15. Faith in Every Footstep

A bishopric message published in the February 1997 issue of the Bountiful Twentieth Ward Newsette. The year 1997 was the sesquicentennial celebration of the arrival of the Mormon pioneers in the valley of the Great Salt Lake.

Throughout this year we have a marvelous opportunity to celebrate the pioneer sesquicentennial, which marks the 150th anniversary of the July 1847 arrival of the first pioneers into the Salt Lake Valley. “Faith in Every Footstep” is the theme of the year-long celebration.

Reflecting that tens of thousands of those hardy pioneers walked virtually half-way across the continent to reach the Great Basin, the “Faith in Every Footstep” theme reminds us that the pioneering spirit is alive and well across the earth today as hundreds of thousands of new converts each year take the courageous steps necessary to leave the world behind—often at great sacrifice, sometimes alienating family and friends—by taking the name of Jesus Christ upon themselves in the waters of baptism.

Whether or not we are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, whether or not our own ancestors came across oceans and plains during that pioneer era, each of us here in our own little corner of Bountiful is blessed by the legacy of faith the pioneers left for us. Each of us is benefited by the great inland commonwealth they established here in the tops of the mountains for us now to enjoy.

One of my wife’s distant ancestors—in a letter written to his son nearly two hundred years ago, more than a decade before the restoration of the gospel—wrote an important admonition that every righteous parent would wish for his or her children and grandchildren: “See that you outstrip us in purity of heart and holiness of life.”

This admonition reflects the Apostle John’s sentiment: “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth” (3 John 1:4).

What greater way could we honor our pioneer heritage than making sure that we walk in truth, with faith in every footstep, and that we outstrip those who have gone before in purity of heart and holiness of life?