“Faith in Every Footstep”
Lesson 34
– D&C 136; Our
Heritage, pgs. 71-77
The Saints journey west parallels in some ways our journey
back to our Heavenly Father. To get back to our eternal home, we will make
sacrifices just as the pioneers did.
Speaking of the early pioneers in this dispensation, Elder Russell M.
Ballard said: “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” (Ensign,
May 1997, 59). We are
trying to obtain a “promised land” just as groups of the Lord’s people have
done at many times in the past. Such places have been called a land of peace,
a choice land, and a land of inheritance. Groups led to these lands included the
Jaredites, the families of Lehi and Ishmael, the children of Israel, and the
pioneers led by President Brigham Young.
Even as the Saints suffered greatly from illness and
difficulties during the time at Winter Quarters, they prepared diligently for
their westward trek. Because they
exhibited a dedication and determination, they were blessed with an easier
journey and the opportunity to assist others who followed after them. We can have similar blessings in our lives
today.
D&C 136 is the revelation President Young received at
Winter Quarters in January 1847. It gives instructions from the Lord on
preparing for the journey to the Salt Lake Valley. The following specifics were given:
·
D&C 136:2 – Make a “covenant and promise” to obey
the commandments and laws of the Lord.
·
D&C 136:3 – Organize with the Twelve at the head, have a
president with two counselors, and designate captains over hundreds, fifties,
and tens. Today we are organized in
wards and stakes.
·
D&C 136:5 – Be self-sufficient. Provide yourself with all that you can.
·
D&C 136:6 – Make preparations for those who will be left
behind. See D&C 136:7, 9.
·
D&C 136:8 – Care for the needy, widows, and orphans.
·
D&C 136:10 – Use your influence and property to get the
saints to “a stake of Zion”.
D&C 136:17-33 includes instructions from the Lord on both physical and spiritual preparations as well as their behavior toward other saints. Instructions about their conduct included:
·
D&C 136:19 warns against pride and encourages humility
·
D&C 136:21 instructs us concerning proper reverence and
respect for deity
·
D&C 136:23-24 tell us that contention and speaking ill
of others must cease. We have a responsibility and opportunity to instruct and
improve others
·
D&C 136:25-26 counsel us concerning respect for others’
property
·
D&C 136:27 reminds us to be wise stewards over that with
which we have been entrusted
·
D&C 136:28 instructs the Saints on appropriate types of
recreation. Elder David O. McKay
taught: “On
the plains, after a day’s march, the wagons were drawn up in a circle, a man
with a violin would take his place by the campfire and there on the prairie the
sturdy Pioneers would join hands in a dance, opening it by prayer, and
participate in amusement that fostered the spirit of the gospel…President
Brigham Young…once said, in substance, ‘The atmosphere of the dance should be
such that if any elder be called from the party to go to administer to a sick
person, he could leave with the same spirit that he would go from his elders’
quorum meeting’” (Conference Report, April 1920, 117).
·
D&C 136:32-33 give the Lord’s counsel to develop
wisdom by striving for humility and praying for enlightenment from our
Father.
Under the direction of President Brigham Young, the Saints journeyed to the Salt Lake Valley
Some two years before the martyrdom, the Prophet Joseph
Smith prophesied of the westward expansion of the Church. Specifically, he said that “the Saints would continue
to suffer much affliction and would be driven to the Rocky Mountains,” and that
some of the Saints would “live to go and assist in making settlements and build cities and see
the Saints become a mighty people in the midst of the Rocky Mountains” (Teachings
of the Prophet Joseph Smith, sel. Joseph Fielding Smith [1976], 255). In the years from 1847 to 1869, some 70,000
Church members from all over the globe migrated to Utah and fulfilled his
prophecy. (See the
map in the Class Member Study Guide on page 31).
There were many stories that capture the faith and courage
exhibited by the pioneer Saints. See Our Heritage: “The Brooklyn Saints” (pgs.
74-75); “The
Gathering Continues” (Pgs. 75-76); and “This Is the Right Place” (pgs.
76-77).
We can learn lessons and principles from the pioneers’ trek
that can assist us in returning to our Heaven Father. Elder Russell M. Ballard said: “Life isn’t always easy. At some point in our journey we may feel
much as the pioneers did as they crossed Iowa—up to our knees in mud, forced to
bury some of our dreams along the way.
We all face rocky ridges, with the wind in our face and winter coming on
too soon. Sometimes it seems as though
there is no end to the dust that stings our eyes and clouds our vision. Sharp edges of despair and discouragement
jut out of the terrain to slow our passage. …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 traversed. Tapping unseen reservoirs of faith and
endurance, we, as did our forebears, inch ever forward toward that day when our
voices can join with those of all pioneers who have endured in faith, singing,
‘All is well! All is well!’ ” (Ensign, May 1997,
61).
Our quest for eternal life is similar to the pioneers’ quest
for freedom and safety in the West.
They laid the foundation of the work and it is up to us to complete the
tasks. As President James E. Faust testified,
“Faith in
every future footstep will fulfill prophetic vision concerning the glorious
destiny of this Church” (Ensign, Nov. 1997, 42).
Elder Russell M. Ballard said: “We are the inheritors of a
tremendous heritage. Now it is our
privilege and responsibility to be part of the Restoration’s continuing drama,
and there are great and heroic stories of faith to be written in our day. It
will require every bit of our strength, wisdom, and energy to overcome the
obstacles that will confront us. But
even that will not be enough. We will
learn, as did our pioneer ancestors, that it is only in faith—real faith,
whole-souled, tested and tried—that we will find safety and confidence as we
walk our own perilous pathways through life” (Ensign, May 1997,
61).
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Sacrifices made by the pioneers
Elder Thomas S. Monson: “Mormon pioneers by the hundreds suffered
and died from disease, exposure, or starvation. There were some who, lacking wagons and teams, literally walked
the 1,300 miles across the plains and through the mountains, pushing and
pulling handcarts. In these groups, one
in six perished. For many the journey
didn’t begin in Nauvoo, Kirtland, Far West, or New York, but rather in distant
England, Scotland, Scandinavia, and Germany…Between the safety of home and the
promise of Zion stood the angry and treacherous waters of the mighty
Atlantic. Who can recount the fear that
gripped the human heart during those perilous crossings? Prompted by the silent whisperings of the
Spirit, sustained by a simple, yet abiding faith, they trusted in their God and
set sail on their journey… On board one
of those overcrowded and creaking vessels [ships] of yesteryear were my great
grandparents, their tiny family, and a few meager possessions. The waves were so high, the voyage so long,
the quarters so cramped. Tiny Mary [their daughter] had always been frail, but
now, with the passage of each day, her anxious mother knew the little one was
becoming especially weak. She had taken
seriously ill… Day after day worried parents peered for land, but there was no
land. Now Mary could not stand… The end
drew near. Little Mary peacefully
passed beyond this veil of tears. As
the family and friends gathered on the open deck, the ship’s captain directed
the service, and that precious, ever-so-small body, placed tenderly in a
tear-stained canvas, was committed to the angry sea. Strong father, in
emotion-choked tones, comforted grieving mother, repeating, ‘The Lord gave, and
the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord. We’ll see our Mary again!’ “ (Improvement
Era, June 1967, 55).
Lessons may be found on the Internet at www.neumanninstitute.org