In the State of Utah, July 24th is a State Holiday called Pioneer Day. Despite growing up in many different states, I have celebrated Pioneer Day my whole life--because I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. On the 24th of July 1847, the first group of settlers arrived in the Salt Lake Valley after traveling from Illinois to Nebraska and then to what would become Utah. These pioneers were "Mormons"--a nickname for members of the aforementioned church--and were seeking a place to live in peace, having been forced from their homes in Ohio, then in Missouri, and then in Illinois because of religious persecution and misunderstandings. All of my ancestors who lived during the early to mid 1800's were Mormon pioneers. After they arrived in the Salt Lake Valley, most of my ancestors continued to be pioneers--settling and colonizing in many places in Utah, Idaho, and eventually Arizona and the colonies in Mexico.
Pioneers have been on our minds a lot lately, because Niles and I were asked to speak on this subject in church last Sunday (July 13th). So we pulled out the family history and spent many hours reviewing old and beloved stories and discovering some new things that we hadn't known about or remembered. It has been wonderful! We are glad to have the talks over with--a lay ministry (no paid minister--everyone volunteers and takes their turn) seems like a great idea until it is your turn to speak! Just kidding, we know it isn't just a great idea but is the way Heavenly Father has revealed that His church should be run.
Niles gave a better talk than me, but I don't have a copy of it, so you'll just have to put up with mine for now. I'll see if he'll let me post his later. Of course this isn't exactly what I ended up saying, and I cut quite a bit of it out due to having less time than they told us we would. But this is what I prepared to say. If you're interested in mine, read on:
As members of the church, in July of each year we take time to remember the early members of our church and the amazing lives they lived. This is the subject that we have been asked to speak on today. It just so happens that many of my ancestors were among these early Mormon pioneers and I have always loved reading their histories and stories and have felt so much gratitude and amazement over the sacrifices they made. So I’m not sure why, but I have really struggled with preparing this talk, although I have enjoyed spending a lot of time reading again the stories of my ancestors.
Heritage of Every Member of the Church
You don’t get much more Mormon than me. When I look at the sixteen outstanding men and women who are my great-great grandparents, all of them were members of the church. So I am at least a fifth-generation Mormon on all of my lines—and on some of them I am a sixth or seventh generation Mormon. Basically, all of my ancestors who were alive at the time of the restoration heard the gospel in its early days. They were good, honest, humble, religious people who were pure in heart and yearned for the truth. They rejoiced and readily embraced the restored gospel when they heard it. I feel so much love and admiration for them for being the type of people they were.
President Hinckley: “Whether you are among the posterity of the pioneers or whether you were baptized only yesterday, each is the beneficiary of [the pioneers] great undertaking”
President Uchtdorf: (Faith of Our Fathers—April 2008 Conference) “The faith of our fathers—I love that phrase. For many members of the Church, these words bring to mind valiant pioneers who abandoned the comfort of their homes and traveled by wagon and on foot until they reached the valley of the Great Salt Lake. I love and honor the faith and courage of those early pioneers of the Church. My own ancestors were living an ocean away at the time. None were among those who lived in Nauvoo or Winter Quarters, and none made the journey across the plains. But as a member of the Church, I claim with gratitude and pride this pioneer legacy as my own. With the same joy, I claim the legacies of today’s modern-day Church pioneers who live in every nation and whose own stories of perseverance, faith, and sacrifice add glorious new verses to the great chorus of the latter-day anthem of the kingdom of God.”
I, too, have known, loved, and admired many of these modern-day pioneers who have faced persecution and opposition as they have embraced the gospel truths, changed their lives, and in the process, changed forever the lives of their children and posterity for good.
Jeremiah 3:14 “…I will take you one of a city and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion.” You are that “one of a city and two of a family. I am just a descendent of pioneers, you ARE the pioneers of your families. Your families will honor and love you for your courage and sacrifices.
Remembering
In Alma chapter 37, Alma is giving instructions to his son, Helaman, at the time that he is passing on to him the records of the Nephite people that have been handed down from the time of Lehi. He talks to his son about the importance of remembering—remembering to keep the commandments of God. He talks about the importance of the records—the records that became our Book of Mormon. He talks about how these records are sacred and that they are to be preserved for a wise purpose which is, in verse 14, “that he (the Lord) may show forth his power unto future generations.” In 2 Nephi chapter 1, Lehi speaks to his children, reminding them of the great things the Lord has done for his family in protecting and preserving them—leading them from Jerusalem before it was destroyed and to a land of promise. Lehi understood that it was important for his children to remember all of the things the Lord had done for his family. He also spoke often of their ancestors, the Israelites, and how they were led by Moses out of their captivity in Egypt. He especially liked to highlight the miracle of the parting of the Red Sea as an example of how the Lord watched over and protected his ancestors. The title page of the Book of Mormon says that one of the purposes of the Book of Mormon “…is to show unto the remnant of the House of Israel what great things the Lord hath done for their fathers…” So we can see that the Lord places great value in remembering. In fact one of the roles of the third member of the Godhead, the Holy Ghost, is to help us remember.
John 14:26: But the Comforter, which is the Holy ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
Remembering allows us to see the hand of the Lord in the lives of others and increases our love and devotion to Him. It increases our testimony that He is real, that He knows each of us personally, that He loves us and is aware of us, and that He is taking care of us. This, in turn, prepares us and motivates us to be more obedient to His commandments. It gives us a greater desire to serve Him and to strive to become like Him and allows us to recognize more readily His loving hand in our own lives.
Elder Marlin K. Jensen: (Remember and Perish Not, April 2007 Conference) “If we pay close attention to the uses of the word remember in the holy scriptures, we will recognize that remembering in the way God intends is a fundamental and saving principle of the gospel. This is so because prophetic admonitions to remember are frequently calls to action: to listen, to see, to do, to obey, to repent. When we remember in God’s way, we overcome our human tendency simply to gird for the battle of life and actually engage in the battle itself, doing all in our power to resist temptation and avoid sinning. “
Mosiah 4:30 As King Benjamin said, “And now, O man, remember, and perish not.”
More Elder Jensen: “…remembering enables us to see God’s hand in our past, just as prophecy and faith assure us of God’s hand in our future. …members of the early Church faced their challenges so we, through the grace of God, can more faithfully face our own. Keeping our past alive connects us to the people, places, and events that make up our spiritual heritage and motivates us to greater service, faith, and kindness.”
President Henry B. Eyring: also spoke of this in his talk in October of 2007. He encouraged us to ponder when we have seen the hand of the Lord in our lives each day and then to record it. He comments on how this will not only build our own testimonies, but it will leave a record for our posterity that will increase their testimonies as well, and influence the choices they make on how to live their lives.
Sacrifice
There are thousands of stories of incredible sacrifices and miracles among the early members of this church. As I have studied the lives of my pioneer ancestors, I have found that every one of them endured incredible hardships. However, the Lord was also merciful to them and they also witnessed many of the Lord’s miracles and tender mercies in their lives. I think it would be safe to say that my ancestors are not unique—virtually every faithful member in those early days has equally inspiring stories of faith and sacrifice.
One of my great-great grandfathers was an early latter-day saint by the name of Benjamin Franklin Johnson. He was one of sixteen children and he, his mother, and all of his brothers and sisters joyfully embraced the gospel when it was preached to them by the Mormon missionaries. Soon after joining the church, one of his older sisters, Nancy, was in an accident—she was thrown from a horse and was unable to walk. When she was not healed by the missionaries, many of their neighbors told them that this was proof that the Mormon religion was false and that they were being “cursed” by God for their mistake in joining. Benjamin’s family soon moved to Kirtland to be with the saints and a few years later, his sister Nancy was given a blessing and instantly healed. Young Benjamin was anxious to return to their home in New York to tell his neighbors the glad tidings, as many of them had said they would join the church if only Nancy were healed. Benjamin loved the gospel and desired with all of his heart for everyone to know and embrace the truth. He saved his money and through the help and encouragement of the prophet, Joseph Smith, he was able to go on a mission to his former neighbors. He was very disappointed that, although his neighbors were happy to see him and treated him well, none of them would believe because of Nancy’s healing. Furthermore, when they learned that two of Benjamin’s older brothers had died after the family’s move to Kirtland, many expressed the opinion that the family was still being “cursed” by God. Benjamin’s family continued to endure hardships—two of his sisters also died as young adults and Benjamin grew up believing that he, too, would die young before having a chance to have a family and children of his own. It turns out that he needn’t have worried about it—he went on to live the sacred principle of polygamy—he had seven wives and many children—his posterity now numbers in the thousands. He crossed the plains to Salt Lake City and colonized in southern Utah, Idaho, St. George, and in the Salt River Valley of Arizona. He left his family to serve several missions and several times lost all that he had and started over again. When I read his story and others of my ancestors and the early members of the church, I have often felt the same as
President James E. Faust: when he said: “I have wondered why these intrepid pioneers had to pay for their faith with such a terrible price in agony and suffering. Why were not the elements tempered to spare them from their profound agony? Then he goes on to say, “I believe their lives were consecrated to a higher purpose through their suffering. Their love for the Savior was burned deep in their souls and into the souls of their children and their children’s children. The motivation for their lives came from a true conversion in the center of their souls.”
As Gordon B Hinckley: has said, “When there throbs in the heart of an individual Latter-day Saint a great and vital testimony of the truth of this work, he will be found doing his duty in the church.”
Joseph Smith: “Let us here observe, that a religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things never has power sufficient to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation…”
So we understand, as Benjamin’s neighbors did not, that the early saints did not suffer trials because they were doing the wrong thing, and were forsaken or abandoned by God, but precisely because they were doing the right thing. I can testify that, as President Faust said, the sacrifices of these early saints did indeed burn a love of the Savior deep in their souls and into the hearts and souls of their posterity, including my own heart.
As President Thomas S. Monson: said of his pioneer ancestors, “Through it all, however, their testimonies remained steadfast and firm. From all of them I received a legacy of total dedication to the gospel of Jesus Christ.”
As members of this church, we are all recipients of this legacy.
Tender Mercies
One of my great-great-grandmothers was Alice Hanson Hatch. She joined the church as a young girl in England, immigrated to America, and crossed the plains pushing a handcart. She and her husband, Lorenzo Hill Hatch, were colonizers in Lehi, UT and Franklin, ID. Then they were called to colonize in northen Arizona. Lorenzo had gone on a scouting trip a year earlier and he and his party were all nearly drowned as they attempted to cross the Colorado River. During the months that Alice and her family prepared to leave for Arizona, and all during their journey from Idaho in November of 1877 to the time that they arrived on the banks of the Colorado River in late January of 1878, Alice dreaded crossing the Colorado River. She felt this was a weakness and lack of faith on her part, so she mostly kept her fears to herself. On the night that they camped on the banks of the Colorado River, she lay terrified in her bed in the wagon, unable to sleep. She offered a fervent and pleading prayer for her family’s safety and asked for forgiveness of her weakness and lack of faith. A feeling of peace came over her and she was finally able to go to sleep. When she awoke the next morning, she could tell it had turned much colder in the night. She heard noises in the camp of her family and the animals stirring and beginning the day. But then she realized that one sound was missing—she could no longer hear the rushing water of the Colorado River. My grandma tells the story of the miracle that her grandmother Alice discovered as she left the wagon that morning: “Quickly [Alice] dressed and combed her hair, and putting her warmest shawl over her shoulders, she climbed out of the wagon. No one was close at hand, but on the bank of the river she could see her husband and children lined up, gazing across to the opposite bank. She ran to their side as fast as her small feet could carry her short but ample body, and then she too stopped in wonder. The leaping icy waves were gone, and in front of her spread a smooth expanse of ice that reached clear to the other bank!” Alice and her family were able to cross the frozen Colorado River that day in peace and safety. “Alice did not return to cross the Colorado River ever again, but many of her family and friends did, and as long as she lived she never heard of that river ever being frozen over again. To the day of her death, the crossing of the ice over the Colorado River by her family was as great a miracle to her as the crossing of the Red Sea by the Israelites.” There are other sources that verify that the Colorado River did freeze over only one time—in January of 1878. I have always been deeply moved by this story. This tender mercy of the Lord, bestowed upon Alice and her family, helped me to gain my own testimony of a God who knows and loves each of us—including all the quiet fears in our hearts—and will do something such as cause a river to freeze just one time—in answer to a sincere and humble prayer. (Side note: The entire story which my Grandmother, Ruth Hatch Johson, wrote was published in the March 1975 Ensign. It won 1st place in the short-story division of the annual writing contest. If you want a copy of this excellent story, click
here My sister already put it on her blog in two parts. When you click on the link, you'll have to click the link at the very top to take you to the first part of the story, then go back to the second part. Or, you can let me know and I will e-mail you a copy of it in one document.)
Another of my great-great-great grandfathers, Isaac Russell—joined the church in Canada—was a neighbor of John Taylor. Served a mission in his native England with Heber C. Kimball and faced much opposition there--even needing a priesthood blessing when he was troubled by evil spirits that were trying to prevent them from preaching the gospel. At the time he was living in Farr West, the mobs came to their home and told him to bring out all his children, as they were going to kill the entire family, beginning with the children. He quietly went in the house, brought out a quilt and laid it out on the ground, then led all of his children out, including the baby, and had them sit on the quilt. Then he turned to the mob, and said, “Here they are—shoot them, if the Lord will let you. The mob all stared at him, and one by one, turned around and left. This was another great example to me of the Lord’s miraculous preservation of some of his faithful saints.
I have thought of my pioneer ancestors often during our family’s experiences of the last two years, and it has given me strength and hope to endure. We haven’t had to experience any where near the hardships of the early saints—but it still took us over a year to get from Arizona to Utah—despite being able to travel in a car or plane rather than in a covered wagon! When we wondered at why it sometimes seemed so impossible to do something that we had prayed about and felt prompted to do, it helped to remember that the early Saints were definitely doing the right thing when they joined the church and started on their journey to be followers of Christ, but that doesn’t mean the journey was easy or went smoothly. I would say to myself, “The pioneers were doing the right thing when they crossed the plains but it was still extremely difficult. Some of them even died. No one in my family is dying—I can do this!” The early saints were persecuted, driven from their homes, endured sickness and suffering and death. They had to work tremendously hard to build homes, only to lose them or to be called to start over in another place. Many times wives were left at home with the children while their husbands left to preach the gospel in missions across the sea—and in those days that meant they often didn’t hear from them for months at a time and could only pray that they were safe and alive. Meanwhile, the missionaries could only hope that their wives and children were safe and provided for—often they left at times of sickness and in extreme poverty—their families on the brink of starvation, often the wife was expecting an unborn child. I thought of these wives when I felt that my husband was so far away and I couldn’t stand another day of being apart—and I could talk to him on the phone every day! Despite their hardships, the early saints were often blessed and preserved in miraculous ways.
As saints today, we face trials and hardships, although they are usually quite different than the ones faced by the early members of the church. We too, experience many of the tender mercies of the Lord on our journey through life that helps us to endure the hardships. I can testify that as a family, we have been blessed and given the strength to endure our trials. We have seen many little tender mercies along the way, and it is truly a miracle to me that we have ended up here and find ourselves in such favorable circumstances. We have been protected and blessed and have had all of our needs and many of our wants met.
Although I was born into the church, I am a convert to the church, as we all must be. The month of July is the month that I covenanted to take upon myself the name of Jesus Christ by entering the waters of baptism. Although I was only eight years old, the Holy Ghost testified to me at that time that I was doing the right thing. When I was fourteen and started attending seminary, it was then that I extensively studied the scriptures for myself and prayed for a personal witness of the truthfulness of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. But the faith and example of the early members of the church made it so much easier for me—it was already in my heart and in my genes that it was true. I could never doubt that it was all true because I knew by their lives, words, and deeds, that my ancestors knew it was true. I cannot even begin to express how grateful I am for the heritage that we have as members of the church. My life is blessed every day because of parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents who made and kept their sacred temple covenants. Many of them were given great promises of blessings to themselves and their posterity and I can testify that those promises have all been fulfilled. I hope when my life is over and I get to meet some of these ancestors that I have come to know and love, that they will not find me too big of a disappointment. I hope that I will have honored them by the way I have lived my life, and that I will have sufficiently taught my children and posterity to remember them and to remember the “great things the Lord has done for my fathers.” I pray that we can all use the examples of these early pioneers as we face our own trials and challenges in life and that we will develop the great faith that they had and be true to our Savior, Jesus Christ. No sacrifice is too great in light of the infinite Atonement that he wrought in our behalf.
I realized later, that all of the examples I shared were from my mother's side of the family. But my father's side has equally inspiring and amazing examples of exceptional people. There were just too many to choose from in the short 20 minutes I was given to speak!
