Sister Tami Erickson told this story just before the Women's Pull at Martin's Cove.
Elizabeth Sermon's recollections
"My husband's health began to fail and his heart almost broke to see me falling in the shafts. Myself and children hungry, almost naked, and himself nearly done for. My oldest boy had mountain fever...I picked him up and put him on my back and drew my cart as well, but could not manage far, so put him in the cart which made 3 children and luggage...
Many cruel and painful things happening, the dying and dear ones all around us...It is a wonder any of us lived through it."
Elizabeth's husband died a short time later. Finally they were rescued and taken to the valley. Her children survived the ordeal although her sons lost limbs from frostbite.
She ended her account by saying, "My faith was in my Heavenly Father. I never lost that faith in Him. It is as sweet today to trust and my prayer is, may I always trust Him. He is a friend that has never failed."
After Tami told this story we did the Women's Pull up a very steep hill. The men lined the sides of the path. They were told they could not help us. It made them very emotional. Lyle said he could hardly stand it. After the first handcarts made it up, the girls turned around and helped the ones behind. Christena Jarrett came down and hauled me up. Then we sang "As Sisters in Zion/Armies of Helaman. Very touching.
Every person walked for an ancestor or other pioneer. We were told that if we listened or were open to it, we would feel their presence or influence. I walked for Hannah Matilda Baldwin (Annie). Annie came from England alone when she was 17. Accounts differ but she may have left home in secrecy. She was part of the first handcart company which reached the valley safely in September 1856. The company was met by Brigham Young and a brass band. According to the DUP account, a young man offered to push Annie's handcart into the valley. She replied firmly, "Oh no, I have pushed it by myself this far and I desire to do so the rest of the way!"
I didn't really feel anything from Annie, my great, great grandmother, while I was at Martin's Cove. I didn't really expect to. So it was unexpected when I did get a message from Annie.
A few days after I got home, I went to Mom and Dad's. Mom had her life story that she was compiling up on the computer. She had just finished through the year 1958. She asked me to read through it. I had a very strong spiritual response as I read about the trials of 1957 and 1958. It gave me some important insights about myself and why I am the person I am today. At the same time I got a message from Annie. That message was "Keep pulling--don't give up. It will be okay."
I sang a song at Martin's Cove with some other women. "Walk the Path of Faith"
You pulled these carts oer rock and through snow
The icy wind blew fierce and cold
With bodies too weak to move ahead
This cove is sheltered and safe.
This thread of song is a reprise of my sewing experience:
And you are encircled about in the arms of His love
He's sending a rescue to bring you in
Walk the path of faith.
It doesn't matter if your trials are caused by this imperfect world or other people, or just because it's life, or because of our own sins, mistakes or weaknesses. As we walk the path of faith, a rescue is operating. I know that relatives on the other side of the veil are helping us. They are part of the rescue effort.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Reprise: Things I have learned in the last dozen years
Reprise is defined as a repeated action, especially a repeated passage of music. As I look back over the last twelve years, how can I keep from singing? How can I keep from singing the song of Redeeming Love?
The purpose of this blog is to revisit things I've learned. I decided a blog is the perfect way to share this sort of thing because people can follow it if they want to but it is not directed at any particular person or group of people. It has a different feel for me than an email would. Maybe because it doesn't need a reply, although comments are welcome.
I was going to begin with the Anasazi experience, when our family went into the wilderness but it really began with Lynette's first date and my wrestle with the Creature from the Black Lagoon. Lynette was asked to the Christmas dance, a formal affair. We went shopping for the perfect dress. We found the perfect dress, but it wasn't perfectly modest. We continued looking. After trying on tons of dresses, exhausting all possibilities and patience, we decided to buy the dress. By some wild flight of imagination, I thought I could fix it. How could I know that the beautiful dress was a monster in disguise?
After a few days of thinking about it, I hit upon an idea and went to work. I immediately ran into problems. One problem was that I wasn't seeing so well. The dress was black. Black on black is the worst! Another problem was that the material was slick and difficult to work with. Then my sewing machine started acting up and breaking down. The light bulb also burned out.
The back of the dress was low, so I added a series of fabric strips. Rephrase that. I tried to add a series of fabric strips to raise it. Lynette would put it on. I would pin what I was adding on--I would pin it profusely. After I pinned and pinned, she would take it off and I would sew it exactly where I pinned it. Then when she tried it on again, the strips would not be in the right place. I would pick it out and try again. The dress truly seemed to have a mind of its own. I started calling it the Creature from the Black Lagoon.
By Friday, the day before the dance, I could see that I had a real problem. I started doing some serious praying. Saturday, just before she went on her date, I was still trying to finish the dress. I was pinning and crying when Scott came to my rescue. He helped me pin and pin. I took it off of Lynette and sewed it by hand because by that time my sewing machine wasn't working at all. I sewed it so carefully, then tried it on Lynette. It still didn't work! I took it apart and pinned it one more time. Then Lynette went off on her date. I sewed it one more time. When she came back home to get ready for the dance, she tried it on again and miraculously it worked that time. I admit I kind of sewed her into it. She looked beautiful!
I knew that Heavenly Father had heard my many fervent and frantic prayers. Only with divine intervention was I able to subdue the monster dress. I had a sense that this wrestling match was some sort of allegory of my life. I felt that this experience held a promise for me that if I would pray, have faith and keep trying in trials and struggles, Heavenly Father would bless me to finally overcome. Over and over again that has proven to be true.
The purpose of this blog is to revisit things I've learned. I decided a blog is the perfect way to share this sort of thing because people can follow it if they want to but it is not directed at any particular person or group of people. It has a different feel for me than an email would. Maybe because it doesn't need a reply, although comments are welcome.
I was going to begin with the Anasazi experience, when our family went into the wilderness but it really began with Lynette's first date and my wrestle with the Creature from the Black Lagoon. Lynette was asked to the Christmas dance, a formal affair. We went shopping for the perfect dress. We found the perfect dress, but it wasn't perfectly modest. We continued looking. After trying on tons of dresses, exhausting all possibilities and patience, we decided to buy the dress. By some wild flight of imagination, I thought I could fix it. How could I know that the beautiful dress was a monster in disguise?
After a few days of thinking about it, I hit upon an idea and went to work. I immediately ran into problems. One problem was that I wasn't seeing so well. The dress was black. Black on black is the worst! Another problem was that the material was slick and difficult to work with. Then my sewing machine started acting up and breaking down. The light bulb also burned out.
The back of the dress was low, so I added a series of fabric strips. Rephrase that. I tried to add a series of fabric strips to raise it. Lynette would put it on. I would pin what I was adding on--I would pin it profusely. After I pinned and pinned, she would take it off and I would sew it exactly where I pinned it. Then when she tried it on again, the strips would not be in the right place. I would pick it out and try again. The dress truly seemed to have a mind of its own. I started calling it the Creature from the Black Lagoon.
By Friday, the day before the dance, I could see that I had a real problem. I started doing some serious praying. Saturday, just before she went on her date, I was still trying to finish the dress. I was pinning and crying when Scott came to my rescue. He helped me pin and pin. I took it off of Lynette and sewed it by hand because by that time my sewing machine wasn't working at all. I sewed it so carefully, then tried it on Lynette. It still didn't work! I took it apart and pinned it one more time. Then Lynette went off on her date. I sewed it one more time. When she came back home to get ready for the dance, she tried it on again and miraculously it worked that time. I admit I kind of sewed her into it. She looked beautiful!
I knew that Heavenly Father had heard my many fervent and frantic prayers. Only with divine intervention was I able to subdue the monster dress. I had a sense that this wrestling match was some sort of allegory of my life. I felt that this experience held a promise for me that if I would pray, have faith and keep trying in trials and struggles, Heavenly Father would bless me to finally overcome. Over and over again that has proven to be true.
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