LDS Freedom Forum

I think about this sometimes

I fly down the freeway in my climate controlled AWD vehicle listening to my favorite songs of the world while complaining about the traffic, or about having to drive through the snow while they pushed a handcart full of literally everything they owned in the world with bleeding feet covered in rags in the hot desert sun or the freezing snow. If I wanted to I could scream through the sky in a climate controlled metal tube watching my favorite guilty pleasure covering distances that took them months to cover in the time it takes me to down an ice cold beverage. Slightly annoyed by the child kicking my seat.

I'm too concerned about what my neighbors would think to speak up against the false doctrine being taught by some in sunday school. They had their homes burnt to the ground and were tarred and feathered for their beliefs.

I silently complain about having to help someone move on a Saturday morning. They walked miles to help their neighbors.

I can talk to my son serving a mission in real time via video chat and still wish he was back home at times. They lost their husbands and fathers for years at a time on missions. The only communication they received was letters that could take months to get to them.

I think I can do more to be worthy of their legacy. They did more to be entitled to these modern day comforts in one week than I have done in my entire life.

I dont think my ancestors are ashamed of me any more than their ancestors should be ashamed of them.

We live in a different world thats likely causing them to worry about us if anything.
Having conviences doesnt make us bad. I really dont think our lives are easier than their lives were if you think about it. If we wanted to live like them, we find ourselves having so much opposition from laws and regulations that make it impossible.

I really dont think they compare their world to ours and we really shouldnt do that either.

markharr wrote: ↑April 15th, 2019, 7:15 am I think about this sometimes...

I think I can do more to be worthy of their legacy.

Noble thoughts; however, why not ponder the works our mortal Messiah did and do those works to be worthy of His grace and mercy?

I think my ancestors would be proud of me. My mom's grandparents left everything behind to come to the us. They wanted more for their family. My dad's family would be proud that we have made something of ourselves. They were dirt floor poor farmers.

I had family be put to death for religious causes. I have read their diaries. The horrors they endured at the hands of their government was horrifying. They came to the us to be free to worship who they wanted. The one's house is a historical site and the church he started still stands.
I think they would be proud of their family.

I would hope not. I have spent many years searching for and helping redeem the dead. I have submitted hundreds and hundreds of names to the temple. I have done for them what they did not/could not do for themselves.

I also believe that they were meant for the time they lived in and they don't regret it. I have often thought about, when I'm driving down the same freeway in my air-conditioned car, what my ancestors would think if they were pulled directly from their time and thrown into ours. As that big semi truck comes speeding past you at 80 miles per hour, or that big jet plane buzzing overhead; it would probably scare the tar out of them. Or take them directly out of their time and put them in front of a computer or give them a cell phone. They would probably be grateful for not having to deal with technology. On top of that what about our kids and what they have to deal with because of technology, (Like pornography at the touch of a button) or drugs, etc?

Yeah I think they admire us for what we deal with as much as we admire them for what they dealt with.

I think instead of worrying about your pioneer ancestors, you should revise you materialistic ways.

For one thing, what on earth do you think you need all wheel drive for? You probably never even been with it on a dirt road.

Sell that thing, get rid of the payments? and get an old pick up truck. It will help your psyche momentously.
dc

I think my ancestors are ashamed that I am not better at temple work. In fact I have never done it. I am getting excited however because soon I will start doing it as I learn to navigate the website.

At least some of my ancestors are probably ashamed of me for being baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I know a few who were ashamed before departing mortality.

But I want to live worthily of my Savior, and if an eternal companion is in my future then I want to live worthily of her. So I don't sweat the rest.

I highly recommend this book for anyone feeling like they need motivation to better live their religion.

http://ogdenkraut.com/?page_id=231

I think our lifestyle makes it easier to get annoyed. We are disconnected from the earth. We go to work for money, which is a secondary reward. We do have nice vehicles, that someone else built. We have nice clothes, that someone else sewed. We have customs and rules in society just to get along with other's expectations... Not to survive.

Yeah, as a pioneer, I would have to wash my families clothes by hand. All two pairs of them each. Now days, I have to wash ten pairs of clothes each, and if my kids don't have that many clothes...I am failing as a mother.


When bad things happened, communities had to take care of each other. Now, you get to spend a year worrying about how your insurance will get out of providing for you if something goes wrong, and the community won't help since we have insurance for everything.

In those days, when someone died, people mourned. Now, if someone dies, people get blamed, sued, and sent to jail.

Kids get less time outside to play then inmates in jail.

I don't know, I think going back to pioneer times might be good for our psychological well being.

Imagine actually making what you have and building what you owned. What a source of pride. Now days, the average worker makes $100,000 dollars a year for their companies and only see a third of it, because all of their work goes to pay investors. I am not saying it's horrible, but wouldn't it be nice to actually reap what you sew?

I don't want to go back to pioneer days, but if we tried to take on a little more activity to connect us to the earth, I think we would be better in mind and heart.

But remember, if you are thinking of digging a hole in your back yard dirt, remember to call before you dig!!

markharr wrote: ↑April 15th, 2019, 7:15 am I think about this sometimes

I fly down the freeway in my climate controlled AWD vehicle listening to my favorite songs of the world while complaining about the traffic, or about having to drive through the snow while they pushed a handcart full of literally everything they owned in the world with bleeding feet covered in rags in the hot desert sun or the freezing snow. If I wanted to I could scream through the sky in a climate controlled metal tube watching my favorite guilty pleasure covering distances that took them months to cover in the time it takes me to down an ice cold beverage. Slightly annoyed by the child kicking my seat.

I'm too concerned about what my neighbors would think to speak up against the false doctrine being taught by some in sunday school. They had their homes burnt to the ground and were tarred and feathered for their beliefs.

I silently complain about having to help someone move on a Saturday morning. They walked miles to help their neighbors.

I can talk to my son serving a mission in real time via video chat and still wish he was back home at times. They lost their husbands and fathers for years at a time on missions. The only communication they received was letters that could take months to get to them.

I think I can do more to be worthy of their legacy. They did more to be entitled to these modern day comforts in one week than I have done in my entire life.

I don't have pioneer ancestors but I have thought this vicariously for other people a lot.
I think about that from time to time and try to adjust my life accordingly.

Juliet wrote: ↑April 17th, 2019, 8:33 am I think our lifestyle makes it easier to get annoyed.

...


But remember, if you are thinking of digging a hole in your back yard dirt, remember to call before you dig!!

I agree.
However, if you dig you want to call before you do, or you might dig into a gas line or other stuff.
My neighbors were digging with a little digger they got and thought they dug into a gas line. What a hubbub. Sheriff was there, fire department with several vehicles, some others, and ... the gas company with more than one vehicle.
So ... call before you dig, for your own sake, not for the saek of the permit.
dc

Certain things you don't need to be known around town for.