Blessed Honored Pioneers

This is one of my favorite weeks of the year.  Growing up, I remember spending Pioneer Day with of the Haycocks up at my Nana and Papa's house.  As a boy, I was excited to see my cousins and I was always excited for the food that inevitably accompanied such a meeting.  I remember it being a day that my Papa Haycock in particular just loved.  As I've gotten older, I've come to understand why my Papa Haycock loved that day so much.  He loved it because of what it represented and the people that we honored upon that day.

One of the wonderful things that the Church has done in Church History is to compile the Mormon Pioneer Overland Travel Database which provides lists of people in the various pioneer companies, as well as transcripts of diaries, letters, and autobiographies that give us information about those various pioneer companies.  Family Search has taken advantage of this very cool database, and created an application that links our family trees with the people listed in the database.  This application allows us to learn which of our ancestors were a part of pioneer trek, and provides information about what companies they travelled in, who they travelled with, and what diaries, letters, etc. mentioned those ancestors.

Anyhow, if you are looking for something fun to do this week, try these websites out and see what you can learn about your ancestors.  Sorry for the short entry.

Brett

To the Souls of All Those Who Partake

With a new calling that uses up more time on Sundays, my entries will probably be a lot shorter these days.

Last week in Elder's Quorum, as a part of the lesson, we read through the Sacrament prayers and were asked to talk about them and what they mean.  A phrase stood out to me that I haven't payed much attention to before.  We pray that the Father will "bless and sanctify this bread [or water] to the souls of all those who partake [or drink] of it."  (D&C 20:77, 79).  I began to ask myself, what does it mean to sanctify those emblems "to the soul".  Clearly we are blessing the emblems that those who partake of them may be renewed in a covenantal way.  But I wonder if there is more there than I have understood.

The word sanctify comes from the Latin "sanctifico," meaning "to make holy."  The Hebrew word that is translated as sanctify is "qadash," meaning "to consecrate."  The Greek "hagiazó" combines the meaning of the Latin and Hebrew terms.  While I really appreciate the definition "to make holy," holiness can be a vague concept to understand.  And so I love the definition of consecration here.  We pray that the Father will "consecrate" the bread or the water "to the souls of all those who partake [or drink] of it."  In other words, we ask Him to set those emblems apart for a special purpose, and that purpose being for the benefit of our souls.

But even as we ask the Father to consecrate the bread and water to our souls, we ought to simultaneously pray that we might, through the grace and mercy of His son, consecrate our own souls  to Him.  As we covenant to take the name of His Son upon us, to always remember Him, and to keep the commandments which He has given us, we consecrate ourselves to the building of His Kingdom. We consecrate our lives to being worthy to bear the name of the Son of God, the only "name given under heaven whereby man can be saved in the kingdom of God" (2 Ne 31:21).  Those emblems blessed to our souls, can thereby begin to serve as reminders that, having taken upon us the name of the Son, we ought not to take that name in vain.

These are things that I readily admit I have not spent as much time considering and pondering as I ought to have done.  But today my hope is that those emblems will truly be blessed and sanctified to my soul, not only today but throughout the rest of this week.

Brett

Loving Where You Are

El Paso, Texas

Happy fourth of July to everyone!  I hope you all had a wonderful time with family and friends!

Last week my sister Stephanie made a comment to me that has stuck with me.  She reminded me of a saying that "Everywhere you go is someone's hometown, so be kind."  The reason this impressed me is that Stephanie lives this saying so well.  Throughout the last 20 years, Stephanie has lived in Indiana, Pennsylvania (that is actually the city's name); Taylorsville, Murray, West Jordan (all in Utah); for a few weeks in London, England; Peachtree City, Georgia; Montgomery, Alabama; and now El Paso, Texas.

Other than London, I'm sure that none of these locations were foremost on Steph's list of places to live in at some point during her life.  Indiana, PA, where Steph did her doctoral work, was a small college town far away from home, and the first couple of years she lived there without a car.  Without family around her, she had to rely on the members of her small branch and her friends and colleagues in graduate school.  I'm pretty sure there were people murdered in or near the apartment complex that she lived in in Taylorsville.  Murray and West Jordan were much nicer, but probably still had their share of problems.  Peachtree City was a beautiful little city filled with golf carts, but no family other than her husband John.  Similarly, Montgomery, Alabama was far away from home, has terrible humidity, and its fair share of ghetto away from the Air Force Base.  And El Paso is a desert that I know most Texans refuse to claim.

In short, all of these places have had their challenges and downsides.  But one of the things that I love about my sister is that she finds people and places of beauty wherever she goes.  In Pennsylvania, she found lifelong friends and spots that she couldn't wait to share with her family when we visited.  In Taylorsville, she got involved in classes and other things that brought some joy into otherwise difficult circumstances.  In Murray and West Jordan, she kept going, kept dating, kept hoping for blessing, and kept active in the Church and the rest of life until she found her good husband.  And then she stayed patient through the challenges of a long distance relationship, when it may have seemed easier to give up at times.  When I visited her and her husband in Georgia, she showed me around her little city with the same enthusiasm with which she is going to show me London next year.  Whether it was the markets or the lake or the wooded areas and beautiful homes around the lake, she loved it and she treated it as a wonderful place that, for that moment, was her home.  Similarly in both Alabama and Texas, she has found little places of beauty where she can go hiking or get involved to make the world around her a better place.

So often in our lives, "the course of human events" brings us to places and moments that we may not entirely love.  We may find ourselves living in a ghetto apartment on Redwood Road in Salt Lake City.  Or, perhaps we may be living in the most beautiful city we've ever seen, but the surrounding events of our lives leave us feeling lost and alone and hoping for better and more beautiful days.  In "all these things" (D&C 122:7) we will find and see whatever we look for.  We can find despair in the most blessed of circumstances if that is what we are looking for.  Or, we can find beauty in the most destitute of circumstances if we will look for it.  So much depends upon the decision that we make within our hearts as to what we will see.  I hope that I will do a better job of following my sister's example, because no matter where she has been, she has found beauty and blessings.  May we all do likewise.

Brett

In Humble Submission

Yesterday was the 171st anniversary of the martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph Smith.  My time working on the Joseph Smith Papers thus far has expanded my appreciation for the Prophet Joseph Smith.  One thing that constantly amazes me about the Prophet is his willingness to test those around him.  This week I happened upon some letters between Brigham and Mary Ann Angell Young in 1839-1840 in the George W. Thatcher Blair Collection that contained a couple of insights into the Prophet and those two loyal followers.  We all know that Brigham served a mission to England between 1839-1841.  And I was well aware of the challenging circumstances that Mary A. had faced during his absence--an example of which I will cite at the end.  What I was completely unaware of were some details of Brigham's journey between Nauvoo and New York City, and a request that he made of Mary A. during that time.

En route to New York City where the Twelve sailed for England, Elders Young, Kimball, Taylor, and George A. Smith travelled through their former home of Kirtland, Ohio.  Upon arriving in Kirtland, many of the brethren were so ill that some of the disaffected members who had remained in Kirtland believed it was the curse of God upon the Saints for the Kirtland Safety Society.  (Please note that not all of the members in Kirtland were disaffected; some simply hadn't had the funds with which to continue traveling with the Saints).  But despite their illnesses, the Twelve held meetings in the Kirtland Temple and organized a variety of missionary efforts in the city.

While in Kirtland, Brigham Young visited many of the Saints, including Mary A.'s father.  While the details are unclear, it is likely that Brigham explained the impoverished circumstances of his family and the Saints at Nauvoo.  Further, the significant health challenges the Saints were suffering would likely have been evident.  In any case, Brother Angell suggested that while Brigham was in England, Mary A. and the children come to Kirtland and live with him.  Brigham thought that the idea was a good one, and urged Mary A. to consider it.  He even thought that if she went to Kirtland, he might be able to visit her and the children again, before his departure for England.  He could then have left for England secure in the knowledge that his wife and children were being properly cared for and protected.

Mary A. strongly considered the idea and was even preparing to go to Kirtland, when Hyrum Smith advised her not to go.  By this time, Hyrum was a member of the First Presidency.  Learning of Hyrum's advice, Brigham was disappointed, but replied, "I can say the will of the Lord be done.  I hope and trust that I shall never feel to rebel or go contrary to the counsel of the spirit of the Lord as to your going to the Ohio.  I have told you how I felt about it.  I wish you to do the will of the Lord, therefore I shall not say any thing with regard to advice.  Do as you think best.  I wish to do right and keep humble for there is slippery paths that Elders travel in in this Church.  I think it would be better for me to be in humble submission to the powers that be and to [adhere] to counsel, even if it costs me much labor; may the Lord keep us humble and faithful" (Brigham Young to Mary Ann Angell Young, 14 February 1840).

Mary A. apparently took the matter to the Prophet, who confirmed Hyrum's counsel, stating that it was "not the will of the Lord" for her to go to Kirtland, and she humbly submitted to this difficult counsel.  She then noted that in that conversation with the Prophet, Joseph asked "if you [Brigham] was not a going to return before you went to England."  She responded that she did not know, but expected that Brigham would not.  She wrote, "he smiled and said no more" (Mary Ann Angell Young to Brigham Young, 21 March 1840).

For Mary A.'s part, she remained in Nauvoo (actually Montrose Iowa), watching her six children by herself and often times struggling with illness and having so little food that she would have to row across the Mississippi river to go to Nauvoo where she asked for a few potatoes from the Tithing Office.  Then, submissively, she quietly returned to her children with the meager provisions, never writing a word of the matter to Brigham.  Among the children that she cared for alone during that trying period was Brigham Young Jr., who would serve faithfully as an Apostle for many years.  For Brigham's part, he submissively went onto England, staying nearly a full year longer than he had anticipated staying, and there established the foundations of the Church in Britain from which so many members now claim heritage.  And we all know the story of his time after 1844.  But before either of these things happened, there was a simple act of submission about a simple matter of where to live.

For so many members, that issue would have been "none of Joseph's business."  But for Brigham and Mary Ann Angell Young, the question of whether or not she should go to Kirtland in 1840 was a matter of tremendous importance, because it was a test of whether or not they could submit to the direction of the Lord's anointed servant.  I am impressed by Joseph's reaction to the news that Brigham likely wouldn't visit Mary A. again before departing for England.  It was just a simple smile.  But if I can take some historical liberties, that smile says everything to me.  It tells me that with that small response, Joseph knew what kind of a man and follower he had in Brigham Young.  And by the Spring of 1840, to have found someone who would submit and follow in such a small thing, was incredibly important to Joseph, for he had lost friends and leaders who could not similarly submit.

May we likewise learn to be in humble submission.

Brett

The Best is Yet to Be

This is just a short entry today.  First off, happy father's day to all of the fathers out there, and most especially to my own saintly father.  I've never known a mortal man who sacrifices more of self for those he loves than does my dad.  He is a constant example for me to follow, and I hope one day to be able to be just like him.

This last Thursday, I stopped off at the Draper Temple on my way home from work.  Draper is a good Temple to stop off at because Traverse Mountain Road is right next to it, which is a good alternative to the current nightmare that Point of the Mountain is.  But that is beside the point.  While I was at the Temple and as I left, I kept having a line from Robert Browning's poem "Rabbi Ben Ezra" come to my mind.  That famous poem begins, "Grow old along with me!  The best is yet to be."

The line that stood out to me was "The best is yet to be."  Life has a way at times of knocking us down.  Certain experiences can cause us to believe the falsehood that our best days are behind us, and that the future will never be able to measure up to the past.  But for each and every one of us, this is a lie.  The comforting and eternal truth is that "The best is yet to be."  We have so much to look forward to, so much to hope for, so much to live for!  Ultimately, this is the message of the Holy Temple.  Those beautiful buildings themselves, and, more importantly, the sacred ordinances within them declare to us that "The best is yet to be!"

So that is my simple message today.  The best is yet to be!  So live for it, pray for it, hope for it, and never stop looking forward to it!  Whoever you are, and whatever joys or sorrows the past may have held for you, the best is yet to be for the simple reason that our Heavenly Father gave His perfect Son.  And through His sufferings and atonement, that perfect Son has become our High Priest of Good Things to Come.  And that is the greatest gift that any father has ever bestowed upon any child.

Brett

Exactly What You Are Looking For

Levi Richards, 1799-1876

I had an experience at work earlier this week that I thought was instructive.  I was assigned to look for some information about Joseph Smith's Letter to Oliver Granger on July 23, 1840.  Specifically I was supposed to focus on the Prophet's statement that he had received a letter from Granger and from Brother Richards from New York on June 23, 1840.  If you follow the link, you will see that the website identifies Brother Richards as Willard Richards, certainly the most prominent member of the Richards family at the time.  But the problem with this is that Willard Richards was in England on a mission in 1840.  And so my assignment was to find out which member of the Richards family had been with Oliver Granger in New York in June 1840.

These kinds of historical research quests are often both fun and maddening at the same time for me.  They are fun because they take me through all different kinds of sources.  They are maddening because often--and perhaps even usually--no one bothered to record a detail that minute, meaning that the best that you can usually hope for is to make an educated guess.

Hopefully this won't bore you, but I thought I'd give an abbreviated recap of the process I went through in looking for this small detail in the sources available.  First I had to identify any potential early brethren with the last name of Richards who would have been in the Church around 1840, and may have been in the vicinity of New York.  This left me with a list of 4 or 5 potential candidates.  Then I had to look for anything I could find on them, letters, diaries, etc.  The problem was that for the most part the letters and diaries of these various Brother Richardses did not begin until 1841.  Hoping that these things were misdated, I went through them anyway, but without any luck.  I found a lot of interesting details looking through these items, but not the detail that I was looking for.  But this process did help me to narrow my list of potential people down to Phineas Richards, Levi Richards, and Samuel Richards (all members of the same family).

I was just about ready to inform my boss that the best we could do was to narrow the possibilities down to these three, until I realized that perhaps I had been looking in the wrong sources.  I had concentrated on diaries and letters written by these brothers, thinking that there might be one mentioning or written from New York.  But it hit me that often the person directly involved is the worst record keeper of what happened, while family members often care much more about those small details.  With this premise in mind, I began looking through the diaries and letters of Rhoda Richards (a sister to Phineas, Levi, and Willard, and an aunt to Samuel).  And there it was in a letter from Rhoda Richards to Willard Richards on July 5, 1840, "Brother I now inform you of the safe arrival of Brother Levi to this place [Richmond, Massachusetts] the last day of June.  We truly rejoiced to see him. . . . Brother Levi spent a week in New York with Brother Granger" (Rhoda Richards to Willard Richards, June 14-July 5, 1840, Richards Family Papers, MS 1558, box 1, folder 2, CHL).

Ok, so for the 1 person who may still be reading this, why have I bored you with this story about my research?  As I've mentioned, these are rare moments for a historian.  Generally, the best that you can do is still guess work.  You study, you compile your notes, and you put together the best argument you can make, but in the end if you are honest with yourself, you still aren't sure whether you are right or not.  But every now and again, you get lucky and you find that golden letter or diary entry or whatever that throws uncertainty out of the window.  You don't need to make arguments or compile pages of evidence to support those arguments (as fun as that can occasionally be).  All you have to do is point to that one simple letter and everything becomes clear.  In other words, sometimes you do find exactly what you are looking for.  Moments like this give me hope, and not just as a historian.  They give me hope that from time to time, we find exactly what we are looking for.  From time to time, we don't have to make our case or convince anyone or ourselves, because the evidence is clear.

Brett

I Would That Ye Should Believe

It's been an interesting week.  I went to the Mormon History Association's annual conference and heard a number of fine presentations, and more importantly spent time with a number of friends and reconnected with people that I hadn't seen for a long time.  I'm not sure I ever really walk away from these conferences filled with new ideas, but I love being able to spend time with my friends.  One of the fun things this year was that I felt like I was surrounded by colleagues and friends rather than advisers.  I guess that is a sign that I need to finally finish my dissertation and join the ranks of the Ph.D.'s.

This week I've been continuing with my study of Alma 32.  It is an old familiar chapter that we all know well, but some thing stood out in it that I needed to hear, but which I have never seen before.  The first thing that stood out was Alma 32:22.  "And now, behold, I say unto you, and I would that ye should remember, that God is merciful unto all who believe on his name; therefore he deserted, in the first place, that ye should believe, yea, even on his name."  After I quit caring about the comma splice after the word remember that was driving me crazy (note that punctuation was added by the printer afterwards and was not a part of the translation), I was struck by the message of belief.

Sometimes all that God wants is for us to be willing to believe, as difficult as that can at times be.  There will be moments when the very best that we can manage is to "exercise a particle of faith" and, at times, our best will be "no more than [to] desire to believe" (Alma 32:27).  I love the words "exercise," "particle," and "desire."  First, "exercise."  Faith is and always has been a principle of action.  It requires exercise, thought, and effort.  We put ourselves out there in the belief that we are trying to follow God's will and that He will bless us for our efforts, no matter how feeble those efforts may be.  Second, "particle."  A particle is something that is small, often not even visible to the natural eye.  It can make a mustard seed look gigantic by comparison.  And yet God does not scold us if all the faith that we can muster is the size of a particle.  Rather, he will work with that particle until it grows and strengthens.  Third, "desire."  Sometimes what we possess could not even be described as a particle of faith.  Sometimes the best that we can manage is a desire that what we have heard is true; that somehow, somewhere, some way, God will fulfill His promises to us.  And even in this God does not scold our lack of faith, but gently says to us, "Begin where you are.  Give the best that you can manage, for I can work with righteous desires."  And so He goes to work transforming our imperfect desires into particles of faith, into seeds of faith, and finally into trees of life bearing forth fruit, with each piece of fruit filled with its own seeds to then be cultivated.

 The second item that hit me in this chapter was Alma 32:28.  "Now, we will compare the word unto a seed.  Now, if ye give place, that a seed may be planted in your heart, behold, if it be a true seed, or a good seed, if ye do not cast it out by your unbelief, that ye will resist the Spirit of the Lord, behold, it will begin to swell within your breasts; and when you feel these swelling motions, ye will begin to say within yourselves--It must needs be that this is a good seed, or that the word is good, for it beignets to enlarge my soul; yea, it beignets to enlighten my understanding, yea, it beignets to be delicious to me."  Now Alma, of course, is talking of the seed of faith here.  But it struck me that we have all kinds of seeds that we can and do plant in our hearts, and in this regard, we are the gardeners.    We can plant seeds of faith, but we can also plant seeds of doubt.  We can plant seeds of love and mercy, or we can plant seeds of hatred and bitterness.  And whatever seeds we plant and nourish will grow within our hearts and minds; while whatever shoots we pluck out or fail to nourish will wither and die.  I began to ask myself, what seeds am I cultivating within my heart?  Do I boast a garden filled with faith, hope, charity, and love?  Or is mine a garden filled with unbelief, doubt, bitterness, and anger?  Like every garden, the garden of our hearts will not simply remain empty.  Something will grow there.  Some seeds will germinate and take root.  Therefore it becomes us to fill our hearts with seeds that will bring forth good fruit, while at the same time uprooting every shoot of evil that springs up.

Wherever we are along the pathway of faith, may we desire good desires, learn to believe, and exercise faith in Heaven and Heaven's holiest promises.  And may we learn to cultivate hearts filled with the cardinal characteristics of the Celestial soul: faith, hope, charity, and love.

Brett