Pioneer Day
It's the 24th of July, which matters in Mormonland because it's the day when the vanguard company arrived at a point overlooking the Salt Lake Valley, and Brigham Young famously looked out of the wagon and said, "This is the right place." The Saints had finally come to a resting spot, and unlike Nauvoo, where they had seven years--longer than any other location--they were in a place they could stay, one no one else particularly wanted. They were too far away to trouble with.
Some of the people looked out and weren't sure they wanted it either. There was one tree visible. It still stood when I was a child, with a marker and a small fence around it; my grandmother took me and my sister to see it that first summer when we got our grandparent-trip. Some dumb-stage adolescent boys killed it a few years later, pulling a prank, and were in big trouble. But the sight of this valley was initially pretty barren.
It wasn't about the valley, and it isn't about whether you have pioneer ancestors. It is about the drive of faith and courage which got them there. It's about the Saints who refused to leave Nauvoo when Brigham Young announced that it was no longer safe to remain, and called on the members to put their things together and leave. He came to the bluff at dawn and found so many lined up in front of the temple doors, that he could not bear to give the order; instead they delayed for two weeks while the temple ordinances were done, round the clock, for the members who had not had their chance. It's about hearing of the sufferings of the first companies stuck in the mud across the river in Iowa at Sugar Creek, and Brigham stood in meeting and cried, "Let the fires of the covenants burn in our hearts, which we have made in the house of our God, and let us rise up and rescue our brethren!"
The heritage is our heritage as members of the Church, whatever our ancestry may be. I am very glad to have the family heritage, but it won't save me. My choices, my faith, my obedience and ordinances will save me. The atoning sacrifice of my Redeemer will save me, will save us all.
We have members in our own ward who risked losing their family to be baptized. We have members who never imagined themselves where they joyously are now, who have been through addiction, abuse, prison, who have found their way 'into His marvelous light' against all odds. In other places, souls have joined themselves to the Church even when it meant losing everything. These are the pioneers of our day, and the example of the Utah pioneers is a source of strength that belongs to them and to us all. President Hinckley recounted meeting a convert from Ethiopia who had lost his home, his family having disowned him, and had to start all over in a foreign land for the gospel's sake. He asked this good brother, "Was it worth it?" The man replied, "Is it true?" "Yes, it's true." "Then what else matters?"
The Saints who left all they had behind, again, and traveled to a near-wasteland, trusting in God who said that the desert would blossom as the rose, made a home in a difficult place, and built new temples. Their witness was, "Without question, it is true, and nothing else matters." Good words to remember when life is hard: others have come before us and persevered and been blessed. We can persevere and we will be blessed too.
Some of the people looked out and weren't sure they wanted it either. There was one tree visible. It still stood when I was a child, with a marker and a small fence around it; my grandmother took me and my sister to see it that first summer when we got our grandparent-trip. Some dumb-stage adolescent boys killed it a few years later, pulling a prank, and were in big trouble. But the sight of this valley was initially pretty barren.
It wasn't about the valley, and it isn't about whether you have pioneer ancestors. It is about the drive of faith and courage which got them there. It's about the Saints who refused to leave Nauvoo when Brigham Young announced that it was no longer safe to remain, and called on the members to put their things together and leave. He came to the bluff at dawn and found so many lined up in front of the temple doors, that he could not bear to give the order; instead they delayed for two weeks while the temple ordinances were done, round the clock, for the members who had not had their chance. It's about hearing of the sufferings of the first companies stuck in the mud across the river in Iowa at Sugar Creek, and Brigham stood in meeting and cried, "Let the fires of the covenants burn in our hearts, which we have made in the house of our God, and let us rise up and rescue our brethren!"
The heritage is our heritage as members of the Church, whatever our ancestry may be. I am very glad to have the family heritage, but it won't save me. My choices, my faith, my obedience and ordinances will save me. The atoning sacrifice of my Redeemer will save me, will save us all.
We have members in our own ward who risked losing their family to be baptized. We have members who never imagined themselves where they joyously are now, who have been through addiction, abuse, prison, who have found their way 'into His marvelous light' against all odds. In other places, souls have joined themselves to the Church even when it meant losing everything. These are the pioneers of our day, and the example of the Utah pioneers is a source of strength that belongs to them and to us all. President Hinckley recounted meeting a convert from Ethiopia who had lost his home, his family having disowned him, and had to start all over in a foreign land for the gospel's sake. He asked this good brother, "Was it worth it?" The man replied, "Is it true?" "Yes, it's true." "Then what else matters?"
The Saints who left all they had behind, again, and traveled to a near-wasteland, trusting in God who said that the desert would blossom as the rose, made a home in a difficult place, and built new temples. Their witness was, "Without question, it is true, and nothing else matters." Good words to remember when life is hard: others have come before us and persevered and been blessed. We can persevere and we will be blessed too.
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