Lessons from the Pioneers
Lessons from the Pioneers
By Kathy Penrod
One of the most popular hymns in Latter-Day Saint culture is “Come, Come ye Saints.” As we sang this hymn in church Sunday, my heart swelled with peace and hope. In all the afflictions the early saints faced, this song became an anthem to them of their perseverance and dedication to the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The lyrics of the hymn are as follows and you can find the sheet music here.
1. Come, come, ye Saints, no toil nor labor fear;
But with joy wend your way.
Though hard to you this journey may appear,
Grace shall be as your day.
’Tis better far for us to strive
Our useless cares from us to drive;
Do this, and joy your hearts will swell—
All is well! All is well!
2. Why should we mourn or think our lot is hard?
’Tis not so; all is right.
Why should we think to earn a great reward
If we now shun the fight?
Gird up your loins; fresh courage take.
Our God will never us forsake;
And soon we’ll have this tale to tell—
All is well! All is well!
3. We’ll find the place which God for us prepared,
Far away in the West,
Where none shall come to hurt or make afraid;
There the Saints will be blessed.
We’ll make the air with music ring,
Shout praises to our God and King;
Above the rest these words we’ll tell—
All is well! All is well!
4. And should we die before our journey’s through,
Happy day! All is well!
We then are free from toil and sorrow, too;
With the just we shall dwell!
But if our lives are spared again
To see the Saints their rest obtain,
Oh, how we’ll make this chorus swell—
All is well! All is well!
When the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints was restored, there was a great deal of opposition and persecution to those that followed its teachings. I am not just talking about people being shunned because of their beliefs. I mean there was severe persecution. Men were tarred and feathered at the hands of angry mobsters. Women were assaulted and raped. Homes were burned. At one point there was even an extermination order issued by the governor encouraging people to exterminate the Mormons. Believers were chased from their homes, often in the dead of winter and were forced to flee for safety. This is what led the mass exodus of Latter-Day Saints across the Great Plains to Utah. They were searching for safety; somewhere where they could practice their religion in peace.
So, when I hear the hymn, “Come, Come Ye Saints”, I am moved with compassion by all the early saints had to endure. Even amid their trials, they found hope. They still praised God for His goodness.
William Clayton, an early Latter-Day Saint who wrote the hymn, Come, Come Ye Saints, said of his experiences:
“Although we are … distant from each other I do not forget you. … But to the praise of God be it spoken, all I have endured has never hurt or discouraged me, but done me good. … We have sometimes been almost suffocated with heat … , sometimes almost froze with cold. We have had to sleep on boards, instead of feathers. … We have had our clothes wet through with no privilege of drying them or changing them, … had to sleep … out of doors, in very severe weather, and many such things which you [have] no idea of. … [Yet] we have been … healthy & cheerful. … If you will be faithful, you have nothing to fear from the journey. The Lord will take care of his saints.”
I love that phrase, “you have nothing to fear from the journey.” Isn’t that the case in our lives? If we will be faithful, we don’t need to worry about the righteous journey ahead of us. The Lord will strengthen us with His ever-enduring love.
M. Russell Ballard taught,
“We will learn, as did our pioneer ancestors, that it is only in faith—real faith, whole-souled, tested and tried—that we will find safety and confidence as we walk our own perilous pathways through life.”
When I think of the trials I face in my life today, I am buoyed up by the examples of my predecessors. I had ancestors that lived through that difficult time and who fled west to the Great Salt Lake. I am encouraged by their faith and I find hope in their expressions of praise. I know, because of what they taught by their conviction, that I can withstand the trials I face. And in the end, I will join the chorus of “All is well!”
