1/31/2024 0 Comments Stumbling blocks game![]() ![]() How do we turn adversity into a stepping-stone and not a stumbling block? How can we make a bad experience become a learning experience? Part of the answer lies in perspective. How can there be such different responses from individuals who undergo difficult and trying circumstances in this mortal existence? Why do some wander off and become lost? Why are some ashamed and fall away into forbidden paths and become lost? (See 1 Nephi 8:23, 28.) Others, however, like Francis Webster, find their faith strengthened and their devotion increased. The price we paid to become acquainted with God was a privilege to pay, and I am thankful that I was privileged to come to Zion in the Martin Handcart Company. Neither then nor one moment of my life since. ![]() Was I sorry that I chose to come by handcart? No. Every one of us came through with the absolute knowledge that God lives, for we became acquainted with him in our extremities. . . . But did you ever hear a survivor of that company utter a word of criticism?. We suffered beyond anything you can imagine and many died of exposure and starvation. But I was in that company and my wife was in it. . . Mistake to send the handcart company out so late in the season? Yes. I ask you to stop this criticism for you are discussing a matter you know nothing about. . . Francis Webster, now an old man, listened as long as he could and then stood and said the following: But to many who suffered, this experience proved to be the refiner’s fire.įorty-eight years later, in a Sunday School class in Cedar City, Utah, class members were offering criticism of the Church and its leaders for permitting the handcart companies to cross the plains so poorly equipped and so late in the season. Many more lost their lives during those horrible days at Martin’s Cove as they waited for the main rescue party.īecause of the horrible suffering experienced by the Willie and Martin handcart companies, a few of the survivors lost their faith and left the Church. Josiah Rogerson recalled the experience years later by writing, “I rolled up my trousers and waded that cold river, six or eight rods wide, slipping betimes off the smooth stones and boulders into deeper water” (“Strong Men, Brave Women and Sturdy Children Crossed the Wilderness Afoot,” in Salt Lake Tribune, 4 January 1914, n.p.).īetween the last crossing of the Platte River and the arrival of the advance party of rescuers, fifty-six members of the handcart company perished. ![]() While the place of crossing was a known location to ford the river, the freezing water was at least waist deep to most of the 200 to 300 souls who waded and swam the river. Thomas Durham recorded, “All the sick that could walk at all had to get out of the wagons and walk through the river, some of them falling down in the river several times, not being able to stand up in it being so weak” (Thomas Durham journal, 1854–1871, 15). Because of the weakness of the teams that pulled wagons accompanying the handcart company, all of the sick who were able to walk were required to enter the icy water. Extremely low on food and supplies, they also faced the prospect of crossing the icy river during a fast-approaching storm. On October 19, 1856, nearly two weeks before the terrible days at Martin’s Cove, the Martin Handcart Company faced the prospect of making their last crossing of the Platte River. I would like to speak of the stepping-stones and stumbling blocks that define our own spiritual journey through life. ![]() My remarks today involve other kinds of rocks. Their expedition stymied by towering cliffs overlooking the Colorado River, these courageous settlers built a road through a cleft in the cliff wall, which even today seems to defy possibility. Hole-in-the-Rock and Dance Hall Rock bring to mind the tenacious faith of those called to settle southeastern Utah. Rocky Ridge and Rock Creek Hollow have deep meaning for the handcart pioneers who struggled across the high plains of Wyoming in early snowstorms that terrible winter of 1856. Such features have special prominence in our own Church history. Prominent rock formations such as Chimney Rock and Independence Rock are examples of such landmarks. During the westward migration, early pioneers encountered landmarks that marked the progress of their journey west. ![]()
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