A Belated Pioneer Day I Will Never Forget
In the Mormon faith, an important holiday is "Pioneer Day" the 24th of July - the day we celebrate the pioneer's arrival into the Salt Lake Valley, in 1847. Every year we celebrate the faith, strength, testimony, endurance, grit and spirit of the pioneers who made this epic crossing of the great American plains in search of a place where they could live their faith without persecution. The pioneers remain a great source of inspiration for all Latter-day Saints.
This year the "24th of July" was a little different for us. It was a regular day of missionary work. We started the day with a group of missionaries, singing the beloved hymn "Come, Come Ye Saints". Then we pressed forward in our work with appreciation in our hearts for what their sacrifice had made possible...for us and so many of our faith throughout the world.
But our real celebration of "Pioneer Day" came one day later for us - on the 25th of July. That day Lindsay and I went out to do missionary work with two of our elders, Elder Torres and Elder Cordon. One of our visits was to two recent converts to the LDS faith. These two gentlemen, probably in their 50's, had joined the church just 3 months ago. They were roommates in a very humble rented room. We stopped by to teach, encourage and pray with them. Both gentlemen were in the midst of difficult trials. One gentlemen, (who incidentally looked just like a modern-day Moses) had contracted a very serious infection in his feet and narrowly escaped amputation of his feet. The other gentlemen's wife had left him a year ago. He himself also had recently been in the hospital but his wife did not even come to visit him. He cried and said how sad he was that she had not visited him.
The Elders listened, shared a scripture with them about how there is "opposition in all things", expressed love and gave encouragement. Then Elder Cordon told about the trials of the Mormon Pioneers and suggested that we all sing the hymn "Come, Come Ye Saints" together. There we were, a little group of 6 fellow saints, sitting on the edges of their two beds in that small room and we sang all the verses of that hymn together. We felt united not only with each other, but with the early pioneers out on the plains. Lindsay and I were, in fact, with latter-day pioneers. You see, Elder Torres, from Mexico, is the only member of the church in his family, and is truly a pioneer in his family. And these two faithful gentlemen we were visiting are pioneers as well. It was inspiring to hear the faith of the one who looked like "Moses". His comments were full of absolute gratitude for the blessings he had, as well as undeniable faith and trust in Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. We were filled with love and peace at the privilege of sharing these moments together.
Our visit ended with a sweet, heartfelt prayer and, of course, the customary Mexican good-bye between the men, un abrazo. We all felt encouraged to press on! Indeed, the Pioneer Spirit lives today! "All is well! All is well!"
This year the "24th of July" was a little different for us. It was a regular day of missionary work. We started the day with a group of missionaries, singing the beloved hymn "Come, Come Ye Saints". Then we pressed forward in our work with appreciation in our hearts for what their sacrifice had made possible...for us and so many of our faith throughout the world.
But our real celebration of "Pioneer Day" came one day later for us - on the 25th of July. That day Lindsay and I went out to do missionary work with two of our elders, Elder Torres and Elder Cordon. One of our visits was to two recent converts to the LDS faith. These two gentlemen, probably in their 50's, had joined the church just 3 months ago. They were roommates in a very humble rented room. We stopped by to teach, encourage and pray with them. Both gentlemen were in the midst of difficult trials. One gentlemen, (who incidentally looked just like a modern-day Moses) had contracted a very serious infection in his feet and narrowly escaped amputation of his feet. The other gentlemen's wife had left him a year ago. He himself also had recently been in the hospital but his wife did not even come to visit him. He cried and said how sad he was that she had not visited him.
The Elders listened, shared a scripture with them about how there is "opposition in all things", expressed love and gave encouragement. Then Elder Cordon told about the trials of the Mormon Pioneers and suggested that we all sing the hymn "Come, Come Ye Saints" together. There we were, a little group of 6 fellow saints, sitting on the edges of their two beds in that small room and we sang all the verses of that hymn together. We felt united not only with each other, but with the early pioneers out on the plains. Lindsay and I were, in fact, with latter-day pioneers. You see, Elder Torres, from Mexico, is the only member of the church in his family, and is truly a pioneer in his family. And these two faithful gentlemen we were visiting are pioneers as well. It was inspiring to hear the faith of the one who looked like "Moses". His comments were full of absolute gratitude for the blessings he had, as well as undeniable faith and trust in Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. We were filled with love and peace at the privilege of sharing these moments together.
Our visit ended with a sweet, heartfelt prayer and, of course, the customary Mexican good-bye between the men, un abrazo. We all felt encouraged to press on! Indeed, the Pioneer Spirit lives today! "All is well! All is well!"
Comments
Post a Comment