Pionner Day

To most people, July 24th is just like every other day, however, to me it is a day to remember the sacrifices made by the early pioneers of this church. This past week our family was able to celebrate Pioneer Day by making fig newton, marshmallow covered wagons. Though it is a silly activity, we hope it will be something fun for our kids to grow doing to help remember this special day.

As Christopher Columbus made the voyage to the Americas and the pilgrims followed so long ago, we saw how important it was for people then to have their freedom and the right to practice their religious beliefs. This desire never died as we continue to travel forward in time and Jospeh Smith restored Christ's church to the earth. These early members desired to practice their beliefs but faced much persecution for it.

Early saints were forced from their homes moving from one place to another until they reached Nauvoo, Illinois. It was not the most desirable place to build a community, nevertheless, a place where early members of the Church of Jesus Christ believed they would be able to live in peace with the gospel being a part of their lives. Unfortunately, this was not the case and they made one more trek, the longest of all, westward until they reached the Great Salt Lake 161 years ago in Utah, which is now the church's headquarters.

My family was able to take a vacation a couple years ago and visit many church sites, one being Nauvoo, Illinois. This was such a special experience for me as my testimony and gratitude for these people grew so much. When they arrived there it was a swampy, ugly place, but they turned it into a beautiful city and built a temple to the Lord there. It took a lot of hard work and today many buildings still stand.

It is amazing to see their dedication put forth to build this city and their faith to leave it all, not even knowing where they would end up. The Nauvoo Temple is, in my opinion, the most beautiful. For these people to sacrifice so much to build it and then leave it, near complete, must have been so difficult. Two years after the saints left Nauvoo it was burned and left as rubble by a tornado two years after that. In April 1999 President Gordon B. Hinkley announced a replica of this beautiful temple would be re-built in the same spot. I am so grateful that decision was made so that I could visit this monument which stands as a symbol of their true love of God, Jesus Christ and everything else this gospel stands for. Nauvoo is a special place and the spirit resides so strong there, it was an amazing place to visit and remember my heritage.