Pioneer Day

July 24th is celebrated all over Utah and some neighboring area as Pioneer Day.  The day celebrated as that which marked the arrive of Brigham Young and company to the Salt Lake Valley.
Likely a few others got there a little earlier and started to plant some crops as it was very late in the season already.

Though in reality there were "Pioneers" settling the west for year prior to the Saints coming to the Salt Lake Valley in 1847.  Many had been heading to Oregon previous to this for over 10 years and some even to California and other locations along the coast.
You could say that when the saints came into the Salt Lake Valley things really heated up.  That was the beginning of the larger western exodus.

Within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints the Pioneers embody the struggles of the early saints.
Many current members can trace their ancestors back to someone that came over in a covered wagon or used a handcart.

I'd like to expand on this Pioneer spirit and the idea presented by President Thomas S Monson in his article "The World Needs Pioneers Today".

Excellent Audio Clip on Pioneers and their spirit
To them of the Last Wagon - President J Reuben Clark Jr.


You see the pioneers embody a certain spirit that a precious few have.  A vision that in some cases is rare among people.
Take the person that had the vision to create the Internet, or the personal computer, or the automobile, etc.

But, that term relating to that vision comes from the people that trekked thousands of miles across the American continent to places unknown purely on faith that they could have a better life.
After a while those heading to Oregon went off the stories of those that preceded them.  They went of the stories, and not direct knowledge of the landscape or a guarantee that things would be better.  But, as the areas they lived began to be less productive they took the chance for land and with faith headed out.

But, this vision or faith in a better future can it be applied to those that are not creating new technologies or changing the way we live our life.  Assembly line manufacturing did that, computers did that, automobiles and airplanes did that......  but, can it be applied to other things.  Can it be applied to habits or religious beliefs.

I say yes!
President Monson says yes in his article as well.
And we need these modern pioneers.  Not just the people looking to make a better widget.  We need pioneers that don't accept past behaviors necessarily OK.  People like Mandela that fought against apartheid, like those  that worked to abolish slavery or segregation anywhere in the world.  Those that have fought and continue to fight for freedom, both politically and religiously.  We need it in the modern day person that say no to the trash being labeled as "entertainment", that stands up for morals in public and private life, for ethics, and proper treatment of our fellow beings.



"The passage of time dims our memories and diminishes our appreciation for those who walked the path of pain, leaving behind a tear-marked trail of nameless graves. But what of today’s challenges? Are there no rocky roads to travel, no rugged mountains to climb, no chasms to cross, no trails to blaze, no rivers to ford? Or is there a very present need for that pioneer spirit to guide us away from the dangers that threaten to engulf us and to lead us to a Zion of safety?" Thomas S Monson - The World Needs Modern Pioneers

There are many issues that still need to be dealt with today.  We have the wave of Gay Marriage, voting rights, rights to bare arms and the consequences of miss us.  We have right to education, or self expression, and even genocide in some parts of the world.
So as we celebrate Pioneer Day and those that came before us we need to look to the future.  What legacy do we want to leave in our little corner of the earth.  Do we want to be know as the one that sat idly by as these things happened?  Do we want to be the one that just turned a blind eye and gave up?


We are in need of people that look for the truth and take the high road in moral matters.  That go against the societal wave that seems to think many of these things are OK.  People that don't let "it's not hurting me or directly effecting me" take over when they really know it is the opposite.

"A dictionary defines a pioneer as “one who goes before to prepare or open up the way for others to follow.”³ Can we somehow muster the courage and steadfastness of purpose that characterized the pioneers of a former generation? Can you and I, in actual fact, be pioneers?

I know we can be. Oh, how the world needs pioneers today!" Thomas S Monson

Buaidh - NO - Bas