Faith in Every Footstep

In August 1852, five years after the original trek, Heber C. Kimball, First Counselor in the First Presidency, stood at the pulpit during a conference held in the bowery on Temple Square and read the names of more than 100 men, calling them to serve missions in some of the more exotic places in the world. Without apology for the abruptness of the calls, he said: “I say to those who are elected to go on missions, Go, if you never return; and commit what you have into the hands of God—your wives, your children, your brethren, and your property.”

Elder George A. Smith of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles added during that same conference: “The missions we will call for during this Conference are generally not to be very long ones; probably from three to seven years will be as long as any man will be absent from his family. If any of the Elders refuse to go, they may expect that their wives will not live with them; for there is not a ‘Mormon’ sister who would live with a man a day who would refuse to go on a mission” (in Journal History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 28 Aug. 1852, 1).

The response was not to question the call but to ask, “When do we go?”

In response to the faith of these and even earlier missionaries, a flood of converts joined the Church, many of whom immediately migrated to Zion, evidencing their own faith in leaving their houses and families for the great unknown. Sailing aboard small vessels, cramped in smelly holds, tossed by heavy seas, and journeying across the oceans for weeks and months at the mercy of every wind that blew, they nevertheless exhibited the convert’s zeal and faith in their relationships with shipmates and crews.

An interesting story of one such trip concerns the voyage of the ship International, which left Liverpool, England, on 25 February 1853. She carried a Latter-day Saint immigrant company of 425, including a number of unbaptized friends and relatives and a crew of 26.

The ship ran into violent storms, delaying the crossing and making it necessary to ration food. In four weeks only one-third of the distance to New Orleans, Louisiana, had been covered.

Thanks to the faith and prayers of the valiant Saints, a miracle occurred: favorable winds made it possible to make up time lost. The International docked in New Orleans after a 54-day voyage across the Atlantic Ocean.

Christopher Arthur presided over the company of Latter-day Saints aboard the International. In his official report to the British Mission president, President Arthur wrote: “I am glad to inform you, that we have baptized all on board except three persons. … We can number the captain, first and second mates, with eighteen of the crew, most of whom intend going right through to the valley. … The number baptized in all is 48, since we left our native shores” (quoted in William G. Hartley, “Voyage on the Ship International,” New Era, Sep. 1973, 9).

Other Latter-day Saints demonstrated their own faith by staying where they were converted, providing a nucleus from which the Church might grow and flourish in the following years. Their stories of hardship in the face of opposition and persecution are as dramatic as those of the early Saints who trekked to Utah. Yet they remained resolute and steadfast in keeping the commandments of God.

As a young man, I served a mission in the Northern States Mission, spending a year of that service in Cleveland, Ohio. At that time there was in the area a very small branch that met in a room in the Carter Hotel on Public Square. The branch was made up of a small number of families converted to the gospel, they being the leaven for the growth of the branch. We also enjoyed the brotherhood of a few families from the western United States who had come to Cleveland for employment.

My first assignment as a Seventy was to supervise that area of the Church. What a glorious experience it was to return to Cleveland to find stakes flourishing where the single struggling branch had been during my mission. This dramatic growth had come about largely because of early members of the branch whose strength and faith had helped attract other pioneers who, in turn, remained true and steadfast.

For decades a small group of members in former Czechoslovakia clung to their faith amid the buffeting winds of war and Communism, until the Church came to them again in 1990. For nearly 14 of those years, the Czech membership kept their faith in silence, unable to worship publicly or to enjoy any type of regular contact with the Church beyond Czech borders. Among these Saints was Anna Lukasova, who was isolated from the Church for 45 years. She saved her tithing faithfully during that period. Another was Otakar Vojkuvka, who helped keep the Czech Saints together during that long period of Communist rule and taught the gospel in many quiet ways, bringing many young converts to the Church (see Kahlile Mehr, “Czech Saints: A Brighter Day,” Ensign, Aug. 1994, 46–52).

Pioneering is not finished! There are so many pioneers among us today. Across the world, I have seen modern-day pioneers who demonstrate the same steadfast faith and courage as did our ancestors. They have made the Church a worldwide movement in fulfillment of the prophecies of the scriptures and our prophets. They pioneer as they accept the gospel of Jesus Christ and are baptized into his Kingdom.

Sharon Bradley of the Akron Ohio Stake described that pioneer spirit when she quoted her grown daughter as saying: “Some of you may celebrate your pioneer heritage on July 24. It is only right that you should. My children and my children’s children will always remember November 19, 1974. That was the day my parents were baptized and pioneer blood began to flow in our veins” (“Pioneers Since 1974,” Ensign, July 1988, 27).

Even in a worldwide Church, there are those who exhibit unwavering faith in isolation or without family or congregational support.

Robert Muhile joined the Church while working and studying in Cairo, Egypt. After being ordained an elder, he returned to his home village in Tanzania, Africa, so he could share the gospel with his family. Unfortunately, he was more than 600 miles (a three-day bus ride) from the nearest branch of the Church, in Dar es Salaam. He was completely isolated from other Church members. After six months without partaking of the sacrament, he sought permission from his mission president to administer the sacrament to himself each Sunday. His request was granted.

Each Sunday Robert invited his family to join him for worship service, but they chose to attend their own church. So he held his own service—alone. He said: “I prepared water and bread. I also had more water to clean my hands and a small towel. I sang a song to myself out loud. I had my hymn book. After that I offered an opening prayer. Because I was alone, I didn’t have any business to do, so I sang the sacrament hymn and prepared the sacrament. Then I knelt and blessed it and took it. After the sacrament I covered it, as we respect it always. I offered myself a talk—my testimony. Then I sang as we did in Sunday School and then read from Gospel Principles. I finished with a prayer. I then attended priesthood meeting. After singing a hymn, I said a prayer and then read a lesson from the priesthood manual. After that, I finished by singing and then offered the closing prayer. Each Sunday I had all three meetings. When I partook of the emblems it helped me to be more worthy” (quoted in E. Dale LeBaron, “Pioneers in East Africa,” Ensign, Oct. 1994, 24).

Truly, Robert Muhile is a pioneer.

As I reflect on the awesome heritage of faith we enjoy today and the rich blessings that are ours because of the sacrifices of our pioneer ancestors, I understand more clearly the Lord’s message to the children of Israel after they finally settled in the promised land, their parents having tarried in the wilderness for 40 years. After reminding the people of the great miracles and blessings attending their exodus from Egypt, the Lord said through Joshua: “I have given you a land for which ye did not labour, and cities which ye built not, and ye dwell in them; of the vineyards and oliveyards which ye planted not do ye eat” (Josh. 24:13).

In a stirring general conference address given during the centennial year of 1947, President J. Reuben Clark Jr., First Counselor in the First Presidency, reminded us: “In living our lives let us never forget that the deeds of our [pioneer] fathers and mothers are theirs, not ours; that their works cannot be counted to our glory; that we can claim no excellence and no place, because of what they did, that we must rise by our own labor, and that labor failing we shall fail. We may claim no honor, no reward, no respect, nor special position or recognition, no credit because of what our fathers were or what they wrought. We stand upon our own feet in our own shoes” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1947, 160).

Yet the pioneer spirit is represented in us, the inheritors of their faith. We are their finest monument. Upon our shoulders rests the blessing of carrying on the work they started—to build on their faith.

I have seen evidence of this abiding faith every day as men and women accept calls to service. Therein lies a test of our faith. We may not be required to make the physical sacrifices our forefathers made. Rather, the test of our devotion to the gospel largely comes from within us. We demonstrate our obedience to the laws of the gospel and show our willingness to sacrifice by our acceptance of calls to serve, the quality of service we render, and the faithfulness we exhibit in living the gospel.

I have often seen the response of modern-day pioneers called to make personal sacrifices to provide service to their fellowmen. I have been touched beyond expression at their willingness to give of themselves.

When asked to serve full-time at one of our Missionary Training Centers, a faithful, dedicated couple who in previous years had left their home and family to serve in the mission field and in the temple responded, “We are prepared to serve wherever the Lord wants us.”

Serving as a mission president, I called a brother to lead a mission district. After accepting the call, the new district president was asked what he would do if his job interfered with the call. Without hesitation, he indicated he would find another job! These men and women are modern pioneers.

We pioneer when we quietly and humbly, in large ways and small, follow faithfully and endure to the end. Consider the faithfulness of Yenny Samaniego de Figueredo of Paraguay. When she was a child, her family lived five kilometers from the nearest branch of the Church. “Since there were eight of us, it cost too much for bus fare. So we all had to walk—two hours each way. We made that trip every Saturday for Primary and Mutual. And because Sunday meetings were held both morning and afternoon, we would make the round-trip twice—a total of twenty kilometers. When it was really hot, we would sometimes take our lunch and sit under a tree between meetings. From the day we were baptized, I don’t remember that we ever missed a meeting” (quoted in Marvin K. Gardner, “Pioneers in Paraguay,” Ensign, Mar. 1994, 40).

The willingness of Church members to sacrifice everything, even their lives, as evidence of their faith is demonstrated every day in every way, sometimes so quietly that most of us know nothing of their faith or heroism.

Several years ago, while I was serving as executive director of the Missionary Department, two of our fine missionaries were assassinated in a senseless terrorist attack in Bolivia. Of course, their parents and families were saddened by the tragedy. The bodies of the two young men, Elder Todd R. Wilson and Elder Jeffrey B. Ball, were shipped to the United States for burial. Following the funeral service of Elder Ball, an article appeared in the Church News. The account read in part:

“Elder Ball commented before leaving for the mission field, his mother recalled, that he felt the worst possible feeling would be to return home knowing you had not tried as hard as you could. Both parents feel their son did give his full effort, although neither could have known that he would lose his life in the Lord’s service.

“Even so, his father said he is convinced that Elder Ball would have answered the mission call had he known what the eventual outcome would be. ‘And the thing that’s incredible to me is I honestly feel I would let him go again!’” (R. Scott Lloyd, “Elder Ball Touched Lives for Good,” Church News, 3 June 1989, 14).

We are all pioneers who stand by this heritage of faith, serving one another selflessly, sharing the riches of the gospel with all of God’s children, and living in light and truth each day. With those who have gone before, we walk with faith in every footstep. We follow Jesus Christ, the Lord!