Hastening the Work of Salvation

Map hanging on the wall at Maxine Owen Webb home.

I was recently considering the great missionary tradition in our extended family.   

 

Great definition of a missionary!

Many family members have made great sacrifices so that others could go and preach the Gospel full-time. When our children were young they sang "I Hope They Call Me On a Mission".

Here are the links to some great missionary songs:     

https://www.lds.org/training/wwlt/2013/hastening/special-broadcast#media=47537905441776330780-eng

https://www.lds.org/training/wwlt/2013/hastening/special-broadcast#media=77154214576189546470-eng

1 Peter 3:15 teaches us to:

•  be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.
  
  Our ancestors showed us their willingness to sacrifice in order to share the Gospel Message with others.  We can see through their lives the great blessings that came from their sacrifices.
  
  

Early Missionary Service Tradition

First modern day missionary of the Weiss Family.

Isaac Chase was a Quaker living in New York when he heard the Gospel message from Elder Petaliah Brown.  Later Isaac was called as a missionary to New York.  He was serving as a missionary in 1844 when he learned of the martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph Smith.  Isaac's mission was to increase understanding of the "Mormon" Church through promoting the political platform of Joseph Smith as a candidate for US President.

John Griffiths-Missionary in England.

 (The following information is found at the cleggfamilyhistory.org site:  John Griffiths History.)

John Griffith-Missionary in England

John Griffiths met the first four missionaries to arrive in England. He and his first wife, Margaret, were baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in the river Mercy in Liverpool, England on January 20, 1840. They were baptized by John Taylor while serving his first mission to England. 

John Griffiths went to London to what was called the Latter Day Saints Depot. There were only four Mormon Elders there at that time. They laid their hands on him and ordained him an Elder and sent him preaching. He would work all day from six in the morning until six at night. Then he would eat his supper and go preaching. Some times it would be eleven and twelve o'clock before he would get home. 

There were no conveniences and no railroad in Woolwick at that time, so he had to walk. He raised up many branches of the church in England, including Woolwick, Welling, Elton, Greenwich, Aeptcord and many others. 

The first men to join the church in Woolwick were Arron Paintor, Mr. Bates, Thomas Fisher and William Blacksnore. John was a boiler maker by trade and so was Mr. Bates. One day while Mr. Bates was at work a large piece fell on him and they took him to the hospital. While they were taking him there his last words were calling John's name. He died a short time later. The people all thought it was John who was dead.

John and his wife were with the mourners and they could hear the people say, "Now Griffiths is dead, down with Mormonism". They were surprised when they heard John preaching the next Sunday. They thought it was him that was dead. 

He got along nicely after that and raised quite a nice branch. He would go and preach on Sundays as well as Sunday night. He was a faithful Elder in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Moulton Missionaries

My Great Great Grandfather, Joseph Moulton, crossed the plains as an eleven year old in the Willie Handcart Company.  He was married with three wives when he was called in 1885 as a missionary in West Virginia.  1885.  "After serving a year, President Hatch sent for him to come home, feeling that his family needed him." (See p. 460 of How Beautiful Upon the Mountains.)

My Uncle, Duane Moulton was on his mission in the South Pacific when his father, Hyrum Chase Moulton, died.  Duane served in the Cook Islands and in the Samoan Mission.

My Aunt, Deaun Moulton (Weed) went to the California Mission in 1944.  It was a time when it was less common for sisters to serve missions.

My Uncle, Rex Moulton served as a missionary in the Western States Mission.

Deaun Moulton and Floyd Weed would serve as mission presidents in the Thailand, Bangkok mission and then as missionaries on Temple Square.

Mardene Moulton and Ron Folkerson were mission presidents in Stockholm, Sweden during the same time Cyndy Owen was serving in the Italy Rome (South) Mission.  Folkersons returned home and served another mission as Directors of all Church Service Missionaries from 1974-1979.

Rex and Jaquie Dansie Moulton served in New Zealand in a kind of building mission for the LDS church in the 1960’s.  Their family lived in 3 areas and supervised construction of many chapels during the 3 or so years they lived in New Zealand. (Jacquie served a mission in Oslo, Norway before she married Rex.)

Maxine Owen Webb and LaVarr Webb served as Public Communications Missionaries in the New Jersey area.

James Owen Family

List of missionaries from wall.

My father, James Owen, joined the LDS church while in the US Army.  He freely shared the Gospel of Jesus Christ with all in his immediate family, but non of them joined the church.

James Owen joined the LDS Church during his 3.5 years in the US Army.

He then came to BYU and met his future wife, Reva Maxine Moulton.   Jim went to Hugh B. Brown, a respected BYU religion professor, and asked for counsel as to whether he should serve a full-time mission or get married.  Brother Brown said it was time that Jim fulfill his mission of raising a righteous posterity.  James later served as a Stake Missionary first in the Columbia River Stake and then while living in the Portland Oregon Stake.

This was the missionary card carried by James A. Owen in 1971 while serving as a Stake Missionary in the Portland West Stake.  This was in his wallet in the Owen Family trunk of memorabilia.

James A. Owen is listed under the 12th Ward Missionaries in 1965.

James A. Owen's Release Letter from Columbia River Stake Mission President.

These red handwritten notes were to help Jim Owen in presenting discussions.

James A. Owen Missionary Discussion Handbook.

All of the families of these missionaries have been blessed by the missionary labors of their parents:

Mark Weiss- Switzerland Zurich Mission
Cyndy Owen-Italy Rome Mission

Steven Owen-Texas Austin Mission

Donald Owen-England Coventry Mission

David Owen-Texas Dallas Mission

These four cousins were in the Missionary Training Center at the same time!  Jennifer Weiss was then teaching Mandarin Chinese while Derek Ostler, Steven Daniels, and Deborah Weiss were studying before leaving on their missions.

Many grandchildren of James and Maxine Owen have served and hanging on the wall at Maxine Owen’s home is a map with pins showing all the locations.  It was last updated in 2014.

The Mark and Cyndy Weiss Children have served all over the earth:
This video reminded me of the "Missionary Mindset" that was in our home for so many years.

https://www.lds.org/training/wwlt/2013/hastening/members-and-missionaries?lang=eng#media=33443191723762703990-eng

These are the 6 missionary plaques we have received from the wards where we lived when the missionaries were called.  We need to get 5 more of them to complete our collection!

Allison-Concepcion Chile Mission

David-Fortaleza Brazil Mission

Tamarah-San Bernardino California Mission (Spanish)

Christine-Guayaquil Ecuador Mission

Jennifer-Taichung Taiwan Mission

Deborah-Quito Ecuador Mission

Jonathan-Berlin Germany Mission

Samuel-Cuiaba Brazil Mission

Benjamin-Buenos Aires West Mission

William-Concepcion Chile South Mission

Joseph-Sydney Australia South Mission (Spanish)

Sarah Daniels (Mexico) and Tiffany Owen (Poland) -Cousins who left about the same time.

And so we are at the end of one era and the beginning of a new one.  Soon it will be Grandpa and Grandma Weiss (Mark and Cyndy) leaving on a "Senior Couple Mission". 

Where in the world will Cyndy and Mark Weiss serve as "Senior Couple Missionaries"?

Map with dots showing where missionaries have served throughout the world.

Building up the Kingdom of God on earth has been part of the heritage left to us by our ancestors.  
As baptized members we are all "Called to Serve Our King."

Joseph Weiss with his mission call to Sydney Australia South.

How did these ancestors and their latter-day descendants find the courage and strength to sacrifice and give so much in missionary service?

Elder M. Russell Ballard helped answer this question in his talk given in April 1999.
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1999/04/like-a-flame-unquenchable?lang=eng

"Somehow we need to instill in our hearts the powerful testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ like unto that of our pioneer forefathers. Remember when Nauvoo fell in September of 1846 and the unbearable conditions of the Saints in the poor camps. When word reached Winter Quarters, Brigham Young immediately called the brethren together. After explaining the situation and reminding them of the covenant made in the Nauvoo Temple that no one who wanted to come, no matter how poor, would be left behind, he gave them this remarkable challenge:

“Now is the time for labor,” he said. “Let the fire of the covenant which you made in the House of the Lord, burn in your hearts, like flame unquenchable” (Journal History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 28 Sept. 1846, 5; emphasis added).

Within a few days, in spite of near-destitute conditions at Winter Quarters, many wagons were rolling eastward to rescue the Saints in the poor camps along the Mississippi River.

"Sometimes we are tempted to let our lives be governed more by convenience than by covenant. It is not always convenient to live gospel standards and stand up for truth and testify of the Restoration. It usually is not convenient to share the gospel with others. It isn’t always convenient to respond to a calling in the Church, especially one that stretches our abilities. Opportunities to serve others in meaningful ways, as we have covenanted to do, rarely come at convenient times. But there is no spiritual power in living by convenience. The power comes as we keep our covenants. 

"As we look at the lives of these early Saints, we see that their covenants were the primary force in their lives. Their example and testimony were powerful enough to influence generation after generation of their children."

We sing:  "I'll Go Where You Want Me To Go, Dear Lord".
This video shows how we keep that promise in our every day lives:
https://www.lds.org/training/wwlt/2013/hastening/members-and-missionaries?lang=eng

Tiffany Owen serving in Poland.

The "Hastening the work" continues in our day.  We need to take the Gospel to every nation and kindred and tongue and people.

First Weiss missionary (David) and last Weiss missionary (Joseph).

(See: https://www.lds.org/training/wwlt/2013/hastening/special-broadcast.)

"There is a way for everyone … to participate in this great work. We can each find a way to use our own particular talents and interests in support of the great work of filling the world with light and truth." --President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Christ spake to his disciples in Jerusalem commanding them saying:  "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." (Matthew 28:19).

Sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ is truly a work of love:  our deep love for God and for all of God's children.  This love of God is spreading and will one day fill the whole earth.

Mark Weiss saying good-bye to Joseph as we leave him at the Provo Missionary Training Center June 2013.

Look On The Side That’s Bright-The Life of Henry Clegg, Jr.

"Look On The Side That’s Bright" - The Life of Henry Clegg, Jr.

Henry Clegg - My Hero

Bishop Henry Clegg is one of my heroes.  His life is evidenced deep faith, sensitivity, great love,  and kindness.  His musical talent has been passed onto many of his descendants.  He lived looking for goodness in all situations. He could be the poster child for the modern #share goodness.  

Henry Clegg wrote a poem that I have often enjoyed reading:

Look on the side that’s bright;

Let Hope your bosom swell;

All things will turn out right

So whisper:  “All is well”.

I have one 90 page book entitled “Oh, Henry” that has been written about the life of Henry Clegg, Jr.  by Noal C. Newbold in 1998.  At one time Clegg descendants produced a play about his life.  (Another more complete 261 page pdf  “From England to Utah” compiled by Chris Christiansen is available at the amazing Clegg Family History website:  ww.clegghistory.org.)

Below are a few of the more interesting details about Henry’s life.

Henry was 12 years old when Heber C. Kimball and other LDS missionaries from America arrived in Preston England with the message of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.  Tradition says Henry’s father (Henry Sr.) ran a race to the River Ribble in Preston to see who was to be the first baptized but lost the race to George D. Watt, a younger man.  (See Blog of August 2014- Deep Roots, Henry Clegg, Sr. and Ellen Cardwell.)

River Ribble in Preston, England

Pic of Preston England

Henry Clegg, Jr., was baptized at age thirteen by Joseph Fielding in Preston and was associated with the Church in Preston for eighteen years, meeting Brigham Young, Orson Hyde, Parley P. Pratt, John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, George A. Smith, and John E. Page.   (See: http://welshmormon.byu.edu/Resources/pdf/7512.pdf page 188.)

Henry was following the boot and clog making trade of his father in Lancashire, England.  He and his wife of eleven years, Hannah Eastman, were saving means for ten years to immigrate to Utah with their two sons.  

 Prior to leaving England, Henry had already suffered the loss of his oldest son, Thomas, who was accidently burned to death in 1853.

In March of 1855, the Rose Place Branch of Liverpool Conference, presented their Branch President, Henry Clegg, a “testimonial” before leaving for “Zion”.  (The original testimonial is in LDS Historical Archives.)  It begins:

Dearly Beloved President,

In presenting this testimonial to you, we feel that words are inadequate to convey those sentiments of esteem and regard that we have for you as a Brother, A Man of God and an Elder in Israel.” 

They also composed a three-stanza poem which reads in part:

“Farewell, dear Brother Henry, Till we all shall meet again;

And may Brigham’s God defend thee, Till Mount Zion thou doest gain,

Then may his spirit still attend, And be with thee until the end.”

The Clegg family sailed from Liverpool, England in the American steamship “Juventa” on March 31, 1855.

Ship manifest from Juventa says Henry was a “clockmaker” but it probably should have read “clogmaker”.

Juventa Ship Manifest

Liverpool, England to Philadelphia
7 May 1855

http://www.immigrantships.net/v4/1800v4/juventa18550507_01.html

145*

Henry       Cleg        29     M Clockmaker     England     US    3 Packages

146* Hannah      Cleg        36     F Wife           England     United States 

147* Israel      Cleg         5     M                England     United States 

148* Henry J.    Cleg           10m M                England     United States

Six weeks later they landed in Philadelpia.  They took a train to Pittsburgh and then a steamboat down the Ohio River to St. Louis.

In June, Hannah died of cholera and was buried at Mormon Grove (near Atchison, Kansas) along with her one year and 3 month old son, Henry James. (Some sources say he was 3 years old).

Henry Clegg, Jr. and his son 6 year old son, Israel, joined the Richard Ballantyne Company of 42 saints and 45 ox-drawn wagons.  They left 1 July 1855 and four months later arrived in Salt Lake Valley on September 25 1855.  Thirty year old Henry was greeted by a Welsh girl, Ann Lewis who eventually became his second wife.  They settled in the 19^th Ward in Salt Lake City.

There still exists a copy of a paper signed by Brigham Young giving Henry permission to be sealed to his third wife, Margaret Ann Griffiths. 

Signature of B. Young in the lower left quadrant.

Some sources say Brigham Young sealed them in the Endowment House.  Margaret Griffgiths was a young 17-year old immigrant girl who lost three members of her family in the early snows faced by the Martin Handcart Company in 1856.  Margaret was taken into the Clegg household while she was recovering from frostbite.

In 1859, Henry moved his family to Springville and then joined other men in Echo Canyon holding back the invasion of Johnston’s Army.  He decided to stay in Springville, UT where he became a leading citizen.  He was a fine musician and he played the dulcimer for dances.  His dulcimer can still be seen in the Provo Museum on 5^th West and 6^th North.  There are 3 surviving dulcimers that were built by Henry and his sons.  All were built out of wood from Big Cottonwood Canyon. The wire and pegs were brought from England.

Henry Clegg's Dulcimer in the Provo City Museum on 5th West 6th North.

Henry organized and directed a 60-voice choir in Springville.  Both of his wives were good singers and would sing with him when he gave lectures in nearby wards and towns.  He continued his shoemaking trade and managed to make one pair of shoes a year for each member of the family.

In 1872, Henry Jr. and his family moved on to Heber City in order to better provide opportunities for his sons.   

Sons of Henry Clegg, Jr.

In Heber, he homesteaded the southeastern portion of Heber and he farmed, raised stock, and worked a saw and shingle mill in Clegg’s Canyon.  The Clegg family also worked a rock quarry. 

Clegg Canyon near Heber City, Wasatch County, Utah.

Apparently there is a hiking trail up Clegg Canyon in Wasatch County.

Henry taught in a private school with 40 students that met in one of the lower rooms of the court building in 1882.  He was so popular that his classroom was full and he had to “refuse admission to seventeen who recently applied to him for instruction, having no room to accommodate them.”  (See article in Heber City paper, Feb 3, 1882)  as well as organized and directed the “Band of Hope”.   He would become an honored Bishop of the Heber City West (2^nd) Ward for many years.  He also served as stake clerk, Sunday School Superintendent, and in the Wasatch Stake High Council. 

Bishop Clegg wrote many poems and hymns. His Christmas Hymn was published in the Springville, UT Telegraph and can be found at the Clegg Family site (www.clegghistory.org).   

Henry Clegg was an expert mathematician and helped with surveying the canals in Heber Valley.  (While searching for other family members we found the documents for the transfer of property in Strawberry Reservoir area in the Duschene County records before the Wasatch County was formed.)  He was part of the director of the Lake Creek Irrigation in 1888.   He was Justice of the Peace for a number of terms.  In 1884 he was an officer of the Heber Dramatic Combination.

Later he worked the mercantile trade and ran the store on Center Street that also helped support his wives after his death.  Elsie Clegg Condie wrote,  “Tenderhearted Henry Clegg, Jr. never killed a living creature.  He hired his pigs butchered and stayed away from home until they were dressed.”

Henry Clegg died at the age of 69 years on 30 August 1894 of a heart attack while working in the store.  He left two widows, Anne Lewis Clegg and Margaret Griffiths Clegg to provide for the family.  His funeral was noted in the local paper with “A Good Man has Gone.  The people universally mourn his loss.  The Stake House was profusely draped.  The longest funeral Procession ever held in the County.”  (See the article at the

There were 12 pall bearers carrying the casket from the Clegg home to the Stake Tabernacle.  The Tabernacle was still draped for the mourning of the death of President Garfield who was assassinated in July.  There were 120 teams in the procession to Heber City Cemetery.  (Wasatch Wave, 4 Sept. 1894).

Clegg headstone in Heber City, Utah Cemetery. Many of our ancestors are buried here. We would do "grave rubbings" of Henry's headstone when we visited the cemetery.

Henry Clegg, Jr. and his wives Ann Lewis and Margaret Griffiths are buried together in the Heber City, Utah Cemetery. There is a tall monument with the west facing side having the inscription:

IN MEMORY OF

HENRY

CLEGG

BORN

JUNE 7, 1825

BAMBER BRIDGE

WALTON LE DALE

LANCASHIRE. ENG.

DIED

AUG. 30. 1894

The base of the monument is inscribed with:

CLEGG

A loving husband a father dear

A faithful friend he has been here

He lived in love he died in peace

We hope his joys will never cease

Inscription on Henry Clegg headstone in Heber City Cemetery.

The North facing side is inscribed for Ann Lewis Clegg, and the Southside is inscribed for Margaret Griffith Clegg. Their graves are in front of the monument, with Henry in the middle, Ann to the North and Margaret to the South.

Clegg Family Headstone in Heber City, Utah.

Another interesting fact was that the old Clegg home was used from 1920-1925 for LDS Seminary classes.  When the old Clegg home was torn down, the materials were used to build the Seminary Building. Today the location where the old home once stood (next to the old Heber High School) is a City park.


Widowed Margaret Griffiths Clegg lived at 100 West and 300 South until her death in 1929.  This "newer" home is still standing on the northwest corner.

Clegg home in Heber City, UT today.

Here is the entire poem about “Look on the Side That’s Bright”:

I like to think that these might have once been lyrics to a hymn that Henry sang with his two wives:

Look on the side that’s bright;

Let Hope your bosom swell;

All things will turn out right

So whisper:  “All is well”.

Suppose the times are hard,

‘tis useless to look sad.

It can no help afford

And invites the sad..

If troubles fill your breast-

They also come to me;

It may be for the best,

That grief at times we see.

If we the bitter taste

We more enjoy the sweet,

And oft’ from dregs of waste,

Spring joys that are complete.

Seas are not always still

Oft’ angry billows roll,

And test the sailor’s skill

His vessel to control.

Our hearts can find relief

Our burdens be made light

If we in facing grief

Look on the side that’s bright.

And so Henry Clegg, Jr. lived, looking on the side that’s bright.

It seems that Henry’s motto was similar to that of a modern prophet, Gordon B. Hinckley:

“It isn't as bad as you sometimes think it is. It all works out. Don't worry. I say that to myself every morning. It all works out in the end. Put your trust in God, and move forward with faith and confidence in the future. The Lord will not forsake us. He will not forsake us. If we will put our trust in Him, if we will pray to Him, if we will live worthy of His blessings, He will hear our prayers.”
― Gordon B. Hinckley

May we “sing” with our most honorable ancestor, Henry Clegg:

Look on the side that’s bright;

Let Hope your bosom swell;

All things will turn out right

So whisper:  “All is well”.

Mormon Grove Cemetery and “The Finisher”-Henry Clegg, Jr.

Mormon Grove Cemetery and “The Finisher”-Henry Clegg, Jr. 

Historical Marker near Atchison, Kansas.

Near Atchison, Kansas there is a Kansas State Historical Marker marking a city that disappeared: Mormon Grove.

In 1855, many Mormon pioneers from England were hit with a cholera epidemic which killed hundreds.  Among them were two of our Clegg family members.

Henry Clegg’s wife (Hannah Eastman) and third son (Henry James) are buried in what was simply called “The Saints Graveyard”  by Henry in his journal.

The cemetery at Mormon Grove contains about 50 unmarked graves, mostly cholera victims from 1853 and 1855.  http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&CRid=2184780

Here is a little background about “Mormon Grove” from the “Legends of Kansas” website.

http://www.legendsofkansas.com/atchisoncountyextincttowns2.html

Mormon Grove - When thousands of Mormons were moving westward to the great Salt Lake Valley between 1848 and the completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869, they developed several points of departure along the Missouri River. Mormon Grove was but one of the many outfitting stations utilized by the Mormons. Located about four miles west of Atchison in a grove of young hickory trees, the grove became an important rallying point in 1855-56. The first large group of Mormons debarked the river boats in Atchison in April, 1855 and moved westward to Mormon Grove. There, they immediately began to fence 160 acres and planted crops. The site, at the head of Deer Creek, also served as an excellent camping place with water, wood, and range for stock. Like the other Mormon camps along the Missouri River, it was close enough to the port city so the Mormons could easily purchase supplies. The temporary village also had a small cemetery and a couple of permanent structures, but most residents lived in tents, covered wagons, or make-shift dwellings.

 

In 1855 eight companies, totaling 2,041 people and 337 wagons, left Mormon Grove for the Salt Lake Valley. Their route across Kansas appears to have been northwest on the "New Ft. Laramie Road" to the vicinity of Kennekuk, and then continuing on the "Old Ft. Laramie Road" as established by Major Wharton in 1844 to the head of Walnut Creek in present Brown County. Unfortunately, for those many pioneers, they were also hit with a cholera epidemic that year, which killed hundreds of them along the way. About 15 people were left at Mormon Grove to await the next year’s immigrants.

===

Hannah Eastman Clegg was the first first wife of 29 year old Henry Clegg, Jr.   She died in “Mormon Grove” 6 days after contracting cholera.  Their infant son, Henry James, also died of cholera the day after his mother and is buried near his mother.    


Henry Clegg, Jr. and his 6 year old son, Israel, survived the cholera epidemic and made their way to Utah as part of the Richard Ballantyne Company on September 25, 1855.  
(http://history.lds.org/overlandtravels/trailExcerptMulti?lang=eng&companyId=59&sourceId=4807) 

Richard Ballantyne.  Henry Clegg was 30 years old when he came to Utah in 1855 with the Richard Ballantyne Company.

Below are selected excerpts from “An Account of the Voyage from Liverpool to Great Salt Lake”, a journal kept by Henry Clegg, Jr. kept in 1855.  

 (A complete copy of Henry Clegg, Jr.’s journal is found here:  http://mormonmigration.lib.byu.edu/Search/showDetails/db:MM_MII/t:account/id:769 and here:  http://history.lds.org/overlandtravels/trailExcerptMulti?lang=eng&companyId=59&sourceId=4807)

Saturday, May 26, 1855

My wife (Hannah Eastman Clegg) still worse (who became sick from cholera on May 22).  Henry James (age 3) and Israel (age 6) took it also.

Sunday, May 27, 1855

Arrived at the Camp Ground at 11:o’clock in the forenoon.

Monday, May 28, 1855

My dear wife died at ½ past 4 o’clock in the afternoon.

Tuesday, May 29, 1855

My wife buried at Atchison at 11 o’clock in the saints grave yard next to Amelia Mercer on the north side X forward.

In the afternoon my lovely son, Henry James Clegg, died at 6 o’clock.  I buried him that same night next to his dear mother.  Went forward to the camp, 5 miles, very wet night.  I was very tired and ready to die with fatigue.

Wednesday, May 30, 1855

Israel well, but I went worse and worse and worse.  For several days I was brought to death’s door.  I cannot describe my situation nor the hardships I endured.  Must be felt to be known.

Henry Clegg, Jr. made no entry for 8 days, but a special occasion prompted him to write on June 7^th.

Thursday, June 7, 1855

Being my birthday I am now 30 years of age.  This afternoon I took a change and began to mend fast.

June 9, 1855

Still Moving. 

Sunday, June 10, 1855

Felt considerably worse and low spirited.

Monday, June 11, 1855

Still sickly.  Given to fret overmuch after my dear wife and child who had gone and left me along by myself.

June 12

A little better.  Walked out a little.

June 13

A great deal better.  Increasing in strength and spirits.

\

Henry Clegg, Jr.

Henry's journal entry dated June 9, 1855,  “Still moving” has always had a great impact on me and many other Clegg descendants. In LDS General Conference of 2004 Gayle M. Clegg spoke of Henry’s difficult challenges:

Why do any of us finish a hard task, especially if no one demands its completion?

My husband’s great-grandfather Henry Clegg Jr. was a finisher. He joined the Church with his family when the first LDS missionaries went to Preston, England. Henry had a view of his destination in his mind as he and his wife, Hannah, and their two young boys immigrated to Utah. Henry left his older parents, who were too feeble to make such a long and arduous journey, knowing he would never see them again.

While crossing the plains, Hannah contracted cholera and died. She was laid to rest in an unmarked grave. The company then moved on, and at six in the evening, Henry’s youngest son also died. Henry retraced his steps to Hannah’s grave, placed his young son in his wife’s arms, and reburied the two of them together. Henry then had to return to the wagon train, now five miles away.

Suffering from cholera himself, Henry described his condition as being at death’s door while realizing he still had a thousand miles to walk. Amazingly he continued forward, putting one foot in front of the other. He stopped writing in his journal for several weeks after losing his dear Hannah and little son. I was struck with the words he used when he did start writing again: “Still moving.”

When he finally reached the gathering place of the Saints, he began a new family. He kept the faith. He continued his story. Most remarkably, his heartache over the burial of his sweetheart and son gave birth to our family’s legacy of moving forward, of finishing.

I have often wondered as I have heard pioneer stories like the one of Henry Clegg, “Could I ever do that?”

(See entire text at https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2004/04/the-finished-story?lang=eng)

Henry and Hannah Clegg are among the honored pioneers that have blessed my life.

I am forever indebted to them for their faithfulness in choosing to accept and sacrifice for the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ.

I want to be a “Finisher” like Henry Clegg, Jr.