Robert Taylor Burton, Rescuer

"During one instance, he even gave up the very 

shirt off his back to provide a newborn baby extra warmth..."

Robert Taylor Burton, Rescuer

Robert was 35 years old when he was called to rescue the handcart companies stranded and starving in order to provide them with the food and clothes they so desperately needed. Robert was a very tedious record keeper, journaling of his events every day to the supplies he distributed. During one instance, he even gave up the very shirt off his back to provide a newborn baby extra warmth for the journey to the Great Salt Lake Valley. In sacrificing his own warmth for the comfort of the new baby, Robert exemplified the way he continued to live throughout his life. Among his final words of advice to his children was the admonition to “be kind to the poor.” Leading men of Utah who spoke at his funeral articulated his character in these words: “Genial; charitable; a general in the army of right, in the army of truth and of love; integrity; honor; years filled with good works; tender-hearted; sympathetic, worthy of confidence; never false to God, to himself or to his fellow-man, friend or foe.”

THOUGHT FROM THE STAKE:  Of all the noble characteristics we were sent to earth to develop, it is pure, heartfelt kindness (I believe) that will be the one to exalt us.  Oh how the Savior must smile when He witnesses a kind act of one person toward another, for no other motivation than love.  Words may become meaningless phrases to be forgotten, but an unsolicited kind act sends a message to the Heavens, to Him, that we believe and are bound to Him.  For He has said that, "Inasmuch as you have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, you have done it unto me."  With all that He does to serve us individually, how happy it must make Him, when we serve Him, individually.  May it be said of us at the end of our days, like Robert Taylor Burton, that we were "a general in the army of right, in the army of truth and of love."

The James Laird Story

"As James contemplated eating the corn, he remembered 
his wife and child who were so poorly nourished...."

The James Laird Story

James Laird was a man whose life story contains many miracles from God, both before he traveled with the Willie Handcart Company with his wife and children as well as after.  Early in his life he was spared from harm and determined that “The hand of God manifested in his behalf” and that he had work to do if God was protecting him.  Soon after he joined the Church of Jesus Christ (Scotland), he was disowned by his family.  He and his wife’s family prepared to go to Zion.  While traveling with the Willie Handcart Company, James was often found in service of others.  Although he was weak and tired, he always found the strength to help others.  One of his assignments was to help with burials, and although he never refused, one particularly tough morning he informed the captain of the company that he did not feel he could use the shovel because he was so weak.  In reply the Captain said, “Eat this (a handful of corn) and do come and help.”  As James contemplated eating the corn, he remembered his wife and child who were so poorly nourished that while nursing, the baby would often have it’s mouth streaked with blood, and rather than eat those precious kernels, he gave her the corn.  He then picked up his shovel, and went to his duty.  He later testified that he was given strength from that day forward to accomplish every task the Lord lay in his path.  James and his wife Mary left a legacy of faith and conviction despite the often-difficult circumstances they lived in.  A granddaughter later wrote, “Thanks…for giving us courage and faith…thank you for saving the family and giving us an opportunity to be raised in the Church.”

THOUGHT FROM THE STAKE:  Throughout the Book of Mormon we are taught that many people dwindled in unbelief because of the foolish traditions of their fathers.  James Laird and his descendants (and many of the pioneers) teach us that the opposite is equally as true.  Many of those handcart pioneers made a choice at conversion to turn toward  faithfulness and obedience to God and their decision effected countless generations to follow them.  Thus we see, that faith and sacrifice not only bless our immediate lives, but also the generations to follow.  May we make our faith in God and our obedience to follow His commandments in our day an unbendable tradition in our families that our descendants might dwindle dwell in belief.

Are you a modern day pioneer?

Are you a Modern Day Pioneer?

We look forward to seeing you all at the 

Pioneer Youth Conference this Friday and Saturday, June 12-13.

Come and learn about our pioneers and how we are pioneers in our day.

The Story of Two Teenage Siblings

Although similar in age, the above image is not a picture of Joseph and Emily.  No image could be found of the siblings.

"Emily refused to leave her brother, so she promised to pull him in the handcart if they would be permitted to continue." 

Joseph and Emily Wall

Joseph and Emily Wall, two siblings who were emigrating on their own, did so with the blessing of their parents. Joseph was 17 and Emily 16 when they left England, the oldest of nine children. Because the family could not afford to emigrate together, Joseph and Emily were sent ahead, and the rest of the family hoped to follow soon afterward.

Before Joseph and Emily left England, Elder Orson Hyde gave them a blessing in which he promised that they would complete their journey safely if they were faithful and obeyed the counsel of those in authority. The fulfillment of this promise would require not only great faith but great sacrifice by Emily to help her brother.

Sometime after leaving Florence, they faced a serious challenge. During one of the river crossings, Joseph nearly drowned. When he was going under the water for the third time, he was rescued by someone who grabbed his hair. Joseph soon became too ill to walk, and company leaders wanted him to stay behind and wait for the next company. Emily refused to leave her brother, so she promised to pull him in the handcart if they would be permitted to continue. With the help of a young girl, Emily pulled Joseph for several days. In part due to this loving sacrifice, both Joseph and Emily made it to the Salt Lake Valley, as Elder Orson Hyde had promised in the blessing he gave them before they left England.

After arriving in Utah, Joseph and Emily Wall went to Manti.  In 1860, Emily married William Cowley, who had helped rescue the handcart companies four years earlier.  During the rescue he had asked Emily if she would marry him someday, and she had said he would have to write to her mother in England to ask permission.  But, after arriving in Salt Lake City, William was called away for three years to set up a printing press in San Bernardino.  When he returned, he found Emily and asked if she remembered his proposal.  She did, but she wanted to know if he'd written to her mother. He told her he had—and that her mother had said she would approve the marriage if William was a good man.

The rest of Joseph and Emily's family finally made it to Utah in 1862.  When Joseph met his family in Salt Lake City, he also met Selena Stevens, a friend of two of his sisters.  Joseph and Selena were married in 1863 in the Endowment House. They went back to Manti, where Joseph worked in a grist mill.

THOUGHT FROM THE STAKE:   Joseph and Emily Wall's story is simple, but endearing.  I love that as young teenage siblings, they not only travelled alone, without their parents or other siblings, but they truly rescued each other and lifted one another along the way.  I can imagine the scene of Emily pulling her brother in the cart with only the help of a young girl.  It must have been a very difficult task indeed.  I admire their courage, their love for one another, their fortitude and their faith!