In the early 1800's upper New York State was the scene of competing religious revivals. Young Joseph Smith wanted to join a church, but he was confused by conflicting claims. Prompted by reading in James 1:5 that God gives wisdom to those who ask in faith, Joseph rayed. In answer, God, the Eternal Father, and His son, Jesus Christ, appeared before him, telling him to join no church but to await further instruction. In the autumn of 1827, on the Hill Cumorah, an ancient record inscribed on thin plates of gold was delivered to Joseph by a heavenly messenger named Moroni.

Young Oliver Cowdery believed Joseph's story and acted as scribe while Joseph, with divine aid, translated the characters from the ancient plates. The story that unfolded was a sacred and secular history of a remnant of the house of Israel, ancestors of the American Indians.

Confused by references in the ancient record to baptism and the holy priesthood, Joseph and Oliver inquired of God. In answer, a heavenly being who announced himself as John the Baptist appeared and conferred on them the priesthood with authority to baptize. Following his instructions, they baptized each other by immersion.

That there might be witnesses to support Joseph in testifying to the Book of Mormon's authenticity, the angel, Moroni showed the plates to three selected men. Joseph was later permitted to show them to eight more witnesses.

On April 6, 1830, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was formally organized. Joseph Smith and his early converts journeyed through the neighboring towns and countryside preaching the "restored gospel" and introducing the Book of Mormon. The harvest of souls had begun, but persecution was heavy and opposition to the young Church mounted until finally Joseph and his followers were driven from New York to Kirtland, Ohio.

Though busy getting settled in a new land, the Saints set about building a temple to God wherein sacred ordinances might be performed. After three years of toil and sacrifice, the Kirtland Temple was dedicated in 1836, only to be abandoned as the prejudice of the old settlers grew into hatred, forcing the Mormons to seek peace in Missouri.

Peach was not to be found, however. Driven from place to place, their possessions destroyed, the Mormons finally purchased some unwanted swampland on the Mississippi River, north of Quincy, Illinois. They drained the swamps and plotted a city, which they called Nauvoo, meaning "beautiful." By 1844 the city had become the largest in Illinois with a population of almost 20,000.

The tranquility of Nauvoo proved to be only a calm before the storm. Local and political jealousies mounted a criminal charges were hurled against Church leaders. Enemies of the Prophet carried exaggerated stories to the state capital and the Governor requested that Joseph and his brother Hyrum meet him in Carthage for a hearing. With a prophetic premonition of their fate despite the Governor's promise of full protection, Joseph and several other leaders traveled to Carthage where four of them were arrested for treason. A few days later, June 27, 1844, a mob broke into the jail and murdered the Prophet and his brother.

With Joseph dead, enemies of the Church became bolder and more destructive. Brigham Young, new leader of the Saints, decided they must move once again, this time to the Rocky Mountains as Joseph had prophesied. In February 1846 the exodus began. Crossing the Mississippi while it was frozen over, their wagons loaded with what few possessions they could carry, the Mormons left farms and homes for the wilderness.

Not content with driving the Mormons from their homes, the mobs moved into the city to burn, pillage, desecrate and destroy.

Along the trail, the Saints were met by a platoon of United States soldiers seeking five hundred volunteers for the war with Mexico. Promised by Brigham Young that they would not die in battle if they would keep the commandments of God, the men responded and a battalion was formed. Completing the longest infantry march in history, the Mormon Battalion was disbanded in San Diego, California. All its members later rejoined their families in the Salt Lake Valley.

During the course of their journey the pioneers met many trappers and hunters, including Jim Bridger, the Indian Scout, who discouraged settling in the Salt Lake Basin. Legend has it that he offered a thousand dollars for the first ear of corn grown there. Brigham Young was not discouraged by Bridger's words, nor was he persuaded by the pleas of some to continue on to California.

On July 24, 1847, the Mormon party came out of a canyon to a spot overlooking a vast, treeless tract of desert land with a great lake shimmering in the distance. There Brigham Young made his prophetic announcement, "This is the right place."

Soon after the pioneers arrived in the valley, they began to make plans for a great city, with blocks of ten acres and streets with rods wide. It would be called the Great Salt Lake City.

Marking a prominent site in the desert soil, Brigham Young proclaimed, "Here we will build a temple to our God."

Attempts were made to prepare the land for crops, but it was so dry and hard that plows were broken. One of the streams flowing from the mountains was diverted, flooding the land and making plowing possible. Modern irrigation had begun in North America.

Despite the hard work, the pioneers always took time for recreation. Songfests and square dances lightened the hearts of the undaunted people.

In 1849, gold was discovered in California, and thousands flocked through Utah on their way to the gold fields. Though their hardships had been great and food scarce, only a few of the pioneers yielded to the enticement of easy wealth.

In the spring, thousands of acres wee prepared and seeded. June gave promise of a good crop, but as the grain was starting to turn, hordes of crickets invaded the lush fields, devouring every stalk in their path. In desperation, having failed to stop the onslaught with brooms, shovels, and smoke, the faithful Saints turned to God, and they were not forsaken. The sky became alive with great flocks of circling, screeching seagulls. Pouncing on the black hordes, they gorged themselves, then flew away only to disgorge and return for more. The crops were saved!

Converts continued to join the Mormon colony in large numbers. By 1850 the population was 15,000 and by 1856 it was over 76,000. Wagons for transportation became almost impossible to obtain, and handcart companies became commonplace. Two such companies, starting late in 1856, reached South Pass as winter set in. Over two hundred of the thousand members perished before help arrived from Salt Lake City.

Prejudice and jealousy developed even in the wastelands. In 1857, the Federal government received reports of a Mormon rebellion, and without waiting for verification, sent an army to crush it. Believing his people had been driven far enough. Brigham Young had them make preparations for defense. Bonfires set on canyon walls led the soldiers to believe the valley was infested with armed men. A subsequent peace commission found the first reports were false, and the soldiers were recalled.

Refusing pleas by the army, Chief Washakie would not participate in the "war" against his Mormon friends.

In 1852, while still living in one-room log cabins or adobe houses, the pioneers started work on the Great Salt Lake Temple. The granite building took forty years to complete, every stone cut by hand and hauled twenty miles from Little Cottonwood Canyon. A gold-covered statue of Moroni, the heavenly messenger who delivered the gold plates to Joseph Smith, stands atop the highest spire of the temple.

The face of the Prophet Joseph Smith carved out of the everlasting hills and gazing up into Heaven, symbolizes his inspired message to all the world. His testimony and the scriptures and revelations of these latter days offer a clearer understanding of the purpose of life to all who will hear their message. It is the truth of the restored gospel.

"For behold, this is my work and my glory-to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man."
Pearl of Great Price: Moses 1:39


"And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou has sent."
St. John 17:3

LEST WE FORGET

Above the door, high on the domes ceiling, one sees as he leaves the chapel the strong, solemn faces representing the Mormon pioneers who blazed a trail across a trackless desert to a desolate valley.

Seeking to escape the intolerance of a country built on tolerance, those sturdy Mormon pioneers, displaying the same spirit that characterized the founders of this country, made an unforgettable impact upon the young nation. They gave to the world an example of initiative, of resourcefulness, of individual enterprise, of cooperation, of endurance and of faith.

Their message is to all who pass beneath, not only to their Mormon descendants but to all people, regardless of sect or creed. They blazed the trail; they pointed the way. Faith in God and steadfast loyalty to their country were the ideals and cornerstones with which they built our heritage. America was destined to be the abiding place of individual liberty, of freedom of worship, freedom of speech and the press, and of free institutions.

These are the characteristics upon which Mormonism was founded; these are the principles of freedom everywhere. True principles are eternal and unchanging. These same characteristics must be enshrined in our hearts if freedom is to be preserved. Tomorrow and the future are ours.