faith of our fathers

i'll be honest:  not coming from "mormon pioneer stock" i don't have any particular deep down emotions when talking about the early mormon pioneers or settlers.  i have admiration and respect, yes, and i find the history and stories interesting.  but my heartstrings aren't particularly tugged.

i also have a hard time when i hear the early pioneer's experiences almost given more credence than our modern experiences--when i hear comments made like, "the lord knew i couldn't walk across the plains without air conditioning" or "the lord knows me so well--he knew i wouldn't have been able to done the trials the pioneers went through, so he placed me here, now..."--it just rubs me the wrong way.  it is simply different times, different people, and different trials/experiences.  and, ultimately, i guess i feel like if you, your husband and children were being threatened with your lives, as a wife, mother, and woman, you would simply do what had to be done.  you would just do it.  and as a believer in christ, you would pray, hope, believe, cry, fight, and push the whole way.  you would.

sheri l. dew recognizes this sentiment:  "we have not been asked to store wheat, as were our sisters of tester-year.  we have not been required to pull handcarts over rocky ridge.  but we have been asked to store faith.  we have been asked to be pure in a world that increasingly mocks purity.  we have been asked to increase our capacity to receive revelation and pull down the power from heaven that god has granted his endowed sisters.  we have been asked to model how women of god look and act--not only as beacons for the rising generation but for all of the house of israel.  we have been asked to stand tall and stand together in speaking for what we know to be true and right and divine." 

my heartstrings are tugged when i hear universal experiences of pioneers in any dispensation seeking the father's covenant.

i love how president uchtdorf described the modern day pioneer experience in this conference talk: 

I marvel at the different backgrounds of members of the Church. You come from all walks of life—all cultures, languages, political circumstances, and religious traditions.

This multiplicity of life experiences has caused me to reflect on the message of one of our hymns, “Faith of Our Fathers.” In the refrain, these words are repeated: “Faith of our fathers, holy faith, we will be true to thee till death!” ³

The faith of our fathers—I love that phrase.

For many members of the Church, these words bring to mind valiant pioneers who abandoned the comfort of their homes and traveled by wagon and on foot until they reached the valley of the Great Salt Lake. I love and honor the faith and courage of those early pioneers of the Church. My own ancestors were living an ocean away at the time. None were among those who lived in Nauvoo or Winter Quarters, and none made the journey across the plains. But as a member of the Church, I claim with gratitude and pride this pioneer legacy as my own.

With the same joy, I claim the legacies of today’s modern-day Church pioneers who live in every nation and whose own stories of perseverance, faith, and sacrifice add glorious new verses to the great chorus of the latter-day anthem of the kingdom of God.

...

What, then, is the faith of our fathers? Is it the religion of our parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents?

But what of the faith of the ancient ones before them? What of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? Are they not our fathers? Are we not of the house of Israel? What of Noah and Enoch and our first parents, Adam and Eve?

What of the Savior and those disciples who followed Him?

The faith of our Father in Heaven has been consistent since the beginning of time, even from before the foundation of this world. John the Revelator described a great war in heaven. ⁵ The issue was moral agency, as it is today. All who have ever lived on this earth were among those who fought against Satan and stood with the Son and the Father. Therefore, do we not owe our allegiance to God, our Heavenly Father?

As members of the Church of Jesus Christ, “we believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.” ⁶ And “we believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.” ⁷ We believe in the great plan of happiness, the plan of redemption, the plan of salvation, whereby God’s children may experience mortality and return to the presence of the Father—a merciful plan established from before the foundation of this earth.

This is the plan and the faith of our Father!

I testify that the doctrine of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ is the faith of our Heavenly Father. It is His truth, revealed to His servants the prophets from the days of Father Adam until our own time. The Father and the Son appeared to Joseph Smith to restore the faith of our Father on this earth, never to be taken away again. God desires that all of His children receive it, irrespective of their background, culture, or tradition. True religion should not originate from what pleases men or the traditions of ancestors, but rather from what pleases God, our Eternal Father.

Continuing revelation is a fundamental feature of this faith. Joseph Smith’s first prayer is a powerful testimony of this. Revelation is a constant compass that keeps us always true to the will and the faith of our Heavenly Father.

Our Heavenly Father loves His children. He hears the prayers of the humble and sincere of every nation, tongue, and people. He grants light to those who seek and honor Him and are willing to obey His commandments. We joyously proclaim that the faith of our Father is on the earth today.

We invite everyone on this beautiful planet to taste of His doctrine and see if it is not sweet and good and precious. We ask those of sincere heart to learn of this doctrine and ask their Father in Heaven if it is not true. And by doing so, all can discover, embrace, and walk in the true faith of their Father, which faith will make them whole. ⁸

i feel empowered knowing our history isn't only about emigrating to a new country, or crossing the plains to the utah territory, or being related to so-and-so who settled such-and-such valley.  the "faith of our fathers" ties all the way back to the abrahamic covenant, and its access to appointment and birthright of priesthood power (which has nothing to do with gender, by the way).  pioneers through each dispensation have searched this covenant, and what this power offers.  

i love how sheri dew describes this pioneer search: 

"priesthood power heals, blesses, protects, and inoculates all of the father's righteous sons and daughters against the powers of darkness.  it has the power to separate and safeguard us from the world, to subdue the adversary and help us surmount obstacles, to enlarge our physical and spiritual capacity and enable us to hear the voice of the lord, to strengthen marriages and families and bind us to each other and to the lord, and to allow us to triumph over mortality and come unto him.  these blessings may be received by every righteous son and daughter....what does it mean to have access to priesthood power for our own lives?  it means that we can receive revelation, be blessed and aided by the ministering of angels, learn to part the veil that separates us from our heavenly father, be strengthened to resist temptation, be protected, and be enlightened and made smarter than we are--all without any mortal intermediary."