Pioneers for Pioneer Day

I have always loved Pioneer Day. While I didn't grow up in Utah, I remember on several occasions I was here in Utah during the July 24th celebration. I remember being so excited to go to the parade downtown and I was never disappointed. It had all the feeling of the promised land for me and I dreamed about what it would be like to live here among all the smiling and friendly saints.

Growing up as a Mormon kid outside of Utah, I had a very idealized view of Utah and like a-lot of kids, I wished we could live here. It was tough in a-lot of ways growing up as a strange minority in Ohio and Georgia and I was always teased about my Mormon background. I don't regret this. I was never one to back down about who I am and I was very proud of my heritage. This didn't stop me, however, from looking with longing to live in a land where the majority held my beliefs and standards. I know that lots of kids living in areas where they are the religious minority feel the same way. The sad thing is that sometimes the reality of living in Utah doesn't live up to what we thought. We sometimes become disillusioned because some people here don't live up to our naive expectations. That's not Utah's fault. It's just that our young dreams of a perfect world aren't yet reality and we haven't grown up enough yet to understand that.

My former bishop told me a story once that illustrates how one could get disillusioned here. My former Bishop is Mexican-American and his family came to Utah many years ago. Most of his family was born in Mexico and they all converted to the church. Once as a young man he was at a party where several prominent LDS people were in attendance. One of the well respected women at the party made an interesting comment. It went something like this: "Well, you aren't anyone if you didn't descend from the Mormon pioneers." My bishop was taken back a little by the comment but smiled and replied, "I come from pioneers. When my family was driving to Utah and their car broke down in the desert, they all just jumped out of the car and started pushing!" Thank goodness my bishop had a sense of humor and didn't let the comment hold him back from progressing in his testimony. It's beyond me how educated people can make such ignorant comments, but unfortunately they do occur sometimes. Luckily, I think that comments like these are becoming less and less common.

I come from Mormon pioneers myself. Some of these pioneers were close friends of the prophet, Joseph Smith, and many came across the plains to settle in Utah. When I go back and read their stories, I'm amazed and awe struck at their sacrifices and testimonies and I am so proud to call them my ancestors. I can't wait to someday meet them. I want to thank them from the bottom of my heart for what they've done for me and my children. Because of what they accomplished, my children and I have so many blessings and opportunities. Truly, without them I could not be made perfect as the scriptures allude.

I am very well aware, notwithstanding, that I can't make it back to live with Heavenly Father based on their lives and sacrifices. I can in no way take credit for them. It's all up to me to live my life as a true disciple of Jesus Christ. At the final judgment, I don't believe that the Savior will look at me and consider who my ancestors are. If anything it will count against me if I don't live up to their legacy. I can just hear him say, "I gave this man a wonderful heritage of faith. He had righteous examples placed before him, but he chose to ignore them and become a law unto himself. He cannot enter in with those who took up their cross and followed me. He is not worthy of that association."

In conclusion, I celebrate all true pioneers both ancient and modern. Those who truly follow Christ deserve the title of pioneer whether they lived in the 1800's or now, whether they have light skin or dark, whether they be rich or poor, whether they be educated or not. Those who choose to follow Christ are my true brothers and sisters and I claim their stories of faith as I claim the blood of the early Mormon pioneers in my veins. All who follow Christ are from the same family and will receive the unsurpassed joy of the spirit and the grand association of a loving family of true hearted believers.

Below are some pictures of some true pioneer women and a little bit about them.



This is Lydia Knight. She and her husband Newel were personal friends of the prophet, Joseph Smith. They were the first couple he legally married as minister of a new faith. Lydia was left almost destitute with a small child by her first husband. Later she heard the gospel preached by Joseph Smith himself and became a courageous convert to the gospel. She married a wonderful man named Newel Knight who had also lost a spouse to illness. She never wavered in her faith even though she was left again while on the plains in route to Utah. Newel, her faithful companion died in Nebraska of illness related to exposure. Lydia was miraculously preserved on her journey to Zion and died firm in the faith of Jesus Christ.






This is my beautiful Grandma Mary Schindler Nielson. Mary was born in London, England at the turn of the 20th century. She was an orthodox Jew and remembers being persecuted by the local people of the time for being Jewish. Both her parents died while she was still a child. She and her two sisters struggled to make ends meet being orphans and being despised for no other reason than being Jewish. She was introduced to the gospel of Jesus Christ by her sister Rebecca. My grandmother said that when she first entered the doors of the Mormon church in London, she knew immediately that it was the true church of God. She did not hesitate to be baptized over the vehement objections of the local rabbis. She was shunned by the local Jewish community.

At the age of 16 she alone boarded a ship to America and worked as an indentured servant when she arrived. She managed to save enough money to bring her sister Leah over to America as well. Later she moved to Salt Lake, married my Grandfather, and remained faithful to the end of her years. If you asked my Grandmother how she felt about giving up Judaism she would reply, "I never gave it up. I extended it. "