Some Latter-day Saints have pioneer ancestors going back almost 200 years. Other Church members are themselves the pioneers in their families. In the weeks surrounding Pioneer Day July 24 — the annual celebration of the first wagon company entering the Salt Lake Valley — Church News staff members share stories of pioneers in their families, some from the 1800s and some from the 1900s. This is the 13th in the series.
Speaking in general conference in April 2014, Elder William R. Walker, General Authority Seventy, said, “It would be a wonderful thing if every Latter-day Saint knew the conversion stories of their forefathers.”
“Each of us will be greatly blessed if we know the stories of faith and sacrifice that led our forefathers to join the Lord’s Church,” said Elder Walker, now an emeritus general authority.
His words motivated me to log onto FamilySearch.org, where I learned about my “tiny, energetic, kindly” third-great-grandmother Laura Ingeman Mickelsen.
Born in Trondheim, Norway, in 1844, multiple life histories report that Laura’s mother died during childbirth when Laura was 9 years old. Her father, a sailor, drowned at sea a few years later, leaving Laura and her four siblings orphans.
Laura was a teenager when she met missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Many in the community turned the elders away, but Laura listened to their message, read the Book of Mormon in secret and was baptized by age 17.
It was not a popular decision. Laura was ridiculed and then arrested by town authorities for joining this new church. She was taken before the local magistrate to testify on her own behalf. After hearing her story, the judge released her, and she immigrated with other converts to America.
Laura crossed the Plains and settled in Logan, Utah, where she eventually married Niels Mickelsen in 1862. Along with raising a large family, she served as a counselor and president of the Logan 4th Ward Relief Society for many years, delivering babies, caring for the sick and needy, and providing charitable service to others. She died in 1934.
Laura endured many hardships and trials, but her life is a powerful example to me of finding faith, hope, courage and strength in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
