President M. Russell Ballard, Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, said in the Saturday afternoon session of October 2022 general conference:
Brothers and sisters, I testify that as we follow Jesus Christ with footsteps of faith, there is hope. There is hope in the Lord Jesus Christ. There is hope for all in this life. There is hope to overcome our mistakes, our sorrows, our struggles, and our trials and our troubles. There is hope in repentance and being forgiven and in forgiving others. I testify that there is hope and peace in Christ. He can carry us today through difficult times. He did it for the early pioneers, and He will do it now for each one of us.
This year marks the 175th anniversary of the arrival of the early pioneers to the Salt Lake Valley, which has caused me to reflect on my ancestors, some of whom walked from Nauvoo to the Salt Lake Valley. I have great-grandparents who walked the plains in their youth. Henry Ballard was 20 years old;3 Margaret McNeil was 13;4 and Joseph F. Smith, who later became the sixth President of the Church, was just 9 when he arrived in the Salt Lake Valley.5
They faced deprivations of every kind along the trail, such as cold winters, illness, and lack of adequate food and clothing. For instance, when Henry Ballard entered the Salt Lake Valley, he rejoiced in seeing the “Promised Land” but lived in fear that someone might see him because the clothing he was wearing was so worn out that it did not completely cover his body. He hid himself behind bushes all day until after dark. He then went to a house and begged for clothing so that he could continue his journey and locate his parents. He was thankful to God that he had reached his future home in safety.6
My great-grandparents followed Jesus Christ with footsteps of faith throughout each of their trials. I am grateful to them for never giving up. Their footsteps of faith have blessed me and subsequent generations, just as your footsteps of faith today will bless your posterity.
The word pioneer is both a noun and a verb. As a noun it can mean a person who is among the first to explore or settle a new territory. As a verb, it can mean to open or prepare the way for others to follow.7
As I think about pioneers who have prepared the way for others, I first think of the Prophet Joseph Smith. Joseph was a pioneer because his footsteps of faith led him to a grove of trees, where he knelt in prayer and opened the way for us to have the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Joseph’s faith to “ask of God”8 on that spring morning in 1820 opened the way for the Restoration of the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ, which included prophets and apostles called to serve on earth once again.9 I know Joseph Smith is a prophet of God. I know his faith-filled footsteps led him to kneel in the presence of God the Father and His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ.
To see, hear all of this talk by Elder M. Russell Ballard now, click: Follow Jesus Christ with Footsteps of Faith.
