Happy Pioneer Day!

Saturday, July 24th--One of the few "perks" of living in Utah (sorry, peeps, I am a Washington girl through and through!) is that July 24th is a state holiday. It means most people get the day off or the Friday or Monday, if it falls on the weekend. July 24th is the day we celebrate the Mormon pioneers coming to the Salt Lake Valley. There is a huge parade and many celebrations and festivities. Our little neighborhood did a little Primary parade where kids dressed in pioneer or patriotic clothing. They rode their bikes or scooters around and waved at the people standing outside to see them. On this day, we celebrate the Mormon pioneers settling here (in Utah), for good, after years and years of persecution and torture in other states. The stories of pioneers are many and I am honored to be a descendant of several Mormon pioneers. Their stories give me strength to endure my own trials. I can't imagine what life was like with a brand new religion that you believed so much in and yet, in the eyes of too many was stomped on and ridiculed. It took great faith. Maybe people then and now don't understand the Mormon faith, I get that. I don't understand everything to do with other religions but I don't feel the need to bash and ridicule other faiths. It doesn't make sense to me to do so and, for so many who believe in Jesus Christ as I do, I don't see how that would be "Christ-like".

Anyhoo, I've enjoyed reflecting this weekend on my heritage. I am blessed and proud. Those that came before me and sacrificed so much for what they believed in with all their heart--they did not so in vain. Many of us still have rich, powerful testimonies of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We live it in our daily lives. To like me is to like my religion.