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Find
a Hero in Your Past
by James W.
Petty, AG, CGRS
There is an
old saying, 'what is good for the goose, is good for the gander.'
This really came home to me this last Sunday evening. Mary and
I, along with our son Will, attended a Stake Fireside. TRUE TO THE
FAITH, promoting this Summer's Stake Youth Trek. We learned that
this is a youth conference held in many LDS stakes to encourage
faith, devotion, as well as social and physical activity among the
teenagers in their wards and branches. Here Church members gather
in Pioneer dress at a ranch or designated area and re-enact the
Mormon Trek across the Plains. Our Young Women and Young Men will
participate in this handcart trek in the eastern foothills of the
Wasatch Mountains in northern Utah. There they will be organized
into 'families' led by parent-chaperones called the 'Ma's and Pa's.'
Each group will be assigned a full-sized handcart, in which food,
clothing, and camping supplies are packed. Then for three to five
days, the 'families' will push and pull their handcarts along a
wilderness trail; camping in-between their daily hikes; wearing
pioneer style clothing; and participating in dances and songfests,
in addition to other 'faith-promoting' activities. For those few
days, Zion's youth have the opportunity to experience the life and
trials of the Pioneers who endured the trek west a century and a
half ago.
What caught
my attention, and spurred my imagination, was the concept that each
21st Century Pioneer was to 'find a hero in your past'
because they would be 'trekking for an ancestor.' By doing genealogy,
everyone was to identify a forebear, discover stories and histories
about the family member, and "be" that person as they
re-enacted the Way West. During the Trek, each would then have
the opportunity to share the story of their chosen hero with their
handcart family. We learned at the fireside how past treks had helped
build faith and testimonies, and forged links for the young people
with their family history. By experiencing the challenges, and difficulties
of the Trek, many gained an appreciation for the sacrifice and faith
of their own ancestors. Their respect for the heros in their family's
heritage grew into love; with the consequence that their testimonies
of the Gospel blossomed with hope and faith. A Stake Youth Trek
is an invitation to grow and turn the children's hearts to their
fathers. Our Willie is anxious to participate as he prepares to
serve a mission next year.
This 'finding
a hero in your past' really intrigued me. I thought about the hundreds
of heroes in my past; the people I love because I have spent so
many hours studying and learning about them and their families.
I have been doing genealogy for nearly forty years, and each name
on my pedigree chart represents the story of someone who sacrificed
and persevered in their day, ultimately, for me and my children.
I have ancestors who fought against the Church, and then became
converted. They made their trek to Zion and eventually died while
serving on a mission. Others gave up all they had for the Gospel's
sake and crossed oceans and plains to be with the Saints. When
I think of these special people in my life, I am often moved to
tears, because I love them so much, and appreciate what they did
for me. They are part of the Gospel foundation that sustains my
faith and testimony.
As I thought
about my experiences, I also realized that many members, adults,
youth and children in the Church, don't have heroes like I have.
They don't have someone in their ancestry that they know well enough
to admire and emulate. Most members of the Church depend on men
and women of the scriptures, in the distant past, as their heroes.
These heroes are important in our lives because it is through them
that many of our spiritual values are exemplified. We recognize
the leadership of Adam and Moses, the faith of Job, the courage
of Ammon and Esther, and the strength of repentance found in Alma.
Many of the
people found in Church History, in the recent past, are also heroes
for members of the Church. Joseph Smith, Eliza R. Snow, Dan Jones,
Brigham Young, Aurelia S. Rogers, Spencer W. Kimball, and many others.
These are people of history; we see their pictures, we can hear
or read their words, and we can shake the hand of someone who shook
their hand. They are the subjects of books, speeches, and films.
Their portraits adorn the walls of our homes; we see them every
day, and they have become a part of us.
For a few members
of the Church, these people of history are more than figures to
admire from afar. They are family. Vilate Kimball, Porter Rockwell,
George Q. Cannon, and many other men and women named in Church history,
have descendants for whom these great figures weren't just examples
of nobility; instead, 'he was the person who tucked great grandma
in bed when she was a little girl, and told her he loved her.'
What a difference there is in such a hero, when he or she was a
member of your family.
This doesn't
mean that only the families of 'great people of history' can have
special heroes. Everyone of us have great people among our ancestors.
We need to search our genealogy, identify a special someone, and
learn about them. Out of that effort come our heroes.
My thoughts
go back to Great-great Grandfather Niels Larsen. Niels came to
America from Denmark, with his parents and family in 1866, at the
age of fourteen. His family had joined the Church a couple of years
earlier, and wanted to come to Zion to worship and practice their
new faith in peace. Crossing the ocean, cholera struck their company,
and his mother and baby brother died and were buried at sea.
Upon arrival
in New York Harbor (Ward Island), Niels, and others in his family
became ill. His little sister Karen died of Typhoid fever within
days of their arrival. After a month in the Immigration Hospital,
it became evident that father Lars Larsen would not survive. He
called his two sons Niels and Hans to his bedside, and bore his
testimony of the Gospel to them, asking that they be faithful to
the Church, and "go to Utah." He died shortly after that.
Niels, and eight year old Hans, were left as orphans in the
biggest city in America, with no money or property, unable to speak
English and no family to care for them.
For two years
Niels and Hans Larsen stayed with members of the Church until passage
could be found to take them west. They took the railroad all the
way to Wyoming before joining an immigrant wagon train, and began
the walk to Salt Lake in the last company of pioneers (before the
railway was completed to Utah). They followed the wagons, and slept
on the open ground with a blanket, their only possession. Midway
on the trek Niels joined a railroad crew so he could raise money
to support himself and his brother in Utah. At ten years of age,
Hans walked on alone.
They met again
in Salt Lake City at the end of their journey. Each married and
raised happy families, and remained faithful to the Church and Gospel
of Jesus Christ. Whenever I think of Niels Larsen, I am awed by
the courage he demonstrated at such a young age, and the devotion
he showed for his father and family. He raised a large family in
the Salt Lake Valley and remained true to his testimony throughout
his long life. Grandpa Larsen isn't named in Church History, but
for me he was a great man. His picture is in our home. He is one
of my heroes.
To find a hero
in your past, select someone from one of your pedigree charts or
family group sheets. Contact family members to learn about stories
of your ancestor. Visit the Family History Library in Salt Lake
City, Utah, or one of its 3700 Branch Libraries located in stake
centers around the world to find records about your forbears. Search
newspapers in the areas where your family lived, for an obituary
or other historical articles about this person. Check published
county histories for information. If they were an early member
of the Church, there are a variety of publications containing biographies
and histories about settlers in 19th century Utah and
neighboring states. You can also go on the Internet to www.familysearch.org,
the Church's library on the internet, and find catalogs, databases,
and links to many collections that will open a world of information
to you about your family.
The Journal
History of the Church, available at the Church Historian's Office
in Salt Lake City, or on microfilm through Branch Libraries, may
give details found in newspapers and other church publications.
Journals and diaries of people with whom the pioneers associated
in their trek west may provide details about your ancestor. Many
of these records are available at the Historian's Office, at BYU,
and at a variety of other libraries and museums. A new Internet
source for histories and journals is Trails of Hope: Overland Diaries
and Letters 1846 to 1869, (www.overlandtrails.byu.edu), provides
an excellent resource for pioneers coming to Utah.
Contact family
and relatives about finding a picture or portrait of your ancestor.
When one is found, put it in a place of prominence in your home
where you can see it on a regular basis. Seeing a face on a regular
basis, helps you become closer to a person, and they become part
of your daily life. Visit the home where they lived, or the area
if no home remains, because seeing the places where they walked
and lived their lives adds a sense of reality that you can relate
to. Lastly, find out where your ancestor was buried; and if possible,
visit their grave. Being there helps to create a 'connection' as
though you are almost close enough to them to touch.
Whether you
re-enact the experience of an ancestor on a trek, or ponder the
comparison of that person in relation to your daily life, having
a hero from your past helps you to understand who you are. Like
our heroes, we have trials and tribulations in life. They overcame
their obstacles, and so can we. And having seen their faith endure
through their experience, our own testimonies will grow and become
stronger. We, too, will be true to the faith.
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