Today I’d like to talk a little about pioneers and about why I believe they matter. Why, in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, do we revere, sing about, and discuss pioneers so much? Why do we dwell so much on their suffering and faith?
In a global church where surely most members can’t claim early Latter-day Saint pioneer ancestry, what purpose does this serve?
Numerous answers on this topic have come to me over the years,
Elder L. Tom Perry said “When we celebrate, we remember. . . . As members of this glorious church, we share a rich heritage. We literally stand on the shoulders of the giants of faith, vision, and spirit who preceded us.”1
Embracing the restored gospel resulted in a complete change of life for the early Saints. They left everything behind, for good—their homes, their businesses, their farms, their countries, and family members—to trek across a wilderness to a “vast desert wasteland, barren of green hills, trees, and beautiful meadows which most of those early pioneers had known.”2
With firm faith in God and their leaders, many weary pioneers, after trekking across the country, had just started to enjoy some of the modest comforts of life in the Salt Lake Valley when Brigham Young called them to leave their homes again and journey to settle areas all up and down the Rockies from Canada to Mexico, including good ol’ Rexburg, Idaho.
An ancestor of mine on my dad’s side, Christopher Layton—who had also participated in the long Mormon Battalion march to California—was one of the pioneers sent to establish new settlements in Nevada, Arizona, and Utah. As I’ve read his history, I am in awe at his faith and obedience. It seemed that each time he approached finishing an assignment, like building a large, two-story trading post, a home and large cattle ranch, or vast fruit orchards, he’d get called to leave and do it all over again somewhere else. From the records we have, it looks like he always accepted the new assignments with little complaint or protest.
My mother is a first-generation member of the Church and also a pioneer I honor. She joined the Church as an adult in Europe. Her mother would eventually join the Church, but her father never did in this life. He did, however, instill in my mother an inquisitive mind and a loyalty to her convictions. Her life is an example to her family of studying the gospel meticulously, and of following the prophet. She is a pioneer who is leaving a legacy of faith for her posterity to follow. In fact, she’s leaving a 20-volume (and counting) legacy of personal and family journals, chronicling her faith-filled journey in life.
As a convert with no Latter-day Saint pioneer ancestors, how does she connect with the faith of those early pioneers? Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf similarly has no Latter-day Saint ancestry and responded to this question by saying “None were among those who lived in Nauvoo or Winter Quarters, and none made the journey across the plains. But as a member of the Church, I claim with gratitude and pride this pioneer legacy as my own.”3
In this week’s devotional discussion board, I asked students to share examples of spiritual pioneers in their lives, and how they were influenced by these pioneers.
Toualy Camille Dezo shared this great example:
"Our own pioneer is my father. It is because of him that we have known the restored gospel. By his rigor and his example, the whole family is a member of the Church. We have all been and are blessed with this gospel. We are all married, endowed, and sealed in the holy temple in Accra, Ghana. We live happily with our families and the whole big family is united."
Mandalyn Rich shared:
"Looking back on our history has always given me strength. I know that because my ancestors were able to accomplish all they did under extreme situations, I too can overcome what I need to overcome. I think that sometimes we in today’s church take for granted what the efforts of the pioneers did for us."
These examples, and many more shared in the discussion board, emphasize the great impact that pioneers can have on our lives and the potential impact each one of us can have on our future families and those around us.
The scriptures are also full of accounts of early, faithful pioneers whose stories and experiences we are commanded to read and remember.
In fact, on the title page of the Book of Mormon, we read about its purpose, which is “to show unto the remnant of the house of Israel what great things the Lord hath done for their fathers; and that they may know the covenants of the Lord, that they are not cast off forever—And also to the convincing of the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God, manifesting himself unto all nations.”
The Israelites, too, were commanded to remember their history and pioneers. The Lord delivered them from bondage to the Egyptians. He parted the Red Sea and led them through the desert. He provided them with manna when they were hungry. And when they seemed to forget so quickly how He had delivered them time and time again, he said in Deuteronomy 4:9, “Keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons’ sons.”
He commanded them to rehearse and remember the miracles they had witnessed through celebrations like the Passover. The ancient Jewish holidays serve to strengthen their religious faith and help us all remember the Lord’s promises and blessings to His covenant people.
Similarly, I love the emphasis and encouragement that I heard from general conference last month to make Easter—and the many Christian traditions surrounding it—a much bigger part of my life. These traditions are designed to help us remember the critical events surrounding the Atonement.
So, how does remembering the Lord’s hand in the lives of the early Saints and latter-day pioneers help us?
I think it is because the pioneers had a way of facing the unknown future with seemingly unwavering faith!
I say “seemingly unwavering” because I think their faith must have waivered a lot at times, and yet they pressed forward with commitment and determination to help establish Zion.
Former United States president Ronald Reagan has been quoted as saying, “I do not want to go back to the past; I want to go back to the past way of facing the future.”4
We can learn a lot from how the pioneers faced the unknown future.
Many months ago, a colleague of mine commented that she had just learned the term “cowboy up!” with its definition, which is basically:
- Don’t give up when things get tough.
- You are stronger than you think you are.
- Believe in your ability to bounce back!
- Don’t complain that things are hard. Embrace the challenge!
She said that cowboys and pioneers have a lot in common. They both find ways to succeed despite the odds. They are innovative, optimistic, and creative.
Then she suggested that a parallel term to “cowboy up!” could be “pioneer up!”
As President Clark G. Gilbert was preparing to leave BYU-Idaho in 2017, he delivered a devotional message entitled “Preserving a Pioneer’s Heart”5 and described four pioneer-like characteristics that members of the BYU-Idaho community ought to embrace as we go through life:
- A spirit of frugality. The innovation, flexibility, and deep reliance on the Lord—which are required to accomplish His work—are generated as we embrace a spirit of frugality.
- A spirit of faith and optimism amid intense change and uncertainty. The Lord does His work on the frontier, so if we stay unchanged—in “safe territory”—we will not be able to fully engage in the Lord’s work. Seize opportunities to go to the frontier.
- A spirit of longing for prophetic direction. The world’s pioneers often came to the frontier for adventure, wealth, or ambition, but the Lord’s pioneers have always sought to do the Lord’s will and move forward under the direction of a prophet.
- A spirit of sacrifice. What sacrifice means is different for all of us, and only you and the Lord know how you are sacrificing. We and our families will be blessed as we sacrifice in the work of the Lord.
According to President Gilbert, having a pioneer’s heart will enable us to actively participate in the gathering, similar to the way a pioneer’s heart enabled the Lord to gather His Saints in the early days of the Church.
Being a university student is—by its very nature—like living on the frontier with lots of uncertainty, change, learning, and growth. You may be uncertain about some of the following:
- Grades
- Serving a mission
- Relationships (or the lack thereof)
- Major and career choices
- Your testimony
- Where to live
- How you’ll pay for it all
- Problems at home
- When, or whether or not, to start a family
- How best to defend your faith amid growing opposition
- And more!
You might, at times, be tempted to despair, or complain that no one else is experiencing exactly what you are experiencing.
In one way, that’s correct. We are all pioneers of our own lives. No one has lived your life, faced your set of challenges, been dealt your exact hand, or been given your exact opportunities. You are the first! In the words of the old American Gospel classic, “Nobody knows the troubles [you’ve] seen. Nobody knows but Jesus.”6
In other ways, however, like pioneers, you are treading on the same, very well-worn tracks as many, many before us—facing the same exciting (and equally daunting) decisions about career, marriage, and family. You are also facing many of the same temptations, illnesses, and weaknesses that come with being mortal. Facing the same challenges to your testimony that others before you have faced.
If you find yourself anxious about the realities of frontier life, I hope you’ll gain some comfort from knowing that others have successfully and faithfully blazed a similar trail.
I have been there, and many of the older adults in this large auditorium have been somewhere very similar, and through a similar college experience—with all of its stresses about relationships, grades, finances, and jobs.
Many older adults in this auditorium can probably relate somewhat to the experience I had of coming back to Rexburg and BYU-Idaho after 23 years. Oh sure, the school now had a new name, but there were the very same apartments I used to live in way back in my day, possibly even with the same furniture, and the same kitchen cabinets with embedded BBs, but hopefully not the same carpet. Some things have oddly not changed one bit since I was here way back when.
Please don’t misunderstand, I don’t say this to minimize your real challenges—I have my Ricks College journal to prove how challenging I felt some things were back then! But instead, I say this to emphasize that pioneers, and the many faithful souls who have gone before us, show us that we too can take courage and work through tough things and life’s many challenges.
More importantly, I hope you’ll understand that we’ve had to turn to the Lord—in full faith—many times in our lives and by doing so we found the strength to push forward in a spirit of frugality, faith, optimism, obedience, and sacrifice. In other words, we’ve learned (and need to keep learning) to “pioneer up!”
Perhaps, nowhere is it more important to “pioneer up!” than in matters related to keeping our baptismal and temple covenants. On our pioneer journey through life, we face endless and enticing off-ramps from the straight and narrow way. This happened both literally and figuratively to some pioneers too.
Elder James E. Faust related the following:
"In the difficult days of their journey, the members of the Martin and Willie handcart companies encountered some apostates from the Church who were returning from the West, going back to the East. These apostates tried to persuade some in the companies to turn back. A few did turn back. But the great majority of the pioneers went forward to a heroic achievement in this life, and to eternal life in the life hereafter."
Nephi’s account of his father Lehi’s vision describes the journey and challenges of our day very well. In 1 Nephi 8, we read:
"And I beheld a rod of iron, and it extended along the bank of the river, and led to the tree by which I stood.
And I also beheld a strait and narrow path, which came along by the rod of iron, even to the tree by which I stood . . .
And I saw numberless concourses of people, many of whom were pressing forward, that they might obtain the path which led unto the tree by which I stood.
And it came to pass that they did come forth, and commence in the path which led to the tree."7
Lehi goes on to describe mists of darkness and people in a great and spacious building mocking and pointing their fingers toward those on the path and at the tree. This caused some to wander off into strange roads and get lost or drowned.
But Lehi also describes:
"Other multitudes pressing forward; and they came and caught hold of the end of the rod of iron; and they did press their way forward, continually holding fast to the rod of iron, until they came forth and fell down and partook of the fruit of the tree."8
I love what Lehi says next about this group’s reaction to the world’s scoffing and scorn: “but we heeded them not.”9
The pioneers before us fixed their sights on Zion, both literally, in the Salt Lake Valley, and figuratively, following the prophets and dwelling in righteousness with the Saints in one heart and in one mind.
We too must decide now (and repeatedly) to “pioneer up!” and fix our sights on Zion, literally, wherever in the world we settle with the Saints, and figuratively. Decide now to be active, faithful participants in Zion—followers of Christ who cling to their covenants and hold fast to the scriptures and words of the Lord’s living prophets.
Strait is the gate, [Jesus taught in the sermon on the mount] and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.10
Jesus also taught that “wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat.”11
I think we learn here that we should not be surprised when some—even close friends or family—exercise their agency to leave the narrow, covenant path. But like Brother Eric Embree taught us powerfully last week, we can be lifeguards to those within our sphere of influence. We can watch for the real signs of drowning and reach out early to help struggling roommates, friends, or family. They may just need to lean on us and our faith for a spell as they lay hold again to the iron rod. Whether or not they choose to accept our outstretched hands, we must respect their agency and love them as Christ does.
A final thought that came to me as I prepared this message is the debt of gratitude we owe the pioneers in our lives—be they our parents, friends, relatives, or the early Saints—for their faith and faithfulness.
I share this not to guilt-trip anyone into a life of shallow discipleship, but as I contemplate the lives of my good parents who are with me here today on the stand and the lives of the many Saints and prophets before me—some of whom sealed their testimonies with their lives—I feel some level of obligation to honor that sacrifice, to be true to that faith, to not be the one to break the chain of faithfulness they pioneered. In times of doubt or confusion, I can and must face my own challenges with the same faith and commitment they exhibited.
I want my posterity to know I didn’t understand it all. I have felt the lure of the great and spacious building. I have felt opposition and experienced the condescending judgement of the world. I had opportunities to walk away. I have momentarily loosened my grip on (or let go of) the iron rod at times in my life. I have also used the Savior’s loving Atonement many times to return to the iron rod and the narrow way.
I also want my posterity to know I walk in faith, not having all the answers. I walk knowing that this same covenant path—with the same or similar decisions—has been walked by many Saints and pioneers before me. I walk knowing I, too, can choose to stay faithful. I walk knowing that I have loving Heavenly Parents and that I don’t walk alone.
"True to the faith that our parents have cherished,
True to the truth for which martyrs have perished,
To God's command,
Soul, heart, and hand,
Faithful and true we will ever stand."12
May the Saints in some future date sing this song with us in mind—and revere and acknowledge our journey of faith and commitment to the covenant path. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Notes
- L. Tom Perry, “A Meaningful Celebration,” Ensign, Nov. 1987, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/1987/11/a-meaningful-celebration.
- L. Tom Perry, “The Past Way of Facing the Future,” Ensign, Nov. 2009, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2009/11/the-past-way-of-facing-the-future.
- Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “Faith of Our Father,” Ensign, May 2008, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2008/05/faith-of-our-father.
- Quoted in George F. Will, “One Man’s America,” Cato Policy Report, Sept.–Oct. 2008, 11.
- Clark G. Gilbert, “Preserving the Pioneer’s Heart,” BYU-Idaho Devotional, Mar. 28, 2017, https://www.byui.edu/devotionals/president-clark-g-gilbert-final-devotional-winter-2017.
- Louis Armstrong, “Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen,” track A on Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen / Down By the Riverside, Brunswick, 1966.
- 1 Nephi 8:19–22.
- 1 Nephi 8:30.
- 1 Nephi 8:33.
- Matthew 7:14.
- Matthew 7:13.
- “True to the Faith,” Hymns, no. 254.