Today is Pioneer Day. July 24, 1847 was the day that Mormon pioneers entered the Salt Lake Valley (Utah, USA) after being persecuted and pushed west of the boundaries of what was then the United States of America. (Utah didn’t become a state until 1897.)

But celebrating Mormon pioneers doesn’t just look back at this one story of early pioneers in the Salt Lake Valley. There are Mormon pioneer stories from around the globe, some of which are gathered at history.lds.org in the Pioneers in Every Land. (You can also see Pioneers in Every Land videos in the LDS Media Library.) The Church has also organized content to feature stories of Mormon women. Of course, there are thousands, millions more stories that could be shared.

If you are a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, what Mormon pioneer stories inspire you (both early LDS pioneer stories, family stories, or stories from pioneers of other countries)?

If you are not a Mormon, and are curious about Mormon pioneer stories, you can search on LDS.org or on history.lds.org for pioneer stories.

I love the stories from Mormon pioneers in various nations that were captured for a film called “Ensign to the Nations” many years ago. This still remains one of my favorite LDS Church videos.

The post Mormon Pioneers Around the Globe appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

In honor of those sacrifices, every year the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square holds a Pioneer Day Concert, often renamed as simply an evening celebrating music. This year’s guest artist was Alex Boyé, and included music from Moana and Pete’s Dragon, Broadway musicals, and Disney’s The Lion King. The concert also featured African-American spirituals, music from the great Nat King Cole, and an organ performance backed by the Orchestra that received one of the two standing ovations of the evening.

In other words, this is anything but a Mormon music concert. It’s a concert that all can enjoy!

You can enjoy the concert in its entirety via a link at LDS.org, or in the embedded video below.

The post Pioneer Day Concert 2017 — Mormon Tabernacle Choir appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

~by Heidi

I will forever be grateful to my ancestors who joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints long ago and for all that they sacrificed so that I could grow up with the gospel in my household.  One of my most illustrious ancestors is Daniel Tyler who is known for his book The Concise History of the Mormon Battalion.  He served as the sergeant of Company C of the Battalion and kept a vivid account of all their doings.

He was born in 1819 and was introduced to the Book of Mormon through a meeting he attended at his neighbor’s house.  The Mormon missionaries were there and Daniel, aged 15 at the time, picked up the book and began to read.  It took only a few pages in order for him to feel a strong desire to be baptized into the church but his father was opposed to it.  Later his sister braved her father’s objections and joined the church.  Soon, their parents and brothers followed.  Daniel, however, was still afraid to tell his father the secret he had harbored in his heart for months.

Finally, Daniel’s father asked him a question.  Daniel writes, “On my father asking if it was not hard for my sister, parents and brothers to leave me, I broke completely down and wept aloud.  I was baptized the following Wednesday.”

Daniel Tyler was instrumental in the building up of the church in Europe.  He was called to serve as a mission president of the Italian/Swiss/German/French Mission in 1854.  While there, he received a letter from Professor Karl G. Maeser, a German citizen who was interested in the church.  Professor Maeser was subsequently baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints, emigrated to Utah, and was one of the founding fathers of Brigham Young Academy, now known as B.Y.U.

Despite his stony expression and military stance in the photo above, Daniel Tyler was a kind man who loved to share his testimony with others.  He suffered many trials and tribulations in the course of his life but he never denied his testimony of the gospel.  I am so thankful for men like him who endured many hardships to bring the gospel to so many.

The post Gratitude for My Pioneer Ancestors appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

My aunt then expressed how, even though her ancestors weren’t pioneers, that she was still a good member of the church. That it shouldn’t matter if you are a first generation member or if your past relatives shook the hand of Joseph Smith. That the blessings we feel from belonging to Christ’s church on the earth should be universally praised and felt, regardless of the specifics of our lineage.

I come from a pioneer family. On both my mother’s side and my father’s. They traveled across the plains. They faced many hardships after leaving their homelands, some from Canada, many from England and Europe. All the stories you may have heard of death and sickness and pain….my family experienced. I have journals and family history records that could fill a bookcase.

But rarely do I share these truths with others.  And here is why.

It’s not that I don’t appreciate and praise all that my ancestors went through so that I could be where I am today. I do. Believe me I do. It’s just that…I have this feeling…this sacred, quiet and beautiful feeling that my pioneer family would not want to be put on a pedestal so high, so above everyone and everything, praised and adored and made into eternal heroes, that they are revered to the point that we forget why they were who they were.  Why they did what they did.  They would want us to be like the Savior…as they tried to be like Him.

When my husband’s aunt told me of this woman, she was quite upset.  I then told her of my family’s history. Of my own relatives’ pioneer heritage, and that what her church friend said, was not only inaccurate, but that it wasn’t something she should dwell on. In the gospel, we all are on an equal playing field. Jesus Christ, our Savior and Redeemer, suffered for us all so that, if we follow Him, we can live in the eternities with those we love and with our Heavenly Father. And one will not get their simply because he or she married someone of “pioneer stock.”  The only way we can achieve eternal life is by using our agency, our free will, to follow the Savior and by keeping all of His commandments. Not because one of our distant relatives crossed the plains as Mormon pioneers.

I am grateful for my ancestors. But do I follow the Savior because of them?  No. I do it for myself and for my family and for those around me. And I think that my ancestors would be perfectly fine with that…in fact, I believe they would feel the same way.

The post Thoughts on my pioneer family appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.