October: More Moments at the Mormon Battalion

     

Family from France 

      As many times as we take the tour we never get tired of it.  It seems there is something we learn each week as we participate in the devotionals and learn about the people who were a part of the Mormon Battalion.  We see so many people touched by the message that it gives - and feel fortunate to be able to be apart of all of it.  A family from France came in and could understand very little English.  As I was talking to them they indicated that they didn't understand anything I was saying, so I told them we have a movie in French.  They were excited to have something they understood - so I put on Legacy in French.  They said they only had 20 minutes - but, I thought that Legacy (which is 60 minutes long) would give them a 20 minute idea about the early beginnings of our church.  After 20 minutes they were still there - after 30 minutes I decided to let them watch as long as they wanted to.  They watched the whole movie and requested a Book of Mormon.  

      They watched the whole movie and requested a Book of Mormon.  Sister Smith (she is the one with long dark hair) from Highland took some French in High School and she asked if they would like one as they were leaving.  We are going to send the missionaries to deliver it to them when they return to France. 

Another Moment:

     Two people, a man and a woman, who spoke little English and were from Russia went through and came up to the front desk to request a Book of Mormon.  When I told them I could get it for them in Russian, they were thrilled.  I went to the back and got one, brought it up to the front and gave it to the man, thinking they were married.  The woman asked if she could have one for herself because he was leaving to go to his home in another part of the country.  We just happened to have two Book of Mormons in Russian so I got one for her, too.  When I brought it back, the man was already starting to read the introduction to the Book of Mormon.  (The Russian alphabet even looks different from our English one so it was fun to see him reading it.)  They both said they had their own religion - he was Orthodox Christian and she was Jewish - but, they both wanted to read the Book of Mormon.  If they read it with an open heart and real intent, it will make a difference in their lives.  

A Penny and a Half Pence 

    We give a devotional each month to the Senior Couples.  I gave one about John Borrowman.  He was a member of the Mormon Battalion.  His family immigrated to Canada from Scotland.  While living in Canada he joined the army where he heard about the church.  His family was very religious so he went home to tell his father he wanted to join The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  John was the oldest son and would inherit the family farm in Canada.  After they had talked for two days his father told him that if he joined the church he would disown him.  "Though facing this difficult decision, John remained thrilled with his new religion.  For him the light of the gospel had burst on the world like a sunrise, revealing that all men could find salvation.  So in spite of the sorrow he felt because of his father’s opposition and the loss of a valuable inheritance, John was baptized on 7 June 1840."  He chose the "pearl of great price".

     During the course of his life he was responsible for over 1,100 convert baptisms.

He had the opportunity to become rich at Sutter's Mill when gold was discovered, but when the call came to go to Utah, he gave up sure profits of the gold fields.  In Salt Lake, he married and had a prosperous farm.  When asked to go to colonize Nephi, he took his family and moved.  He became a respected and honored citizen of that community.  

     Whenever the gospel called, John Borrowman, like so many members of the Mormon Battalion, answered the call without hesitation.  When his father died in Canada, his stepmother sent him his inheritance - a half pence (about one nickel).  So for an inheritance he received a the "Pearl of Great Price" and a half-pence,too.

 John Sutter's Mill

      Richard's was about John Sutter's Mill. After the Mormon Battalion were discharged in July of 1847, they started to find their families.  They were met by a messenger from Brigham Young telling then unless they had provisions to go back to California and work until they could bring provisions with them.  There wasn't alot of food that first winter in Salt Lake.  About 100 member of the Battalion went north looking for the saints who had settled near San Francisco.  They went to work for John Sutter building a mill.

        As they were building the mill, they had a tailrace that water went through to power the wheel to turn the saws.  The tail race wasn't deep enough for the water to do this so James Marshall stopped the water and was inspecting the tail race when he found gold.  In his journal, Henry Bigler, a member of the Mormon Battalion recorded the date, January 24, 1848.  Later when the state of California was not sure of the exact date of the discovery of gold, Henry Bigler sent the page in his journal to verify that date.  We have a copy of the journal page at the Mormon Battalion.  (Henry Bigler is the one with the dark beard).

     As the gold rush began, most of those working on building John Sutter's mill left for the gold fields.  The Mormon Battalion members however, stayed and finished their work.  They panned for gold in their spare time.  In fact, there was an Island in the middle of the American River that was a very rich gold strike where the Mormon's panned.  They named it Mormon Island.  But, when the call came to go back to their families, they left their opportunity to become wealthy panning gold, to return to their families.   Their families and the gospel were the most important thing to them.  The contributions and history of the battalion are largely forgotten because they were pushed into the background by the Gold Rush, but, they must not be forgotten.