Matters of a Pioneering Heart

Our choir sang "A Pioneering Heart" by Janice Kapp Perry today. It was especially fitting following the week that our ward's youth had spent on Trek. All of today's meetings were emotional as speakers and teachers recalled the sacrifices of the Pioneers of the Martin-Willey Handcart Company. Jim and I had spent a day this summer at Martin's Cove and listened to a book about the women of the company, Sandra Dallas' TRUE SISTERS. It reminds me of the Primary song that says, "You don't have to push a handcart, leave your family dear, or walk a thousand miles or more to be a pioneer!" We all have to do hard things. A man in our Sunday-School class (as we studied Alma 38) suggested that "troubles" we bring on ourselves, while trials are "divine tutorials." The brother is new to our ward, newly married, and has a brain injury that causes speech and physical problems. I am not sure I would have made a very faithful pioneer of the 1800s, but I pray that I may face my own troubles and trials with their same kind of faith, commitment, and perseverance. I am thankful for the pioneeers of the past and the present who inspire me.