Rescues

Sunday, March 30, 2008

There are so many situations where people get into trouble, and need rescue, else they will perish.

Handcarts in the mountain snow
Snowboarder who has been caught in avalanche
Car on fire after an accident
House on fire
Earthquake
Natural disaster

All have the same thing in common - there isn't time to think - just act
A knowledge that you're doing for someone else something which they can't do for themselves.
More concern for others than for yourself
Miracles occur on your extremity

Rescues - a talk for the YSA Council - 17 stake presidencies, Area 70, Stake reps/Advisors

I appreciate the opportunity to share some thoughts with you today.

Excitement w/ program - I don't know about you, but I'm so excited by the growth of this program in just a few months. The big activity on Thursday was so satisfying and exciting to see how many lives we can affect. Thanks to all those who made it possible.

We are a rescue team - We've heard it said that what we are trying to accomplish is nothing short of a rescue operation. That the world has sought to take away our youth and lead them away from life and take them down a path where chains will ensnare them and lead them away, to death.

I thought I would share some thoughts about rescues and rescuers and what is required of us to be successful.

I suspect that there are at least more than a few of you who are here today only because you were saved by another. Perhaps you were snatched as a child, unable to swim, out of a swimming hole. Or perhaps someone told you to put on your seat belt, just before you were in a serious car accident. Or maybe you were so ill, that only a priesthood blessing and a successful operation were able to save your life. Or perhaps spiritually like Pres. Erickson, you were invited to participate in a fireside where you felt the stirrings of the spirit for the first time.

Let me tell you my rescue story…a story where if rescuers hadn't come, I wouldn't be here with you. This year marks the 150th anniversary of this great rescue operation. I hope that we can learn a little about rescues and rescuers which will bless us in our work.

When Thisbe Read (My great grandmother) was only 10 years old, she left her home in England to be with the Saints here in America. She and her family had been converted to the gospel, and wanted to gather with the saints in Zion. When the family arrived in America after a 6 week miserable trip from Liverpool, they realized that the saints had moved on to the Rockey mountains, and so they made preparations to leave for a trek of over 1000 miles to the Valley of the Great Salt Lake. They had little money, so they joined the Martin Handcart Company in Winter Quarters and soon began their long journey west.

But the trail held many sorrows for Thisbe and her family. On his 8th Birthday, her little brother Walter wandered away from the company and couldn't be found. It was decided that Pa would stay behind and look for him. Ma, Thisbe and Alicia (Thisbe's older sister) moved ahead and would finish the trek to the valley alone.

The trek itself was also very hard. The handcart company left Winter Quarters late in the season and had to fight many snow storms. There was very little food to eat. As the days wore on they were given less and less to eat. Eventually they were given only 2 ounces of flour per day to eat. To escape the cold of a winter snowstorm they hid in the rocky crags of Martin's cove where some 56 people died. The morning after they crossed the Platte river which had large chunks of ice floating within it, 18 people died from exposure. It seemed that people from the company were dieing with each passing day. And yet they pressed forward fervently praying that the Lord would send someone to deliver them. By this time Thisbe's suffering was so intense, that she began to doubt that help could reach them in time, that by time someone came, they would be too late, as the whole party would have succumbed to death.

One night as they were making camp as best they could, someone noticed a dark speck moving toward them in the white snow. Soon they could make out that it was a man with two horses. Their hearts began to beat faster and their courage returned as they realized this might be the help for which they had prayed. A shout went up as the first man to reach the stranger turned to them and waved his hand gaily as he learned that this was Ephraim K Hanks the advance scout of a relief party sent by President Brigham Young to bring them safely to Salt Lake. Can you imagine the joy that must have filled their hearts as their feelings went from being totally unsavable, to being saved. That evening everyone feasted on fresh buffalo meat, and Elder Hanks went among them healing the sick and giving encouragement. Elder Hanks was very good to Thisbe and her family.

Thisbe eventually would remember this great act of heroism and kindness and would marry Eph Hanks as his third wife in polygamy. It is from this union that I am here with you today. So Elder Holmes you can see, that even though marriage is not the purpose of the rescue efforts, sometimes, rescues do yeild marriages as well.

Let's take a look at the perspective of the rescuer
Eph Hanks knew the trails well - snow covered or not.
He was visiting a friend in Draper, traveling on his way South to go Fishing in the Utah Lake. Will preparing for sleep, he heard a voice call to him 3 times which said "The handcarts are in trouble, will you go to them?" He replied yes all three times. The next morning he changed course and travelled up to Salt Lake where he prepared his horses for a trip into the mountains. He was in the conference the next day when President Brigham Young asked for volunteers to prepare themselves to go to the rescue. He asked the group of brethren how long it would take for them to prepare. Eph raised his hand and said "I can go right now, I'm ready". And so he left ahead of the other rescue forces.

Eph travelled light and alone while other men prepared wagons of supplies and had to pave trails in the snow. One night he prepared a hole in the snow where he would sleep, and he prayed that the lord would send him a buffalo to eat. In the winter months he had never seen buffalo in this part of the mountains. But even as he finished his prayer a buffalo stood before him, without hesitating, he raised his gun and brought down the buffalo in that it fell into the hole he had previously dug. He skinned the buffalo and prepared the meat for eating. He put the meat he was unable to eat on his pack horses, and the next day took off again in search. The same miracle occurred the following day giving him nearly 2 complete buffalo of meat which is what gave the handcarts so much food saving them for the other rescuers to follow.
So what do we learn from this rescue?

Gain a testimony that the need is real - Eph knew the mountains, and he knew how difficult it would be to survive in the snow, even if you were well prepared. He knew the handcart train wasn't well prepared. So he knew that the need was desperate. He also had heard the voice call to him. When he found them, he knowledge of their suffering was complete. He found when he arrived that the people had barely enough strength to survive day to day. Some were lost and had already perished. Eph said - "The sight that met my gaze as I entered their camp can never be erased from my memory. The starved forms and haggard countenances of the poor sufferers as they moved about slowly shivering with cold to prepare their scanty evening meal was enough to touch even the stoutest of hearts." While those who we are called to rescue may not be huddled around campfires starving and freezing to death physically, yet they are starving and freezing to death spiritually as they separate themselves farther and farther from the gospel, and the testimony of Jesus Christ. As we've done inventories of the YSA in our Stake, we've found to our great saddness how many have started living lives of sin, cohabitating with others and asking us not to return.
Jump when the prophet calls - Eph was first to arrive because he jumped at the chance to leave as soon the prophet called for volunteers…we are part of a pilot program - we are the first to arrive and what we learn will help other rescuers make their way to the struggling party.
Pray for Miracles - Eph found fresh meat to take to them to hold them over until other rescue operations could find them…we are looking and discovering some wonderful positive activities and goodies which we are able to bring them, which they can't do on their own. As we work - the Lord will open up opportunities for each of us which will literally save.
Eph didn't sit and think about how he was going to handle every aspect of the rescue before he acted - he just left not knowing beforehand everything he should do. He left himself open to the direction of the spirit…and the spirit led him to the saints and led him to the buffalo... Likewise, as we are humble, the lord will lead each of us to find opportunities to lift and save. He will put people in our path that we are meant to work with. He will open new ways of reaching the hearts of these our brothers and sisters.
Keep moving even if it's hard - Eph struggled with the snow, and the cold, and with loneliness as he traveled to the handcart company… but even more, he struggled once he arrived and started to help bring them in. It was a gruesome effort to save so many who were in such terrible conditions, for they were still out there for weeks trying to make their way…. I hate to think what the saints of the handcart company will say to us, if we complain that our rescue effort is hard. Instead of fighting the cold and the elements. We are called upon to play volleyball, eat hamburgers, and drink sodapops. We are called upon to listen to some incredible people tell their stories and bear testimony. It's not too bad a rescue effort is it?
The final point I wish to draw here is that it's worth the effort to save another. I'm here today because my Great Grandfather sacrificed to rescue my Great Grandmother. The gratitude of the handcart company was overwhelming. They knew that on their own, they were lost and would surely have fallen. But with the help of these rescuers, they were able to endure. We too will feel the joy of those who partake of the efforts that we are engaged in. It will be a great source of peace and happiness to each of us.

President Hinckley has said a couple of things which are particularly useful to us as we continue in this quest.

"WE are all in this together, all of us, and we have a great work to do. Every teacher can be a better teacher then he or she is today. Every officer can be a better officer than he or she is today. Every father can be a better father. Every mother can be a better mother. Every husband can be a better husband. Every wife a better wife, every child a better child. We are on the road that leads to immortality and eternal life and today is a part of it. Let us never forget it.

"Look above your trials. Try to forget your own pain as you work to alleviate the pain of others. Mingle together with your brothers and sisters in the gospel. We need others to talk with and to share our feelings and faith. Cultivate friends.. Begin by being a good friend to others. Share your burdens with the Lord.

And finally from President Hinckley "Generally speaking, the most miserable people I know are those who are obsessed with themselves. The happiest people I know are those who lose themselves in the service of others. By and large, I have come to see that if we complain about life, it is because we are thinking only of ourselves"


Brothers and Sisters we are rescuers. We have jumped at the call of the prophet. We are diligently striving to see miracles to help us provide fresh opportunities which will bless and strengthen these wonderful young people. We are marching ahead discovering the path as we go. And we shall feel an increase of love for those whom we serve. We stand to be some of the happiest people on earth as we dedicate ourselves to this calling.

May we do so is my prayer.