You don’t have to push a handcart,
Leave your family dear,
Or walk a thousand miles or more
To be a pioneer.
You do need to have great courage,
Faith to conquer fear,
And work with might
For a cause that’s right
To be a pioneer.
We were asked to speak last week about modern-day pioneers. Maybe you were expecting the usual 1850s Mormon pioneer stories the Sunday before July 24th, or Pioneer Day, but that’s not what you’ll get from me. As the primary song teaches us, that is actually a very narrow view of what a pioneer is. Few of us will be the first to settle a city or town. Few of us will make some huge breakthrough in research. And I’m willing to venture a guess that none of us will have to walk across half of the country pushing our few belongings in a handcart. But pretty much all of us will have opportunities to show courage, moments where we’ll need to muster up the faith to overcome our fears, and occasion to participate in righteous causes.
COURAGE
So I wanted to talk about some modern-day pioneers who exemplify courage. One that immediately came to my mind is Malala Yousafzai. When she was only 11, she spoke out against the Taliban and wrote about the importance of girls getting an education. At the time, Taliban militants were taking over the Swat Valley in Pakistan where she lived, banning television, music, and girls' education, so speaking against them was very dangerous. They blew up more than a hundred girls’ schools. Malala knew that she might be targeted, but she continued to attend school, and she continued to write for the BBC about what life was like under Taliban control. When she was 15, she was riding a bus home from school when a member of the Taliban boarded it and shot her in the head. Miraculously, she survived. She recently became the youngest ever to receive the Nobel peace prize, and she is still fighting for girls’ education.
Malala is a pretty impressive and obvious modern-day pioneer. Other modern-day pioneers are less obvious--just regular old joes who aren’t risking their lives, but who are showing courage nonetheless. There are brave pioneers among us, in our ward. Two weeks ago, a woman stood right here in front of everyone during sacrament meeting and declared herself an atheist. Think how scary that must be, to stand up during testimony meeting and tell everyone you don’t have a testimony, but that you’re open to searching and seeking and finding? She really opened herself up in admitting this and asking for our help as a ward family. It was not the typical “I know…” testimony, but I definitely felt the Spirit. I think many of us felt a lot of love for her and were touched by her courage.
Then last week in Relief Society, the lesson was about temples. One woman raised her hand toward the end and admitted that she has a difficult time loving the temple. That was a tough thing to do. I’m sure she didn’t want to seem contrary, and perhaps she worried what others would think of her, but she did want to be honest about her experience with the temple and provide a different perspective. I personally appreciated her speaking up because I have occasionally felt confusion, not peace, when in the temple. It is comforting not to feel alone or like something is wrong with you when you are different from the norm.
Having the courage to speak up or take a stand when it is frightening, when you risk ridicule or in some cases, even your life, is difficult. I'll admit that having courage, and especially speaking up, is often hard for me. So I'm grateful for the courageous modern day pioneers I can look to as examples.
FAITH TO CONQUER FEAR
The second attribute of pioneers is that they have faith to conquer fear. The scriptures frequently command us to be of good courage, and often in the same breath we are told to “fear not but be believing.” Peter’s experience walking on water was a back and forth battle between faith and fear. At first, all the disciples were afraid when they saw Jesus walking towards their boat, thinking he was a spirit.
But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid. And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And he said, Come. [So faith wins out for a moment] And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him.. [I assume at this point Peter’s faith was restored] (Matthew 14:27-31)
I mentioned earlier that I have a toddler. About a month after I gave birth to her, I noticed I was having a really hard time sleeping. It wasn't because my newborn was keeping me up--she was already sleeping through the night around two weeks. It took me hours to fall asleep and then I'd wake up and not be able to go back to sleep. I sometimes only got two hours of sleep a night and was exhausted. I soon began experiencing other awful things. I was overwhelmed and paralyzed by simple tasks, like putting a load of laundry in the washer. I felt anxious and my throat would constrict, making it difficult to breathe. I lost my appetite and had to force myself to eat. I was ridiculously and unexplainably afraid to be alone. I felt like I resented my baby and wanted to give her away, and of course I felt an enormous amount of guilt for feeling that way. I sometimes dreamed of dying. I.. felt... terrible. I had postpartum depression and anxiety. I had a lot of fear and sadness to overcome in that very dark time. I wanted to read you something I wrote during that experience:
“Thankfully, even though just a few months ago my tunnel of depression seemed interminable, I now see an end to that tunnel, and that there is also light. Now more than ever, I believe that Jesus is the light of the world, shining through darkness, like the scripture in 2 Corinthians states. Although I couldn’t feel that very often in my darkest moments, my heart wanted to believe it, and held on to that hope. I think that on the stormy seas of life’s difficulties, Jesus is our lighthouse shining through the blackest nights. Our faith in Him is essential.”
I'm not trying to tout myself as some great faith-filled pioneer, but I wanted to give you a real world example of faith helping to conquer fear. We have all gone through tough times like this. Maybe visualizing Jesus stretching forth his hand as you start to sink into the sea helps you make an effort to reach out for Him. That reaching out might be trusting that He will help you find a job after recently being laid off. It may be holding on to what you know is true and right when in the midst of a faith crisis. It may be putting your confidence in Him when you go through a divorce or your spouse dies, and you have no idea what the future holds. The world and its experiences are full of scary things, but in Him we might have peace. “In the world ye shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer: I have overcome the world.” John 16:33
WORK WITH MIGHT FOR A CAUSE THAT’S RIGHT
Lastly, modern day pioneers work with might for a cause that's right. Our common cause as members of the church is in the missionary purpose: invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. My mission president once told us to think of that purpose and end on “helping them.” Then it’s simply, invite others to come unto Christ by helping them.
It is so easy for us to get involved in worthy causes today, in and outside of the church. With the internet we can research non-profit organizations that do a lot of good and donate our time or money. I think these specific causes are worth mentioning because they center on helping others, and thus help us in our common cause to invite others to come unto Christ.
One organization a friend told us about recently is called Kiva. Their mission is to connect people through lending money to alleviate poverty. Through a worldwide network of microfinance institutions, you can lend as little as $25 to help create opportunity around the world. It is a really simple and easy way to help people escape poverty. We loaned one woman in El Salvador some money to buy maize and firewood to make tortillas. We loaned some money to a woman from Kyrgyzstan to buy calves for breeding. They are already paying back their loans, which we can then loan to somebody else who needs a jump start.
Another organization called Operation Underground Railroad is a nonprofit group started by an LDS man who rescues children from slavery, particularly from sex trafficking. He works to put the perpetrators in jail. We just got an email a few days ago that they had rescued 3 children in India and captured 7 traffickers.
Then there are well known causes like Malala’s: fighting for girls’ right to education. Or the Church’s humanitarian aid program following severe natural disasters.
These examples of causes are pretty major ones. Smaller or personal crusades are just as important and worth fighting for. I try to look out for new moms and ask them how they are doing a few weeks and months after giving birth. I feel like it’s one of my missions in life to help and encourage other women who experience postpartum depression. An LDS member, Ardis Parshall, is working on a project called “She Shall Be an Ensign,” a Mormon history narrative with women in the foreground. Maybe your cause is helping new converts feel welcome at church. Maybe your cause is speaking up in an effort to prevent abuse. Maybe your cause is family history. Maybe your cause is helping those with addictions to drugs, alcohol, or pornography. Maybe your cause is going green and trying to conserve Earth’s precious resources. There are so many causes that are worthy of our time and effort.
CONCLUSION
I hope I have helped expand your view of what a pioneer is: someone who has great courage, someone with faith to conquer fear, and someone who works with might for a cause that’s right. I invite you to think of ways you can be more pioneer-like, which is essentially doing what God has asked of us: Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest. Joshua 1:9
In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
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