The memory of the 1847 pioneers is "a bright and shining light to all who have been touched by it," Elder Alexander B. Morrison of the Seventy said July 24 at a sunrise service in the Salt Lake Tabernacle.
Elder Morrison, a member of the Utah North Area presidency, was the featured speaker at the service, part of the annual Days of '47 celebration and sponsored by the Pioneer Chapter, Sons of Utah Pioneers. The Jay Welch Chorale performed musical selections, and members of the Mormon Battalion presented a flag ceremony and led the pledge of allegiance under the direction of Col. Paul Madsen.In his address, Elder Morrison summarized pioneer history, including the exodus from Nauvoo, preparations at Winter Quarters, Neb., and Kanesville, Iowa; the 111-day trek ending July 24, 1847, at the Salt Lake Valley, and the later handcart treks to the LDS settlement in the Great Basin.
"To approximately 80,000 Mormon pioneers who came from many nations and traveled across western America to these valleys by wagon or on foot before the advent in 1869 of the railroad, and to the thousands who followed afterward, the gathering of the Saints was considered a literal fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy, `The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose,' (Isa. 35:1.)" Elder Morrison remarked.
"Historians estimate that perhaps 6,000 of the pioneers died before entering the valley, many to be buried in unmarked graves. As challenging as the journey across the plains was, however, the lasting contribution of the pioneers lies not in what they did in getting here, not in the immense order and planning that went into their efforts, not even in how much they suffered in their exodus, but in something much more fundamental. It lies in the character of the participants of this great odyssey, in their motivations, in their hearts. There it is, in the very souls of the pioneers, that we discover the source of the legacy they left for those of future generations. Because that legacy is based upon timeless eternal values - love of God and freedom, perseverance, faith, the dream of a better tomorrow which transcends the grim realities of today, it will endure forever."
Elder Morrison quoted the account of Patience Loader, a 29-year-old woman, who, along with her parents, three sisters and two brothers-in-law, immigrated to America from England in February 1856. Her father died along the trail.
She recounted making "bone soup" one morning for breakfast from a bone that had been picked the night before. Half a small biscuit was divided into portions so the family could have a piece three times a day.
" `This we ate with thankful hearts, and we always asked God to bless it to our use and that it would strengthen our bodies day by day so that we could perform our duties,' " she wrote.
" `I can truthfully say that we never felt to murmur at the hardships we was passing through. I can say we put our trust in God and He heard and answered our prayers and brought us through to the valleys,' " she recounted.
To illustrate family love and concern among the pioneers, Elder Morrison read another of her accounts that occurred when they were with the Martin Handcart Company in Wyoming on the way to the Salt Lake Valley.
One morning the mother asked each daughter in turn to get up and make a fire. Each said she was not feeling well and could not get up.
" With this, mother says, "Come girls, this will not do! I believe I will have to dance to you and try to make you feel better." Poor, dear mother. She started to sing and dance to us, and she slipped down as the snow was frozen, and in a moment we was all up to help our dear mother up, for we was afraid she was hurt. She laughed and said,I thought I could soon make you all jump up if I danced to you.' Then we found that she fell down purposely, for she knew we would all get up to see if she was hurt. She said she was afraid her girls was going to give out and get discouraged, and she said that would never do to give up.' "
Elder Morrison said love and compassion extended beyond the family circle in pioneer society.
"The pioneers shared in each others' joys and sorrows. They wept and rejoiced together, sharing both the good and the bad of life. Theirs was a brotherhood and sisterhood, a sense of community which transcended ethnicity, age or their mutual trials and suffering. "In our world of transient relationships and over-concern about self to the exclusion of others, we would do well to learn from the pioneers' noble examples." Elder Morrison explained there is more to the pioneer odyssey then suffering. "Above all else, that which sustained the pioneers on their journey to the valley was the sense that they were going to Zion, that they had been gleaned out of the nations of the earth to come here for a holy purpose, to build the city of God."
