Modern-day Pioneers

The worldwide Church celebrates Pioneer Day on July 24, the day when the Mormon pioneers arrived in the Salt Lake Valley of Utah in 1847, seeking religious freedom. We had a Belize City Branch Pioneer Day activity on Saturday, remembering the first generation Church members, or "pioneers", of Belize.

Our pie-o-neer celebration meant everyone was invited to bring a pie.  We had quite an assortment, from homemade apple pie, to meat pie, to lemon meringue pie, to shepherd's pie, bean pie, and many more.  The Young Women organization was in charge and Sister Casanova did a marvelous job coordinating the activity.  

Several members shared their own pioneer experiences of when they joined the church. Others read parts of the church's history in Belize and others shared photos from the past.

Pictured below:  Paul Woods, Jennifer Cadle, Wallace Belgrave, Harold Smith and Evelyn Woods, Julia Smith

Jennifer Gordon, Hilberto Casanova, Branch President Joel Muñoz, Elder Magnusson and Harold Smith sharing a photo from the past.  

Pioneer Day can be fun, but also of remembrance of the sacrifices of our ancestors who left their homelands in order to be able to worship in peace. Elder Uchtdorf explains in this video that not all pioneers crossed the American frontier to the West.

As you click on the arrow to watch the video, 

be sure to click on the full screen button in the bottom right hand corner of the video. 

You can also see the video by clicking here.

Our Skype account was extra busy this past week.  We had three Skype meetings. Below is the zone and sister training leaders being trained by President Adams from El Salvador.

President Adams, and Elders Flake and Magnusson had a Skype mission presidency meeting, each originating from El Salvador, and San Ignacio and Belize City.  Sister Adams (Seminary coordinator), Sister. Flake, and I had a camp planning meeting via Skype to finalize what needs to be brought to Spanish Lookout for youth camp next week.

It's always a treat to join with the missionary leaders and other senior missionary couples for lunch after our Mission Leaders' Council meeting.

As promised in last week's blog, here is the progress on our camp showers.

This week I enjoyed watching the 3 part series titled:  Reyna Aburto’s Story.  The Mormon Channel summarizes the series:  

As a nine-year-old, Reyna lived through the devastating earthquake that hit Nicaragua in 1972. The natural disaster claimed the life of her brother and the home they lived in....She often wondered where her brother was and if she would ever see him again. In a daydream she had, her brother would knock on the door, and when she answered, he would tell her that he was not really dead but alive—just somewhere else. This daydream brought her comfort as a little girl.....

...In 1984 she married a young man she had dated for several years. Together they moved to San Francisco, California, where they both had family. After two years of marriage, they had a son. Not long after their son was born, Reyna’s husband lost his job and fell into addiction. She did what she could to help him, but after a time it became clear that she could no longer trust him. Of this trying time in her life she says, “Those days were times of despair for me, not knowing what to do.” She dealt with feelings of fear, but at the same time she was determined to protect her young son and make a living on her own. “It was very hard to end the relationship,” she says. 

As she faced the future without her husband, she again wondered why God allows bad things to happen. Over time, God granted her understanding. “People make bad choices, and that freedom to make choices comes from God. He has given us that freedom, and that is why He cannot stop people from doing bad things,” she says. She learned through her experiences that if we are patient, God will one day answer our prayers and bring us peace...

...Reyna compares her life to a certain Lutheran church in Germany that was bombed during World War II. When the church was rebuilt after the war, the builders chose to include a number of the old blackened stones as a reminder of the war. Reyna shares the following: “My life is like that church. . . . I have gone through very hard times. The scars are still there, the consequences, the pain is still there. But the Lord has rebuilt my life and has allowed me to have joy.”

You can also see the series by clicking here.