I Will Help Thee

As I listened to Elder Cook’s message about the Willie and Martin handcart companies from this recent general conference, I thought, “President Hinckley would be happy.” That he then quoted from President Hinckley, as well as President James E. Faust, was also fitting. I grew up hearing the First Presidency—President Hinckley and President Faust among them—consistently reminding us of the stories of the pioneers. President Hinckley especially did not want us to forget the stories of sacrifice, faith, and rescue from those early members of the Church who gave up nearly everything to gather with the Saints in the Salt Lake Valley. In our day of relative ease as it relates to physical comforts of life, we need to be reminded again and again that to live the gospel of Jesus Christ we must be willing to sacrifice and put our trust in Him. The words of President Faust, as quoted by Elder Cook, sum up well the message of these pioneer stories for us: “In the heroic effort of the handcart pioneers, we learn a great truth. All must pass through a refiner’s fire, and the insignificant and unimportant in our lives can melt away like dross and make our faith bright, intact, and strong. There seems to be a full measure of anguish, sorrow, and often heartbreak for everyone, including those who earnestly seek to do right and be faithful. Yet this is part of the purging to become acquainted with God.”

Elder Cook also highlighted the rescuers who heeded the call of a prophet to help those in desperate need. He described one well-known scene: “[The Martin Company] had crossed the Sweetwater River to reach what is now called Martin’s Cove, where they hoped to find protection from the elements. One of the pioneers said, ‘It was the worst river crossing of the expedition.’ Some of the rescuers—like my great-grandfather David Patten Kimball, who was just 17 years old, along with his young friends ‘George W. Grant, Allen Huntington, Stephen Taylor, and Ira Nebeker—spent hours in the frigid water,’ heroically helping the company make the Sweetwater crossing. While this event has received much attention, as I learned more about the rescuers, I realized that all of them were following the prophet and played critical roles in saving the stranded Saints. All the rescuers were heroic, as were the emigrants.” This powerful story of these young men wading in freezing water for hours to carry these struggling emigrants across the river, suffering themselves in order to protect their fellow Saints from suffering even further, is symbolic of the ultimate rescue that the Savior offers to each of us. He suffered for our sins and pains, figuratively carrying us so that we would not have to suffer if we would accept His help. If we had been one of those pioneers, would we have accepted the saving actions of these young men and let them carry us across the freezing water? Symbolically we must make that decision and decide if we will let the Savior’s suffering carry us “in a strait and narrow course across that everlasting gulf of misery which is prepared to engulf the wicked—And land [our] souls, yea, [our] immortal souls, at the right hand of God in the kingdom of heaven” (Helaman 3:29-30). He described what He has done for us this way: “I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent” (Doctrine and Covenants 19:16). As Elder Cook said at the beginning and end of his talk, “The Atonement of Jesus Christ provides the ultimate rescue from the trials we face in this life.”

But in the midst of life’s trials, even as we are trying to do what the Lord has asked us to do, we might wonder, “How do I let Him rescue me?” There are surely multiple answers to that question, but perhaps the lesson from the story of these handcart companies is that we need to do two things: keep moving forward with faith, and pray for the Lord’s help with all our hearts. Though not mentioned in Elder Cook’s talk, it is certain that these pioneers were pleading with the Lord for His help as things became more desperate. Despite the dire situation, they kept walking on with hope, and as the temperatures grew colder and the food started running out, they must have wondered how they were ever going to make it to the valley. They turned their prayers to heaven, and suddenly from out of nowhere these young men appeared to rescue them. Without these rescuers, all the handcart pioneers would have likely died. In the same way, we must continue moving forward in faith through our own trials, even when we can’t see how we are going to make it through. As we plead for His help through prayer, we have His promise of help and strength thanks to His great atoning sacrifice: “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness” (Isaiah 41:10).