This weekend I gave a talk at church, thought I would post it for our Pioneer Day entry.
When I think about being a modern pioneer I usually think about new converts and how they are pioneers for their own families. As a missionary finds someone who is ready to accept the gospel into their life, and make the personal covenant with our Heavenly Father, of baptism. This new member is often times the only member in their family, as was the case in many other our early pioneers. A modern pioneer also encourages others to stay on course. When you lead out in righteousness, others will follow you.
Elder Neal A Maxwell has a great quote: "If we are faithful the day will come when those deserving pioneers and ancestors, whom we rightly praise for having overcome the adversities in their wilderness trek, will praise today's faithful for having made their way successfully through a desert of despair and for having passed through a cultural wilderness, while still keeping the faith." (If Thou Endure it Well, pg 28)
Our journey to have a family has been probably different than most. We found out early on in our marriage that we would become a family through the miracle of adoption. Once our paperwork was all turned in and approved we were given hopeful news that we would probably only wait about 18 months until we would be blessed with a child. We waited anxiously and with hope in our hearts. With the way life would have it, we moved 4 times, and with each move, new paperwork had to be filled out to comply with adoption laws for each new state. The 18 month window had stretched to 5½ years. There were many ups and downs along the way. Through many of the downs I would take comfort in the many journals and stories that I would read about the early pioneers. On pioneer that I connected with most was that of Emma Smith. She had so many trials, so many heartaches, yet she never lost her faith in our Heavenly Father. I knew my Heavenly Father loved me, and that he knew the ache in my heart. He knew the wishes and desires that Rob and I had to have a child.
Life isn’t always easy. At some point in our journey we may feel much as the pioneers did as they crossed the plains —up to our knees in mud, forced to bury some of our dreams along the way. Sometimes it seems as though there is no end to the disappointments, challenges of life. Moments of despair and discouragement stick out of the terrain to slow our way or discourage us. Occasionally we reach the top of one summit in life, as the pioneers did, only to see more mountain peaks ahead, higher and more challenging than the one we have just crossed.
Good afternoon brothers and sisters, I can’t honestly say that I enjoy speaking in church; however I always enjoy the process of preparing to speak. I enjoy being able to study and learn, and to feel the spirit more in my life. To go along with the others who have spoken to us this day, I too have a great appreciation for the pioneers who crossed the plains and entered the Salt Lake valley 163 years ago.
Allow me to do a brief introduction of my family. My husband, Rob, grew up in Salt Lake City; he served a mission, to Jamaica. He is my best friend, a great father, and I love him so much. I grew up in Page Arizona, and also served a mission, in El Salvador. We met after our missions, while going to school at Southern Utah University, in Cedar City, UT. We were married in August 2000. I guess you could say that this is where our journey began; we have lived in Cedar City Utah, Detroit Michigan, Louisville Kentucky, St.George Utah, and Stansbury Park Utah. While living in Kentucky we received a phone call telling us that we had been chosen by a very special girl to adopt her baby. Our little girl, Karlee, was born in Tennessee in February 2008, we were there to meet her as she entered the world. We have loved having her as a part of our family and all that she brings to each new day.
While preparing for today, I have tried to understand and feel the emotions of the early pioneers who sacrificed so much for this gospel. Elder M. Russell Ballard speaking of the early pioneers said, “We cannot begin to understand the journeys made by those who laid the foundation of this dispensation until we understand their spiritual underpinnings. Once we make that connection, however, we will begin to see how their journeys parallel our own. There are lessons for us in every footstep they took—lessons of love, courage, commitment, devotion, endurance, and, most of all, faith.
Allow me to do a brief introduction of my family. My husband, Rob, grew up in Salt Lake City; he served a mission, to Jamaica. He is my best friend, a great father, and I love him so much. I grew up in Page Arizona, and also served a mission, in El Salvador. We met after our missions, while going to school at Southern Utah University, in Cedar City, UT. We were married in August 2000. I guess you could say that this is where our journey began; we have lived in Cedar City Utah, Detroit Michigan, Louisville Kentucky, St.George Utah, and Stansbury Park Utah. While living in Kentucky we received a phone call telling us that we had been chosen by a very special girl to adopt her baby. Our little girl, Karlee, was born in Tennessee in February 2008, we were there to meet her as she entered the world. We have loved having her as a part of our family and all that she brings to each new day.
While preparing for today, I have tried to understand and feel the emotions of the early pioneers who sacrificed so much for this gospel. Elder M. Russell Ballard speaking of the early pioneers said, “We cannot begin to understand the journeys made by those who laid the foundation of this dispensation until we understand their spiritual underpinnings. Once we make that connection, however, we will begin to see how their journeys parallel our own. There are lessons for us in every footstep they took—lessons of love, courage, commitment, devotion, endurance, and, most of all, faith.
One of my favorite pioneer stories comes from a pioneer journal. May I share this story with you. Some years after the Martin Handcart Company made their journey to Salt Lake City, a teacher in a Sunday school class commented on how foolish it was for the Martin Company to travel across the plains when it did. The teacher criticized Church leaders for allowing the company to make such a journey without more supplies and protection.
An old man sitting in the classroom listened for a few moments and then spoke out, asking that the criticism be stopped. He said, “Mistake to send the Handcart Company out so late in the season? Yes. But I was in that company and my wife was in it. … We suffered beyond anything you can imagine and many died of exposure and starvation, but did you ever hear a survivor of that company utter a word of criticism? Not one of that Company ever apostatized or left the Church, because everyone of us came through with the absolute knowledge that God lives for we became acquainted with him in our extremities. I have pulled my handcart when I was so weak and weary from illness and lack of food that I could hardly put one foot ahead of the other. I have looked ahead and seen a patch of sand or a hill slope and I have said, “I can go only that far and there I must give up, for I cannot pull the load through it. …” I have gone on to that sand and when I reached it, the cart began pushing me. I have looked back many times to see who was pushing my cart, but my eyes saw no one. I knew then that the angels of God were there.
“Was I sorry that I chose to come by handcart? No! Neither then nor any minute of my life since. The price we paid to become acquainted with God was a privilege to pay, and I am thankful that I was privileged to come in the Martin Handcart Company.”
An old man sitting in the classroom listened for a few moments and then spoke out, asking that the criticism be stopped. He said, “Mistake to send the Handcart Company out so late in the season? Yes. But I was in that company and my wife was in it. … We suffered beyond anything you can imagine and many died of exposure and starvation, but did you ever hear a survivor of that company utter a word of criticism? Not one of that Company ever apostatized or left the Church, because everyone of us came through with the absolute knowledge that God lives for we became acquainted with him in our extremities. I have pulled my handcart when I was so weak and weary from illness and lack of food that I could hardly put one foot ahead of the other. I have looked ahead and seen a patch of sand or a hill slope and I have said, “I can go only that far and there I must give up, for I cannot pull the load through it. …” I have gone on to that sand and when I reached it, the cart began pushing me. I have looked back many times to see who was pushing my cart, but my eyes saw no one. I knew then that the angels of God were there.
“Was I sorry that I chose to come by handcart? No! Neither then nor any minute of my life since. The price we paid to become acquainted with God was a privilege to pay, and I am thankful that I was privileged to come in the Martin Handcart Company.”
For the Utah pioneers of 1847, their faith was grounded in principle. They left their homes, their temple, and in some cases their families, in search of a place of refuge where they could worship without fear of persecution. There was little that they could carry with them in the way of provisions and material possessions, but each wagon and handcart was heavily laden with faith—faith in God, faith in the Restoration of His Church through the Prophet Joseph Smith, and faith that God knew where they were going and that He would see them through.
When I think about being a modern pioneer I usually think about new converts and how they are pioneers for their own families. As a missionary finds someone who is ready to accept the gospel into their life, and make the personal covenant with our Heavenly Father, of baptism. This new member is often times the only member in their family, as was the case in many other our early pioneers. A modern pioneer also encourages others to stay on course. When you lead out in righteousness, others will follow you.
Elder Neal A Maxwell has a great quote: "If we are faithful the day will come when those deserving pioneers and ancestors, whom we rightly praise for having overcome the adversities in their wilderness trek, will praise today's faithful for having made their way successfully through a desert of despair and for having passed through a cultural wilderness, while still keeping the faith." (If Thou Endure it Well, pg 28)
Our faith can help us be equally bold and fearless during the course of our respective journeys. No matter how difficult the trail, and regardless of how heavy our load, we can take comfort in knowing that others before us have borne life’s most grievous trials and tragedies by looking to heaven for peace, comfort, and hopeful assurance. We can know as they knew that God is our Father, that He cares about us individually and collectively, and that as long as we continue to exercise our faith and trust in Him there is nothing to fear in the journey.
Our journey to have a family has been probably different than most. We found out early on in our marriage that we would become a family through the miracle of adoption. Once our paperwork was all turned in and approved we were given hopeful news that we would probably only wait about 18 months until we would be blessed with a child. We waited anxiously and with hope in our hearts. With the way life would have it, we moved 4 times, and with each move, new paperwork had to be filled out to comply with adoption laws for each new state. The 18 month window had stretched to 5½ years. There were many ups and downs along the way. Through many of the downs I would take comfort in the many journals and stories that I would read about the early pioneers. On pioneer that I connected with most was that of Emma Smith. She had so many trials, so many heartaches, yet she never lost her faith in our Heavenly Father. I knew my Heavenly Father loved me, and that he knew the ache in my heart. He knew the wishes and desires that Rob and I had to have a child.
Life isn’t always easy. At some point in our journey we may feel much as the pioneers did as they crossed the plains —up to our knees in mud, forced to bury some of our dreams along the way. Sometimes it seems as though there is no end to the disappointments, challenges of life. Moments of despair and discouragement stick out of the terrain to slow our way or discourage us. Occasionally we reach the top of one summit in life, as the pioneers did, only to see more mountain peaks ahead, higher and more challenging than the one we have just crossed.
I would like to close with a quote from M. Russell Ballard. “Although our journeys today are less demanding physically than the trek of our pioneers 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.
I have a great appreciation for the pioneers then and now. I am amazed at the strength of their faith.
I have a great appreciation for the pioneers then and now. I am amazed at the strength of their faith.
Rob's Grandma and Grandpa Williamson's headstone. 
Look how calm & relaxed she looks.
My Grandpa and Grandma Jenkins
