July 24th is Pioneer Day in celebration of the arrival of the first Mormon Pioneers to the Salt Lake Valley. In an effort to teach our children about their pioneer heritage we are learning about their pioneer ancestors. We are lucky to have access to detailed records of their lives. This week’s posts all come from a book my grandmother wrote to her grandchildren about our pioneer forefathers. This book was written in 1989 when the oldest grandchild (me) was 12 so keep that in mind as it is written specifically for children.

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Another pioneer ancestor was John Worthen, who was a stone mason. This means he knew how to cut stone blocks and use them to make big buildings.

John and his family heard the Mormon missionaries in England, and came to America to a place called Nauvoo. This was a beautiful city on the Mississippi River that the Prophet Joseph Smith had planned and built. John and others built their own little brick homes and planted trees and gardens. The Prophet tole them that on a hill above the city he wanted them to build a beautiful temple.

Of course, everyone wanted to help – carpenters, painters, and ordinary workers. John helped cut the big stones used for the outside. Some of the women gave their china dishes so that they could be broken and mixed with the material that was put on the outside of the temple. This would make the temple shine in the sun. They worked on the temple for several years. But there were people living around Nauvoo who did not like the Mormons.  They began burning their houses and killing some members. They even killed the Prophet Joseph Smith. Finally all the Mormons had to leave Nauvoo and their little homes and the beuatiful temple they were building. They packed all they could in wagons and left. John and his family were some of the last to go.

Thousands left, traveling in wagons to Council Bluffs.  Brigham Young was their leader. Then he led some of the pioneers across the Plains to the Salt Lake Valley.  The first group reached here in 1847. Four days after they came, President Young marked the spot where a new temple would be built.  When John and his family arrived five years later, he was ready to help.

For this new temple big blocks of granite were brought from a quarry in the mountains 20 miles away. They used big wagons, and it took all day to bring each load of two or three blocks all the way to Temple Square.  Then John and other masons would help cut the granite blocks so they would fit tight together.

Gradually the walls got higher. Some years they were only able to finish a few rows – but that meant cutting 600 granite blocks. It took 40 years, until 1893, to finish the whole temple.  By then, John was very old and could not help. But he always said he was glad he had helped build temples.  He knew and loved Joseph Smith and Brigham Young and always told his children he knew these men were true prophets of God.

When you see the beautiful Salt Lake Temple – and we hope you go inside someday too – you can say that one of your ancestors help cut the big granite blocks to build it. [Inside, you will see some beautiful bronze columns nad other work that your Avi made in his metal shop – but that is another story.]

We hope you will learn to love the Salt Lake Temple as much as Grandpa John enjoyed helping build it.

One more word before we finish . .

We hope you have liked these stories.  Some are happy and some are very sad.  Some are funny stories. But they are all true. They make us feel proud to have such good grandparents and great-grandparents.  They make us feel lucky that we are able to live in a safe place where we have plenty to eat and a good warm house to live in.

We can learn a lot from reading about our ancestors – these great-grandpas and great-grandmas. They were all poor.  They sometimes slept on straw and used boxes for furniture.  They didn’t have nice homes or clothes, or all the many things we have. But they were happy! Just having good families and doing what they knew was right made them happy.

We – Avi and Yaya – hope that you kids will be the same way. We hope you will always love your parents and family more than you love things. Things someday go away, but we can always have our moms and dad, and brothers and sisters if we do what is right.

We love you and we know that your parents love you. Do what your Heavenly Father wants you to do, and you will always be happy.

Petonets {kisses in Catalan} from
Avi & Yaya

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I’m so thankful to have this stories to read to my children, to pass on their rich pioneer heritage!

Next week will be pioneer stories from Mr. Ferrero Rocher’s ancestors.

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