Observe Their Covenants By Sacrifice

One of my goals in preparation for the coming general conference was to read the historical fiction novels by Gerald Lund Fire of the Covenant and Undaunted in an effort to better remember our pioneer heritage.  Now that the second volume of Saints has been released I plan to read that instead of the latter, but I am in the middle of reading Fire of the Covenant to my children at night.  One of the scenes that portrays the incredible sacrifice that these from the Willie and Martin handcart companies made is when they left Iowa City with their handcarts and had to limit their belongings to 17 pounds.  This was extremely difficult for many of these European Saints who had already left their homes and many of their friends and families, and they had brought just a handful of possessions with them across the ocean to remember their former lives.  And yet they often had to whittle down their possessions even further as they loaded their handcarts.  The book described the scene this way as the handcarts pulled away from Iowa City at the start of their journey by foot: “The campground was littered with piles of materials.  There were heaps of books, blankets, clothing, cooking utensils, tools.  One only had to look for a moment to realize that there were literally dozens upon dozens of family treasures being left behind here—family pictures taken from walls; furniture that had been in the family for generations; boxes filled with inexpensive jewelry, perfumes, and other toiletry items; small and large chests which held who knew what; full-sized mirrors, vases, china dishes, valued statuary. This was the detritus of the weigh-in held by the Church agents a few days before.  If it wasn’t within the seventeen-pound limit, it was left behind. Somehow it seemed like the perfect metaphor for this day. Everything they had known, everything they had loved and treasured in their former lives had been discarded” (pg. 286-7).  More than just leaving behind their comfort and wealth, they sacrificed even their most treasured family keepsakes in order to follow the Lord’s prophet and go to Zion.     

These and so many other pioneers were incredible examples to us of what it means to sacrifice for the Lord.  I’m grateful for their stories that capture the spirit of the Restoration.  President Hinckley commented, “Stories of the beleaguered Saints and of their suffering and death will be repeated again and again next year. Stories of their rescue need to be repeated again and again. They speak of the very essence of the gospel of Jesus Christ.”  That “essence” of the gospel surely includes the principle of sacrifice.  The Saints of all ages, and in particular those pioneers, have had to sacrifice for their testimony of the gospel, and the Lord declared that this is what He requires: “Verily I say unto you, all among them who know their hearts are honest, and are broken, and their spirits contrite, and are willing to observe their covenants by sacrifice—yea, every sacrifice which I, the Lord, shall command—they are accepted of me” (Doctrine and Covenants 97:8).  We too must learn to keep our covenants through sacrifice, and the example of the pioneers helps us to see what it means to have the fire of our covenants burn within us and impel us to give up the things of the world for the glory of God.