Pioneer Day Fatigue

Posted by Emily M. | July 23, 2007 | 4 Comments

Ten years ago the Church celebrated the sesquicentennial of the 1847 arrival in the Salt Lake Valley. I missed all the hoopla, the documentaries and nationwide news coverage”“I was on a mission in Ecuador. I got echoes of the festivities through letters and weeks-old copies of the Church news. Also it seemed like every month’s Ensign that year had something about the pioneers in it. But I felt disconnected from it all.

A few months passed, and so did the Church’s pioneer emphasis. I entered my most challenging time as a missionary: a difficult companionship situation, an area I had hoped to avoid serving in, and the general fatigue that set in after months of full-time service. We were working hard, but very few people progressed, and I felt frustrated and guilty. If I knew how to be a better missionary, maybe I’d be able to baptize more people. If I had more faith. If I were more obedient. I couldn’t see clearly the good things I actually did; instead I felt depressed over my lack of quantifiable results.

During this time, my mother sent me this talk,“Under Covenant Toward the Promised Land: Section 136 as a Latter-Day Type,” given by Tessa Meyer Santiago at a BYU devotional during that pioneer summer, July 1997.

Santiago speaks about covenant journeying to the promised land, and how the pioneer accounts are “types from the beginnings of our religious and cultural heritage that tell us as a people how to act if we will reenact the literal journey in our spiritual lives.”

This resonated with me, as I was in the middle of an important spiritual journey, and I wanted to break out of my depression and journey well. Santiago teaches:

Saints under covenant must be devoted to the concept of journeying, not destination. The ultimate covenant under which the Saints journeyed is simply expressed in D&C 136:4: “And this shall be our covenant–that we will walk in all the ordinances of the Lord. Note the covenant is not that they will walk in the Lord’s ordinances until they reach Zion. There is no mention of destination when we walk in the way of the Lord’s ordinances.

I needed those words! I needed to see my mission right then as a covenant journey, not a goal-oriented destination. I read them over again, and pondered them. They helped me begin to find joy in missionary life, in that daily journey, instead of frustration that I did not live up to the perfect missionary I had imagined myself to be.

That first section of her talk was my favorite, the one that strengthened me the most during my own mission journey. But as I read it over again, I think this talk is for anyone who gets pioneer fatigue, or has ever wondered why we celebrate this Pioneer Day every year.

So what do I find in this pioneer journey that helps me identify with the early Saints? I find something that can help all of us in enduring to the end.

I realize that my awe and reverence and sometimes disbelief–these people were too much, too unbelievable–is perhaps a result of my reluctance to admit that I, too, am capable of such devotion, such sacrifice, and such commitment to the kingdom of God. . . .

Category: Daily Special

Comments

4 Responses to “Pioneer Day Fatigue”

Kathryn Soper
July 24th, 2007 @ 4:33 pm

“A covenant journey, not a goal-oriented destination.” Brilliant. This is the exact same paradigm shift that is transforming my family life. Thank you, Emily!
Angie
July 24th, 2007 @ 5:00 pm

I’ve been trying to compose a short comment worthy of that essay since last night, and I haven’t had any success. So I’ll just say thanks for the link. It was beautiful and profound.
Justine
July 25th, 2007 @ 10:02 am

I kinda think I would have rather been a pioneer, facing physical pain and suffering, to the emotional spiritual assault I face each day. If I could only look at both of those in the same way, but for me, it’s easier for me to say “bring it on” to physical challenges than to mental ones.
Emily M.
July 25th, 2007 @ 11:14 pm

Thanks for the comments, guys! I love this essay too. It’s the most powerful pioneer piece I have ever read.
Tessa Santiago is brilliant.

Justine, I am not so good with physical challenges. I wonder if I would have been better if I’d grown up with them. If I never knew anything different than backbreaking work sixteen hours a day, then would I be more used to it?