Follow Me to Zion

"Follow Me to Zion"
This doll was a gift that was given to me by my children who know I have deep admiration for our pioneer ancestors.

I always thought it was strange that Utah actually had a state holiday on July 24th and employers give most people a day off of work!  Now that I live in Utah, I like the extra emphasis given to remembering our state and religious heritage.  The 24th of July reminds us of when Brigham Young announced the end of the trek west to Zion. "This is the Place" he said in 1847.   Today we remember and celebrate with parades, picnics, and maybe a family camping trip.

Each July I try to read a "pioneer book" in memory of my Utah ancestors.    I just finished reading 460 pages about amazing LDS women who were born between 1821-1845 in Volume Two of a series of seven volumes being edited by Richard E. Turley Jr. and Brittany A. Chapman (Deseret Book).

The editors collected 30 biographies about faithful pioneer women covering the time period of the trek to Utah and the settlement of new communities in the west.  Whenever I think about pioneers, these are some of the first women I think of.  Their lives are a "monument to their faith and sacrifice" (Turley, Women of Faith in the Latter Days, Volume 2, p.  xii).

30 well written biographies of Utah pioneer women are shared in this volume.

Most of these women participated in the early events of the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  They were children or young adults during in the persecutions in Missouri.  They remembered the peaceful times in Nauvoo and they wept at the viewing in the Mansion House over the body of their beloved "Brother Joseph".

They were married and practiced the principle of eternal marriage with their sister wives, they lived in Winter Quarters, and they migrated to Utah.   They moved their families south during the Utah War, sent husbands and fathers as missionaries abroad, helped organize Relief Societies, YLMIA, and Primary auxiliaries.

They watched their husbands go to jail, some moved to Mexico to keep their husbands out of jail, and many were present when the Manifesto discontinued the practice of plural marriage.  They fought political battles for a women's right to vote and they celebrated as Utah became a state of the Union.  Many of these women lived into the twentieth century

I feel a kind of honor and respect for these women that is difficult to explain. They are certainly valiant role models.   Many of the biographies contained excerpts from journal entries.  How thankful I am they recorded their stories and, as Emily Partridge Young wrote, "to use pen ink and paper as a trap, to hold [their thoughts] until they can be used."  (Turley, p. 442).

Pioneer family members have been gathered to Utah and the USA from all over the earth.  Look around the outer edges to see all the countries our ancestors left to gather to America.

The Old Testament prophet Ezekiel wrote:  "In the latter years thou shalt [be] gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel."  (Ezekel 38:8)  My own faithful pioneer women came from England, Denmark, and Wales.  My husband's family from Holland, Scotland, Germany, and Russia.  Our children are recipients of an amazing legacy and have seen fulfillment of Ezekiel's words.

As stated on the Relief Society website, Daughters In My Kingdom:

We come from a long line of faithful, righteous women

"....The heritage of Relief Society is not just about women who lived in the past; it is also about women all over the world today who make and keep covenants." 

Watch moving videos here:   https://www.lds.org/daughters-in-my-kingdom/videos?lang=eng&page=1&length=3

I find myself thinking how much I owe my personal happiness to these early pioneer women. They went before, showing me how to walk in the path of faith.  "The faith these women exhibited as they rejoiced in blessings and dealt with struggles provides a model for us in facing our own challenges as we strive to build lives of faith today" (Turley, Women of Faith in the Latter Days, Volume 2, dust cover).

Blessed honored Pioneer.   LDS Hymn #36

Each July when in church we sing the words "Blessed Honored Pioneer" I find myself wiping my eyes as my heart swells with deep gratitude.  It is right that we sing our song of "honor, praise and veneration to the founders we revere" (LDS Hymnal, "They, The Builders of the Nation"  Hymn No. 36).

As Pres. Kimball (12th Pres. of LDS Church) expressed it:

"We know that women who have deep appreciation for the past will be concerned about shaping a righteous future."

Spencer W. Kimball, Privileges and Responsibilities of Sisters, October 1978

Certificate documenting that Cyndy Owen Weiss is a descendant of a Utah Pioneer. The Salt Lake City Daughters of the Utah Pioneer Museum is one of my favorite places to visit!  The blue Faith in Every Footstep is a rubbing off of one of our ancestor's headstones.

Letter that came with certificate (above)  in 1997.

In 1997 I received a letter documenting my lineage from the Utah Genealogical Association.  It reads:  It is most fitting and proper that we ever recall their stirring indomitable spirits, faith, and courage in surmounting great obstacles and hardships to build the great State of Utah; and that we steadfastly resolve these noble qualities will ever endure in our lives as a heritage for future generations. 

Invitation to all:  "Follow Me to Zion".

Tucked inside a journal belonging to handcart pioneer Thomas Normington are two fabric strips with the words "Follow me to Zion" cross-stitched in the center and likely used as bookmarks.

These words were "an invitation to devote one's life to God and his purposes.  They are also an invitation for each person to consider his or her path" (Follow Me to Zion by Olsen and Allphin, p. xii).

 I want to follow the great women of faith that I have being reading about.  I want to walk in their footsteps and be more like them.  I want to have "faith in every footstep" like they did.  It is a good thing to think upon these ancestors each July 24th.


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Probably my favorite "Pioneer Song" is "Faith in Every Footstep".  I heard the Mormon Tabernacle Choir perform it this Sunday. Maybe you can take a minute and feel the power of this message.
http://www.mormontabernaclechoir.org/videos/july-20-2014-music-and-the-spoken-word?lang=eng
 Here's another way to view it:
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/6jH4mOEDu5w" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

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Faith in Every Footstep 

Text and music: K. Newell Dayley, b. 1939

1. A marvelous work has begun to come forth among all the children of men.

O ye that embark in the service of God, give heart, mind, and strength unto him;

For prophets have spoken and angels have come to lift the world from sin,

That Christ may reign over all the earth and bless his gathered kin.

Chorus

With faith in ev’ry footstep, we follow Christ, the Lord;

And filled with hope through his pure love, we sing with one accord.

2. Those marvelous Saints who embraced this great work and shared it in lands far and near;

Who gave all their heart, mind, and strength to the Lord with wisdom and vision so clear;

Now stand as examples of virtue and faith, of souls prepared to hear,

Of knowledge sure, born of humble heart, and love that banished fear.

3. If we now desire to assist in this work and thrust in our sickles with might,

If we will embark in the service of God to harvest in fields that are white;

Our souls may receive the salvation of God—the fulness of his light,

That we may stand, free of sin and blame, God’s glory in our sight.

© 1996 LDS. All rights reserved. This hymn may be copied for incidental, noncommercial use. This notice must appear on each copy made.

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