Pioneer Legacy: Our Brothers’ Keepers | Vaughn J. Featherstone | 1981

Brigham Young's admonition to the Saints to bring in the pioneers suffering on the plains was a reminder to us all: we are our Brother’s Keeper.

This speech was given August 11, 1981.

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https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/vaughn-j-featherstone/pioneer-legacy-our-brothers-keepers/

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"The Prophet Joseph Smith went through many great trials in his life. One time, you may recall that, when he was in Kirtland, Brother Behunin came to him and said, “Brother Joseph, many of the brethren have left the Church, and not only have they left the Church, but they have turned against the Church and become some of our most bitter persecutors. I will never leave the Church, but if I do, I will move out in the country and buy a little farm somewhere, and I promise you that I will never turn against the Church.”

Joseph said something that was very prophetic. He said, “Brother Behunin, you do not know what you will do. When you join the Church of Jesus Christ, you leave neutral ground forever behind.”

Elder Packer said this in just a little different way. He said, “They leave the Church, but they can’t leave it alone.” I have thought about Joseph Smith and some of the great trials of the pioneers. One of the things that comes to mind is the time when George Q. Cannon, a convert, came up that Mississippi River and docked in Nauvoo. He was standing on the river boat looking down on the dock, and he said there were about 200 men waiting for the people who were on the boat to disembark. He said, “If there had been a thousand men, I would have known which one was the Prophet Joseph.” And then later on, there were others who came in great numbers to Nauvoo. At one time, Joseph Smith, feeling that he ought to make sure they came for the right reason, put on his oldest tattered clothing, mounted his horse, and rode down to meet the Maid of Iowa as it came up the Mississippi with many immigrants from England. As they disembarked, he took aside one of the first ones and asked, “Why are you here?”

And the good brother said, “Well, because I have joined the Mormon Church, and I wanted to come and be in Zion with the Saints.”

Joseph Smith said to him, “What do you know about Joseph Smith?”

Very humbly this man said, “I know he is a prophet of God.”

Joseph said, “What if I told you I was Joseph Smith?”

As the man looked at him in his tattered clothing, he said, “Then, sir, I know that you are a prophet of God.”

It is interesting to look back on the life of the Prophet Joseph, and that leads into the things I would like to discuss this morning.

Drama of the Pioneers
Possibly no greater story can be told than the unfolding of the drama of the pioneers. Converts by the thousands seemed to be relentlessly pulled toward the great Salt Lake Valley (Zion as they supposed). The poor, the abandoned, the rich (leaving all worldly goods behind), the educated, and those with limited schooling all came forth. Their unwavering faith in Christ and their commitment to his cause led them on. I should like to share with you some of the experiences that I have studied that have humbled me to the earth. Those brave souls left us a legacy and a rich heritage. No amount of money could purchase what they freely gave. It cost life and limb. It cost great suffering and the most severe kind of heartache imaginable. Theirs was the noblest gift—that of love. The Savior said,

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. [John 15:13]

Rebecca Winters
There have been great stories of the pioneers who crossed the great plains and the Rocky Mountain passes to reach the Salt Lake Valley. On the fifteenth of August 1852 ten wagons under the leadership of Hiram Winters separated themselves from the main body of the eighteenth pioneer company, which was under the direction of Captain C. Snow. Rebecca Winters, the wife of Hiram, was dying of cholera. Her passing took place about noon. Sister Winters was one of more than 6,000 who were buried alongside the old Mormon Trail. Her husband and those in the other wagons laid her to rest in a deep grave. That evening and into the night, a friend of the family, William Reynolds, using a chisel, inscribed on the outside surface of an iron tire, “Rebecca Winters, aged 50 years.” This wheel rim was placed over the grave with her husband’s remark that later proved prophetic, “That name will remain there forever.”"

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