The monument was way cool, and we took many pictures of the cool statues and their stories. Enjoy the pictures!
The three flags here (from left to right): Utah state flag, United States flag, and the Mormon Battalion flag.
So cool story: there was a description next to this statue which gave an account of a man named William Frederick Fisher. I saw his name just as Ky had finished telling me a story of one of his ancestors who had been in the Pony Express. Come to find out from my father-in-law, we actually might be related to this very man!
That's me with two of the greatest men who ever lived: Joseph Smith and Brigham Young.
Three of the greatest men who have ever lived.
A statue of a pioneer family. What an amazing test of faith all of those families must have gone through in traveling to the Salt Lake plains.
This is me and Etienne Provot. The city of Provo is named after this French explorer. Or at least his name is French, maybe he's Canadian?
This is the place! Pretty cool huh? I think the monument is very well done - and there's a sort of reverence just being there.
This is a quote from one of the plaques around the monument:
"Rising above the Salt Lake Valley is a dome-shaped peak. Brigham Young saw it in a vision before the Saints left Nauvoo. He saw an ensign descend upon the hill and heard the voice of Joseph Smith say 'Build under that point... and you will prosper and have peace.'
When Brigham Young first arrived in the valley, he immediately recognized the peak. On the morning of July 26, 1847 several men climbed its slopes.
This small group of church leaders gazed out upon the valley below. 'This is where we will plant the soles of our feet.' President Young said, 'And where the Lord will place His name amongst the people.'
Here they were, almost a thousand miles from the nearest settlement to the east and almost eight hundred miles from the Pacific coast. They were in an untried climate. They had never raised a crop here. They had not built a structure of any kind.
They were exiles. Driven from their fair city on the Mississippi into this desert region of the west. But they were possessed of a vision drawn from the scriptures and words of revelation.
This great pioneering movement of more than a century ago goes forward with Latter-Day pioneers. Today pioneer blood flows in our veins just as it did with those who walked west. It's the essence of our courage to face modern-day mountains and our commitment to carry on. The faith of those early pioneers burns still." - President Gordon B. Hinckley of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
This experience certainly strengthened my testimony of the pioneers who crossed the plains to fulfill a revelation given by the Lord through His prophets. Their faith stands as an example to me of what true faith is. I hope to show the same faith and devotion to our Heavenly Father as they did.
We ended our amazing day by eating delicious hamburgers at Red Robin's. Although I didn't capture a picture of our burgers, I did get our dessert. Red velvet cake... yum.
Until next time. Which will hopefully not be another three months from now. ¡Adios amigos!
No comments:
Post a Comment