Press Forward Saints

The strength of a pioneer woman!

In honor of Pioneer day, I wanted to write a tribute to my great, great, great grandmother, Hannah Heaton Thornton Jones. She was 29 years old when she left England and joined the Martin Handcart company to travel west. Her husband, Wardman Thornton had died several years before and Hannah made the journey with her three children, Wardman Thornton (age 9), Amanda Jane Thornton (age 5) and Sarah Ann Thornton (age 3). While on the journey, Mrs. Lizzie Barten was a companion to Hannah and her children. The Indians would raid the company and scare the women and children and take their food and valuables.
        When they were in Evenston, Wyoming, they were caught in a snowstorm, there wasn't very much brush or wood on the prairie to make a fire. When they ran out of provisions, they took the pelts of the animals they had killed and boiled or steeped these hides and thickened the broth with flour. When the order was given to throw away all extra clothing to lighten their loads, Hannah made pockets on the inside of the children’s and her own clothing and filled them with things they would need. Hannah also put this extra clothing on the children and herself, wearing several layers of clothing at a time. Hannah carried three smooth stones in her cart, she would heat these up in the fire at night and put them in their blankets to keep warm. The extra clothing and warm stones were a great help to them to keep from freezing when they were caught in a snow storm before they reached Salt Lake.  In Echo canyon, they were stranded without tools, food or shelter. They made beds of skins or whatever wraps thy had. Brigham Young sent out relief wagons to help them into Salt Lake City, they arrived there the last day of November 1856. Miraculously, Hannah and all three of her children survived the trek. When she arrived in Utah, she moved to Spanish Fork, Utah where she met and married George Washington Jones. They became the parents of 5 children, including my great, great grandfather, Charles Augustus Jones. 

I am so grateful for the courage, strength and determination of this remarkable woman, who like all the pioneers, sacrificed and endured so much to make the trek west. As M. Russell Ballard said; "We must be sure that the legacy of faith received from the pioneers who came before us is never lost. Let their heroic lives touch our hearts, and especially the hearts of our youth, so the fire of true testimony and unwavering love for the Lord and His church will blaze brightly within each one of us as it did in our faithful pioneers.”

Happy Pioneer Day! 

Cherries

My friend, McKenzie and I start working in the cherry factory on Wednesday. My mom and uncle claim that everyone needs the experience to work in the cherries at least once in their life. So here I go! From what I know we'll be sitting at a conveyor belt picking off twigs, leaves and rotten cherries. Everyone's first thought when I describe what I'll be doing is this...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YGF5R9i53A


Hopefully we'll do better than that! ;)

God Bless America

Happy 4th of July! The history of this country never ceases to amaze me. I admire the founding fathers and the early American settlers for their courage and determination to seek freedom and to blaze the trail for American independence. I can't help but think that this country's first settlers had to be the bravest, stubbornest and most determined people of their native land. There is no way that this country was founded by man alone, they were instruments in the hand of God to bring about the founding of this nation. 

In honor of the 4th of July, here are some quotes that latter day prophets have said about America's founding. I just picked a few. You can find the rest here: http://www.ldsliving.com/What-LDS-Prophets-Have-Said-About-America-s-Founding/s/72917 

“The Constitution of the United States is a glorious standard; it is founded in the wisdom of God. It is a heavenly banner; it is to all those who are privileged with the sweets of liberty, like the cooling shades and refreshing waters of a great rock in a thirsty and weary land. It is like a great tree under whose branches men from every clime can be shielded from the burning rays of the sun.”
- Joseph Smith 

“The signers of the Declaration of Independence and the framers of the Constitution were inspired from on high to do that work.”
- Brigham Young 

“From my childhood days I have understood that we believe absolutely that the Constitution of our country was an inspired instrument, and that God directed those who created it and those who defended the independence of this nation. In other words, that He fought with Washington and others in the Revolutionary War.”
- Heber J. Grant 

“This restoration was preceded by a long period of preparation. The Pilgrims and other Europeans were inspired to find this American haven of refuge and thus people this land with honest and God-fearing citizens. Washington and his fellows were inspired to revolt from England and bring political liberty to this land, along with the more valuable treasure of religious liberty so that the soil might be prepared for the seed of the truth when it should again be sown."
- Spencer W. Kimball 

“Both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States were brought forth under the inspiration of God to establish and maintain the freedom of the people of this nation. I said it, and I believe it to be true. There is a miracle in its establishment that cannot be explained in any other way.” 
- Gordon B. Hinckley


“Let us pause and reflect upon the many blessings we as Americans have received from our Constitution and the debt of gratitude we owe those heroic signers. As we do so, we might also recognize that freedom is not free. Sacrifice has been required to protect and to preserve the very freedoms we cherish.”
- Thomas S. Monson 


Happy 4th of July!