‘What an Amazing Heritage Is Ours,’ President Freeman Says Ahead of Pioneer Day in Utah

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By Mary Richards, Church News

Young Women General President Emily Belle Freeman often thinks about two lines found in the journals of her pioneer ancestors who came across the plains in the early days of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

One line says this about the entire journey West: “Left the Mississippi and arrived in the Salt Lake Valley without seeing one particle of rain or snow.”

But in another journal, a line speaks about a baby named Charlotte who died on the trail and was buried in what is now Coalville, Utah — almost to the Salt Lake Valley.

“All of us wanted that first journey,” President Freeman said, “… But sometimes the trek requires a little more of us.”

President Freeman spoke at SUPer DUPer Day at This Is the Place Heritage Park on Monday, July 22, an annual celebration for the families of the Sons of Utah Pioneers and the Daughters of Utah Pioneers.

Previous speakers include President Dallin H. Oaks of the First Presidency, and President Jeffrey R. Holland and Elder Gerrit W. Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

President Freeman shared the common threads she has found in pioneer histories — throughout the stories of sickness and travel and weather are testimonies of God’s blessings, gratitude for His deliverance and thankfulness to Him.

“If we are in the storm, if we are in the sickness or if we are in the sunshine, being able to learn to recognize His hand along the way will make all the difference in our journey,” President Freeman said.

‘There Is Hope in Thine End’

President Freeman drew parallels between the people of Israel in the Old Testament and the pioneers and today.

In Jeremiah 29:4-7, the Lord tells the people that they will be carried away captive — and when they get to their new land, they will plant gardens, get married, have sons and daughters, and then their sons and daughters will have children, and they will increase.

The time was going to be longer and harder than they thought. Meanwhile, pioneer stories of marriages and babies on the trail show life continued and increased. The same is true today in people’s lives and their stories.

The Lord told Jeremiah that when the people got to where they were going, they were to “seek the peace of the city … for in the peace thereof, shall ye have peace” (verse 7).

And then, in Jeremiah 29:11, the Lord says: “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you ... thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.”

Jeremiah 31:17 finishes that promise: “And there is hope in thine end, saith the Lord.”

President Freeman said she loves that promise from the Lord — that there is peace and hope, no matter what struggles the journey brings.

And the pioneers — who came across the plains to build a city and to have sons and daughters who then had their own sons and daughters — “and leave us a legacy, a home, where we could find peace along that journey, they became acquainted with God,” President Freeman said. “And that is part of our heritage. That is part of what makes us who we are, is knowing Whose we are.”

‘An Amazing Heritage’

The last pioneer story President Freeman shared was of Susanna Stone Lloyd, who as she crossed the plains gave away all of her fine things she had brought with her, finally trading her last possession — a hand mirror — for dried buffalo meat to eat.

When she got into the valley, she asked for a mirror, but when she held it up she didn’t recognize herself. She had changed so much from the journey — not only on the outside but on the inside as well.

“Our own journeys, our own treks, the things that require us to sacrifice and to pull through are going to change us,” President Freeman said. “We are going to give up our finer things in pursuit of a greater thing.”

President Freeman invited all to remember those who have come before — who sacrificed and knew how to find peace in the midst of a journey and the hope that would surely be waiting at the end.

“What an amazing heritage is ours,” she said. “That’s what I hope we will remember as we enter this week of celebrating that pioneer ancestry, our heritage, our roots. We come from a people who were acquainted with God. May that be what motivates us in our journey.”

What Young Women in the Audience Learned

Ava Rampton, from Kaysville, Utah, who turns 12 next month, felt the Spirit teach her how to rely on God and have faith in Him, like the pioneers did.

“I thought it was really powerful because it was a lot about the women who crossed off the plains and that was really powerful to hear their stories, how strong they were,” she said.

Jaideh Hogan and Annabelle Lyman, both 17, from Arroyo Grande, California, are in Utah to go to a For the Strength of Youth (FSY) conference at Brigham Young University and were grateful for the chance to see President Freeman speak.

Jaideh is a convert to the Church and learned from President Freeman’s stories that all Church members have that heritage from the early Saints and pioneers.

“I thought it was so inspirational to think of the bigger picture,” she said.

Annabelle added, “That’s our heritage, that’s where we come — strong people.”

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