Doctrine & Covenants Lesson # 34
“Faith in
Every Footstep”
Introduction
Not having any pioneer ancestors myself, other than a
remote Scottish female cousin who made it to the States in the 1800s, I look at
the westward migration of the Saints as a miracle for which I am grateful. As
we all do I am sure. But I don’t feel any particular ties. My service mission
has me on net meetings several times a week and it is interesting to hear some
of them use online resources to find out just how they are related, not only to
pioneer ancestors, but to each other. That being said, nothing diminishes their
sacrifice for all of us who enjoy the fellowship of the Saints in these latter
days.
Sara left us with a challenge to read the Book of Mormon with
a specific topic in mind, keeping a journal of what our impressions are from
the scriptures we marked as we went through. I checked with Sara to see where
the specific instructions were and she said it was in most of his books, but
specifically Increase in Learning.
I’d like to ask you to read the additional material for
this lesson which is posted at the end of this blog entry. There is a lot, so
pick what you want, but for me it gave me a scope of reference for how the Lord
sustained, comforted, and inspired that first journey from Winter Quarters to
Utah in 1847. Apart from anything else there is some beautiful artwork
featured.
One of the quotes in the additional material mentioned a hagira
which I had to look up—this is the Islamic equivalent of the Exodus. Hagira is
what Mohammed did. Exodus is, of course Moses and the children of Israel, but
without the capital letter they both refer to a mass evacuation, often to
escape persecution. One can look on both Lehi’s and the Jaredites’ journey to
the New World as an exodus.
1. The Lord instructed the Saints regarding their
physical preparations for their journey.
In 1846, when the Saints were forced to flee Nauvoo, Brigham
tried to put into practice what he had learned from Joseph’s administration of
Zion’s Camp. His original plan was to take 300 men and make it to Utah to plant
crops in advance of the larger party, but bad weather and more than a 1,000
others who wanted to go with them hampered that trek to such an extent that
they stopped in Winter Quarters. By the Fall of that year, 7,000 were in Winter
Quarters with another 3,000 en route. With sickness and hardship all around,
Brigham,
felt “like a father with a great
family of children around [him]” and later recalled that his responsibilities
pressed down upon him like a “twenty-five ton weight.”
By January 1847, he had lost so much weight
that his clothes no longer fit. He had worried about the Saints, counseled
about what to do, and prayed for divine guidance. And then, on January 14,
1847, the answer came. Two days later, Brigham Young invited the Saints to
accept the “Word and Will of the Lord” (D&C 136).[1]
Since we are all on a journey of sorts of our own, can we
look at D&C 136 as personal instructions?
Fifty years ago, President Monson prophetically said:
The passage of time dims our memories
and diminishes our appreciation for those who walked the path of pain, leaving
behind a tear-marked trail of nameless graves. But what of today's challenge?
Are there no rocky roads to travel, no rugged mountains to climb, chasms to
cross, trails to blaze, or rivers to ford? Or is there a very present need for
that pioneer spirit to guide us away from the dangers that threaten to engulf
us and lead us rather to a Zion of safety? (“Come Follow Me,” Conference
Report, April, 1967, 57).
Verses 2 and 4 talk about covenants. As we keep the
covenants we have made and which we renew through the sacrament and our temple
attendance, will that not establish a clear path to follow through the trials
and tribulations which will and do beset us?
Verse 8 is all about inclusion. Just in our own ward,
each semester change sees many new faces in our congregation, as the pioneers
included those widowed during the trek, so we can welcome new members into our
ward, for however long they, or we, will be here. The same goes for new
neighbors, classmates, work colleagues.
Elder Oakes draws the parallel:
When the Saints settled in the valleys
of the mountains, they promptly established a Perpetual Emigrating Fund to
assist the poor to move from Winter Quarters, and later from the nations of
Europe. At least half of those who journeyed to join the Saints could not have
come without the help of leaders and members who were determined to include
everyone who desired to gather to Zion. We need that same spirit of inclusion
to accomplish our prophet’s clarion call for retention and reactivation.[2]
2. The Lord instructed the Saints regarding their
conduct.
Can you see that this section is so much more than how to
get the Saints from Winter Quarters to Utah? Joseph had been instructed and
nurtured by the Lord since he was a lad, Brigham came to this as an adult and
had relied on Joseph’s leadership. Now here he was with this tremendous
responsibility on his hands. The whole Church was looking to him to lead them
to the Promised Land. But his faith was sufficient to be able to receive this
important instruction which, as with all the contents of the Standard Works, is
as relevant to us today as when they were originally written.
As we go through D&C 136, look for the three
Christlike attributes that Elder Stevenson helped us remember with the H O V mnemonic
– humility, obedience, virtue. Verses 23–24 talk about contention. President
Nelson delivered a landmark address on contention in General Conference, April,
1989. Here is an excerpt:
Contention existed before the earth
was formed. When God’s plan for creation and mortal life on the earth was first
announced, sons and daughters of God shouted for joy. The plan was dependent on
man’s agency, his subsequent fall from the presence of God, and the merciful
provision of a Savior to redeem mankind. Scriptures reveal that Lucifer sought
vigorously to amend the plan by destroying the agency of man. .
. . Through love of God, the pain caused by the fiery canker of contention will
be extinguished from the soul. . . . Shun contention. Seek godliness. Be
enlightened by eternal truth. Be like-minded with the Lord in love and united
with Him in faith. Then shall “the peace of God, which passeth all understanding”
(Philip. 4:7),
be yours, to bless you and your posterity through generations yet to come.[3]
On a lighter note, D&C 136:28 gives instruction on
recreation. The manual has a quote from President David O. McKay
“On the plains, after a day’s march,
the wagons were drawn up in a circle, a man with the violin would take his
place by the campfire and there on the prairie the sturdy Pioneers would join
hands in a dance, opening it by prayer, and participate in amusement that
fostered the spirit of the gospel. … President Brigham Young … once said, in
substance: ‘The atmosphere of the dance should be such that if any elder be
called from the party to go to administer to a sick person, he could leave with
the same spirit that he would go from his elders’ quorum meeting’” (in
Conference Report, Apr. 1920, 117).
That one bears thinking about!
Verse 32 teaches us how to learn wisdom. And here is
where the “H” of HOV comes in. Elder Vinas tells us:
I believe that our ability and our
willingness to hear can be increased and that our ears can be opened to hear
clearly the voice of the Lord. In section 136, verse 32, we find a guideline
which will help to do this: “Let him that is ignorant learn wisdom by humbling
himself and calling upon the Lord his God, that his eyes may be opened that he
may see, and his ears opened that he may hear. Through humility and prayer we
can develop and improve our capacity to be attentive to the words of life which
will bless our lives and the lives of our families.[4]
3. Under the direction of President Brigham Young, the
Saints journeyed to the Salt Lake Valley.
Having received this instruction and implementing what he
had learned from the previous year, the contrast between the two journeys was
remarkable:
The 1847 immigration stands in
dramatic contrast to the previous year. While the vanguard company had traveled
less than 300 miles in 1846—an average of a little more than two miles a
day—the first pioneer company traveled more than 1,000 miles in 111 days,
averaging more than four times the distance per day over the previous year.
And here is what Brigham had to say about it:
“What I know,” he said, “I have
received from the heavens. . . . Men talk about what has been
accomplished under my direction, and attribute it to my wisdom and ability; but
it is all by the power of God, and by intelligence received from him.” As
a result of the lessons learned in 1847, the anxiety that Brigham Young felt at
Winter Quarters faded away. Having proved the word and will of the Lord and
having subsequently incorporated its principles into his life, he later found
himself “full of peace by day and by night” and sleeping as “soundly as a
healthy child in the lap of its mother.”[5]
Additional resources for this lesson
- “This
Shall Be Our Covenant”: This article shows how difficulties crossing
Iowa helped lead to the Lord revealing what is now known as Doctrine and
Covenants 136.
- Saints
at Devil’s Gate: This exhibit combines artistic depictions of
landscapes along the pioneer trail with journal excerpts and photos of the
pioneers who wrote them.
- Mormon
Pioneers: 1847–Today: This page links to a wide variety of resources
on Mormon pioneers.
- “‘In My
Father’s House Are Many Mansions’: Green Flake’s Legacy of Faith”: This
article tells the story of Green Flake, an African American member of the
1847 vanguard company.
- Pioneer
Day infographics: These infographics give insight into pioneer life on
the trail.
