Joseph Smith

Joseph Smith
Prophet, Seer and Revelator

Saturday, December 31, 2011

Family Farm

Both John's parents came from aristocratic families, but neither of them were the eldest so they didn't inherit land, titles or money. John's father worked in the British tax office.
Three years after their move to Liverpool, an uncle left James and Agnes a farm near Hale, so the family moved back to Westmorland. John continued his schooling in Beetham, walking about a mile each way.8 On the family farm John learned to plow, plant, harvest, stack hay, and do other chores. He loved to ride high-spirited horses, and was bucked off fairly often. “And I have indelibly impressed on my mind, some of my first mishaps in horsemanship . . . evolutions between the horses’ backs and terra firma (the ground).”
John learned to work hard. The Lord was preparing him for pioneer life to be able to survive in the Utah desert.

Saturday, December 10, 2011

John Taylor's Boyhood Vision

When John was seven, his family moved to Liverpool where he began school and attended the Church of England. He tried to be the best person he could be. But he had an energetic personality and sometimes made mistakes. When another boy pulled his kite down from the sky, John said some bad words. Another time John slipped on the ice and swore. Afterwards, John was sorry. He worried that he was not good enough; he wanted to be obedient to Heavenly Father.


John prayed often and kept himself close to God. “Many a time I have gone into the fields and concealing myself behind some bush, would bow before the Lord and call upon Him to guide and direct me.”

John came to know that Heavenly Father cared for him. Even before Joseph Smith had the First Vision, John saw an angel in the heavens, holding a trumpet, and he knew the heavenly messenger was calling to all the nations of the earth. He wondered a great deal about this experience but didn’t know the meaning of the trumpeting angel until later in his life.

Saturday, December 3, 2011

John Taylor's Parents

James and Agnes Taylor were both born to aristocracy; but the oldest children in their families inherited the money, titles and property. Since they were younger children, they had to earn their living, so even though James was well-educated and came from wealth, he had to work. He found a job with the British government, taxing manufactured goods.


The small town of Milnthorpe invited shoppers to market every Friday. The farmers came to town just before dawn, carrying their goods in small carts. Some travelled along the Kent River which meandered through the fields on its way to Morcambe Bay. Others hurried to town past historical castles in the area that crumbled, struggling to survive, some against ancient attacks of the Scots to the north and others from decay and lack of use.

Saturday, November 26, 2011

John Taylor is born.

A Boyhood Centered in Faith


We live in God, we move in God, and from him we derive our being.

In Northwest England the green rolling hills of Westmorland (now Cumbria) were heavy with dew. It was November and rain clouds crept across the sky, sheltering and watering the land. A new baby was born, a second son to James and Agnes Taylor – November 1, 1808. The village folk of Milnthorpe bustled about their business, eager to get indoors out of the cold fall weather. Many did not notice there was a new baby in the village, but God knew. He watched John Taylor from the beginning for this child was to grow to be his prophet.

John’s godparents knew. They predicted that John would “renounce the devil and all his works . . . believe all the articles of the Christian faith . . . [and] keep God’s holy laws and commandments . . . all the days of his life.”

Saturday, November 19, 2011

John Taylor

John Taylor


Defender of the Faith



If I can only fight the good fight of faith, and lay hold of eternal life, then all is right.1

As a child John Taylor saw a vision of an angel with a trumpet to his lips, sharing a message with the world. John didn’t know the meaning of the vision, but he kept it close to his heart as he grew up.

Teaching about Christ was his favorite thing to do, and, at the age of seventeen, he became a Methodist minister in England. But he knew Heavenly Father wanted him to preach in America.

After he joined the LDS Faith, he shared his testimony through the spoken and written word in many places on the earth: England, France and Germany, in addition to cities in America such as Nauvoo, New York City and in the Salt Lake Valley. He now knew the message of the angel with the trumpet and took it to the world.

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

November Blog Hop

My new book Texting Through Time, A Trek with Brigham Young has just been released in the stores this week. The book can be yours. Follow this blog, leave a comment, and your name might be chosen.

When 12-year-old Micah "borrows" his father's experimental time-travel phone, his dreams of seeing the future are dashed as he and his sister, Alicia, end up trapped in the past at Brigham Young's boyhood home. Their only hope is to text through Brigham's life to find the answer that can get them back to their own time.

A fun way to discover  Church history, Texting Through Time is one adventure you don't want to miss! Learn that no matter where--or when--you are, God is still aware of you.

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Building a Website

I’ve traveled a magnificent road from writing to publication and loved every minute of it. But I’d like to share my experience of building my website. I’ve had such a fun time with it.


First of all, I don’t have the skills to build the actual site myself, so I found someone who has done a wonderful job with that part. I just told him what I wanted, sent him the information and pictures, and he provided.

Since my first book is about Brigham Young, I decided to give my website a pioneer theme. Researching children’s pioneer games, crafts, cooking took me back to my childhood. We have a cabin in the Tetons where my father grew up, and I had done many of these things as a girl. I wanted pictures of kids on the website, so I orchestrated craft and cooking sessions this summer when we were together with the children in Idaho.

The girls loved making paper dolls. They colored them and kept them together in chains at first. Then they ripped them apart and spent the afternoon playing house with them. I didn’t think they’d have much fun making forest creatures, but they LOVED it. They spent a couple of hours finding twigs and leaves and pinecones they could tie together with string, etc. I purposefully didn’t use little eyes and other craft materials of today because I wanted to be true to the pioneer period. Gathering wild flowers also appealed to the crafty kids.

Cooking was also fun. Shaking the cream jar to music until the butter formed, energized them so they continued the dance fest with dress-up clothes long after the butter hardened. Fishing was the boys’ favorite. They sat by the stream for hours casting and recasting.

I was also surprised at the games. We started playing hide the thimble outside. I thought they’d only play long enough for me to snap some pictures, but they continued for almost an hour. Jack Straws was another activity they loved. Each of them made their own set of straws, and that was as fun as the game itself. I wanted an activity for the smaller children, and follow the leader was the one they enjoyed. (Maybe tromping around in my cousin’s grain field added to the delight—they stayed on the edge so as not to damage too much wheat.)

Visit the website and have as good a time with the pioneer theme as we did. www.christymonson.com

I’d love to hear from each of you about great experiences you’ve had with old-fashioned ideas. If you’re willing I’ll put them on my site.

Take Care! Share your ideas! Christy

Saturday, October 29, 2011

Brigham Young Quotes

We are . . . only what the Lord makes us.



Teachings of the Presidents of the Church, Brigham Young, 179.



Jesus is our captain and leader.


Teachings of the Presidents of the Church, Brigham Young, 1.

Saturday, October 22, 2011

A Tribute to Brigham Young

"Life is for us, and it is for us to receive it today . . . strive to live the whole day to God and nobody else."


Brigham Young spent his life in service to the Lord. “Thus did Brigham Young go forth . . . within his breast there was the heart of a lion, a determination to do or to die.”

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Brigham Young's Death

Towards the end of August 1877, Brigham was ill and in pain. The doctors called his condition “cholera morbus,” but a medical historian has identified it as an infection from a ruptured appendix. Because of his pain, he was given opiates so he slept much of the time.2


Brigham was moved to a bed near an open window where he could get some fresh air, and his loved ones could gather around him. He seemed to revive a little. Brigham looked out the window and glanced toward heaven, calling, “Joseph, Joseph, Joseph,” as if he were speaking to the prophet Joseph Smith.

Shortly thereafter, the family knelt around his bed as Brigham’s brother, Joseph Young, offered a prayer. Brigham’s daughter Zina said, “I was impelled to open my eyes, and father’s face was radiant with inward glory. It seemed that a cloud of light surrounded him . . . The husband, the father, the leader, the chosen prophet of God, lay sleeping before our eyes never more on earth to give his words of counsel, of wisdom.”

The day was August 29, 1877. The Lion of the Lord was dead.

Saturday, October 8, 2011

Brigham's Testimony

Brigham had a testimony of the Bible and the Book of Mormon. “Believe what is recorded in the Holy Bible concerning God and his revelations to the children of men . . . then you will know that the Book of Mormon is true.”


Joseph Smith’s influence remained with Brigham all his life. “I feel like shouting Hallelujah, all the time, when I think that I ever knew Joseph Smith, the Prophet whom the Lord raised up and ordained, and to whom he gave keys and power to build up the Kingdom of God on earth.” “The honest-in-heart ran together and gathered around him [Joseph] and loved him as they did their own lives.”

“I know that [Joseph Smith] was called of God, and this I know by the revelations of Jesus Christ to me, and by the testimony of the Holy Ghost.”

Brigham Young devoted his life to the gospel. He believed prayer would lead to a testimony of all truth. He knew that salvation depended on the Lord Jesus Christ through the Atonement. He had a strong testimony that the Bible and Book of Mormon were true. He loved the Prophet Joseph Smith and tried to follow his example of dedication to Heavenly Father.

Saturday, October 1, 2011

Testimony

From the time of Brigham’s baptism, his whole life was devoted to sharing his testimony of the gospel. “Mormonism has made me all I am, and the grace, the power, and the wisdom of God will make me all that I ever will be, either in time or eternity.”


Our “first . . . duty [is] to seek the Lord until we open the path of communication from God to our own soul.” Prayer brings us a testimony of the gospel which includes “all truth in heaven and on earth.”

Brigham’s belief in Jesus Christ and the Atonement was foremost in his life. “The errand of Jesus to earth was to bring his brethren and sisters back into the presence of the Father.” Brigham said that we could be saved through the Atonement of Christ if we are faithful to God’ commandments. “He is now King of kings and Lord of lords, and the time will come when every knee will bow and every tongue confess, to the glory of God the Father, that Jesus is the Christ.”

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Temple Work

After the dedication of the S t. George Temple, Brigham spent much of his time in the temple overseeing and participating in the ordinances. Brigham was sorry that his father had died before he could receive the blessings of the temple, and Brigham knew that he and his brothers and sisters were not sealed to their parents. Now the work could be done. By the time the entire temple was dedicated on April 6, 1877, Brigham had performed many of the ordinances for family members who were dead.


Brigham also dedicated temple sites in Manti, Utah, on April 25, 1877, and Logan, Utah, on May 18, 1877. He knew these would not be the only temples built on the earth. He said, “there will be hundreds of them [temples] built and dedicated to the Lord.”

Brigham told the people: “When I think upon this subject [temple blessings], I want the tongues of seven thunders to wake up the people.” “Our fathers cannot be made perfect without us; we cannot be made perfect without them.”

.

Saturday, September 17, 2011

St. George Temple

Brigham spent some of his winters in St. George, and Heavenly Father wanted him to build a temple there. The workers laid the foundation for the temple, but it kept sinking because there were springs of alkali (salty) water under the earth. Brigham had tons of black volcanic rocks from nearby mountains hauled in to make the foundation of the St. George Temple solid.


Brigham studied the temples in the Old Testament to make sure he was building the St. George temple as Heavenly Father wanted it. He asked his daughter, Susa Young Gates, to read to him about the tabernacle in Leviticus, and Solomon’s Temple in Chronicle and Kings. He made the baptismal font as near to the one in Solomon’s Temple as he could.7

The first level of the St. George Temple was dedicated on January 1, 1877. Brigham’s legs were so weak because of his rheumatism that he had to be carried into the room. During his speech he became so upset at the influence of Satan among the people that he struck the podium with his hickory cane, denting it so that the marks could still be seen years later. “I will never cease my preaching until Satan and his hosts are overcome,” he said.

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Temple to stand through the Millennium

Brigham knew exactly how Heavenly Father wanted the Salt Lake Temple to be built because he saw it in vision. “I scarcely ever say much about revelations or visions, but


. . . I . . .see it [the temple] as plainly as if it were in reality before me.”

The granite used to build the temple was taken from Little Cottonwood canyon, twenty miles away. At first the workers used oxen and wagons to pull the blocks of stone. But some of the granite blocks were so large that took four days to drag them to the temple site. Brigham started to dig a canal so the granite could come by boat. But before the canal was finished, the railroad came to Utah so a rail line was laid to the quarry. It was much easier to bring the rock by rail car to the temple site.
Brigham was very particular about the construction of the Salt Lake Temple. When he found that the workers had put small shavings of granite in between the blocks of stone, rather than cement, he made them take it all out and start again so the building would be strong. He said, “This Temple is to stand throughout the Millennium.”

Later, Brother Truman O. Angell, the architect, told Brigham that they had forgotten to leave room to put chimneys up to heat the building. Brigham thought for a minute and then said to him, “When the time comes to heat it, there will be a way provided!”6 When the temple was finished in 1893 (40 years after it was begun), central heating had been developed, and the temple didn’t need chimneys.

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Temple Building

When Brigham reached Utah, he immediately surveyed the site for the Salt Lake Temple. But the Saints struggled to survive in their new land for several years before they were actually able to begin the temple. The ground was dedicated on February 14, 1853, six years after the pioneers arrived in the Salt Lake Valley.


Brigham knew exactly how Heavenly Father wanted the temple to be built because he saw it in vision. “I scarcely ever say much about revelations or visions, but

. . . I . . .see it [the temple] as plainly as if it were in reality before me.”

Saturday, August 13, 2011

Temples

When Brigham reached Utah, he immediately surveyed the site for the Salt Lake Temple. But the Saints struggled to survive in their new land for several years before they were actually able to begin the temple. The ground was dedicated on February 14, 1853, six years after the pioneers arrived in the Salt Lake Valley.


Brigham knew exactly how Heavenly Father wanted the temple to be built because he saw it in vision. “I scarcely ever say much about revelations or visions, but

. . . I . . .see it [the temple] as plainly as if it were in reality before me.”

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Temple Work

"I have built myself a house, and the most of you have done the same, and now, shall we not build the Lord a house?" Brigham Young



Brigham Young loved temple work. During the last days the Saints were in Nauvoo, he guided them to finish the temple and perform the ordinances that Heavenly Father had revealed to Joseph Smith. Brigham was anxious to see that the blessings of the temple were received by all the Saints in Nauvoo. “I have given myself up entirely to the work of the Lord in the Temple night and day, not taking more than four hours sleep upon an average, per day, and going home but once a week.”

Saturday, July 30, 2011

Sailing

Brigham built a boat to sail on the Great Salt Lake. He named it “Timely Gull.” The paddle wheel was powered by horses walking on a treadmill. The Young family sailed the boat only a few times, and then it was dashed to pieces by a storm.

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Swimming

There was even a swimming pool behind the schoolhouse that was twenty feet square and five feet deep for them to play in. The pool was also used as a baptismal font. For the girls, bathing suits were made out of linsey dresses (plain cotton and wool) with pantalettes (long pants worn under their dresses) for the girls. The boys wore shirts and overalls. Brigham made them a bath house out of an old band wagon where they could change their clothes. It had benches on each side and a roof on top.


Sometimes Brigham and the children liked to soak in a warm spring about a mile from the house. He also loved to take visitors, along with a few of his children, to the Great Salt Lake. It took a full day to go to the beach and back because it was twenty miles away. Everyone changed their clothes behind a huge black rock – boys on one side and girls on the other. Swimming in the lake was a fun experience because the salty water held them up. They could float or roll in the water without sinking.

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Physical Activites for Children

Brigham Young wanted his children to have all the opportunities for physical growth, as well as educational advantages. He remembered his own childhood of hard work and sadness after his mother died, and he wanted things to be better for his children.


Brigham built a gym for his family on the porch at the back of the Lion House that ran the full length of the building. There were ladders and bars to climb, jumping ropes, hoops, roller skates, wooden swords, swings, barbells, and big balls to play with. Teachers came to train the children in the use of the equipment, as well as dancing. The gym was lots of fun and helped the children develop confidence in their physical abilities as well as strong bodies.

Saturday, July 9, 2011

"Become the Best that you can be."

Brigham took time for his children. His daughter Clarissa Young Spencer said of her father, “No child ever loved, revered, and cherished a father more than I did mine.” Another daughter, Susa Young Gates said he was “an ideal father. Kind to a fault, tender, thoughtful, just and firm . . . None of us feared him; all of us adored him.”


Brigham Young wrote to his sons often when they grew up and went away to school. He counseled them to keep the spirit of the Lord with them always. “Cultivate this spirit and you will find that it shall be a wall of fire around you, and your glory in the midst of you.”

Saturday, July 2, 2011

Brigham Loved Children

Brigham delighted in little children, no matter what they said. Once when he was visiting the Saints, he stopped at the home of Anson Call. Brigham asked Anson’s little girl to sit on his knee. He took her head in his hands and turned her small face toward his so he could tell her how pretty she was. She stared up at him and said, “Your eyes look just like our sows!” Her father was embarrassed, but Brigham took her by the hand and led her outside. “Take me to the pig pen. I want to see this pig that has eyes just like mine.”


As a young man, John Poulson drove a yoke of cattle from Sandy to American Fork, riding on a small mule. When he got around the point of the mountain he met a carriage pulled by a pair of fine mules with several coaches following it. John drove his cattle off the road to wait until the carriages passed. The lead carriage stopped when it was even with John, and the man asked his name. John told him, and the man said he was President Young. He talked with John for quite a few minutes and shook his hand. He asked God to bless John. Later, when John was older, he worked on the St. George Temple. Brigham remembered meeting him. He visited with John and gave him great advice.

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Brigham Young Loved Children

One day Brigham saw a group of boys playing marbles with small rocks. He asked his driver to stop the carriage. He reached into his travel bag and pulled out a set of real marbles and gave them to the boys.


Brigham delighted in little children, no matter what they said. Once when he was visiting the Saints, he stopped at the home of Anson Call. Brigham asked Anson’s little girl to sit on his knee. He took her head in his hands and turned her small face toward his so he could tell her how pretty she was. She stared up at him and said, “Your eyes look just like our sows!” Her father was embarrassed, but Brigham took her by the hand and led her outside. “Take me to the pig pen. I want to see this pig that has eyes just like mine.”

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Kindness to Children

From his early days, Brigham Young was always kind to children. He enjoyed being with young people. He took time to listen to them, and he respected what they had to say. Brigham tried to set a righteous example for them to follow.


One winter when Heber J. Grant was about six years old, he jumped on the back of Brigham’s sleigh to go for a ride. The cutter was going so fast that, even though Heber was freezing, he was afraid to jump off. When the sleigh came to a stream, the driver slowed down, and Brigham noticed Heber. He stopped the sleigh, got out, and picked up the small boy who was shivering from cold and frost. Brigham snuggled him into a thick lap-robe, and soon got Heber warm.

Brigham took Heber on a long ride and told him that he loved Heber’s father, Jedediah M. Grant, former Mayor of Salt Lake City, Apostle, and Counselor to Brigham Young in the First Presidency. After the trip, Brigham took the young boy home and asked Heber’s mother to send Heber to his office in a few months for a visit. When Heber came to the office, Brigham talked with him and was interested in what he was doing. They became friends. Heber J. Grant became the seventh President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Saturday, June 11, 2011

Heber J. Grand and Brigham Young

One winter when Heber J. Grant was about six years old, he jumped on the back of Brigham’s sleigh to go for a ride. The cutter was going so fast that, even though Heber was freezing, he was afraid to jump off. When the sleigh came to a stream, the driver slowed down, and Brigham noticed Heber. He stopped the sleigh, got out, and picked up the small boy who was shivering from cold and frost. Brigham snuggled him into a thick lap-robe, and soon got Heber warm.


Brigham took Heber on a long ride and told him that he loved Heber’s father, Jedediah M. Grant, former Mayor of Salt Lake City, Apostle, and Counselor to Brigham Young in the First Presidency. After the trip, Brigham took the young boy home and asked Heber’s mother to send Heber to his office in a few months for a visit. When Heber came to the office, Brigham talked with him and was interested in what he was doing, and they became friends.

Saturday, June 4, 2011

Family Prayer at Brigham Young's Home

As the family grew older, there were times when his children, and even his wives, were out visiting with friends at prayer time. Brigham wrote a letter to his family, urging them to be home for family prayer. “When the time appointed for our family devotion and prayer comes, I am expected to be there; and no public business . . . has been able to influence me to forego the fulfillment of this sacred duty which I owe to you, to myself, and to God. . . .Your strict attendance to my wishes in this respect will give joy to the heart of your Husband and Father.”


After prayer, the family talked about their plans and activities. One night Brigham’s daughter Clarissa remembers he called all the children around and gave them each a brand new ten-cent bill. “It looked like a hundred dollars to me.” She was very excited because she didn’t often have money. From then on Clarissa tried never to miss family prayer.

Family devotion was important to Brigham. He taught that prayer should be a guide to our daily lives. He made it a priority to read the scriptures with his family and teach them to rely on Heavenly Father in all they did.

Monday, May 30, 2011

Family Prayer

I do not know any other way for the Latter-day Saints than for every breath to be . . . a prayer for God to guide and direct his people.



Brigham believed prayer would lead to inspiration from God to bless the Saints in their daily lives. Communication with Heavenly Father was important to Brigham all his life – even as a child at his mother’s knee.

At seven o’clock each evening in the Lion House (Brigham’s other home next to the Beehive House), Brigham lit a candle in a brass candlestick, and walked to the sitting room to tell everyone it was time for prayer. He then went down the hall to the parlor where the family would gather. He set the candle down, and the bright flame gave the room a golden glow. The glass cupboard in the parlor held the prayer bell, which he took out and rang three times. The smooth tones of the bell echoed throughout the house, calling everyone. The patter of children’s small feet, skipping and prancing down the hall could be heard, followed by the more dignified footsteps of their mothers. Soon everyone was quiet and seated in the parlor. Brigham sat on the west side of the room. Joseph Young and Lorenzo Young, Brigham’s brothers, often came for prayer. They were seated near Brigham in a place of honor. Each family had a designated spot around the room with the children gathering near their mothers.

Brigham discussed the topics of the day and read the scriptures. He taught his family: “Do you read them [the scriptures] as though you stood in the place of the men who wrote them?” “Be as familiar with the spirit and meaning of the written word of God as you are with your daily walk.”

The family sang a hymn, bringing peace and contentment to the room. Then everyone knelt as Brigham offered a prayer. One of his daughters remembered him saying “Bless the church and Thy people, the sick and the afflicted and comfort the hearts that mourn.”6 What a privilege for the Saints to have Brigham pray for them.

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Brigham Young Loved a Party

On one tour to the southern settlements, Brigham took a large party with him, including several apostles, actors and actresses, musicians, and some of his family members. A parade led by a brass band welcomed them when they reached Nephi. After their visit, the traveling party “kidnapped” the brass band to go with them further south. When they got to Fillmore, the territorial capitol, there was a parade there also, where “anvils boomed, cows bellowed, horses bucked, donkeys brayed, women shouted, youngsters yelled, and dogs yelped.” The guests were served a delicious dinner; and afterwards, they were escorted to the Capitol Building where the musicians, including the brass band, played, and the community danced until daybreak.

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Brigham Young and Higher Education

Brigham wanted the young people of Utah to have the opportunity to learn as much as possible so he started several schools of higher education. In 1850 Brigham organized the University of Deseret, now the University of Utah. Under the direction of Karl G. Maeser, he established an academy in Provo in 1875, which is now Brigham Young University. In 1877 he began the Brigham Young College in Logan, to educate teachers for schools in settlements throughout the west. It later became Utah State University.


Education was important to Brigham Young, whether it was for his own children, the children of the community, the women of the Church, or establishing institutions of higher education. “My policy is to keep everybody busy in building up the Kingdom; [including] building academies and other places of learning.”

Saturday, May 7, 2011

Brigham Young, Midwives

Since women often died in childbirth because of inadequate medical help, the need for midwives was critical. Brigham urged Romania B. Pratt, wife of Parley Pratt Jr., to go to New York to medical school so she could train midwives to work in the outlying communities. She left her husband and five children, including a small baby, to go east to school. After one year, she found that she did not have enough money to complete her education. So she returned home and asked Eliza R. Snow and the Relief Society to help her. Word went out to the women of the Church; and through many small donations of the sisters, she received enough money to finish her degree. She came back to Utah and taught others about medicine, midwifery, and nursing.

Sunday, May 1, 2011

Brigham Young and the Theater

Brigham Young was a great one for having a good time. He worked hard and he played hard. I think, because of the strictness of his growing-up years, he wanted those around him to have a good time. It wasn't sacreligious to have fun.

"We are met in . . . a social community . . . that our minds may rest and our bodies receive that recreation which is proper."


Brigham Young felt the Saints needed to rest from their labors and have some fun. Their “minds [should] sing for joy.” He also wanted to introduce the Saints to culture and the arts. As soon as the pioneers were settled in their new land, he made plans to build a theater where the people could enjoy productions.

Brigham needed money to construct the theater. When Johnson’s Army left the area to fight in the Civil War, they sold all their supplies, including nails, for almost nothing. Brigham bought many of the goods and resold them for more than he paid for them. The money he made, plus the nails, were used to build the theater.

After the theater was completed, everyone wanted to see the plays. If the pioneers paid didn’t have any money, they paid for their show tickets with chickens or other goods. Once a person paid with a turkey and got two chickens for change. At times sausages and honey comb were used to buy the tickets.

Brigham loved the theater and always made sure the details of each play were just right. Once he noticed that an actress with blonde hair played the part of a brunette in a play. Brigham asked why she didn’t have a brown wig for the part. She told him she would love to be a brunette if she could have the dark curls of a John McDonald as her wig for the play. John liked his long curly hair and didn’t want to cut it off. But when Brigham told him the situation, he paused for a moment and then said, “If the success of the play depends upon my hair, Brother Brigham, you shall have my hair.”

Before electricity, candles were used to light the stage. When the play called for darkness, the candles were blown out and then relit when light was needed. Buckets of sand and barrels of salt water from the Great Salt Lake were kept nearby in case of fire.

Because Brigham’s daughters learned to dance in their gym, some of them got to be in the plays. They loved the beautiful costumes, the excitement of meeting the actors and actresses, and the thrill of the performance.

Saturday, April 30, 2011

Brigham Young, Educating Women

Brigham felt it was important to educate women as well as men. He wanted women to learn about whatever they were interested in. “We think the sisters ought to have the privilege to study various branches of knowledge . . . they may . . . study law and physic [medicine], or become good bookkeepers . . . In following these things they but answer the design of their creation.”8


Ellis Reynolds lived in Pleasant Grove, Utah with her family. Her mother died when she was fourteen; and after her father remarried, she stayed with her grandparents. On a visit to Salt Lake City, she met one of Brigham’s step sons and was introduced to the Young family. Brigham saw Ellis again when he visited Pleasant Grove. He was impressed with her intelligence and zest for life, and invited her to come live at the Beehive house and go to school with his children.

Two years later Ellis married Milford Shipp and began her family. Her thirst for knowledge was so strong that she arose every morning at four a.m. to study before her husband and children awoke. At the age of twenty-eight, she left for medical school in Philadelphia with the blessing of her husband and Brigham. She completed her education and returned to Utah to practice medicine.

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Brigham's Actions on Skipping School

Brigham had so many children of his own that he started a school for just his family. Don Carlos, Brigham’s son, cut school often because he loved to go with the men who drove Brigham’s wagons. When Brigham found out about it, he took Don Carlos to the barn and gave him a wagon hitched with two blind mules. Brigham told Don Carlos he could work hauling produce and ice around town, and bringing wood from the canyons.6 Guiding blind mules around the city was a difficult task, but Don Carlos was determined to succeed. He worked hard and accomplished the responsibilities given him.


Don Carlos soon became a good teamster, earning the right to drive the best team in the stables. At the age of twelve he was responsible enough to haul a load of wheat fifty miles north to Logan, Utah and back. However, he got tired of driving and was glad to get back to school.

Don Carlos graduated from the family school and then attended the University of Deseret in Salt Lake City. He went on to study in New York, obtaining a degree in engineering. He returned to Utah to pursue his interest in architecture. Being hired as Church architect, he was given the opportunity to redesign the towers of the Salt Lake Temple which were originally to be made out of wood covered with tin. He also designed the Church Administration Building on South Temple in Salt Lake, and the original Brigham Young University building in Provo.

Saturday, April 9, 2011

Brigham Young and Education

We might ask, when shall we cease to learn? I will give you my opinion about it: never, never.
Brigham Young
Before the pioneers came west, Brigham urged them to bring copies of books, maps, paper, pencils and other things that would be helpful in teaching children to read. So books and note pads were tucked into blankets in the wagon beds and brought west. At Brigham’s request, the Saints who sailed around South America brought with them a large library of school books.

The first school in the Salt Lake Valley opened in October of 1847, in an old military tent shaped like a wigwam erected in the middle of the fort. The teacher, Mary Jane Dilworth, sat on an old camp stool, and the students sat on logs. Some of the pupils brought slates to write on and others had paper and pencils. But a few wrote on smooth logs or dried bark with a piece of charcoal.

The first day of school, the teacher began with a prayer and then each pupil learned a psalm from the Bible. In the winter, schools were opened for adults. Several languages were taught, including Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. A series of classes cost $1.20 and an individual lecture was $0.20.

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Brigham Young and Education

Before the pioneers came west, Brigham urged them to bring copies of books, maps, paper, pencils and other things that would be helpful in teaching children to read. So books and note pads were tucked into blankets in the wagon beds and brought west. At Brigham’s request, the Saints who sailed around South America brought with them a large library of school books.


The first school in the Salt Lake Valley opened in October of 1847, in an old military tent shaped like a wigwam erected in the middle of the fort. The teacher, Mary Jane Dilworth, sat on an old camp stool, and the students sat on logs. Some of the pupils brought slates to write on and others had paper and pencils. But a few wrote on smooth logs or dried bark with a piece of charcoal.

The first day of school, the teacher began with a prayer and then each pupil learned a psalm from the Bible. In the winter, schools were opened for adults. Several languages were taught, including Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. A series of classes cost $1.20 and an individual lecture was $0.20.

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Mormon War II

Since the army was delayed through the winter, Colonel Thomas L. Kane, a long-time friend of the Mormons from the Missouri persecution, had time to get to Utah to help with the problem. He came, under a false name of Dr. Osborne, by way of the Isthmus of Panama to California and then on to Utah. In the spring Colonel Kane traveled to Wyoming to talk with Governor Cumming. He suggested that the governor come ahead of the United States Army to Salt Lake to meet the Church leaders.


When Governor Cumming met with Brigham, he found out that the charges against the Mormons were false. He wrote to President Buchanan immediately to let him know that the Mormons were law-abiding citizens. Governor Cumming and Brigham were both kind leaders and soon began to trust each other. They learned to work together by talking over their problems and listening to each other.

Brigham still did not want the army to come into Salt Lake. He was afraid they would persecute the pioneers like the mobs did in Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois. Since Brigham didn’t trust the army, he had all the Mormons leave Northern Utah and the Salt Lake Valley and go south to Provo and beyond. The pioneers were prepared to burn their homes rather than have the army take them over. Brigham left a few men in every city ready to destroy their property if the army did not keep to itself. The building of the Salt Lake temple stopped, and the entire temple lot was leveled and covered over so that it looked like plowed ground.

Johnston’s Army came into the Salt Lake Valley in June and passed through the city without disturbing anything. They settled forty miles to the south of the city, leaving the Mormons alone. When Brigham saw that the army was not going to harm the pioneers, he told the Mormons they could return to their homes.

People in the east were upset with Buchanan for sending an army to Utah because the Utah War cost the United States government forty million dollars, nearly emptying the U.S. Treasury. In 1861the troops were called back to fight in the Civil War. The Mormons were left to themselves again.

Saturday, March 12, 2011

The Mormon War

In 1854 President Pierce wanted to appoint Colonel Steptoe as governor, but when Steptoe visited Utah, he could see that the people loved Brigham and followed him. Colonel Steptoe recommended that Brigham Young remain as governor because Brigham was “the most suitable person . . . for that office.”


Some of the judges sent to Utah did not get along with the Mormons. They accused Brigham of rebelling against the United States Government. Even though Brigham sent letters telling President Buchanan that the Mormons supported the United States Government, it did no good.

At the time Congress was divided on the issue of slavery. Each side wanted the support of the western territories. A new Republican party had been formed in Nebraska that didn’t want slavery or polygamy (a man marrying more than one wife) in the territories. Though President Buchanan was a Democrat, he didn’t want anyone to think he was in favor of polygamy. He also wanted to show the south that rebellion would not be tolerated, whether it was Brigham Young and polygamy in the west or slavery in the south. To make his point, Buchanan sent an army of two thousand five hundred soldiers to Utah under the leadership of General Albert Sidney Johnston. But the President didn’t bother to let Brigham know they were coming. President Buchanan also replaced Brigham as governor, appointing Alfred Cumming in his place. Governor Cumming traveled west with the army.

Abraham O. Smoot, mayor of Salt Lake City, was out on the plains taking mail across the country, and he was the first to learn that the army was coming. He and several others raced back to tell Brigham. They averaged over one hundred miles a day with their best horses hitched to a small wagon.

When Brigham heard that Johnston’s Army was heading west, he sent men out to delay their progress. The men burned the grass so the animals of the army had nothing to eat; they lit the army’s supply wagons on fire and destroyed the bridges they had to cross. The men also burned the Mormon outposts of Fort Bridger and Fort Supply so the troops would have nowhere to stay. The army had to camp in Wyoming during the winter of 1857.They suffered without food and shelter for protection.

More next week on what happened.

Saturday, March 5, 2011

A Sick Child

Once when Brigham visited Chief Walker, there was a sick child in his tribe. The medicine man said the child would die. Chief Walker asked Brigham if he could kill a white man to go with the child to the after-life. Brigham was shocked. That was not a good idea. He asked to see the child and administered a blessing. The child recovered and Chief Walker thanked Brigham Young.

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Indian Children

As Brigham Young worked with the Indians, he found their ways different from his.

A number of the Indians stole children from other tribes and took them to Mexico where they sold them into slavery. Brigham taught the Indians this practice was wrong.


During a fight between a Ute band and the Little Wolf band, the Utes took two children hostage. The Utes wanted to sell the young Indians, a boy and a girl, to Charles Decker, Brigham’s brother-in-law, but he didn’t want to buy children. The Utes threatened to kill the children if Brother Decker didn’t buy them. Brother Decker still hesitated, so the Utes killed the Indian boy. Brother Decker was afraid the Utes would kill the girl also, so he traded her for a gun.

He took the Indian child to live with his sister, Clara Decker Young, at Brigham’s home. The family named her Sally. Because Sally had been mistreated by the Indians, she stayed to herself at first, not wanting to be with the other children. But Clara loved her and took care of her, and Sally learned to help with the housework. She eventually became the chief cook in the Beehive House (one of Brigham’s homes).

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Railway under the Table

Brigham Young had some very creative ideas about how to live. He thought the pioneers could cook and eat together. He suggested that five hundred people might eat in a hall with a kitchen at one end. “[If there is] a person at the further end of the table . . . he should telegraph that he wanted a warm beef steak; and this is conveyed to him by a little railway, perhaps under the table . . . And when they have all eaten, the dishes are piled together, slipped under the table, and run back to the ones who wash them.” Would kids have a hay-day with this one. I would love watching this under-the-table railway myself.

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Indians in Las Vegas

Heavenly Father not only told Brigham what to do for the entire Church, but also for individuals when Brigham needed their help to colonize the west.


Aroet Lucious Hale records in his journal that he and several others were called at April Conference of 1855 to serve a mission to the Navajo Indians in the Colorado River area. Their main camp was to be in Las Vegas. It was not a safe place to go because the Indians raided emigration parties who passed through on their way to southern California. The Indians stole the pioneers’ animals and sometimes killed the men, leaving the women and children in the desert.

Before the missionaries traveled to Las Vegas, Brigham gave them a blessing that if they would remain prayerful and follow Brigham’s “council strictly,” they would return safely to their families and find them all well.

On their mission, one of the missionaries nearly drowned crossing the Colorado River. He and his horse went into a deep, swirling hole, sucking both of them under the water and pulling the man off his horse. The missionaries on the bank thought he was dead. But the man swam to the surface, coughing and sputtering. He grabbed the horse’s tail and was pulled to the bank. Brother Hale remembered President Young’s blessing and was grateful for it.

Another time, seven of the missionaries, including Brother Hale, were out scouting when they were surrounded by twenty Navajos covered with war paint, bows drawn, and arrows pointing at them. The missionaries’ Indian guide ran away, and the men were left alone. Their interpreter, George Been, told the Navajos that the Mormons were sent by the Great White Chief Brigham Young to trade with them if they would smoke the peace pipe.

George Been found out from the Indians that the chief’s papoose was sick and dying. The Navajos said their god was angry because the Indians allowed the white man to cross their lands. If the child died, the Mormons would all be killed at sundown. George convinced the Indians to allow the missionaries to go to their camp and smoke the peace pipe. After they smoked, the missionaries were permitted to see the papoose. A missionary named Brother Snider took his handkerchief, dipped it in warm water, and washed the child. When the child was clean they knelt around the papoose and administered a blessing. The child opened his eyes and was healed. The missionaries fed the papoose a little bread and sugar in warm water. It was all the food they had with them. The men were allowed to return to Las Vegas unharmed.

Aroet Lucious Hale thought again of President Young’s blessing and was thankful. Every missionary eventually returned home to find their families safe and well.

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Follow the Prophet

Right after the pioneers came to the Salt Lake Valley, the gold rush began in California. Some of the Saints wanted to leave to work the California gold fields and then return to Utah with lots of money.


Brigham knew Heavenly Father wanted the Saints to stay in the Salt Lake Valley. He told the people that “Those of you who stop here and are faithful to God . . . will make more money and get richer than you that run after the God of this world; and I promise you in the name of the Lord [those] who stay here . . . will prosper and be able to buy you twice over. Here is the place God has appointed for his people.”

Some members of the Church decided to go to California anyway. Sam Brannan had brought a group of Mormons by ship from New York around the tip of South America to San Francisco, and he wanted the Church to relocate in California where the weather was mild and the gold was plentiful. Brother Brannan came to Utah to convince Brigham Young to move the Church there. When Brigham Young refused, Sam Brannan returned to the San Francisco area to get gold. He also bought and sold land and became one of the wealthiest men in California. But he acquired drunken habits and lost his family and all his money. He died a pauper.

Great Lesson for kids to teach them to follow the Prophet.

Saturday, January 29, 2011

Jim Bridger's Advice for Brigham Young

The first pioneer company traveled over five-hundred miles in seven weeks, reaching Fort Laramie by the first of June. After they rested, the wagon train continued west. Jim Bridger, and explorer and mountain man of the American west, rode up to greet them one night when they were camped beside the Sweetwater River. He advised Brigham Young not to go into the valley of the Great Salt Lake because crops wouldn’t grow there. He told Brigham that he would give a thousand dollars for a bushel of corn raised in the valley.


Brigham thanked Jim Bridger for his advice. But Brigham knew Heavenly Father wanted him to take the pioneers there, and he knew the Saints would survive. The corn and other crops would grow.

I wonder if Brigham Young ever collected from Jim Bridger.

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Crossing the Wilderness

On the trail the pioneers found herds of buffalo. Brigham cautioned the men not to be wasteful, but to kill only as many animals as they could eat. They enjoyed the fresh meat and ate as much as they wanted, but those who ate too much had upset stomachs and digestive problems.


When the company reached the Platte River, the water ran high and swift. The animals swam across the river, and the men unloaded the wagons and carried their supplies to the other side in a leather boat they had with them. But getting the empty wagons across was more difficult. Brigham suggested they lash four wagons together and float them across with ropes tied to the wagon tongues to guide them from the other side. The river was so swift, it flipped the wagons over as if they were rolling logs. Next they built small rafts to ferry them across, but the rafts were swept away in the current. Brigham knew he could solve the problem so he took off his shirt and went to work. He and Willard Richards built a big, strong sturdy raft out of white pine and white cottonwood that carried the wagons safely across the river.

The company traveled over five-hundred miles in seven weeks, reaching Fort Laramie by the first of June. After they rested, the wagon train continued west. Jim Bridger, and explorer and mountain man of the American west, rode up to greet them one night when they were camped beside the Sweetwater River. He advised them not to go into the valley of the Great Salt Lake because crops wouldn’t grow there. He told Brigham that he would give a thousand dollars for a bushel of corn raised in the valley.

Brigham thanked Jim Bridger for his advice. But Brigham knew Heavenly Father wanted him to take the pioneers there, and he knew the Saints would survive. The corn and other crops would grow.

Saturday, January 15, 2011

A Daily Schedule

Here is a day in the life of the pioneers trecking west under the direction of Brigham Young. I don't know how long I'd last with a daily routine like this.

Each morning, the bugle sounded at five a.m. for everyone in the wagons to wake up and have prayers. Then they were to eat, feed their animals, and prepare to leave by seven a.m. They traveled all day long until the bugle sounded at eight thirty in the evening when everyone, dusty from the trail and weary from walking, was again to have prayer in their wagons and be in bed by nine o’clock.


If attacked by Indians, the wagons were to travel double file and pull into a circle with the wagon tongues on the outside and the animals inside the circle as they did every night. Along the way, Indians tried to steal their horses. A few times they were successful, to the irritation of Brigham. Guards were set to protect their animals.

At a distance, the Indians followed the movement of the pioneers from the time they left Winter Quarters. They burned the grassland ahead of the trail so there was no feed for the animals. The wind blew the ash from the fires across the prairie, stinging the pioneer’s eyes and throats and turning everyone black with soot until they could hardly recognize each other. ( And no washing machines to clean their clothes.)

I am grateful for my warm home and hot shower. Because of their efforts, I have a beautiful place to live and a testimony of the gospel.

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Transfiguration of Brigham Young

After the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith, Brigham Young spoke to the Saints in Nauvoo in a meeting. As he spoke, Brother Benjamin F. Johnson, and many others, reported “as from Heaven, I heard the voice of the Prophet Joseph that thrilled my whole being and . . . I saw in the transfiguration of Brigham Young, the tall straight . . . form of the Prophet Joseph Smith clothed in a sheen of light covering him to his feet.” When Brigham addressed the Saints, he looked and sounded just like Joseph Smith, showing the people that the twelve apostles, with Brigham as president, were to lead the people.

Brigham knew he and the other apostles had to help the Church accomplish the purposes that Heavenly Father had revealed through Joseph Smith. Even though he was very sad that Joseph Smith was gone, he remembered the strength and power of Joseph the prophet. Brigham Young tried to follow Joseph’s example the rest of his life.

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Appreciation for Life

Joseph F. Smith's first child, Mercy Josephine, died before her third birthday, he wrote: “My heart is bruised and wrenched almost asunder. I am desolate, my home seems desolate. … I look in vain, I listen, no sound, I wander through the rooms, all are vacant, lonely, desolate, deserted. … No beaming little black eyes sparkling with love for papa; … but a vacant little chair. … and only the one desolate thought forcing its crushing leaden weight upon my heart—she is not here, she is gone!”

As I read this quote, it made me appreciate the life and love of my children. How grateful I am for their lives and their light. Sometimes I take it forgranted, and I don 't ever want to do that. 

Especially at this time of year I am grateful for the Savior and his Atonement that we may live again.