DAMOREYAH GOT BAPTIZED!!! I love this kid! He came to
lesson win us this week and is super excited to start doing more missionary
work with us! He's also going to be going on a mini mission next week! He is
going to do amazing things and change so many people's lives! He'll be leaving
pretty soon for Dixie State to play football and we are really going to miss
him.. But I found out out that I get to stay in this area with Sister Bradley
for another transfer! So I'll get to say goodbye to him when he leaves.
We also got to participate in an awesome service project
at the old Mormon fort here in Vegas! We got to talk to the people walking
around and tell them the story about when the Mormons came and settled in
Vegas.
Here's the story!
"After Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum were
martyred in Carthage, Illinois, Brigham Young became President of the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. On
July 24, 1847, Brigham Young, as a Prophet of God, told a small company of
Mormon Pioneers in Salt Lake Valley, "This is the Place" where the
Saints shall settle! And settle they
did, by the thousands!
But Salt Lake City wasn't the ONLY Place the Prophet
wanted the Mormons to go!
8 years later, in April General Conference, President
Young called out the names of 30 young, brave, strong Mormon Men. These men, he
said, were called to a mission in "Los Vegas", Nevada to build a fort
for travelers on the road between Utah and California, and to teach the
2,000 Paiute Indians who traveled through southern
Nevada. These native Americans slept underneath piles of desert grass and
searched for little seeds to eat. They
called their brush tents "wiki-ups".
President Young asked the 30 missionaries to become
friends with the Paitues, show them how to farm, teach them to read, and teach
them our religion. But they were NOT to fight them under any condition!
Two months later the missionaries arrived. It was a very hot day, June 14, 1855. The Missionaries came right here to this spot
where we are standing! They were the
first people in recorded history to build a permanent home here. They went
straight to work, digging into the desert sand to plant crops so they wouldn't
starve. And quickly they began making
this fort out of the only thing available---a whole lot of hot gravel and dirt! They built this whole fort out of adobe brick
which is kind of the same thing as mud pies.
2 1/2 weeks later--guess what holiday occurred? Independence Day!
And those Mormon missionaries were true-blue Americans.
Even though they had been thrown out of their homes in Illinois when the
Prophet Joseph was murdered. Even though
they had a TON of work to do to get their farm and fort all built up. Even though Las Vegas wasn't even part of the
USA then (it was part of Mexico), these men were SO PROUD to be Americans that
they took the entire day off to celebrate our great Country's birthday!
In their missionary journals, they drew copies of an
American Flag they sewed for the holiday.
It looked exactly like the replica you see flying on that flag pole
today! They made their flag out of white
canvass, blue jeans, and an old red undershirt!
For a flag pole, they took the tongues from their wagon and lashed them
together and stuck the flag on the top.
Their flag pole looked just like this one except it was even 10 foot
taller! Do you see the one big star in
the middle? That star was for the State
of Deseret--for all the Mormon Pioneers.
Then the
missionaries sang hymns, said a special prayer of thanks for America,
made patriotic speeches, toasts, and cheers.
Last of all, they had a 21 Gun salute!
A 21 Gun Salute is when 7 men with rifles each fire three bullets at the
command of their leader. 7x3=21 The 7
men stood in line waiting for the command "Ready, Aim, Fire!" BAM!
"Reload"
"Ready, Air Fire!"
BAM! "Reload"
"Ready, Aim, Fire!" BAM!
"At ease
gentlemen!"
It sounded Awesome!
Only one problem! The Paiutes had
been hiding in the desert watching these
strange white men building this strange brick fort. Now they thought those
strange men were firing their guns at them!
The Paiutes were very FRIGHTENED.
Some began making war cries.
Luckily, two of the missionaries knew a little of the Paiute
language. They quickly ran into the
desert, shouting, "No Fighting!
We come in Peace!
We're just having a party!"
The Paiutes calmed down.
They did become friends of the missionaries.
Some even joined the Mormon church during the 2 years
those Mormon Elders served here at this fort that they built with their own
hands.
Today is a great day to honor those first Pioneers in Las
Vegas. On
their first holiday here, they made it a special day of
Thanksgiving, Prayer, Patriotism, and Friendliness for all of God's
children. May it always be so here in
our valley!"
This morning we got to hike sunrise mountain!! We got up
early to watch the sunrise and it was still 90 degrees outside right before the
sun came up. It took us a couple hours to hike but it was worth it!
Such an amazing blessing it is to be here in the Nevada
Las Vegas Mission! I love it!
I hope you are all doing well I love you all! Have a
great week!
Love
Sister Hopper
