JULY JOYS “with joy wend your way”

"As you can see from the title of this post it is not July.  This is Melia, Joy and Chuck's daughter, writing to tell you sorry for the delay in getting the latest and greatest news to you from our missionaries in Africa.  My family and I were heading into a big move at the end of July from Pennsylvania to Arizona.  We are finally settling in here and so I have some catchup work to do in getting the Bassos blog up-to-date.  Enjoy this weeks blog posts as we zip through the last few months and meet up with September." - Melia

JULY JOYS
“with joy wend your way”

Mormons celebrate the birth of a great new Zion home in Utah this day, July 24.  In 1847, Brigham Young first saw the Salt Lake Valley that would soon become the Mormon pioneers' new home.  Brigham Young had a vision shortly after they were exiled from Nauvoo, Illinois. In the vision, he saw the place where the Latter-day Saints would settle and "make the desert blossom like a rose."

Brigham Young was ill with Rocky Mountain spotted fever and was riding in the back of a wagon. After exiting Emigration Canyon and cresting a small hill, he asked to look out of the wagon. Those with him opened the canvas cover and propped him up so he could see the empty desert valley below. He then proclaimed, "It is enough. This is the right place. Drive on." The words, "this is the place," were soon heard throughout the wagon train as the Mormon pioneers descended into the valley, their long journey having come to an end. Over the next several years, tens of thousands of Mormon pioneers emerged from Emigration Canyon and first saw their new home from this same location. A Utah state holiday, Pioneer Day, occurs each year on July 24 to commemorate the Mormon pioneers' entry into the valley.

I’m grateful to have descended from Mormon pioneers who sacrificed all and endured many hardships to come to America for religious freedom.  That freedom was neither free nor guaranteed.  They suffered persecution from their fellow countrymen, even unto death, for their religious beliefs.  After being beaten, incarcerated and even executed, the flicker of faith marched on and the little stone carved from the mountain went forth to fill the earth.  We preach, teach and serve without wages, thus we are not influenced by gain, money or those lobbying for evil purposes.  We take our directions from the Jehovah of Israel, the Almighty God, the King of Kings, even our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, through His prophet.  We are overpaid with blessings, lessons, experience and love.