Cherishing My Pioneer Heritage

I wanted to take a moment today to share my gratitude for my deep heritage of mormon pioneers. In order to discuss some of these pioneers I did a little research and discovered something more about one of these pioneers. My great-great-great grandfather Jesse Nathaniel Smith was not only a pioneer, but he was also cousins to Joseph Smith Jr. the prophet as well as George Albert Smith the prophet. There is much to say about him but I think I will write about him later.

Another pioneer I have learned about is my great-great-great grandfather Johannes (or John) Kunz II. If you go back through their lives they too had a very interesting story as they learned of the gospel of Jesus Christ and came from Switzerland to the United States. It was this family who settled Bern, Idaho. They too deserve their own individual writing.

There is one other pioneer I would like to specifically show my gratitude for and that is my Grandpa Kunz. I have still to write or blog about him, because I am waiting to get some more information from my Aunt so that I don't misrepresent him. The reason I consider him a pioneer is because he came from a very poor family but improved upon his circumstances. I learned at a family reunion of a story of his sister and mother going out to collect weeds for dinners stew. That same day I learned that it was my grandpa who bought the first car in the family and even lent it to his parents at times. He bought up some land in Sandy, Utah and eventually sold part of it to a couple of his brothers. He built his own home out of interesting materials as the war (world war two I believe) was happening and no one was allowed to build homes as all home building materials were going to the war. The details are unclear to me and that is why I will wait to get clarification before I write more about him. I do feel he had that pioneer spirit in building up his life, his family, and his ability to provide a better life for his family.

There are quite a few pioneers in my family and I would like to learn about all of them. As I learn about them I will share their stories either on my blog or my families blog. If I do post it there I will try to post a link on here so you can check it out if you are interested. I am so very grateful for those who have laid the way before me and have made sacrifices so that I too may enjoy the knowledge that the gospel brings to me. I pray that I may be able to live a life worthy of the rich heritage these wonderful pioneers have left for me. I am thankful to live in a state where a whole day is dedicated to celebrating these wonderful pioneers and their marvelous accomplishments.