Friendship Legacy

I think back when we both were ten
How our friendship grew so fast
After our long years as friends
These memories still last.
Remember all the time we spent
Together and apart?
To think it's when we learned to swim
Our friendship got its start.

Recall that day I gave away
Half my Legos, all to you.
After that there was so much
We both as friends would do:
The figures we threw off the stairs,
The Nintendo games we played,
The TV shows we laughed at,
The movies that we made...

This legacy of you and me
And all our time together
Always shall be dear to me.
It will last forever

Your family'd take us on the lake.
We loved to read and write..
Plus that time when on a ranch
We got to spend the night.
We played with Legos at the church
On weeknights our moms met.
The robbers and the rangers
I never can forget.

I felt bereft the time I left
To a state so far away.
But still we had our summers
We'd visit and still play.
I can’t deny that EFY
Was better than we’d planned.
And how I loved it when your dad
Took us to Disneyland!

This legacy of you and me
And all our time together
Always shall be dear to me
It will last forever.

At one again when you began
Attending BYU.
With so much time together
Yet so much more to do.
We soon began Tradition Night
With pizza, shakes, and shows
And then there was the music
We loved that no one knows.

We wrote so much to keep in touch
On Preparation Day.
Our missions brought us closer
Though we served far away.
We did new things when we came home
Like the concerts near and far,
Or else when we were roommates
Or lost while in my car.

This legacy of you and me
And all our time together
Always shall be dear to me
It will last forever.

This legacy of you and me
Is cherished in my heart.
Our friendship can’t be broken
Even when we part.
Graduation’s up ahead
Our paths are unforetold.
But I still have a feeling
We’ll be friends when we’re old.

This legacy of you and me
And all our time together
Always shall be dear to me
It will last forever.

The Race

I'm in a race across the sea
In my boat with motor roaring.
I'm determined to win the race
As across the waves I'm soaring.

I never look behind me once
To see if I'm in the lead.
I only care what lies ahead,
For my goal is to succeed.

Racing through that open sea,
I see the dark clouds growing.
The shrouded sky erupts a roar
And soon with lightening's glowing.

The piercing, howling wind grows strong
And it cuts into my face.
But though the waves may crush me,
I still must win this race!

Then with a crash my boat is smashed!
The splinters litter the sea
And I am plunged near thirty feet.
But that can't hinder me!

I fight my way with my lungs burning
Till I break into the thunder.
I breathe in deep the stormy air
But a wave then knocks me under.

I fight for breath, the race forgotten
I'm just trying to survive.
I breath in air, but water too.
Can I escape from this alive?

My arms are tiring with each stroke,
While the waves still drag me down.
I cannot win against this storm.
I'll just give up and drown.

But as I sink beneath the waves,
Succumbing in that hour,
I think beyond that awful storm
To a Source of higher power.

"Oh, God!" I cry, "Please save my soul!
Or else these waves will kill!"
The storm begins to calm at once
And soon the sea is still.

The storm is gone, I drift alone,
But still so far from shore.
Then I hear a wondrous sound:
The movement of an oar!

The Lord has sent a boat to me
With my family rowing fast.
My friends reach out and pull me in
Then we reach the shore at last.

Doors of Opportunity

There is a room that's full of doors
I think you know it well.
We all are born inside this room,
This hollow, empty shell.

Nobody wants to stay inside
For one door calls our name.
But how can we find that one door?
For they all look the same.

I've tried so many in my life.
Some felt right, the rest felt wrong.
The roads behind each door would teach
Some lessons short, some lessons long.

But somehow to this point in time
Each road has led me back
Into this room with many doors
To start another track.

How can we hope to find that door
When hundreds fill the room?
How can we tell which door is right
Amidst this awful gloom?

I can't afford to make mistakes.
My life begins to fade.
Before my time is spent and gone,
The right choice must be made.

Kirtland

Just a small town in Ohio,
Hardly noticed by the world.
No mortal man could understand
What light would be unfurled.

The people here are searching
For the truth from up above.
And every day they plead and pray
That God would show His love.

And God in His great mercy
Sent His servants with His word.
No one can tell what joy was felt
When they saw their prayers were heard.

In a city called Kirtland
The veil of doubt was torn!
In a city called Kirtland,
Thousands were reborn!

Like a rush of mighty waters
Breaking through a dam,
The Lord poured revelation
Upon this spot of land!

In a city called Kirtland
Lived a prophet of the Lord!
In a city called Kirtland
Pure truth was restored!

No more lost in shadows,
God's light was plain for all to see!

Just a small town in Ohio,
But the people's prayers were heard.
It all began when just four men
Came to teach God's word.

My Precious Flag

When I see her hoisted on a pole
My eyes quickly fill with tears.
This banner with its stars and stripes
Has long waved through the years.

Do not mock me that I cry,
For do you not understand?
That banner is much more than cloth--
It represents my land!

See those stars, those 50 stars?
They're 50 states united!
Never has a star been lost!
They've never been divided!

I think back on the moment when
There were 13 stars--no more.
When this precious flag was born
The country was at war.

But love for liberty prevailed!
How I wish that I could see
That day when it first flew o'er
The land of the brave and free!

This flag has seen so many wars
With bombs bursting all around.
But just like Key, we all can see
Each morn that flag's still found.

The white stripes ever shall be pure
And the red stripes never dim.
We persevere with help from God
For we rely on Him.

And so with tears, I touch my heart
As I see the banner soar.
I pray that God will bless this flag.
May it wave forevermore!

Mankind's Search

We all are searching
From the day we came on earth.
Searching, seeking, exploring
The reason for our birth.

Yes, I think it's universal.
I doubt I'm the only one
Who's looking for fulfillment
Before my life is done.

Each time I find happiness
It seems to never last.
For a moment I'm content,
But that moment goes too fast.

Then the master trickster,
Who hides his hate and rage,
Tricks us with false pleasure
And traps us in a cage.

Wand'ring blindly, still we search
Trying everything that's new
But always feeling empty
Without the joy that's true.

How is it that we're stumbling?
How is it we've lost sight?
Why do we search in darkness
While before us there's a light?

Stop searching in the gutter!
The trash can't make you whole.
There's only one true source
That has pow'r to heal your soul.

I know the source of light and joy.
I know that it's the only one.
Now I can rest in peace, content.
My search at last is done.

The Name Tag

While looking for a matching sock
In the bottom of my drawer,
I came across my old name tag,
Then sat down on the floor.

I traced the letters of each word
With my finger as I thought
Of that first day I put it on.
What joy that day had brought!

I was so eager to go forth
And to preach the Gospel true.
There was no door I would not knock,
And nothing I'd not do.

Each morning when I put it on
I would smile at its shine.
My name tag was a symbol of
The calling that was mine.

When I came home so many nights,
I took off my tag, content.
I felt such joy as I had watched
The ones I taught repent.

But there were days I came back home
And took off that tag and sighed.
When people that I learned to love
Gave up, I often cried.

That name tag sat close to my heart
As I watched a change take hold,
Not only in the ones I taught,
But also in my soul.

I wore it to each baptism
And I wore it on each street.
I wore it as I served the Lord
And all whom I did meet.

I never can forget the day
When I took it off for good.
I sobbed as I was being released
More than I thought I would.

These memories came back to me
Of the tag I used to wear.
Once more I held it to my heart,
Then placed it back with care.