I have been released from the High Council, but as a member of the Bishopric, I was assigned to speak in my own ward (San Bernardino 2nd), and chose to tell some stories of my own ancestors.
If you subscribe to the Church News, you may have noticed a recent report on the celebration in Preston, England, where we celebrated 175 years since the first missionaries arrived in England. In addition to Preston, they also preached the gospel in Bedford and in Alston, Cumberland.
In Alston, my third great grandfather, Jacob Peart, was one of the first to receive the gospel and be baptized. Following the first baptisms, persecution became very intense, and the converts were forced to leave England, and emigrate to the States, where they became a great strength to the Church. Jacob and his family were called to remain in England to lead the church there. Eventually, they, too came to Nauvoo.
Whether you descend from the pioneers (as I did), or you are a recent convert, or fall somewhere in between, each of us benefits from their faith and sacrifice, since they are a part of our spiritual ancestry.
And in reality, each of us is a pioneer, as we face new challenges and opportunities.
When we understand how the pioneers developed faith in every footstep, then we can make application to our own lives and strengthen our own faith, as well as that of our posterity.
D&C 136 contained their marching orders. I commend it to you for study.
I was motivated to seek out stories of my ancestors when my Uncle, Donald Peart, sent me a letter with the thought, “No one shall know my ancestors better than I.”
I hope you won’t mind my sharing some family stories as we seek to learn from our pioneer heritage.
What did the pioneers do that helped them to face their trials?
1. THEY OUTFITTED THEMSELVES. (D&C 136:3,5)
Equipped themselves for the journey
Had to decide what to take with, left non-essentials behind
Only 15 lbs/person in handcarts! Similar restrictions for those in covered wagons.
George Walter Bramwell, Sr. (3GGF) & family crossed the plains by oxcart, and brought a piano with them, said to be the second or third brought to Salt Lake City. It is believed that they were well-to-do and could afford the expense. His future daughter-in-law came by handcart.
***Are we carrying too many non-essentials? We must lighten our loads of bad habits and old sins and grudges, and make room to carry our faith in Christ and our testimonies.
2. THEY TURNED THEIR BACKS ON THE PAST AND FACED AN UNCERTAIN FUTURE (WITH FAITH).
Alfred Stevenson (GGF) came to Utah alone at 16, and upon reaching Ogden, thought “If this is Zion, what does the other place look like?” He not only left home and family, but came to a totally foreign culture.
Near the close of his life, he wrote: “My testimony of the gospel has never waned but grows stronger as the days come and go, and I want to reaffirm my faith in God, my faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ and the divine mission of the Prophet Joseph Smith and those who have succeeded him.”
***Can we leave the past behind and face the future in faith? Are we willing to face a future undimmed by our sins and errors?
3. THEY PULLED THEMSELVES OUT WHEN THEY GOT STUCK.
If a wagon or cart became bogged down, or a vital part broke everyone helped to get the wagon moving again (put their shoulders to the wheel).
***What do we do when we get bogged down in the mires of life? Sometimes we just sit and cry for a few minutes, but then we have to get up and free ourselves (repentance?) and move on. If we don’t keep moving, we may be left behind.
4. THEY CHEERFULLY ENDURED TRIALS. (D&C 136:31)
Isabel Draney (2GGM) left Scotland as an infant with her family, and went to Utah in the MacArthur handcart company. She later wrote:
“My father pulled a handcart all the way across the dreary plains, my brother and I riding yet not in great comfort, for we were piled in the cart with cooking utensils, dishes, bedding, flour, and the big bake kettle, which was used to do baking in for fifty people, as my father was appointed to take charge of fifty of the company. The cart was so heavily loaded that it was hard to manage, especially when fording rivers. My parents waded all rivers en route except the Platte and Green Rivers, which were too deep. My mother told me that one day while fording a deep river in some way I bounced out of the cart and went floating down the stream. My father dared not let go of the cart, and my mother was in water up to her armpits, with her wet clothes clinging around her making a quick move impossible. Luckily, one of the men nearby saw the accident and rushed over and saved me. My mother was so over come with fright that she had to be helped to shore.
“Another day, I fell out of the cart into a bed of deep sand. At the same time, a large bake kettle and a one hundred pound sack of flour seemed to fall on top of me. My parents were filled with horror, feeling sure that I was crushed to death, but Captain McArthur stepped forward and removed the flour and found that the bake kettle completely covered me. He lifted the kettle, lifted me up, and after wiping the sand out of my mouth and eyes, I looked up into his face and kicked and laughed.”
***How do we deal with our trials? When faced with life’s challenges, are we like Laman & Lemuel, murmuring and complaining, or are we like the pioneer children who sang as they walked?
5. THEY FAITHFULLY ENDURED THE LOSS OF LOVED ONES.
Jacob Peart, Sr. (3GGF) was one of the first converts in England in 1837, and led the Alston Branch for a time while others emigrated to America. In 1841, Jacob, with his wife and 6 children (aged 1-16 y.o.), arrived in Nauvoo. Within 1 month, his wife and 3 children died. Only one child lived to go to Salt Lake. Certainly this was a test of his faith, but Jacob continued on.
Losing a loved one is perhaps the ultimate test of our faith. In fact, Joseph Fielding Smith said it the greatest trial we will experience in our mortal lives.
As a father who has buried a son, I can say with absolute certainty that it is faith in Jesus Christ and His atonement that will get us through. We really can’t tell how strong our faith is until it is tested.
6. THEY PERSEVERED IN THE LITTLE THINGS AND KEPT A GOOD ATTITUDE. (D&C 136:28,29)
On the plains there were few landmarks to mark the pioneers’ progress, no exit signs or next service signs. Often all they could do was to keep putting one foot in front of the other (see 2 Ne. 31:20). But they began and ended each day with prayer, they sang, and they recognized the Lord’s blessings in their lives.
Isabel Draney, near the close of her life, said: “I feel that the Lord showered me with his blessings, giving me health and strength, and making me equal to all of [my] responsibilities.”
***How do we deal with the routines of life? Do we persist in faith? Do we keep on going, even when progress is slow? Do we remember prayers, scripture study, family home evening, etc.? These are the little things that will help us in our journey & give us the faith and strength to keep putting one foot in front of the other.
7. THEY HELPED OTHERS TO REACH THEIR DESTINATION. (D&C 136:8,9,20, 25,26)
As we read the stories of the pioneers, we discover that they didn’t stay put once they reached the SL Valley. Many made repeated trips back to Winter Quarters, or made rescue trips (The Willie & the Martin companies are just one example). They did not abandon the poor, the sick, the aged, the widows or the fatherless: all were helped to reach the Promised Land.
***Are we helping as well?
8. THEY FOLLOWED THE PROPHET, KEPT THE COMMANDMENTS & HELD TO THE ROD (D&C 136:2-4, 11)
Joseph and Brigham saw the Salt Lake Valley in vision, as did others of the Brethren.
The pioneers had faith and trust in Brigham and the Twelve as the mouthpieces of the Lord, and followed them. And even though they rested on the Sabbath, they progressed faster than many of the “gentile” groups who did not observe the Sabbath.
***Do we have the same faith in the vision of Pres. Monson and the Brethren today?
And you know, you cannot push or pull a handcart without holding to the rod. If you let go, you’re not pulling your weight.
9. THEY WERE WILLING TO PUT EVERYTHING ON THE LINE, TO SACRIFICE ALL (D&C 136:31)
George Bramwell served as Bishop of Plain City, UT for over 25 years, and his wife was Mutual President for 15 years.
***We covenant to do the same.
10. THEY CONTINUED PIONEERING BY ASSIGNMENT.
The pioneers were frequently assigned to colonize other areas, often at great sacrifice.
Jacob Peart, Jr. (2GGF) was sent to Southern Utah as part of the Cotton Mission. As he sat on a bluff herding sheep, the irony of the situation struck him (I think I know where my sense of humor came from), and he wrote on a cliff “I was set here to raise cotton”, an inscription that can still be seen today, near Bloomington. He willingly faced the challenge assigned to him.
***Do we have the faith to continue breaking new ground? Each time we fulfill a calling, we can always count on a new one to help us grow. I am thankful for the job security.
President Uchtdorf said that “We are all pioneers in our own sphere and circumstance.”
Elder Ballard said: “And how will we feel then, as we stand shoulder to shoulder with the great pioneers of Church history? How will they feel about us? Will they see faith in our footsteps? I believe they will, particularly as they view our lives and experiences from the expanded perspective of eternity. Although our journeys today are less demanding physically than the trek of our pioneers [165] years ago, they are no less challenging. Certainly it was hard to walk across a continent to establish a new home in a dry western desert. But who can say if that was any more difficult than is the task of living faithful, righteous lives in today’s confusingly sinful world, where the trail is constantly shifting and where divine markers of right and wrong are being replaced by political expediency and diminishing morality. The road we travel today is treacherous, and the scriptures tell us it will continue to be so until the very end. But our reward will be the same as that which awaits worthy pioneers of all ages who live faithfully the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ, make right choices, and give their all to build the kingdom of God on earth.”
So, my brothers and sisters, even though our challenges today are packaged differently than those of our pioneer forebears, the Lord still asks us to give our all. We, too, move along a trail to the land of refuge the Lord has promised us. It still takes faith in Jesus Christ and hope in the salvation He offers us to continue our progress along the trail to the land of promise. We must have the same fire of faith burning in our hearts that the pioneers of long ago had burning in theirs.
Brothers and sisters, that fire burns within me as well. This is the Lord’s Church. He directs it through living prophets and apostles. I pray that we will follow them along the trail we travel.
In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
