Pioneer Day

In Utah (and some folks in Idaho, too), we celebrate Pioneer Day on July 24 to commemorate the day when the first Mormon settlers arrived in the Salt Lake valley in 1847. The Lord had led them there through Brigham Young to escape persecution and to live in peace. (It kind of reminds me of when the Lord led Israel out of oppression in Egypt through Moses to the promised land, though it took them a few years to be ready to enter it.) They experienced a lot of hardship on the way and as they established themselves. Their faith, hard work, and the Lord's promised blessings helped them carry on. Pioneer Day has become a time to remember all those who came before us, forging paths so that we could have many of the blessings that we do today. There are also those who are pioneers for their families today. Here, I want to remember some of my own ancestors who not only made it possible to be here, but who inspire me to work hard to reach my dreams and leave a good legacy for my posterity.

Alfred and Essie Furse

My great-grandparents Furse were born in Enlgand. Both converted to the LDS faith when they were young. While Alfred's family converted as well, Clarissa (Essie) and her sister Elyza were the only converts in their family. In fact, their family wasn't very happy with them joining. I can't imagine how hard it must have been for them to deal with opposition from those they loved. At one point, Essie was a Sunday school teacher. Alfred was younger than her, and was one of the kids in her class. She had to keep him in line.

Eventually, Alfred's family moved to the U.S. and settled in Idaho. Not too far, in fact from where I've been attending school at Brigham Young University-Idaho. Alfred became a cowboy, and thus began many wild adventures. Once, his boss asked him to go get some horses and bring them back. Home wasn't too far out of his way, so he decided to stop by and visit. When he rode into town, he noticed that all the buggies were parked at the church. He guessed it must be Sunday, so he went inside. He sat in the back by his brother Harry, and then he saw her. She was sitting by his parents. He said to Harry, “That's the girl I'm going to marry!” Harry let out a whoop, and everybody turned to see what on earth was going on.

It turned out, the girl was his former Sunday School teacher, Essie. She had come over from England, leaving her family behind, and his parents had given her a place to stay. He pursued her quite persistently, taking her on rides with his parents' buggy, throwing rocks at her window so he could talk to her, etc. His parents said she was too good for him, and she called him crazy. But eventually, she chose him over another fellow who lived in Utah. I try to imagine this couple. She was small and very intelligent, very well-educated. He was an Englishman-turned-cowboy and very sturdy. I won't take the space here to tell of all their adventures, but I will say that at the least, it must have been quite the feat to survive those long, frigid winters in a log cabin. (It's cold enough just walking to class and back.) They raised twelve children, and of course, my Grandpa Furse was one of them.

Anena Simonsen Petty

Earlier on, a family in Denmark converted to the Mormon faith. They had to deal with a lot of persecution that threatened even their children. They wanted to go to America to find safety and to be with other members of their faith, but they couldn't afford the passage to sail all together. So, they sent one or two children at a time. Anena, who was to be my great-great-grandmother, traveled with her sister, Severene. Severene was 11, and Anena was 5. Two sister missionaries agreed to look after the girls on the voyage. It wasn't a very enjoyable trip. You can imagine how their parents worried, and how they must have turned to the Lord, growing in their trust in him to protect them. They made it, and went to stay with their brother in the little town of Ephraim, Utah.

Anne Katrine is one of several ancestors on my mom's side who settled in the Ephraim and Manti area. Today, Ephraim is home to Snow College, where I also attended school and where I made some of my favorite memories. Interestingly, Snow College and BYU-Idaho both started out as church academies in the same year of 1888. If it wasn't for ancestors on both sides of my family and their fellow settlers, I wouldn't have been able to attend both schools. They have been gathering places for so many awesome people I've met (and other great people).

I could tell a lot more stories about my ancestors. There were the Stahelis who came from Switzerland and settled the Santa Clara, Utah. Other ancestors came to the U.S. earlier than the Mormon pioneers as colonists from the Netherlands, England, etc. Some participated in the Revolutionary War to fight for independence. The history of their forbears reaches far back into Europe until it mingles with legends. Ancients recognized mythical heroes for defeating threatening monsters and saving their people. We remember solidly historical heroes for their battles against invaders, for uniting empires and kingdoms. Other heroes, not recognized individually by your average history text books, wielded just as great an influence in the lives of their posterity. And whether or not you feel that has been the case in your family, you can be a hero for your family and their future, defending them and forging paths to a firm foundation.

Furse Family Crest

Motto: Nec desit virtus, or, “Nor let valour be lacking.” Virtus is the Latin source of our word “virtue” and means “strength”.

If you're interested in your family history, this is a  site with free services that has been helpful to me: FamilySearch

Rexburg Flood July 15, 2014

This, dear readers, is more along the lines of news. Two days ago, my college town of Rexburg, Idaho got flooded literally out of the blue. (And I mean "literally" in its true sense.) No one was expecting it. The weather was, for the most part, sun-shiny and warm. I remember thinking on the way between my apartment and campus that it would be nice if it rained. I went in for a little TA work at four, and got done close to five. I stopped by the library to drop off some books about novel-writing, then by the Crossroads for a cheap chicken sandwich since I had plans and no time to make a proper dinner. There's an indoor walkway between the two buildings (which is very convenient when the temperature outside is below zero and the wind is blowing and trying to freeze off people's noses). As I passed through the walkway, I stared out the windows at the rain, which turned to pounding hail. I was glad of the rain, but didn't think much of it or even the hail in July. After all, this is Rexburg. You can expect the unexpected here when it comes to weather. Besides, my little home town in sizzling southern Utah got hit with hail one summer. (It destroyed our poor onions.) So why not Rexburg?

I happened to meet a fellow member of a writers' group. She informed me that our meetings had been cancelled for that evening and the next. Then, I met one of my friends outside the BYU-Idaho Center (imaginative name, I know, but it's a pretty cool building). We hustled to my apartment and sat out under the porch. The cool weather was nice for a change. When the rain started sprinkling us, we decided to go inside since we were working on a project that involved paper. I kept getting distracted, though, by the downpour. It reminded me of rainstorms in Florida. Here's a little video I took:

Then, my roommate called to me to look out back. This is what we saw:

Eventually it dawned on us that some folks might need help. Crazy as Rexburg weather is, this didn't happen every day. So, we went out and found that lots of other students already had the same idea. We were out until about midnight tossing water out of people's basements and lower-level apartments. Some people were probably out later. Of course, somebody ordered pizza at both places we worked at. Pizza is just a given when there's a gathering of LDS college students (or maybe all college students) just like Jell-O salad is a given at any LDS gathering in Utah. At one house, a girl was going around stuffing pizza, doughnuts, and bottled water into people's mouths because nobody would stop working to eat.

By the end of the night, my feet were numb from being wet all that time. It was interesting running home. Not long after I cleaned up and got ready for bed, I got a text from my dad asking if I was alright. Apparently, the flood was on the news.

In the morning, I got up to go to work again, this time for a regular shift. All the teachers and the head secretary of the department were discussing the flood and asking if each other had been affected. Some from Idaho Falls said they hadn't seen any (or much) rain at all. The secretary said that as she had passed by Rigby Lake on the way home from work, people were out sunning and having a good time. So it seems the storm was very isolated. Rexburg is on the slope of a long hill. The water had gathered and swooped down, filling in the low places.

They didn't cancel school. It's an interesting time to have a flood, seeing as finals are next week. To the chagrin of many students, they opened up the testing center again, even though it had been flooded. I received several emails from the school about precautions and information, as well as a plea to teachers to be understanding with students who had been seriously affected by the flood. They opened up one of the buildings as a shelter. Only one building was closed for safety reasons, and it was the same building we would have had our writers' workshop in.

So, that was our adventure for the week. I've experienced lots of interesting weather the last few months, from a couple of tropical storms in Florida to a freak snowstorm in southern Utah to this. It's always good to be prepared and ready to pitch in. My family has a tradition, encouraged by the leaders of the church, of keeping 72-hour kits and food storage, updating them periodically. Our hometown has a brilliant system in place in case of emergencies. The city is divided into districts, largely based on the LDS ward boundaries, since they are already organized. Each district has a chairperson and is divided into blocks. Block captains have been assigned. They gather information on everyone's area of expertise that could be helpful in an emergency and on people's special needs that would require particular attention. Every household has a little doorknob tab with a green side for "OK" and a red side for "Help!" In case of a natural disaster or other such emergency, the block captain goes out to check for anyone that needs help. Then, they report to the district chair, who reports to the city. That way, the city knows exactly where to send professional help. Every few months, the block captains meet to get training and update information. Every year in September, the city conducts a drill. The block captains send out notices about the drill to everyone, along with other helpful information.

Hopefully, when something happens, we'll be able to bypass a lot of problems with this system. Confusion only amplifies the danger. There is also comfort in knowing that an organized system is in place and that someone will be there to check on you and your family and see that help gets to you if needed.

It's a lot like the church is organized. We have a system in place so that ideally, everyone is looked after by each other. We see to each other's temporal, emotional, and spiritual needs through visiting teaching, home teaching, and such. It's neat to know that wherever you go, whatever ward you're part of, you don't have to be alone. It's just another way of God showing all his children that he loves them.

Independence

I want to begin by thanking all those, whether on the battlefield or at home, who have fought to defend our liberty and our independence from those who would seek to oppress us. I hope I will use that gift wisely.

What is the American dream?

When we think of the American dream, a lot of us probably picture a nice, big house and a nice, fancy car and a lot of exotic vacations. We see this as the result of having the opportunity to climb a ladder to the top. It's certainly better than having no chance at all, but is that really all it is? Is that the cause that the patriots seceded from England for?

Now, there were some problems with how to deal with money on the surface. But the issue wasn't so much taxes as it was taxes without representation.

The American dream is the freedom to choose your dream. You may succeed at it. You may fail. You may even find out that it's not as fulfilling as you thought it would be. Freedom doesn't guarantee that everything will be sugar plums and rainbows all your life.

The Burden and Beauty of freedom: Responsibility

Freedom means hard decisions and hard work if you want to get anywhere. (You could just choose to be a couch potato all your life and not get or become anything.) It means making mistakes and doing things right, and learning from the consequences of both. If you do get somewhere, it means so much more to you because you chose it and put in the effort. It might not be luxury. It might be an accomplishment that you are passionate about. It might be a happy family. It might be spiritual well-being. It could be several things. The point is this: you get to decide who you are.

Give Up Responsibility?

Suppose you decided that being responsible was too hard. You want to choose, but you don't want to deal with some of the natural consequences because they might be less pleasant than the thing you chose to do. There's no getting out of consequences in the long run. Whatever you do has an effect on you, and usually on others.

Turn the page, and maybe you want good consequences that come from good choices. Well, that's fine. But making decisions is so hard! What if you mess up and get a bad consequence? It's risky! So, you want to give your decisions to other people who promise to make the right choices and send good things your way. That's easy enough. But why on earth would you trust other fallible, mortal beings who don't even know you and all your circumstances with your decisions? The only way that you can determine what the consequences are is if you make the decisions and act on them.

Now, that doesn't mean that you can't go to others for advice, or even consider unsolicited advice. Taking some wise advice does not make you weak or dependent. You might have to swallow your pride to do so, but that actually makes you stronger. Making a good decision means being aware of and weighing the options. Then you choose.

That also goes for accepting help. If someone is choosing to offer you assistance, and you need it, there's no shame in taking it. Allowing someone to serve you will allow them to grow as a person, and it does good to you too.

Government's Responsibility: Protect Freedom

So, what does all this have to do with political liberty? The principles of freedom and responsibility have a lot to do with the role of government in our lives. Do we want a government that protects our basic rights, which includes the pursuit of happiness? Or do we want a government that decides most things for us and gives us nice (or not so nice) things? With the latter option, that's a lot of responsibility to put into the hands of a few. It takes away some of the essence of who we are. It lays a heavy burden on our leaders, whether they are competent or not, as in the words of King Henry in the third act of Shakespeare's Henry V¹:

Vpon the King, let vs our Liues, our Soules,
Our Debts, our carefull Wiues,
Our Children, and our Sinnes, lay on the King:
We must beare all.
O hard Condition, Twin-borne with Greatnesse,
Subiect to the breath of euery foole, whose sence
No more can feele, but his owne wringing.
What infinite hearts-ease must Kings neglect,
That priuate men enioy?

(A lot of the U's and V's were interchanged, if that helps it make sense.)

. . . And also as in the words of King Mosiah, who saw the need to change the form of government. (He was a Nephite king in The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ):

32. And now I desire that this inequality should be no more in this land, especially among this my people; but I desire that this land be a land of liberty, and every man may enjoy his rights and privileges alike, so long as the Lord sees fit that we may live and inherit the land, yea, even as long as any of our posterity remains upon the face of the land.

33. And many more things did king Mosiah write unto them, unfolding unto them all the trials and troubles of a righteous king, yea, all the travails of soul for their people, and also all the murmurings of the people to their king; and he explained it all unto them.

34. And he told them that these things ought not to be; but that the burden should come upon all the people, that every man might bear his part.²

More Than Politics

Everything discussed here stems from concepts deeper than politics. Our liberty is tied to our very essence as human beings. God loves us and wants us to be happy. He gives us commandments with the intent that if we choose to keep them, we will be blessed. He does not force us, though. He gives us the choice and then offers us help and mercy for when we need it. That's the only way we can really be happy: if we choose happiness, as explained in the book of Alma (emphasis added):

3. And it is requisite with the justice of God that men should be judged according to their works; and if their works were good in this life, and the desires of their hearts were good, that they should also, at the last day, be restored unto that which is good.

4. And if their works are evil they shall be restored unto them for evil. Therefore, all things shall be restored to their proper order, every thing to its natural frame—mortality raised to immortality, corruption to incorruption—raised to endless happiness to inherit the kingdom of God, or to endless misery to inherit the kingdom of the devil, the one on one hand, the other on the other—

5. The one raised to happiness according to his desires of happiness, or good according to his desires of good; and the other to evil according to his desires of evil; for as he has desired to do evil all the day long even so shall he have his reward of evil when the night cometh.

6. And so it is on the other hand. If he hath repented of his sins, and desired righteousness until the end of his days, even so he shall be rewarded unto righteousness.

7. These are they that are redeemed of the Lord; yea, these are they that are taken out, that are delivered from that endless night of darkness; and thus they stand or fall; for behold, they are their own judges, whether to do good or do evil.

8. Now, the decrees of God are unalterable; therefore, the way is prepared that whosoever will may walk therein and be saved.³

So, let's go back really quickly to the story of the Nephites and their new independence:

38. Therefore they relinquished their desires for a king, and became exceedingly anxious that every man should have an equal chance throughout all the land; yea, and every man expressed a willingness to answer for his own sins.

39. Therefore, it came to pass that they assembled themselves together in bodies throughout the land, to cast in their voices concerning who should be their judges, to judge them according to the law which had been given them; and they were exceedingly rejoiced because of the liberty which had been granted unto them.⁴

The real American dream has been around for a long time. It's just been recently recognized again. We also have a law (the Constitution), and we get to choose what kind of people represent us. The Constitution was set up as a parameter for those we appoint in preserving our basic rights and liberties so that they don't overstep their bounds and take them away. Let's continue to defend our independence. Let's take responsibility for our choices and actions and enjoy the fruits of doing -- and being -- good. Perhaps they won't come right away, but they will. God keeps his promises. He's kept his promises to me, and I trust that he will continue to do so.

1Shakespeare, William. Henry V. http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/2253/pg2253.html

2The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ, Mosiah 29: 32-34. https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/mosiah/29?lang=eng

3The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ, Alma 43:3-6. https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/alma/41?lang=eng

4The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ, Mosiah 29: 38-39. https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/mosiah/29?lang=eng