![An old man in the corner sat silent and listened as long as he could stand it, then he
arose and said things that no person who heard him will ever forget. His face was white
with emotion, yet he spoke calmly, deliberately, but with great earnestness and sincerity.
In substance [he] said, I ask you to stop this criticism. You are discussing a matter you
know nothing about. Cold historic facts mean nothing here, for they give no proper
interpretation of the questions involved. Mistake to send the Handcart Company out so
late in the season? Yes. But I was in that company and my wife was in it and Sister Nellie
Unthank whom you have cited was there, too. We suffered beyond anything you can
imagine and many died of exposure and starvation, but did you ever hear a survivor of
that company utter a word of criticism? Not one of that company ever apostatized or left
the Church, because everyone of us came through with the absolute knowledge that God
lives for we became acquainted with him in our extremities.
- James E. Faust, The Refiners Fire (1979)](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/rel275finalvideo-181203164338/85/Rel-275-final-video-7-320.jpg)
Rel 275 final video
- 1. REMEMBERING HANDCART PIONEERS Church History REL 275 (Sec11) Kim Russell Comenta Resources: https://history.lds.org/article/historic- sites/wyoming/remembering-handcart-pioneers-in-the-sweetwater- valley?lang=eng https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1979/04/the-refiners- fire?lang=eng
- 2. Between 1841 and 1868, about 450,000 people followed the sweet water river from independence Rock to South Pass and cross the Continental Divide through the Rocky Mountains. Sought for new opportunities fertile farmland or gold mines. Important trail because it provided plenty of water and good pasture for live stock.
- 3. About 70,000 of the immigrants were Latter- day Saints. Left their homes so they could make temple covenants and build up Zion, a community of pure in heart. Exercised faith in the sacrifices they made to heed a prophets counsel and in help they gave each other along the way.
- 5. The Willie and Martin handcart companies, left late in the season. They were caught in early winter snowstorms. Over 200 people died from hunger, exposure, and fatigue (Greatest loss of life in the history of this overland trail). Right Photo (Elder George Albert Smith grave marker at Rock Creek Hollow, honors a mass grave of 13 people near a place where the Willi Handcart company camped in 1856. Location of the actual mass grave is unknown.)
- 7. An old man in the corner sat silent and listened as long as he could stand it, then he arose and said things that no person who heard him will ever forget. His face was white with emotion, yet he spoke calmly, deliberately, but with great earnestness and sincerity. In substance [he] said, I ask you to stop this criticism. You are discussing a matter you know nothing about. Cold historic facts mean nothing here, for they give no proper interpretation of the questions involved. Mistake to send the Handcart Company out so late in the season? Yes. But I was in that company and my wife was in it and Sister Nellie Unthank whom you have cited was there, too. We suffered beyond anything you can imagine and many died of exposure and starvation, but did you ever hear a survivor of that company utter a word of criticism? Not one of that company ever apostatized or left the Church, because everyone of us came through with the absolute knowledge that God lives for we became acquainted with him in our extremities. - James E. Faust, The Refiners Fire (1979)
- 8. I have pulled my handcart when I was so weak and weary from illness and lack of food that I could hardly put one foot ahead of the other. I have looked ahead and seen a patch of sand or a hill slope and I have said, I can go only that far and there I must give up, for I cannot pull the load through it. He continues: I have gone on to that sand and when I reached it, the cart began pushing me. I have looked back many times to see who was pushing my cart, but my eyes saw no one. I knew then that the angels of God were there. Was I sorry that I chose to come by handcart? No. Neither then nor any minute of my life since. The price we paid to become acquainted with God was a privilege to pay, and I am thankful that I was privileged to come in the Martin Handcart Company. (Relief Society Magazine, Jan. 1948, p. 8.)
- 9. Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God. And now, I, Moroni, would speak somewhat concerning these things; I would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith. - Ether 12: 4 & 6