Pioneer Story

My laptop is out of hard drive space so I have been working a little bit each day to clean off the files I no longer need. Here is one I found. When I was in the YW presidency we were asked to write to our young women for their Pioneer Trek. Here is the letter I wrote.

"I wanted to write to give you some encouraging words to help you along your pioneer trek! I hope that they bring you some comfort and give you the courage you need to carry on and endure to the end. Let me start by sharing a pioneer story from one of my ancestors.

My Great-Great Grandmother was named Emma Barton. She was born in England and was converted and baptized with her mother and grandmother. Her family was very poor. They all wanted to join with the saints in America but they could only afford to send Emma. So, at the age of 8, Emma got on a boat with the Missionaries to come to America. She lived with a family for a few years until her Mother and Grandmother were able to come to America. When her Mother and Grandmother got here, they found Emma and were reunited. However, this only lasted a short time, as they didn’t have enough money to feed all three of them. Emma was sent to live with a Stake President (Mr. Murdock) and his wife in Beaver, Utah. The Stake President was nice but his wife was angry that she had to take care of another child. She did not treat Emma well. Emma ended up being like the maid in their household.

Now, Emma had long beautiful hair. She loved her hair. One day she asked Mrs. Murdock to braid it for her. Mrs. Murdock pulled her hair back and cut it all off. She cried and cried. She had felt like this was the only thing that belonged to her and now it was gone.

When Emma was 14 a man came to town (from Greenville) and asked if Emma could come and live with them. His name was Mr. Barton. He had heard about her situation. His teenage daughter had just been killed in an accident. When he talked to her for the first time he asked her, "how would you like to have a Father?"

He took her to Greenville, Utah to live with his family. He had a house full of boys and they were all so happy to have a girl in their family. They didn't want her to have to work like she had for the past few years. They commented that her hands were so worn from the hard work that she had to do. They all treated her like a princess. She later said that this was the first time that she had felt loved since she living back in England.

The reason I tell you this story is because the trek is hard-not just the trek you are on today. The trek of life is hard. I can’t imagine how hard it would be to get on a boat at the age of 8-not knowing if I would ever see my parents again and not knowing what lies ahead. However, we are modern day pioneers. We go to school and work everyday-not knowing what lies ahead. We don’t know what trials in this life we will have. The important thing is that we keep going! We cannot quit. Life is hard but it is also awesome. If we can just get through all of the hard stuff we will be rewarded-not just in the afterlife but in this life as well. So, my advice to you is KEEP GOING! Especially when things are tough."