Number one

Letters from Grandpa

What follows and will follow, from time to time, are a few of my thoughts directed to my grandchildren. I have chosen to call these little essays “Letters from Grandpa’. These are thoughts to perhaps stimulate you to thinking about life and about your relationship to what Elder Neal A. Maxwell calls the “ Inexhaustible Gospel”. It is inexhaustible because it is all-inclusive. One can make a life long study of it and it will never fail to provide new and interesting challenges to us as we probe the depths of our understanding.

Recent events have prompted my attention to what Hugh Nibley calls zeal without knowledge. Others may refer to it as gospel hobbies. One of these will be described below. Many people in their zealous desire to help other people do not quite understand the gospel of Christ. They seem to have pet themes which they think that everyone must think as they think, and do as they do.

Our ward and stake have recently completed a rite of passage called “trek”. Apparently every four years an opportunity is presented to the 14+ year olds to go out into the wilderness and get a feel for the experience, which the Mormon pioneers had while crossing the plains from Iowa to Utah. We did not go, nor were we invited, and would not have attended had we been invited. At our age we are not likely to engage in such an activity on an elective basis, but if called by a prophet we would go.

Our daughter and husband and two of her sons left this week for that adventure. From what she related there is a feeling going around that experiencing this adventure is necessary for people to have a testimony of the Gospel. Of course if you put it this way people would deny that that was their intention. However there is a lot of peer pressure applied for people to undergo this rite of passage.

This is a rather new phenomenon in the church. In my years growing up in the church there were many of the young people who never knew what “trek” was about. During my years as a youth in Lander we celebrated the 24th of July by going up to Rock Creek on South Pass and having a picnic. Even while we were raising our children in Lander it was not a ritual. Our son Joseph was the first in our family to experience a simulated walk with handcarts.  

Historically, the practice of simulating this trek did not come about until about 1997 during the hundred and fifty year celebration of the pioneers entering the Salt Lake Valley.

Since then it has caught on and is celebrated worldwide with handcarts and walks in the wilderness, even in Russia. It is true that in doing this the young people sometimes get an emotional experience which leads them to become more introspective into their feelings about the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

My concern for my grandchildren is that they understand the difference between an emotional feeling and the testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The testimony that Jesus lives and that Joseph Smith was a prophet is what is needed to sustain them through the trials and tribulations, which inevitably will come along. The warm fuzzy feeling that occurs as a result of simulating other people's trials and experiences is not enough to sustain their faith in the times of trials. When the winds of adversity blow, each of you will need a firm testimony of your own because it cannot be given vicariously.

If you go back five generations from me 14 out of the 16 individuals walked across the plains or came in wagons. This is your heritage. They left you a legacy of faith in Jesus Christ and a firm knowledge that God had spoken from the heavens and restored the Gospel and the Church of Jesus Christ in these latter days. Knowing this will not give you a testimony. After you do gain your testimony you will be eternally grateful for them and for their faithful handing down of a true religious legacy. As you celebrate the 24th of July, think about them but also remember the reason that they came.

Sincerely,

Grandpa