Testimony

A chapel
like any other
furnished with benches, a piano and an organ
and a pulpit.

It was testimony meeting.
One by one people got up to express their feelings
about the gospel and their blessings.

This testimony meeting
a lady in a wheelchair
wheeled herself up to the front of the congregation
Her body was crooked and deformed.
She couldn't hold her head up and
had a hard time speaking.
She had cerebral palsy.
but when she spoke
we all understood.
She said, "I am so thankful for the gospel
and for my knowledge of the resurrection.
I know that when I am resurrected
I will have a perfect body
to live in forever.
I can't wait.

Dark

When I was a young girl
I tried to imagine my future.
All I could see was darkness.
I was afraid.
As I grew into that adulthood
Which I had wondered about,
I handled many situations

The darkness, a shadow
That incircled me
Like a disease, grew,
Until it surrounded me.
I was confused
Preoccupied with the talking and thoughts
In my head,
I didn't know if it was day or night.

As I try to imagine my life
In the hereafter,
I see the same darkness that
Frightened me when I was young,
Even though whenever I have come close
To going to the other side,
Either by illness or action,
I have experienced a peace
Greater than any peace
I have ever known before.