Cliché Mormon Pioneering, Praiseworthy Pioneers, and The Nienie Dialogues: Virtuous and Lovely

(F.Y.I. I got a Kait & Kaboddle button! Check it out, check it. It's to your left.)

Me and my cousin Cali, age 11

This lovely photo (me and Cali decided we look like those little girls in beauty pageants whose stage moms put them in way too much makeup, but that's a different story) was taken during the Castle Valley Pageant. LDS and never heard of it? Well, you're missing out. Dallan H. Oaks once said after he saw it, "this is the best pageant in the entire church."

It's true. When you're a kid and you're in it, you get to be carrried over a muddy pond by a couple big strong men, if you don't do that, you get to experience a rickety wagon ride. After you've gone to a real barn dance, you hide out in a fort-like pit with stone benches where you quietly wait till it's time to get all dressed up like a Nephite. Then you get to sneak out of the pit and throw foam rocks at a guy named Samuel, who's perched on top of a wall (unless of course you hit him, and then you can't throw foam rocks any more, because "that's not how it happened!") You get to shake your fists, yelling as loud as you can, too. It's great fun, especially the acting like a rowdy Nephite part.

Castle Dale is one of the dearest places on earth to me. I've got memories of gorging myself on raspberries and sleeping in a trailer that me and my girl cousins made into our hangout. (Holla! Christy, Becca, Cali: Remember the Speed tournaments? Or when we traded stickers? Or when we ran away screaming like we saw the devil himself, but it was just a little dog that got into the trailer? Holly, I don't think you were there for the trailer, but you were there for the Speed tournaments and the laughing until we cried part.)

Guess what!

Next week me and the fam are going to camp out like pioneers. (Really roughing it, no blogging, which is quite an addiction already, no phone service, and no Facebook.) We're going to visit this lovely place again, and we're going to go to the pageant!

I can't wait to see it all, every dusty inch of it.

I'll look at the little dugout cabin used to portray the life of a pioneer family (pictured above), the steep ledge where the wagons rest before they make their grand entrance, and the shack where you go to buy all kinds of old-timey snacks (my favorites were the snow cones, real authentic pioneer treats, those rainbow ices were.)

Looking back, I know this pageant gave me my first testimony of pioneers. It's quite good at telling some simple, moving stories of them.

It might seem strange or dorky, and it's probably cliché, but there's a reason for us Mormons doing all of these things to reenact pioneer life. The pioneer spirit is one that comes from all cultures.

Giving up what you have to make a better life for yourself because of what you believe in is something anyone can admire.

In Utah, the 24th of July is a day that's marked to celebrate pioneers. We have a parade, and all kinds of summer happenings. (Tonight I'm going to watch some fireworks!)

Let's hope we can all strive to have a bit more fortitude and strength like those wonderful people who paved the way for us to live the lives we do now.

Now for the Virtuous and Lovely item of the day:

Nie Nie's story. She's displayed courage, strength, and fortitude that would make our pioneer ancestors proud.

Stephanie Nielson, or Nie Nie (whose blog button looks like a typewriter at the bottom of this blog) was already gaining fame as a very notable blogger in 2008. She blogged about the simple beauties of life. About her faith, about her family, and all about her adorable children. She should be noted for her spunk, style, and beautiful family. She made every day an adventure for her kids, and blogged about the fun things she did with them.

Then, one day, Nie Nie and her husband were in an accident. They were both burned severely after their plane crashed. Her faithful readers wrote in with letters of encouragement, and her sister Courtney kept the blog updated while she was recovering.

Here is the video, for your virtuous viewing pleasure.

"I am not my body."

Happy Pioneer Day!

My Blog in a Nutshell...

"It is necessary to write, if the days are not to slip emptily by. How else, indeed, to clap the net over the butterfly of the moment? For the moment passes, it is forgotten, the mood is gone; life itself is gone. That is where the writer scores over his fellows: he catches the changes of his mind on the hop."

- Vita Sackville West

My Grandma Smith kept a journal from 1977-1987. There is not much for her posterity to read about her earlier life. There is though, a letter to her friend from 1944 during WWII, when many people were devoting their thoughts and time to bigger matters than a wedding. This letter says so little, and yet so much about Grandma Neva. She was a woman of great faith. She was happy. She took pleasure in many small things. Of all the wonderful things I remember about her when I knew her, I know more now than ever because of this simple letter to a friend expressing the joy she feels being a newlywed.




You see what writing does? It reveals so much about us.


I have so many things to catalog, so they'll be remembered. Life gives you and me so much to catalog, don't you think? So much to not just experience and to know, but to love.


People. People are fascinating, and we're lovable. We're complex. We like to think we know each other well, but we don't really, not even our family. It's probably because we humans are always changing, or at least our perceptions of humans are. Don't you just love people's quirks? Their passions? I love to hear about where people come from and why they do what they do. With this in mind, I'll write about the people I've encountered (or will encounter.)


Experiences. Gordon B. Hinckley once said, "Life is to be enjoyed, not just endured." Wise words, no?

I know I'm a tad too philosophical and I'm going to go a step further now and insert a quote of religious scripture here. If you're not a member of my church, then hey, at least you're getting exposed to some interesting cultural info. In the Doctrine & Covenants, section 59, it talks about "things which strengthen the body, enliven the soul, please the eye, and gladden the heart." Isn't this a wonderful guide for what to seek?


More simply, those in my religion believe in seeking after things which are "virtuous, lovely, of good report, or praiseworthy." I welcome any and all input. What do you think is lovely? If you tell me, I'll be sure to put out a good report for you. If you think it's worthy of praise, well then, drop me a line. Best of all is virtue. This idea is one we don't hear about much anymore. Virtue is, and don't get mad at me cause I'm dropping in another Gordon B. Hinckley quote, "the fruit of self mastery."





I know this isn't just a Mormon ideal. Mastering yourself is something Buddhist monks do, same with CIA agents.


I choose to entertain the best part of me so as to learn how to master myself. If you know of things which do this, why not pass them along?


In so doing, we're learning to be connoisseurs. Let's be expert judges on matters of taste. Let's enjoy life and the things in it, and let's pass these things along. Have at it, Trendsetters!


Last of all, I'd like to write about simple pleasures. These are things worthy of gratitude, and stuff that we Mormons and perhaps other religious folk like to call "tender mercies." Blessings, if you want to go the more traditional route.


For example, these wild flowers next to my house seem small, but they're enough to make me want to go hug Ralph, my neighbor, for planting them.





Well, there you have it. My blog. It won't be anything worthwhile if someone besides me doesn't contribute. My mom, dad, and sisters will, I know. So if it's just our immediate family's musings, I'll be content.




If you're a Smith family member or are just interested, here is my Grandma's journal:


Grandma's Journal