The World Needs Pioneers Today

To celebrate the pioneers today I enjoyed the parade from start to finish - walking the whole parade route back and forth.  It's fun to be out with the community and celebrating the history of our state and ancestors.  It's a unique and wonderful heritage, tradition and parade.  I loved the floats, the bands, the PCC dancers and seeing the missionaries at nearly every corner enjoying the festivities and talking to people.  It was fun to hang out at Liberty Park for a little bit and cheer on some of the marathon runners.  In the evening I hiked up Ensign Peak - what a beautiful valley that many worked so hard to cultivate since 1847!

I'm grateful for a day to pause and commemorate such faith and perseverance and dedication and righteousness....what a legacy!  We commemorate the lives, faith and courage of those who walked across the plains and established new communities where they could worship God freely.  They were tested and held close to God and their covenants.  We are asked to do the same thing today - we may not be walking across the plains, but our challenges and the need to stand up for what we believe might be even greater.

Elder Dallin H. Oaks teaches, "It is not enough to study or reenact the accomplishments of our pioneers. We need to identify the great, eternal principles they applied to achieve all they achieved for our benefit and then apply those principles to the challenges of our day.  That way we honor their pioneering efforts, and reaffirm our heritage and strengthen its capacity to bless our own posterity.  We are all pioneers in doing so."

I loved President Monson's article in this month's Ensign entitled The World Needs Pioneers Today.  President Monson says, "These pioneers remembered the words of the Lord: 'My people must be tried in all things, that they may be prepared to receive the glory that I have for them, even the glory of Zion.'....A dictionary defines pioneer as 'one who goes before to prepare or open up the way for others to follow.' Can we somehow muster the courage and steadfastness of purpose that characterized the pioneers of a former generation? Can you and I, in actual fact, be pioneers?  I know we can be. Oh, how the world needs pioneers today!"

And President Uchtdorf teaches, "We all share pioneer legacy."