"Blessed, Honored Pioneer!"

Today is what we Mormons call Pioneer Day. On this day in 1847, the first wagon train of Saints entered the Salt Lake Valley.


They traveled through five states; that's 1297 miles from Nauvoo, IL.¹ And that's not including the travels of others Saints who crossed the Atlantic or came from New York and other eastern states. 

Trek by Covered Wagons

The trek by wagon was hard. At first everyone went by wagon. The only thing was, it was expensive. In 1856 it cost $93 per person to go by wagon.²

The Brooklyn Saints

Some Saints didn't have enough money to take the trail overland but they did have enough for a very long sea voyage. The Brooklyn went from New York, all the way around the horn of South America, and finally landed in California where most of those seafaring Saints stayed for a time.

The Handcart Pioneers

Handcarts were used by Saints who didn't have enough money for wagons and this way the Church could get more people to Utah. Handcarts were cheaper but harder.

These determined Saints came across the plains pulling and pushing handcarts; a wooden box on two wheels. (This is the part where I would have a picture but it didn't work out. Don't you love technology?)

Because of the size of the "vehicle", you couldn't exactly pack up your house and take it with you. Even with a wagon, you had a certain weight each person could take along.

So on this day, July 24th, we Mormons celebrate our ancestors and early Brothers and Sisters who pushed and pulled, walked and struggled, all the way to Zion. Thank you.

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1. lds.org.

2. https://history.lds.org/bc/content/images/historic-sites/handcart-trek/handcart-infographics-wagons-vs-handcarts-luke-perkins.jpg

If you're interested in learning more about the Mormon pioneers you can go to this website: https://history.lds.org/article/remembering-handcart-pioneers-in-the-sweetwater-valley?lang=eng. This page specifically focuses on the handcart pioneers.

If you want you can even read Gerald N. Lund's book about two of the handcart companies. His book is titled Fire of the Covenant. (It's really good.)

Family History

Usually, I inwardly groan when I hear about family history. It's not that I don't value it, I just don't really like it.
Well, that's not really true. I enjoy indexing and I love learning about family stories but the finding names or adding them or whatever, that part doesn't really fascinate me.

So, of course, that being said, I come to find out that for Youth Conference (a three day conference for youth) one of the "homework" assignments is finding a family name for an important activity*. I did it...and this time I actually had some fun. It was still (pretty) tedious working out some things but I kind of enjoyed it.

Family history can be a lot of fun. And it's not just finding and adding names. It includes indexing (transcribing old documents), learning/hearing and recording family stories, and just looking at your family names.

I think family history is kind of whatever you make of it, in a way. It can be really fun. So, I challenge you to just look at your family tree, family photos, whatever even if you just have a list of names. They're real people like you and me. It's really interesting what you learn and what names come up. For example, I found someone in a census and he had a housemaid. To add to that, a dog was later named about this housemaid. Go figure. I've also come across names like Ora (not a name you see every day) and Parthania (another name you don't hear everyday).
I think it's those things, the unique (and the more common names too) and the small, sometimes surprising facts, that make it worth it, at least to me.


*So, in case you're wondering, this important activity is baptisms for the dead. I'm a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Later-day Saints and we believe that even though someone has passed on, their baptisms can still be done by others through proxy.

Tag, You're It!

Kidding, you're not it.
Actually, I am.
I was tagged by Rae. It's for the Liebster Award (whatever that is).

Basically it's when you answer 11 questions from whoever tagged you and then you tag 11 other people. That's all I know about it. (Actually, that's not true, I lied. I Googled it and it's a little complicated, at least I think it is.)
(So, this will be interesting because I don't know if I'll be able to think of 11 people that actually have time to do this.)

Alright then. Ready, set, go!

1. What are your favourite books? (I know it's hard to choose a favourite so you can list as many "favourites" as you have. :)

First of all, thank goodness it's not "what's you're favorite book?" because as an avid reader I have at least a dozen favorite books. (I won't name them all.)

-The Giver by Lois Lowery

-Cheaper By The Dozen by Frank Bunker Gilbreth, jr. and Ernistine Gilbreth Carey.

-The Books of Bayern Series by Shannon Hale

-When Character Was King by Peggy Noonan

-Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling

-The Percy Jackson series and Heroes of Olympus series by Rick Riordan (except for the very last Heroes of Olympus one; I really didn't like that one)

-The Freedom Factor by Gerald N. Lund

-The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens by Sean Covey

-The Outlandish Adventures of Liberty Aimes by Kelly Easton

-Made To Stick by Chip Heath and Dan Heath

-and a lot of others ones

2. What type of music do you like best?

Um, I don't really know. I just listen to music I like. I don't listen to a lot of the more popular, last few years type of music...

I like parodies, they're usually pretty good. BYU's Divine Comedy group do some great parodies of popular songs.

3. Do you like Jane Austen? How many of her books have you read and which is your favourite?

I guess I like Jane Austen. I mean, I've only read Pride and Prejudice but I liked it. (I've also seen the the Colin Firth TV version of P&P like a bazillion times.)

4. Do you have a favourite actor/actress? Who?

I don't think I really have a favorite actor or actress. I have ones that I like but none of them are particularly my favorite.

5. What's your favourite flower?

This sounds kind of sad, but I don't have a favorite flower. They're all nice.
I guess maybe roses are my favorite, I don't know.

6. How many books have you read in the last week? Is there one in particular you want to share?

Uh...wow, I guess I've only one book this week. That's pretty sad, no that's terrible. Well, I guess that's only if you mean how many books have I finished. If you mean how many books am I reading at the moment, it's like four or five. Six if you're including Shakespeare.
Right now I'm in the middle of reading Belles On Their Toes which is the sequel to Cheaper By The Dozen by Frank Bunker Gilbreth, jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey. I also just got a load of books from the library.

7. If you could choose between meeting your favourite actor/actress and acting in your favourite movie, which would it be?

Like I said, I don't really have a favorite actor or actress, so I would pick acting in my favorite movie. (Except I don't have a favorite movie either!)

8. Do you play any instruments? What?

Yes. I play the piano.

I've actually skipped around on instruments a lot. I started playing the piano when I was about six and my Mom taught me a like bit but then I got interested in the cello (which my Mom used to play) and I took lessons and then I jumped back to piano. And in between I've done a little bit of the recorder. I've always wanted to learn how to play the harmonica.

9. What hobbies do you enjoy? 

Reading; writing stories, poems, and essays; playing soccer and basketball (not at the same time); singing; playing the piano; laughing; quoting lines and scenes from radio dramas, movies, funny YouTube videos, books, and anything else you can quote.

10. If you could make any book into a movie, what book would it be and do you have any ideas for the cast?

It would be Goose Girl by Shannon Hale. I don't know who'd play who, I just know that they'd have to do a really, really, really good or I would sue them! (Or something like that.)

11. Who's your favourite literary hero?

 I don't know. I think it kind of changes depending on what book I've read recently. Right now it might be Liberty Aimes from The Outlandish Adventures of Liberty Aimes by Kelly Easton. She's just very outgoing and has a great thirst for knowledge and books.

And there we go, all done!

Now, let's see if I can think of anyone to tag...

Okay, I can't think of anyone who isn't busy right now with end of school stuff and other things, so I'm just going to...not tag anyone. Yeah, party-crasher, I know. Sorry!! But seriously, who isn't busy with end of year things and life in general?
(Kind of a depressing way to end. My apologies.)

Don't Be Afraid To Be Different

You know what, it's hard to be "normal."

I mean, if you want to be with the "in" crowd, you have to like this certain stuff and do these particular things and just be a cool, awesome, popular person.
There's a lot of stuff hidden in those three categories. Yeah, kinda sounds like a lot of work to me.
So, maybe you should just...not do that. Like, just be yourself and make your own cool, awesome person stuff.
And, sure, that's not easy, but it actually seems a lot easier than being one of the "in" people. I mean, the "in" people aren't always "in" and all that other roller coaster, up and down stuff.
We should just be us. The person we really are. The person on the inside. Maybe that means you're actually the person who loves to sew or loves to invent.

While it's all good and well to be a part of a group of people, I don't think it's that great if those people aren't helping you be the best you.

So just be you. And enjoy it! It's not easy being different but in a way, it's freer. That probably doesn't make sense, let me explain: I don't drink. It's not a big issue for me now, but later in life it may. And people will say that I'm missing out but actually they are. Because I don't drink, I don't have to worry about drinking too much and then driving; I don't have to worry about staying away because if I get too close, I'll drink excessively. I still have to be strong and resist temptations but because I know now that I won't drink, it'll be easier later to turn away.

And that's a difference I can live with.

"If you are always trying to be normal, you will never know how amazing you can be." - Maya Angelou