Save the destitute- Comfort the abused

Speaking at the Sunday morning session, President Gordon B. Hinckley told of a similar meeting on Temple Square 135 years earlier, on Oct. 5, 1856.The previous day, a small group of missionaries returning from England had told President Brigham Young of hundreds of Latter-day Saint converts, most of them pulling handcarts, scattered along the trail that led from the Missouri River to the Salt Lake Valley. They were in danger of being trapped in snows and perishing if help were not sent.

President Hinckley said President Young stood the next morning before the congregation in the old Tabernacle on Temple Square and called for teams to be sent to rescue the handcart pioneers. Some left almost immediately, and by the end of October, 250 teams were on the road to give relief.

Picking up the story from another point, President Hinckley, first counselor in the First Presidency, told of his experience a few weeks ago when he dedicated a monument in Cedar City, Utah, to the memory of Ellen Pucell Unthank.

Born in England, she at the age of 9 was part of the Martin Handcart Company, one of the two ill-fated companies rescued by the teams sent by President Young. Her parents perished along the way from the cold and exposure, and she and her sister, Maggie, 14, suffered seriously from frostbite.

His voice breaking, President Hinckley said of the parents: "I do not know how or where their frozen bodies were buried in that desolate white wilderness. I do know that the ground was frozen and that the snow was piled in drifts and that the two little girls were now orphans.

"Between 135 and 150 of the Martin Company alone perished along that trail of suffering and death.

"It was in these desperate and terrible circumstances - hungry, exhausted, their clothes thin and ragged - that they were found by the rescue party."

The converts were carried hundreds of miles in 104 rescue wagons, and entered the valley on Nov. 30.

That day, a Sunday, President Young again addressed a congregation in the Tabernacle and instructed the people to feed, wash and nurse the distressed travelers.

"The two orphan girls, Maggie and Ellen, were among those with frozen limbs," President Hinckley continued. He said Ellen's were the most serious, and her legs had to be amputated just below the knees. The wounds never completely healed. She was in pain throughout her life, but without complaint, she married, reared six children and served her family and neighbors and the Church.

President Hinckley then quoted an account recorded by William R. Palmer about a Sunday School class which, years later, was discussing Sister Unthank and others in the ill-fated handcart companies. Members of the class were speaking critically of Church leaders for permitting the company of converts to start so late in the season. An old man listened in silence and then rose to speak.

"He said in substance, `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. A 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 every one of us came through with the absolute knowledge that God lives, for we became acquainted with Him in our extremities.'

"Sacrifice has always been a part of the gospel of Jesus Christ," said President Hinckley, who then spoke of the atonement of the Savior.

"In our own helplessness, He becomes our rescuer, saving us from damnation and bringing us to eternal life.

"In times of despair, in seasons of loneliness and fear, He is there on the horizon to bring succor and comfort and assurance and faith. He is our King, our Savior, our Deliverer, our Lord and our God."

The mission of Christ's followers must be to save the homeless, hungry and destitute, President Hinckley said.

"We can reach out to strengthen those who wallow in the mire of pornography, gross immorality and drugs," he admonished. "Many have become so addicted that they have lost the power to control their own destinies. They are miserable and broken. They can be salvaged and saved."

He also mentioned abandoned wives, abused children and fathers subject to "evil and corrosive practices that destroy and bring only heartbreak.

"It is not with those on the high plains of Wyoming that we need be concerned today. It is with many immediately around us, in our families, in our wards and stakes, in our neighborhoods and communities."

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(Additional information)

- "There can't possibly be a better way to begin a Sabbath morning," announcer Lloyd D. Newell said of the Tabernacle Choir's "Music and the Spoken Word" broadcast just before it signed on.

The broadcast was also a fitting prelude to the Sunday morning conference session. All of the numbers were either composed or arranged by Robert Cundick. This was his last conference as Tabernacle organist; he retires Dec. 1.

During the conference session, conducted by President Thomas S. Monson, the choir performed with even more fervor than usual, especially after the address by Elder Russell M. Nelson. He quoted the words to "Love So Amazing, So Divine," which the choir sang on its recent European tour. Then the choir sang that hymn.

President Ezra Taft Benson attended the session for about an hour, looking frail but radiant as he waved at the congregation and listened intently to the sermons.

Elder Eduardo Ayala of the Seventy offered the invocation, and Elder Clinton L. Cutler, also of the Seventy, gave the benediction.