Famous

http://www.thespectrum.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009907250319

Well, the kids and I finally made it to fame. We were roped into pushing a handcart with our friends (Lynn and Sara who are also in the photo) in the Enoch City Parade and had our picture taken for the local paper. Even the dog made it in... he loved being in the parade, he thought he was quite the celebrity.

After the parade we went to the park and enjoyed a festival with free rides and booths for the kids and $.25 sno cones. Joseph thought he was in heaven.

I spent a couple hours painting kids' faces. One boy asked for a horny toad-- not sure how to do that, I painted a frog instead, thinking he wouldn't be the wiser until he got home. But his friend behind him said, "That looks more like a frog!" Thankfully he forgave my mistake. By the end of the day, Emeline had little animals and shapes painted all over her face and arms. Joseph wanted a demon bunny painted on his face. Should I be concerned?

When I searched for the article with our photo, I came across a couple of other online articles about Pioneer Day and why Utahans honor the pioneers. Some of the online comments to the articles were very negative, saying things like "Why should we honor the pioneers? They didn't do anything more than we do." (citing construction workers who work in 100 degree weather and farmers who toil 24-7). There were several other derogatory comments about the LDS church and our "holiday." It made me sad. We don't, or at least I don't, honor the pioneers because I think they worked harder or sacrificed more than some people do today, but because they worked harder and sacrificed more than most people do today. Yes, our country is home to many hard working, self-sacrificing people. But it is also home to many who spend 25 hours a week watching television (a documented fact) and have close to 30% obesity rates.

The pioneers weren't perfect-- but their personal sacrifices and hard work in settling this state are not mere speculation. They truly gave much to settle Utah, and spending one day a year to honor them for laying the foundation of our current home is just a trifle. For me, the gratitude I feel on Pioneer Day is similar to the gratitude I feel on the 4th of July for the sacrifices made by many during the founding era of our country, or on Veterans Day for the many who gave their lives (in more ways than one) to fight against those who sought to destroy liberty. Pioneers may not be important to the rest of our country or world the way the founders or war veterans are, but they are important to this state and particularly to the LDS religion.

One person commented on the article that no other state harps on their heritage the way Utah does and was disgusted that we do so-- but I think it's a shame that other states don't honor their predecessors. Whether I chose to be LDS or Catholic or Buddhist, I would still believe that being connected the past and to those who have made my life what it is today is vitally important. How ungrateful I would be to live a life of relative ease without recognizing that it was not my own efforts, nor the efforts of most others around me, that made it so. But instead I live in a time of peace, with food readily at my fingertips, and all the luxuries our world provides due to the hard work of people who lived generations ago.

So let it be known that I am grateful for the pioneers who settled these areas. Although Utah isn't my favorite place in the world (the pioneers should have gone back to the east or stayed in the midwest...) I am grateful that they worked hard to build cities of beauty that would last generations. They came to a desert valley with harsh weather conditions and turned it into a pretty decent place to live. And, as a member of the LDS church, I am particularly grateful for their sacrifice in building temples and for their unfailing faith that is an example to me during times of trial.

My favorite pioneer story is that of the man who commented on his experiences with the Willy and Martin handcart companies. When the teacher criticized the companies during a sunday school class for their late departure, he stood in the back of the class and announced that he had been in that company. Then he reported, "I have pulled my handcart when I was so weak and weary from illness and lack of food that I could hardly put one foot ahead of the other. I have looked ahead and seen a patch of sand or a hill slope and I have said, 'I can go only that far and there I must give up, for I cannot pull the load through it.' I have gone on to that sand and when I reached it, the cart began pushing me. I have looked back many times to see who was pushing my cart, but my eyes saw no one. I knew then that the angels of God were there. Was I sorry that I chose to come by handcart? No, neither then nor any minute of my life since. The price we paid to become acquainted with God was a privilege to pay." I believe each of us who pay that price, with whatever sacrifice or hardship we are called to pass through, will be able to say the same-- becoming acquainted with God is worth every amount of pain and sorrow required to do so. And the pioneers provide us with some poignant examples to teach that principle.

So thank you pioneers! Thank you for walking 1500+ miles to settle unchartered territory; thank you for planting trees and building sound structures; thank you for remaining faithful to God in the face of great physical trials; and, at the very least, thank you for making it possible for me and my kids to be in the paper-- for without Pioneer Day, it never would have happened.