Steve's Pioneer Holiday Sacrament talk

Steve spoke in church on Sunday and did an awesome job!
Way to go hun! I love you!

Talk for Sunday July 27, 2008
(Weekend of July 24th Holiday. Pioneer Day.)
Early and Modern Pioneers

Outline of the talk:
• Introduction: Definition of a pioneer
o The definition is independent of time frame.
• We all have a Pioneer heritage
o The Pioneer heritage is independent of familial heritage.
• Having been given much by our pioneer heritage what is expected of us?
o To build upon their foundation.
o How do we live to be worthy of what was given us?
• We can and should all be pioneers ourselves
o We all face trials and have difficulties
o Our faith in Jesus Christ and our obedience to leaders (true and living prophets) will guide and direct us to safety.
• Pioneer stories
o Marriner Merrill – who he was
o Vision of Joseph and Brigham
o Trials in crossing
o James E Faust experience and story
• Summary: Common themes as I’ve studied pioneer activities
o Strong faith in Jesus Christ
o Obedience to true and living prophets.
o Testimony of Jesus Christ and his prophets.

Introduction
25 years since I’ve spoken from this pulpit. Quarter of a Century. Time compresses as I get older.

Elder Bednar has stated that the Holy Spirit teaches.
This is a fun time of year that we celebrate the Pioneers arriving in the valleys of Salt Lake. I love church history especially the period of the 1840’s and 50’s. I often think about what it would have been like to have lived then. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to be able to go back in time and live a week in Pleasant Grove during a Pioneer day celebration in the 1850’s? It would be fun to see the streets the homes the way people dress and what they ate. You can imagine it would be a tough life.
From the Pleasant Grove website:
Life was difficult. The settlers were terrified of the Indians but also had to face famine and hunger. They had to rely on one another to survive a few winters. The meeting house was also used as a storehouse but a fire brought the building and its contents to the ground and there just wasn't enough time to re-stock before winter came on again.
Life wasn't all filled with hardships, however, people often met socially and because of the abundant strawberry crop every summer, "Strawberry Days" was created. Strawberry Days is the longest continuing community celebration in Utah to date.
The strawberry fields are now gone, taken over by development. The school house still stands and has been converted into a very nice pioneer museum to remind us of those who came first, those who were willing to take the risk, make their homes in a relatively unknown wilderness and to prepare the way for those who came after.

The two points I want to make in this talk:
1) That we further the work upon the foundation which has been laid by those who have gone before us.
2) That we act as Pioneers in laying new foundations for our children and their children to build upon.

The two ways to achieve these goals:
1) Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
2) Obedience to true and living prophets.

3) Definition of a Pioneer
I think of the words trials, sacrifice, obedience, suffering, perseverance.
From the July 1976 Ensign President N. Eldon Tanner defines a Pioneer:
A pioneer is described as one who goes before, preparing the way for others. He is a leader, first in his field in discovery and invention. He will be followed by settlers and developers who expand and exploit his discoveries. Anyone seeking to become a pioneer will take care to fill his mind with what is known about the route he plans to take. Some of the qualities needed in pioneering are interest, intelligence, imagination, and determination. A pioneer must investigate, plan, experiment, and work.
This definition is independent of a given time frame. It applies to both early and modern day pioneers.
It changed my perspective a little on what a pioneer is. I grew up with the idea that a Pioneer was an LDS person who walked across the plains. The idea that we have modern day pioneers.

4) We all have Pioneer Heritage
July 2008 Ensign: President Dieter F. Uchtdorf
I have no ancestors among the 19th-century pioneers. However, since the first days of my Church membership, I have felt a close kinship to those early pioneers who crossed the plains. They are my spiritual ancestry, as they are for each and every member of the Church, regardless of nationality, language, or culture. They established not only a safe place in the West but also a spiritual foundation for the building of the kingdom of God in all the nations of the world.
So, we all have a pioneer heritage independent of our familial heritage who have established a safe place for us to live as well as giving us a spiritual foundation upon which to build.

5) Having been given much what can we do?
July 1976 Ensign: President N. Eldon Tanner
It was all part of God’s plan—the coming of Columbus, the colonization, wise men raised up to frame the Constitution, Joseph Smith prepared for his part in the restoration of the gospel, even the persecution which drove the Saints to the Rocky Mountains where the Church could continue to grow.
What does all this mean to you and me as individuals? It means that God, as our Father, made all these arrangements for you and me. We were part of his eternal scheme. And so it is not enough merely to observe these various anniversaries, but we must recommit and rededicate ourselves to uphold the convictions and the principles upon which the blessings we enjoy are predicated. We too must be prepared to sacrifice, where necessary, to keep our freedoms inviolate. My father used to say: “The true way to honor the past is to improve upon it.”
Therefore, we should love God more. We should serve our fellowmen better. We should keep all the commandments. We should be better prepared as parents to teach our children to pray and to walk uprightly before the Lord, and to assume their responsibilities.
We should be constantly striving for improvement of ourselves and our surroundings.
So we can build upon their foundation by increasing our own spiritual strength and then furthering the work of the Lord.
In D&C 136:4 The Lord gives instruction to Early Pioneers which applies equally well to us today:
“And this shall be our covenant—that we will walk in all the ordinances of the Lord.” (D&C 136:4.)

6) We can and should all be pioneers ourselves
W are all modern day pioneers and it is our responsibility to build a foundation for our children and their children to enjoy and to further build upon.
July 2008 Ensign: President Dieter F. Uchtdorf
As the message of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ is now being embraced around the world, we are all pioneers in our own sphere and circumstance. It was in the turmoil of post–World War II Germany when my family first learned about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. George Albert Smith (1870–1951) was the President then. I was only a young child, and we had lost all material belongings twice within only seven years. We were refugees with an uncertain future. However, during those same seven years, we gained more than any amount of money could ever buy. We found a supernal refuge, a place of defense from despair: the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and His Church, led by a true and living prophet.
Pioneers early or modern face trials. They suffer. They overcome. In every case we see two principles at work: 1) A strong faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and 2) unwavering obedience to a true and living prophet.
Folks I work with that are modern day pioneers in sharing the word through technology.

7) Pioneer stories
Marriner W Merrill is my 2nd great grandfather who was a Pioneer and later became an Apostle and Logan Temple President.
Talk of Marriners vision of Joseph Smith and Brigham young. (http://www.gapages.com/merrimw1.htm)
My 2nd great grandfather recounted: "When I was a boy of nine years (would have been 1844) my mother sent me to the hayfield where my father and brothers were at work, to call them to dinner. On the way I became unconscious and was clothed with a vision which I distinctly remembered when I gained my usual feelings and thoughts. After I became conscious I found myself in a log cabin located on the way to the field. In this cabin I was on my knees in the attitude of prayer. In the vision I saw the Church and the Prophets Joseph and Brigham. I saw the travels of the latter and of the Saints from Nauvoo and Winter Quarters to Utah. In the vision the sight of covered buggies and wagons was peculiar to me, for at that time I had never seen such vehicles, nor had I ever seen the mules which I beheld in my vision. I saw two and sometimes six mules to a wagon, and in the company of pioneers I beheld two men who had been boy friends of my youth. The progress and development of the Church were shown and the persecutions of the Saints were made clear to my understanding, and I heard a voice which told me that all I beheld was true. That incident of my life made a very strong impression upon my boyish mind."

Talk of Marriners trouble getting across the water. The lord was looking out for him.

The most important event on this journey associated with the life of Apostle Merrill occurred at Platte river, where he, with one other boy, decided to cross the river and get some cattle which had been left by other pioneers. They plunged into the river, but he soon became exhausted, as the current was strong. Brother Merrill was unable to keep his head out of water, and while floating down stream went under twice; whereupon the company became alarmed, and a Brother Reese was sent to his assistance. As he started to sink a third time he landed mysteriously on a sandbar, and was almost exhausted. The circumstance was peculiar, because the Brother Reese who had sought his rescue was unable to find the bar upon which Brother Merrill stood. The two now made their way to the opposite shore, where it was shallow enough to walk up stream until they reached a place where the current moved from one side to the other. Here they tied a comforter to their waists, plunged again into the water, in which they were borne safely across the river by the favorable current. They were both thankful to get back alive, and the cattle, which they found disabled, were left undisturbed.
James E. Faust, “Come Listen to a Prophet’s Voice: A Priceless Heritage,” Friend, Sep 2002,
We went on to Rock Creek Hollow, where the Willie Handcart Company made camp. Thirteen members of the Willie Company who perished from cold, exhaustion, and starvation are buried in a common grave at Rock Creek Hollow. Two additional members who died during the night are buried nearby. Two of those buried at Rock Creek Hollow were heroic children of tender years: Bodil Mortinsen, age nine, from Denmark, and James Kirkwood, age eleven, from Scotland.
Bodil apparently was assigned to care for some small children as they crossed Rocky Ridge. When they arrived at camp, she must have been sent to gather firewood. She was found frozen to death, leaning against the wheel of her handcart, clutching sagebrush.
Let me tell you of James Kirkwood. James was from Glasgow, Scotland. On the trip west, James was accompanied by his widowed mother and three brothers, one of whom, Thomas, was nineteen and crippled and had to ride in the handcart. James’s primary responsibility on the trek was to care for his little four-year-old brother, Joseph, while his mother and oldest brother, Robert, pulled the cart. As they climbed Rocky Ridge, it was snowing and there was a bitter cold wind blowing. It took the whole company twenty-seven hours to travel fifteen miles (24 k). When little Joseph became too weary to walk, James, the older brother, had no choice but to carry him. Left behind the main group, James and Joseph made their way slowly to camp. When the two finally arrived at the fireside, James, “having so faithfully carried out his task, collapsed and died from exposure and over-exertion. …”
What exactly is it about the pioneers that should influence our daily activities?
What is it about the pioneers that we should be grateful?

8) Summary and Testimony
The recurring themes throughout the talk about pioneers whether they be early or modern is
1) Jesus Christ and 2) true and living prophets.
In my daily work for the Missionary Department in Salt Lake City I have seen and know of a surety that the work of the Lord is moving forward and that we are building here in Utah upon the foundations given us by early pioneers and is being progressed by modern day pioneers. I know the work is true.
Bear testimony of God the Father his only begotten son Jesus Christ and of the restored gospel through the prophet Joseph Smith.

Reference:
http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=7305bd90517da010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&hideNav=true

http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp? vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=8912fd758096b010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&hideNav=1

http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=21bc9fbee98db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=a0abe3bfad6bb010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&hideNav=1

http://www.plgrove.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2&Itemid=23