'Armor of faith' protected pioneers
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Like David who slew Goliath, the Mormon Pioneers were motivated by a cause and protected by the armor of faith, Elder Jay E. Jensen said at the opening July 24 event of the Days of '47 festival in downtown Salt Lake City celebrating the arrival of President Brigham Young and the first company of pioneers in the Salt Lake Valley on July 24, 1847.
Elder Jensen of the Presidency of the Seventy spoke to an early-bird congregation in the Salt Lake Tabernacle at the traditional Sunrise Service, with music provided by a choir from 11 stakes in Bountiful, Farmington, Centerville, North Salt Lake and Wood Cross, under the direction of Michael Huff, accompanied by the Day's of '47 Brass Ensemble.
Elder Jensen based his remarks on two phrases from the account in 1 Samuel of young David who courageously volunteered to confront Goliath, the giant of the Philistine army, in battle. The phrases were "Is there not a Cause?" and "I have not proved [the armor]."
"I pray that the Holy Ghost will teach us about worthy causes then and now and about the protective armor that pioneers wore and we wear today," he said.
The Latter-day Saints were driven by two forces, Elder Jensen observed. "One was the force of evil causes and wicked people who literally drove them from their homes; the other was the great cause of Zion, a cause that was founded upon two influences, namely, the testimony of these converts and their love for the temple and its blessings."
He noted that in the Bible and Book of Mormon, when prophets wanted to strengthen the faith of the people, they referred to Moses and the miracles attending the exodus from Egypt. "However, the parting of the Red Sea and leading Israel to their promised land will eventually pale in significance to the latter-day cause of the gathering of Israel," he said.
"Central to this cause of Zion and the pioneer movement was the conversion to the restored gospel," Elder Jensen said. He noted that the converts' testimonies were based on doctrines associated with four sequential events: the First Vision, the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, the coming of heavenly messengers and the baptism and confirmation of Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, establishing ordinances and covenants pursuant to membership in the Church.
"These doctrines were like fire in the bones and could not be shut up," Elder Jensen said, alluding to Jeremiah 20:9. "Simply stated, when a testimony is born a life is changed forever."
Elder Jensen said few doctrines of the Restoration had greater influence on the Saints, the cause of Zion and the westward migration than the temple. "When the Prophet Joseph Smith taught the Saints the three salient temple experiences — baptism for the dead; the sacred, supernal ordinance called the endowment; and marriage for eternity — it became their all-consuming and unifying effort in Nauvoo. It was their culminating spiritual experience. With the blessings of the temple, they worked their way westward with vision and hope that there they would again build a temple — one they would not have to abandon."
Elder Jensen said that, like David, the pioneers had a spiritual armor, the shield of faith.
Asking, "Is there a cause today?" Elder Jensen said converts throughout the world are true pioneers in their own right. "They wear the armor of God and move the cause of Zion forward. Let there be no doubt the cause of Zion is alive and vibrant today. With temples all over the world, faithful saints sacrifice much to attend a temple and receive the sacred ordinances first offered in Nauvoo."
Latter-day Saints today follow the same causes as the pioneers, he said, "and prove the armor we wear today, which [is] built on the solid foundation of revelation, the holy scriptures, the priesthood and keys of the priesthood, and the ordinances and the covenants."
He added: "David was an instrument in the hands of the Lord in Israel's cause; armed with testimony and faith, he conquered Goliath. Today we are modern Israel, pioneers in the hands of the Lord, conquering our Goliaths as we establish the cause of Zion with our faith and testimony."
The choir performed as one of its selections the finale from "Promised Valley," the musical stage play commissioned in 1947 by the state of Utah to celebrate the centennial of the coming of the pioneers to the Salt Lake Valley. Crawford Gates, who composed the music for the play was present and received an award from Ralph J. Thompson, president of the Salt Lake Chapter of the Sons of Utah Pioneers, which sponsored the service. "Your soul-inspiring compositions and performances have etched our blessed pioneer heritage and legacy into our hearts over several decades," he said to Brother Gates.
