My Only Hope and Confidence

The Prophet Joseph Smith

"My only hope and confidence is in that God who gave me being, in whom there is all power, who now is present before me, and my heart is naked before his eyes continually.  He is my comforter, and he forsaketh me not.

I know in whom I trust; I stand upon the rock; the floods cannot, no, they shall not, overthrow me."

- The Prophet Joseph Smith

If I Only Was the Fellow

If I Only Was the Fellow

While walking down a crowded
City street the other day,
I heard a little urchin
To a comrade turn and say,
‘Say, Chimmey, lemme tell youse,
I’d be happy as a clam
If only I was de feller dat
Me mudder t’inks I am.’

‘She t’inks I am a wonder,
An’ she knows her little lad
Could never mix wit’ nuttin’
Dat was ugly, mean or bad.
Oh, lot o’ times I sit and t’ink
How nice, ’twould be, gee whiz!
If a feller was de feller
Dat his mudder t’inks he is.’

My friends, be yours a life of toil
Or undiluted joy,
You can learn a wholesome lesson
From that small, untutored boy.
Don’t aim to be an earthly saint
With eyes fixed on a star:
Just try to be the fellow that
Your mother thinks you are.

- Will S. Adkin

(credit to Elreda Hughes for sharing this poem)