord
Erases all fear.

I have fought a good fight
While my Lord kept me safe.
I have finished my course
I have kept strong the faith.

2 Timothy 4:16-17
D&C 4:2

Remember Thy Faith

Father, I'm empty;
Father, I'm lost.
I've done as thou asked,
But I've not paid the cost.

Someone has suffered;
Someone has cried.
But who was that man
That for me hath died?

I know all the stories;
I know what to say,
But do I reflect
Outside of Sunday?

Am I seeking for glory?
Am I seeking for fame?
Or am I just trying
To help Him reclaim?

Others are lost;
Others don't see
The blessings that come
Because of belief.

Father, I love them;
Father, I'm here.
Send me thy children
That need rest from fear.

I'll trust in my Savior;
I'll trust in my faith.
I know who it is
That saved me by grace.

 See Ether 12:6 and 1 John 4:18

Farmers of Men

Sometimes, O Lord, I question why
Life is full of thorns and weeds.
As the days go passing by
I find I'm mainly planting seeds.

A few will grow and harvest be;
Yet, most are chocked and killed by weeds.
O Lord, thy field please help me see,
The ground you have prepared for seeds.


When you get discouraged, just look forward in life. Continue with a prayer in your heart. Don't turn back to the things you leave behind. Just look forward to what lies ahead. The Lord has a plan and he will help us to "hasten the work of salvation" as we seek for His help and guidance.

Divine Image

In the looking glass, I see
Something very strange

It seems quite clear to me

There's been a mighty change.

The longer that I peer, I find

That it's not me I see;

Is it only in my mind

That Christ stares back at me?

Am I really that divine?

Am I made in His image?

I blink and see the eyes are mine,

But the light in them is His.

Lost and Found

Still searching for my path,
I fall upon the ground.
I'm sitting in the dirt
With thistles all around.

I stay there and I cry,
"Well, this must be my place;
The path, it may be grand,
But I'm a different case."

Just as I'm giving up,
Oh, I begin to see,
Brushing past the weeds,
A man has come for me!

I show to him my broken leg,
And he vows to carry me
We travel to the end of day,
With sweat across his brow.

Finally, we reach the gate
And my family's waiting there
O, I fall before my guide.
And wash his feet with my tears;

Unworthy of His love.
He lifts me up from in the dust,
And whispers in my ear,
"You were worth it, every step."