Pioneer Day is a fitting celebration of the state I love to call my home. Utah isn't perfect, but it's a great place to live. And I owe much of that to pioneers from all backgrounds and religions, who gave the best of themselves to build this land and make the desert "blossom as the rose."
Sometimes I like to think about what I would show those Mormon settlers if they suddenly appeared today.
Imagine if a company of wagons wandered through a time warp on the vast plains of Nebraska and wound up in 2016. I think, like in the case of later struggling pioneer companies, the Church would sound a call to "go and bring them in." But today's rescue effort wouldn't send wagons of supplies: cars, trucks, and buses would retrieve those pioneers, instead.
I sometimes see myself behind the wheel of a carload of new settlers, zooming down I-80 as they clutch their seats, white-knuckled yet amazed, finishing in just two days what would have taken months with wagons.
For dinner I'd pick up a round of Wendy's Jr. Bacon Cheeseburgers, and we'd find a Motel 6 to rest up for the next day's easy journey.
And I'd turn the heat up in Wyoming's early snows so no one has to lose a foot to frostbite.
In Salt Lake City we would ride the light-rail train to visit Temple Square, then head across the street to tour the 21,000-seat Conference Center. Of course my pioneers would have the best seats in the house for the next General Conference session, but they might be even more impressed to see the broadcast miles away at someone's home.
Then we'd sample all the awesome food they never had before. I'm talking burritos at Café Rio, pizza at The Pie, cheese fries at Leatherby's. We'd grab hot dogs at Smith's Ballpark while the Salt Lake Bees played, then finish off the evening with a bonfire up Big Cottonwood Canyon.
Oh, and hot showers for everyone!
If the pioneers came back to life today, there's no end to what I'd share with them. But it's not to brag about my easy life. And it's not to make life too much easier for them, because the way they handled hardships is what makes my pioneer heritage so meaningful and rich.
I just want to show the settlers what they built.
I want them to see that everything they went through--abandoned homes, lost loved ones, mob violence, government hostility, harsh sun and bitter cold, starvation, illness, death--went toward something they would marvel at today.
I want them to see the way the desert has blossomed.
And I want them to know it started with them.
 |
| Great work, guys! Image credit: The Odyssey Online |
Sometimes I like to think about what I would show those Mormon settlers if they suddenly appeared today.
Imagine if a company of wagons wandered through a time warp on the vast plains of Nebraska and wound up in 2016. I think, like in the case of later struggling pioneer companies, the Church would sound a call to "go and bring them in." But today's rescue effort wouldn't send wagons of supplies: cars, trucks, and buses would retrieve those pioneers, instead.
I sometimes see myself behind the wheel of a carload of new settlers, zooming down I-80 as they clutch their seats, white-knuckled yet amazed, finishing in just two days what would have taken months with wagons.
 |
| It would take some getting used to. Image credit: Ambulance GIF |
For dinner I'd pick up a round of Wendy's Jr. Bacon Cheeseburgers, and we'd find a Motel 6 to rest up for the next day's easy journey.
And I'd turn the heat up in Wyoming's early snows so no one has to lose a foot to frostbite.
In Salt Lake City we would ride the light-rail train to visit Temple Square, then head across the street to tour the 21,000-seat Conference Center. Of course my pioneers would have the best seats in the house for the next General Conference session, but they might be even more impressed to see the broadcast miles away at someone's home.
Then we'd sample all the awesome food they never had before. I'm talking burritos at Café Rio, pizza at The Pie, cheese fries at Leatherby's. We'd grab hot dogs at Smith's Ballpark while the Salt Lake Bees played, then finish off the evening with a bonfire up Big Cottonwood Canyon.
Oh, and hot showers for everyone!
 |
| What a time to be alive. Image credit: Awesome Inventions |
If the pioneers came back to life today, there's no end to what I'd share with them. But it's not to brag about my easy life. And it's not to make life too much easier for them, because the way they handled hardships is what makes my pioneer heritage so meaningful and rich.
I just want to show the settlers what they built.
I want them to see that everything they went through--abandoned homes, lost loved ones, mob violence, government hostility, harsh sun and bitter cold, starvation, illness, death--went toward something they would marvel at today.
I want them to see the way the desert has blossomed.
And I want them to know it started with them.
No comments:
Post a Comment