In late June 2024, many youth will be participating in Trek. As part of each participant’s spiritual preparation, they are invited to find a pioneer ancestor to trek for.
Finding a pioneer ancestor is very simple. Follow these few steps:
If prompted to do so, sign in to Family Search by selecting ‘Sign in with Church Account‘.
If you don’t have a church account, please create one. Remember Temple & Family History consultants can help.
Sign in with your church account username and password.
You’ll be redirected to Family Search. You should now be signed in and presented with a list of ancestors that crossed the plains to the Salt Lake valley.
Congratulations! You’ve made it. Enjoy learning about your pioneer ancestors and consider selecting one of them to trek for.
The impression I had this morning is that there will be a time in the future where a government issued aid will be required to enter the temple. I saw a large sign stating as much as I entered the temple.
Sorry I didn’t write while at home MTC but now I’m in England and will start!
This week has been a party. The journey to the MTC was wild. But I’m super grateful to be here and super glad to be able to learn in person. My companions Elder Smith and Elder Shapiro are pretty neat guys and it’s nice to be with them.
Monday and Tuesday were travel days. I left SLC with 5 other missionaries from Utah to Chicago. We met up in Chicago with 2 other elders which was nice and were supposed to fly to Frankfurt Germany from there. But after sitting on a plane for 2 hours we were told to get off because of a hydraulic leak. So we had to collect all our luggage and then carry it all the way across the airport to another terminal. We were reassigned to fly to Portugal which is cool. Once we got to the terminal though we learned that Elder Whitt (who is a legend) was not on our same flight. So me and him had to zoom back across the airport with his bags to get him on our flight then zoom back with a few minutes to spare. I was a little disappointed we got our flights changed cause I was supposed to fly on a double decker plane which is one of my dreams but after the long time in Chicago we were just happy to get out of there. After being in Portugal for an hour we then flew to Manchester and then drove to the MTC. Getting there 6 hours after we were supposed to. Even though we were late we were received with open arms and it’s been a blast since.
Air TravelAir Travel DistancesManchester, UK Airport
Wednesday was more of an orientation day that flew by and Thursday was the first real day of a normal schedule. Class is fun and my teacher brother Ferrer is awesome. Learning French is an experience for sure but it will be fun after I can fully speak it. I was asked to be a district leader which I’m hoping will be a great opportunity to serve the lord and those in my district. We also had a guest speaker on Thursday night, an area 70 came and shared a message about the priesthood.
Friday is Pday which was good. It was nice to have a break after a lot of information during the first few days. All the missionaries had the wonderful opportunities to go to the Preston England temple. It was amazing to do a session with other missionaries and afterwards I was able to sneak in to do some inisitories with Elder Whitt. After that we walked into Chorley which is a small town about a 15 minute walk from the MTC. Talked to the fam for a little bit then took a much needed nap. Had dinner then watched a MTC devotional which was neat but I had already watched it last week during at home MTC so that was funny.
Snow @ the MTCFirst Trip to Preston, England TempleTouring Chorley, UK
MTC food is not too bad and they got Nutella packets so no matter what happens I’ll be okay. My district is a blast and meeting all the other missionaries in the MTC is super cool. Lots of them are leaving this coming Tuesday so after that it’ll feel pretty empty. But we’ll party it up.
God loves us. The first rule in the MTC is know you are loved. I love this because it’s so simple yet so powerful. Remember you are loved:)
I love you all and miss everyone so much but am very grateful to serve the lord! Have a great week!
7 And blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.
Be Pure in Heart
How do I become pure in heart? It’s your motivations, they need to be pure.
8 And blessed are all the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
Be a Peace Maker
9 And blessed are all the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.
Endure Persecution
10 And blessed are all they who are persecuted for my name’s sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 And blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake; 12 For ye shall have great joy and be exceedingly glad, for great shall be your reward in heaven; for so persecuted they the prophets who were before you.
Three years of peace (43-45 years of the reign of the judges).
Many dissenters moved north traveling “an exceedingly great distance” until “they came to large bodies of water and many rivers.” (v4)
Could this be the Great Lakes area in North America?
After asking Heaven Father in prayer if the Nephites and Lamanites lived in the United States and Great Lakes areas, the thought in my mind was, “Yes”.
This land in the north had previously been inhabited and called “desolate”.
After moving northward, the people spread out “insomuch that they began to cover the face of the whole earth“.
What did the whole earth include?
“…from the sea south to the sea north, from the sea west to the sea east.”
What was this area? Seems like the Great Lakes fits the description.
“35 Nevertheless they did fast and pray oft, and did wax stronger and stronger in their humility, and firmer and firmer in the faith of Christ, unto the filling their souls with joy and consolation, yea, even to the purifying and the sanctification of their hearts, which sanctification cometh because of their yielding their hearts unto God.”
Action
Fast & pray often
Stronger humility
Firmer faith in Christ
Firm: “solid, almost unyielding”, “steady but not excessive power or strength”, “showing resolute determination and strength of character”, “strongly felt and unlikely to change”, “steadfast and constant”
yielding their hearts unto God
Result
“filling their souls with joy and consolation”
“the purifying and the sanctification of their hearts”
It’s interesting that at this time there is an increasing gap between the righteous and the wicked. The wick are becoming more wicked while the righteous are becoming more righteous.
In this case the wickedness is measured in the degree of pride that was in the hearts of some of the people.
A rebellion has been led by the king-men against Pahoran and the freemen.
Pahoran has been driven out of Zarahemla and is residing in the land of Gideon.
Pahoran now has enough support to battle the king-men, but they will not come out against him.
The king-men have created an alliance with the Lamanites. The agreement includes the king of the king-men becoming king over all the land of the Nephites once the Lamanites have conquered it.
Pahoran and his people are not interested in bloodshed, but they are willing to defend themselves and their freedom unto death.
Pahoran believes that if “we should put our trust in [God], and he will deliver us.”
Pahoran asks Moroni to bring enough of his army to defeat the king-men and restore the peace.
Lessons Learned
Issues within can ultimately destroy and at the very least create considerable problems.
Obviously, this story takes place among a group of people, but I think there is some application within ourselves, marriages, families, communities, wards, etc.
We need to make sure not to neglect the “inner vessel” as to avoid these kinds of issues.
The 2060 stripling warriors fought diligently to help retain the city Cumeni. During the battle, many of the Nephites were slain and 200 of the sons of Helaman “fainted because of loss of blood.” But, none of the sons of Helaman were killed.
“25…according to the goodness of God, and to our great astonishment, and also the joy of our whole army, there was not one soul of them who did persish;”
“26 And now, their preservation was astonishing to our whole army, yea, that they should be spared while there was a thousand of our brethren who were slain. And we do justly ascribe it to the miraculous power of God, because or their exceeding faith in that which they had been taught to believe– that there was a just God, and whosoever did not doubt, that they should be preserved by his marvelous power.”
The Nephites recognize and attribute the miracle to God
The sons of Helaman were recognized by all in the army to have “exceeding faith” that
God is just
God could and would preserve them
“35… And blessed is the name of our God; for behold, it is he that has delivered us; yea, that has done this great thing for us.”
Recognize and praise God for delivering the Nephite army.
First Counselor in the Relief Society General Presidency
Cassie the dog
Story
“Jack was anxious to show off Cassie’s amazing skills. However, Cassie was acting strangely. She wouldn’t obey any of Jack’s commands as she usually did so willingly. All she wanted to do was remain by his side.”
“After arriving home, Jack began examining Cassie for injuries, burrs, or ticks, as he usually did. As he put his hand on her chest, he felt something wet and found his hand covered with blood. To his shame and horror, he found that Cassie had a long, wide gash right to her chest bone. He found another on her right front leg, also to the bone.”
“Jack took Cassie into his arms and began to cry. His shame at how he had misjudged and treated her was overwhelming.”
Lesson
“Cassie had been acting uncharacteristically earlier in the day because she was hurt.
“Her behavior had been influenced by her pain, her suffering, and her wounds.
“It had nothing to do with a lack of desire to obey Jack or a lack of love for him.”
Practical Application
How many wounded individuals do we have among us?
How often do we judge others based on their outward appearance and actions, or lack of action, when, if we fully understood, we would instead react with compassion and a desire to help instead of adding to their burdens with our judgment?
Motivation Heirarchy
Duty
For Reward
Love for God
Love for the person
Do what the Lord asks of us “not out of duty or even for the blessings we might receive but purely out of love for Him and our Heavenly Father…”
Love for God is a more holy motivation than duty and promised blessings.
President Nelson taught: “If friends and family … step away from the Church, continue to love them. It is not for you to judge another’s choice any more than you deserve to be criticized for staying faithful.”
“7 And it came to pass that he did no more attempt a battle with the Lamanites in that year, but he did employ his men in preparing for war, yea, and in making fortifications to guard against the Lamanites, yea, and also delivering their women and their children from famine and affliction, and providing food for their armies.”
The Nephites only seem to have issues when there is dissension among them.
“9 And thus because of iniquity amongst themselves, yea, because of dissensions and intrigue among her selves they were placed in the most danger circumstances.”
The 2000 “stripling soldiers” or sons of Helaman
“20 And they were all young men, and they were exceedingly valiant for courage, and also for strength and activity; but behold, this was not all—they were men who were true at all times in whatsoever thing they were entrusted. 21 Yea, they were men of truth and soberness, for they had been taught to keep the commandments of God and to walk uprightly before him.”
