Teachings of Presidents of The Church, Gordon B. Hinckley
Chapter 4: The Pioneer Heritage of Faith and Sacrifice
https://www.lds.org/manual/teachings-of-presidents-of-the-church-gordon-b-hinckley/chapter-4-the-pioneer-heritage-of-faith-and-sacrifice?lang=eng
"Whether you have pioneer ancestry or came into the Church only yesterday, you are a part of this whole grand picture of which those men and women dreamed... They laid the foundation. Ours is the duty to build on it."
President Hinckley's great-grandfather, [Ira Hinckley] was baptized in Nauvoo and subsequently crossed the plains in the migration of the pioneers. During that journey Ira's young wife and his brother died. Ira Hinckley made rough coffins and buried them, then picked up his infant child and carried her to the Salt Lake Valley. President Hinckley's own father became president of the largest stake in the Church with more than 15,000 members. President Hinckley came from faithful "pioneers" that crossed the plains, and help build the Church in its early years. Although proud of his instrumental ancestors, President Hinckley emphasized that "pioneering" continues around the word to the present day. There are saints all over the world that are carrying forward the work of the Lord in all nations and lands. While showing gratitude and pride in his pioneering ancestors, President Hinckley also reflected upon his own posterity, and the "tremendous obligation" that was his to pass on all that he had received as an inheritance from his forebears to the generations who came after him.
When President Hinckley spoke of the early pioneers, his purpose was much bigger than focusing on those who lived in the past. He looked to the future, hoping that the faith and sacrifices of those Saints would "become a compelling motivation for us all, for each of us is a pioneer in his own life and family."
With vision, labor, and confidence in the power of God working through them, the early Latter-Day Saint pioneers brought their faith to reality.
Faith is what kept the pioneers pressing forward. It was by faith that a small band of early converts to the Church moved from New York to Ohio, from Ohio to Missouri, from Missouri to Illinois, and eventually to west, in search for peace and the freedom to worship God according to the dictates of conscience.
These early Saints moved forward amid vicious persecution and physical deprivation and hardship. Many lost loved ones along the dangerous trek. Many lost loved ones from being disowned and cut off from their families due to their decision to join the Church. These Saints pressed forward with faith not knowing their immediate fate or future, but trusted that the Lord would guide and bless them. With faith in their hearts and the dream of Zion in their minds the Saints pressed forward.
Faith in God was not exclusive to the early Saints of the Church. Paul wrote to the Hebrews "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." (Heb. 11:1.) With great vision, with labor, and with confidence in the power of God working through them, [the early Saints] bought their faith into reality. This was the same great faith and power that made possible the exodus from Egypt, the passage through the Red Sea, the love journey through the wilderness, and the establishment of Israel in the promised land.
The early Saints moved west with a personal and individual recognition of God their Eternal Father. They could look in faith upon him, this was the very essence of their strength. They believed in that great scriptural mandate: "Look to God and live." (Alma 37:47.) With faith they sought to do his will. With faith they labored until they dropped, always with a conviction that there would be an accounting to him who was their Father and their God. Behind us is a glorious history. It is the product of faith. Before us is a great future. It begins today. We cannot pause. We cannot slow down. We cannot slacken our pace or shorten our stride.
Each of us is a pioneer.
It is good to look to the past to gain appreciation for the present and perspective for the future. It is good to reflect upon the work of those who labored before us. Their tremendous example can become a compelling motivation for us all, for each of us s a pioneer in his/her own life, often in his/her own family, and many of us pioneer daily in trying to establish a gospel foothold in distant parts of the world. We are still pioneering. We have never ceased pioneering. We are reaching out all over the world to spread the gospel to all nations, kindreds, and tongues, and that takes pioneering. The early Saints of the Church marked the path and led the way, but it is OUR obligation to enlarge and broaden and strengthen that path until it encompasses the whole earth... Faith was the guiding principle in those difficult days. Faith is the guiding principle we must follow today.
Ours is a great and solemn duty to reach out and help them, to lift them, to feed them if they are hungry, to nurture their spirits if they thirst for truth and righteousness. Our forebears laid a solid and marvelous foundation. Now ours is the great opportunity to build a superstructure, all fitly framed together with Christ as the chief cornerstone. With so great an inheritance, we must go forward. We must never let down. We must hold our heads high. We must walk with integrity. We must "do what is right [and] let the consequences follow."
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