Pioneer Journeys—More Than a Trek

Every year, Latter-day Saints throughout the world put on bonnets or wide-brimmed hats, tennis shoes, sunglasses, and work gloves. They leave their homes for a few days so they can pull loaded wooden carts up and down hills and maybe even through streams.

Bewildered onlookers might see this combination of past and present and ask a question: Why?

Actually, trekkers would do well to ask this same question. Why? Why are they going on a trek? Even more important, why did the early pioneers do what they did?

Why were early Latter-day Saints willing to walk more than a thousand miles, with either handcarts or oxcarts? When they faced trials, why did they keep going? Why did they help each other along the way? When the Willie and Martin handcart companies were stranded in severe snowstorms, why did strangers in the Salt Lake Valley leap to action to save them?

In this video, a few Latter-day Saints share answers to these questions. They speak from some experience, having studied the lives of early pioneers and having walked, for just a few days, in their footsteps.

And their answers reach beyond explaining “why.” Sitting in Martin’s Cove, at the top of Rocky Ridge, and beside the willows at Rock Creek Hollow, these modern-day pioneers share lessons they have learned from pioneers of the past. These lessons, like the pioneers themselves, can have an impact beyond the Wyoming plains. They can inspire us in our efforts to follow the Savior every day.

Possible uses for this video:

  • Family home evening
  • Meetings introducing stake and ward treks
  • Lessons about faith, sacrifice, or the early Latter-day Saint pioneers
  • Personal study and introspection
  • Sharing with family and friends