We Have Been Called!

Andrew and I really love our new ward in Virginia.  We are in the Lynchburg 1st ward in the Buena Vista, Stake.  Our bishop is Bishop Carlyle Shorter.

We had our "welcome interview" with Bishop Shorter when we first moved in and then he contacted our former ward to get the real scoop on us.  Bishop Adam Goodman has been called to replace Bishop John Keele in the Cherry Hill 6th ward.  Andrew worked with Bishop Goodman in Young Men's (Adam was the stake YM president) and in just a little over a year, Andrew had three Goodman boys with him in Teachers' Quorum.

I got the nicest Facebook message from Bishop Goodman:

"Your bishop called me yesterday to see if you two are as good as he thinks you are.   I told him you were even better than that.   Thanks for your service in the ward and your friendship.   Adam"

I can't tell you how much I cried when I read that message!  We loved our time in the Cherry Hill 6th ward and miss our first "ward family" so much!

Andrew and I finally got our callings the last week in July.  I say "finally" but I know that the ward has been working hard to find a good way to put us to work.  Andrew was called to be the second counselor in the Young Men's presidency and Deacons' Quorum advisor.  He is so excited to be working with the Young Men again!

I was called to be the Primary chorister.  This is a little bit outside of my comfort zone but I am excited to serve!

The same Sunday that we were given our callings, we were also asked to speak.  Since I like to write out my talks and deliver them verbatim, I can include mine below.  The Primary children sang a medley between my talk and Andrew's and I included the lyrics to the songs they would sing in my talk to help them review before they had to sing. 

Andrew is a much more talented speaker and he can "wing it" like a speaking professional.  I may ask him to jot down a few notes to include as well.

TO BE A PIONEER

July 28, 2013

Lynchburg 1^st Ward, Buena Vista Stake, Virginia

When I was a young girl in Primary back in Illinois, I admit that I paid little attention to lessons about the pioneers.  My parents were both converts to the Church and remain the only members among their immediate families.  Hence I have no direct pioneer heritage that I am aware of (and we have done a lot of searching through our family history!) 

One time we had a Primary president that held an activity for Pioneer Day—which is a day that we commemorate the pioneers reaching their final destination in the Salt Lake valley back on July 24, 1847.  We decorated our red wagons with patriotic streamers and balloons leftover from the ward’s Fourth of July parade and all of the girls wore bonnets and aprons.  The entire Primary rode around the Church parking lot several times for our parents, singing:

Pioneer children sang as they walked and walked and walked and walked.

Pioneer children sang as they walked and walked and walked and walked.

They washed at streams and worked and played.

Sundays they camped and read and prayed.

Week after week, they sang as they walked and walked and walked and walked and walked.

Later, as a Young Woman, we made a yearly trip to Nauvoo, Illinois for various reasons, as our stake center was only about four hours from Nauvoo.  Before the early members of the Church made their long journey across the plains and into the Rocky Mountains, they created a beautiful, bustling community along the banks of the Mississippi River filled with brick buildings that are still standing today.  I loved to go pick out fudge from the local Fudge Factory and we enjoyed the City of Joseph pageant.  There were restored shops to tour and every year I dutifully collected a Nauvoo brick, a prairie diamond, and a gingerbread cookie from the bakery.  I have quite the collection of Nauvoo trinkets!  We also toured the temple site and what remained of the old foundation and admired a small display of what the temple would have looked like back then.

In the April 1999 General Conference, when I was finishing my sophomore year at BYU, President Hinckley announced the rebuilding of the Nauvoo temple.  I believe that was what inspired my excitement for Church history.

My family took a series of weekend vacations over the following summers to various Church history sites to trace the steps of the early Saints.  The following excerpts are taken from my personal journals and photo albums:

We began in the upper Northeast where the gospel of Jesus Christ was restored in latter days through the prophet, Joseph Smith.

“In the New York area, we visited Joseph Smith’s boyhood farm, Peter Whitmer’s home and the Martin Harris home.  We also saw the Hill Cumorah and the new [at that time in June 2001] Palmyra temple.  The tours were really interesting and it truly humbled me to stand where such great men and women had.

“It’s hard to describe the feeling you have as you stand at the foot of Joseph Smith’s bed where the Angel Moroni revealed the location of the Golden Plates.  And how can you put into words the awe-inspiring surroundings of the sacred grove?  This vacation was a testimony to me of the sacrifice, courage and ultimate reality of the early [Church] members.  These tangible locations served to solidify my faith that God is real and [He] speaks to [His] people today…

“In] the Kirtland area, we saw the John Johnson farm, Kirtland temple, the printing office [for the Book of Mormon] and the Newel K. Whitney store.”

Just as the Saints made their way from New York and Ohio, we made our way to the sites in Missouri and Nebraska.  On this particular vacation we toured Independence including the temple lot as well as Adam-ondi-Ahman, Far West, Haun’s Mill and Winter Quarters.

“…Mom, Dad, Kyle and I decided to visit some [Church] history sites together.  Kyle was leaving for his mission [to] Chile in just a few weeks and this would be our last trip [with him] for 2 years.

“We had a great visit!  We toured the RLDS and Hedrekite sites, also.  We are definitely thankful to be members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and are indebted to the early pioneers for their tremendous lives!”

And as I had in many previous summers, I seemed to always find myself back in Nauvoo.

“I am lucky to live just three and a half hours [I was in my early twenties and a bit of a speed demon driving on the empty country roads] away from Nauvoo and Carthage—two [Church] history sites rich with Latter-day Saint heritage.  I still can’t believe that there is a temple where once there were ruins!  I never could have imagined that it would be rebuilt and in my lifetime, too.  Every time we drive around the bend in the road by the old Mississippi, the temple seems to just spring up in all of its majestic glory.

“Taking a day-trip to Nauvoo has become a summer tradition in our [Young Single Adult] ward.  We always make sure that our trip coincides with the City of Joseph pageant so that we can cram as much excitement into one day as possible—especially for those students who have heard about Nauvoo all of their lives but are experiencing it for their first time.”

These words that I recorded are not profound in any way.  But they are a part of my legacy of faith—something that I will leave for friends and future generations to know that I had a testimony of the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ, that I honor the sacrifices of the early members of the Church, and that I know that we have a Father in Heaven who lives and loves all of His sacred children. 

In our short married life, Andrew and I have been able to visit many of these same historical sites in Utah, Missouri, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois and Ohio.  We have felt the influence of these Saints strengthen our own commitment to temple covenants and missionary work.  The Spirit we have experienced in these sacred sites has brought us closer to our Father in Heaven, our ancestors, and one another.  We are renewed to continually dedicate our lives to aid in “bring[ing] to pass the immortality and eternal life of man” (Moses 1:39) by following the example of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

As I became acquainted with the early Saints through their letters and stories and artifacts, I recognized in myself a pioneer spirit.  I, too, had that moment of conversion that led me to dedicate my life to living the gospel of Christ.  I faced challenges to my faith daily.  I knew that God had a plan for me.  I am a pioneer.

A few weeks ago, Andrew and I had the opportunity to substitute in Primary as the choristers.  I assumed that we had failed miserably.  I was right.  Apparently, Heavenly Father sees that I need a little more time in Primary and so next week I return after a twenty-two year sabbatical.  I hope I get it right this time.

One of the songs that Andrew and I learned with the Primary students was “To Be A Pioneer.”  I caught myself singing that song around the house and at work throughout the week that followed our brief stint in Primary. The words are:

You don’t have to push a handcart,

Leave your fam’ly dear,

Or walk a thousand miles or more

To be a pioneer!

You do need to have great courage,

Faith to conquer fear,

And work with might for a cause that’s right

To be a pioneer!

I am struck by the veracity of these simple words as we study the Doctrine and Covenants this year in Sunday School.  Every week, we ponder together as a class, whether or not we could face the challenges of the early Saints.  Could we show the same faith in God’s will for us?  Despite our own doubts, I want to tell you that the answer is yes.

In an October 1997 General Conference, Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve said:

“Many of our challenges are different from those faced by former pioneers but perhaps just as dangerous and surely as significant to our own salvation and the salvation of those who follow us.  For example, as for life-threatening obstacles, the wolves that prowled around pioneer settlements were no more dangerous to their children than the drug dealers or pornographers who threaten our children.  Similarly, the early pioneers’ physical hunger posed no greater threat to their well-being than the spiritual hunger experienced by many in our day.  The children of earlier pioneers were required to do incredibly hard physical work to survive their environment.  That was no greater challenge than many of our young people now face from the absence of hard work, which results in spiritually corrosive challenges to discipline, responsibility, and self-worth” (Following the Pioneers, Ensign, November 1997).

Perhaps our obstacles come in different forms, but the gospel principles that we employ to combat our challenges are the same used by the pioneers—principles identified by Elder Oaks such as commitment, courage, integrity, inclusion, cooperation, unity, unselfishness, sacrifice, obedience and faith.

And just as our pioneer forbearers—whether in the 1800s or those that we read about in days even more ancient that that—we, too, can turn to our Savior in times of challenge and strife and hear His words:

 “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you.  Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27).

“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and He will direct thy paths” (Proverbs 3:5-6).

Finally, a scripture that we will discuss in Sunday School this afternoon:

“…Peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; and then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes”

And just as Nephi, the Book of Mormon prophet responded, we can say:

“I will go and do what the Lord has commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them” (1 Nephi 3:7).

Our beloved late prophet, President Gordon B. Hinckley said, “Whether you are among the posterity of the pioneers or whether you were baptized only yesterday, each is the beneficiary of their great undertaking” (True to the Faith, Ensign, May 1997, 65).

I testify that every one of us is a pioneer.  We all are on a spiritual journey that is unique to us.  No one has the travelled the path you have.  It is through faith in our Heavenly Father’s eternal plan and through the saving grace of the greatest sacrifice of all—the atonement of Jesus Christ—that we will persevere.