I love my Dad. I have been a Daddy's Girl for as long as I can remember, and I have always admired his faith and commitment to the gospel. My parents have been asked by our bishop to prepare our young men and young women for trek this year. Tonight he went all out, dressed up like Brother Brigham, and shared his testimony of the pioneers who sacrificed everything to journey to Zion. I was so touched by what he shared with our youth tonight. The spirit of God, like a fire, was burning as he shared his testimony. I feel like what he said really reached the hearts of so many in the room, and our young men and women needed to hear and feel it all. So I asked him to send me his thoughts so I could have a record of his eloquent words forever.
Willie & Martin Handcart Companies
When I heard the reports of those good brothers and sisters in the handcart companies and their
incomprehensible, arduous pain, suffering, and deprivations with freezing cold and starvation, I buckled to my knees in heart wrenching supplication. Why? Why I pled, did they need to suffer so? They are good faithful saints who had implicit trust that a loving God Omnipotent would provide for them; an all-powerful God who with the breath of his nostrils could blow a warm breeze that would make even the nights “comfy;” a God who could provide for their nourishment as He did for the children of Israel with manna from heaven. He should have at the least caused an “Indian Summer” and delayed the raging, ravishing winter. But no, winter was unleashed early in all its fury. Why? Why, I cry. Then comes the solace of the Holy Ghost and I feel joy and praise God for their salvation! They have proven worthy and paid the price to be encircled in the robes of righteousness and embraced in the loving arms of a dear, omniscient Father. Glory be to the Father! In his infinite wisdom we have the eternal example from these faithful saints of what it means to be obedient and to
sacrifice. God’s ways are not our ways, our ways are not God’s, His purposes will be fulfilled and we will come to understand that to accept God’s will is what is eternally best for all. As we search the journals of individuals and the miracles that occurred in their personal lives, we will see that God did not abandon His loyal saints. He sent ministering angels to protect, provide, and comfort them in their dire straits.
I sincerely hope that by the end of this summer each of you will not only have a better understanding of obedience and sacrifice, but that you will have a greater desire and ability to live these two basic laws. And that you will have it stamped into your heart that to obey is better than to repent and that sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven.
So let’s have a brief overview of the handcart companies. By 1856 many humble people in the British Isles and Scandinavia had been converted to the Gospel, which had been restored by Jesus Christ through the prophet Joseph Smith in the year 1830. These faithful saints recognized and felt the truth that the fullness of the gospel had been restored and that Zion must be established and the Kingdom of God built and strengthened so that the Kingdom of God can be united with the Kingdom of Heaven so that Christ can return and personally reign on the earth. Immigration from Europe to the valley of the Great Salt Lake was very costly and these faithful brothers and sisters cheerfully sold all that they had to pay for ocean passage to America and then to travel on river boat to meet with other saints for the manual trek across this continent. Many of these poor saints by the time they arrived to begin the trek were practically destitute and could not afford the price of a wagon and oxen to cross the plain. So Brigham Young was inspired to have them build handcarts, which they could pull and
push, loaded with their meager belongings. The first three handcart companies departed winter quarters the end of July and successfully arrived in the Salt Lake Valley the end of September and the first of October; showing that this manner of transporting can succeed. The fourth and fifth companies (Martin and Willie, respectively) didn’t depart winter quarters until August 17 and 27. This late departure and the subsequent consequences will be the focus of our attention. The next five handcart companies that left winter quarters by late June or early August between 1857 and 1860 were all successful with limited casualties. This made a total of ten handcart companies that made the manual trek. After 1860 wagon trains were dispatched in the early spring from Salt Lake to pick up the immigrants and return in the late summer or early fall. The transcontinental railroad was being built and the journey was greatly facilitated thereafter. From the ten companies there were a total of about three thousand faithful saints who made the arduous journey with handcarts.
So let’s turn our attention to the Willie and Martin companies in August 1856. The day is warm and it is hard to imagine what the weather would be like when the season changes and the cold snow blows. The saints have sacrificed greatly to cross the ocean and get this far in moving toward Zion.
They are faithful; they are committed to the cause and thy want to obey the revelations to prepare the way for the fulfillment of the great and marvelous work that God has begun with his prophet. There have already been enough delays and we know that God will prepare a way for us to accomplish his commands.
Levi Savage used his common sense and knowledge of the country and declared positively that to his certain knowledge they could not cross the mountains with a mixed company of aged people, women, and little children, so late in the season without much suffering, sickness and death. He therefore advised waiting in winter quarters until next spring. He was rebuked by the other elders for want of faith and finally declared: “Brethren and sisters, what I have said I know to be true; but seeing you are to go forward, I will go with you, will help you all I can, will work with you, will rest with you, will suffer with you, and, if necessary, I will die with you. May God in His mercy bless and preserve us.” So it begs the question why would they depart without delay so late in the year? Why would Brother Savage humbly submit himself to such a precarious adventure? The answer will never be found in secular history books. Worldly authors refuse to recognize the hand of God and that he directs the outcome of this world. From their sterile sanitized perspective, mistakes were made and the leadership is responsible for poor judgment. What historians fail to recognize is that these saints had received an absolute witness from the Spirit that they were engaged in the work of the Lord and that as God lives this is His Church. They will be obedient and observe to the best of their ability their role in bringing about God’s will even if it means sacrificing everything. And as stated earlier, the Lord was with them as reported in many journals, in spite of the extreme hardships encountered. Because they sacrificed so much, you are the beneficiaries and can witness that the Kingdom of God has grown, become strong and is nearly ready to usher in the great and dreadful day of the Lord of which should be your joy to participate.
The purposes of God were accomplished. The faithful were blessed, tested, and proven worthy to enter into His presence. And we have a live example to teach obedience and sacrifice. As you are required to do things that for you might be difficult, remember the example of your heritage and do the difficult to receive the blessings of heaven.
Rex Mecham
Having been born of goodly parents...
Incredible. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDelete