Family History Family Home Evening - Pioneer Stories!

Today you get two options for Family Home Evening!

The 1st Option is a Family Home Evening about Pioneers,

and the 2nd Option is a Family History Family Home Evening

which will give you the opportunity to add

YOUR FAMILY

Pioneer Stories to your Family History Book.

Opening Prayer:

Scripture:

"Let each company provide themselves with all the teams, wagons,

provisions, clothing, and other necessaries for the journey,

they can.  When the companies are organized let them go to with

their might, to prepare for those who are to tarry."

(D&C 135: 5-6)

Song:

"Pioneer Children Sang as They Walked,"

Children's Songbook, p. 214.

Purpose:

Help our family celebrate the faith and courage of the early

pioneers and follow in their footsteps.

Thought:

It is not enought to study or reenact he accomplishments of

our pioneers.  We need to identify the great, eternal principles

they applied to achieve all they achieved for our benefit and then

apply those principles to the challenges of our day.

In that way we honor their pioneering efforts, and we also

reaffirm our heritage and strengthen its capacity to bless our own

posterity and "those millions or our Heavenly Father's

children who have yet to hear and accept the

gospel of Jesus Christ."

We are all pioneers in doing so.

(Elder Dallin H. Oaks, Ensign, November. 1997, 72.)

Lesson:

The saints moving west were allowed only

2,000 pounds in each wagon and 500 pounds in each handcart. 

Look at the list of items below and choose what you

would put into your wagon or handcart.

Remember your mom, dad, sisters, and brothers. 

Their things also have to go inside. 

Don't forget that there will be hot days,

cold nights, cooking, and that you will have to set up

a new house when you reach your destination.

Flour, Salt, Sugar, Yarn, Hammer, Basketball,

Seeds, Video Games, Baseball and Bat, Sling Shot,

Rope, Blanket, Chicken, Extension Cord,

Needle and Thread, Saw, Soda Pop,

Scissors, Light Bulb, Pans, Dishes, Pen and Ink,

Fishing Pole, Shoes, Book of Mormon, Knife,

Fork, Spoon, Journal, Hat,

Dog, Bellows, Microwave Oven, Bonnet, Shirt,

Wheel, Radio, Harmonica, Barrel, Doll, Umberella

Story:

The Mishaps of Mary Bathgate and Isabella Parks

(By: Daniel McArthur)

On 16 August 1856 on the pioneer trail, Sister Mary Bathgate was badly bitten by a large rattlesnake, just above the ankle, on the back part of her leg.  She and Sister Isabella Park were about half a mile ahead of the camp at the time it happened . . . They were both old women, over sixty years of age, and neither of them had ridden one inch since they had left Iowa campground.  Sister Bathgate sent a little girl hurrying back to have me and Brothers Leonard and Crandall come with all haste, and bring the oil with us, for she was bitten badly.

As soon as we heard the news, we left all things, and, with the oil, we went posthaste.  When we got to her she was quite sick, but saidthat there was power in the priesthood, and she knew it.  So we too a pocketknife, cut the wound larger, and squeezed out all the bad blood we could . . . We then . . . annointed her . . . and laid our hands on her in the name of Jesus, and felt to rebuke the influence of the poison, and she felt full of faith.  We then told her that she must get into the wagon, so she called witnesses to prove that she did not get into the wagon until she was compelled to because of the cursed snake.  We started on and traveled two miles, when we stopped to take some refreshment.  Sister Bathgate continued to be quite sick, but was full of faith, and after stopping one and a half hours we hitched up our teams.  As the word was given for the teams to start, old Sister Isabella Park ran in before the wagon to see how her companion was.  The driver, not seeing her, hallooed at his team, and they being quick to mind, Sister Park could not get out of the way, and the fore wheel struck her and threw her down and passed over both her hips.  Brother Leonard grabbed hold of her to pull her out of the way, before the hind wheel could catch her.  He only got her part way and the hind wheel passed her ankles.

We all thought that she would be all mashed to pieces, but to the joy of us all, there was not a bone broken, although the wagon had something like two tons burden on it, a load for four yoke of oxen.  We went right to work and applied the same medicine to her that we did to the sister who was bitten by the rattlesnake, and although quite sore for a few days, Sister Bathgate was right by her side, to cheer her up.

(as quoted in Jack M. Lyon, Linda Ririe Gundry, and Jay A. Parry,

Activity:

Choose one or more of the following pioneer activities.

Make Butter: 

You will need several of the smallest baby food jars

you can collect and enough whipping cream to fill the

jars 1/4 - 1/2 full.

Place a small amount of cream in each jar

and have the children shake it vigorously until butter

is formed. Provide small sections of Johnnycake

(or bread) and a plastic knife to let them try their creation.

(Recipe for Johnnycakes is included in this post.)

Wade through and Icy River: 

You will need a plastic child's wading pool

and a lot of ice.  Let the children take their shoes and

socks off and wade through the water. 

Explain to them that the pioneers had to endure icy

rivers even when the weather was very cold. 

Tell a true story about

the pioneers crossing a river.

Make Oiled Paper Windows: 

You will need brown paper grocery bags, scissors,

cooking oil, and paper towels. 

When pioneers built homes, they often didn't

have enough money to buy glass windows. 

Instead of using glass, they used oiled paper in their

window frames to let in the light and help keep the

wind and bugs out.  Try this activity to let the children

see how oiled paper  can become translucent.

Cut the brown paper grocery sack into small

enough sections to work with, about

12 x 12-inches square. 

 Use a paper towel to spread the cooking

oil onto both sides of the square paper grocery sacks. 

Wipe the squares with a clean paper towel to

remove the excess oil. 

You now have paper ready to become a window.

Hand Sewing: 

 The pioneers didn't have sewing machines,

so everything they sewed was by hand. 

Let the children see how nice a seam they can sew

with real fabric - that has been cut in the shape of pants,

shirts, or dresses - needles, and thread. 

For the younger children, cut out shapes of clothing

 from cardstock (the children can decorate them later with

markers) with holes punched around the outside.

To get them started, either help them tie a big knot

 in the end of the yarn, or show them

how to keep the yarn from going through the

hole by taping the tail to the back of the card an close

to the first hole to be laced.  Make sure to wrap a piece of tape

around the "needle" end to keep the yarn from unraveling

as they stitch.

(Clark L. and Kathryn H. Kidd, Kent D. and Shannon Pugmire, Ward Activities for the Clueless.)

Family History Family Home Evening

Our Pioneer Stories!

Do you have any pioneer stories in your family?

Have you taken the time to add them to your family history scrapbook?

We were fortunate enough to have one of our pioneer stories

published in the New Era.

Here's the FHE Lesson PDF:

Family History FHE Lesson: Pioneers Stories and Recipe PDF

The story is titled: Barnard's Boots.

Here's the Link to the Story:

Barnard's Boots New Era 1983 Story

These stories and experiences are priceless and help us

to know where we came from, as well as who we are. 

Sharing these stories with our children can give them the

courage  to be strong in tough situations.

My Grandma Rees shared several stories with me about

her childhood before she passed away. 

I wish I would have written down right away,

but I will be working on getting them onto paper this week.

Her experiences strengthen me when I need it the most,

and because I have her stories, I can still feel close to

her.  My grandma and I were very close.

Here's the Recipe:

Johnnycakes

Ingredients:

2 Eggs

1 cup Water

3/4 cup Milk

2 Tbsp. Oil

1 tsp. Salt

2 cups Yellow Cornmeal

Butter

Instructions:

Mix the eggs, water, milk, oil, and

salt together in a bowl.

Stir in the cornmeal until smooth.

Heat the griddle or frying pan.

Put a small amount of oil on the griddle to

 keep the cakes  from sticking.

Pour about 1/4 cup (less for bite-sized samples)

of batter onto the heated griddle.

Fry the cake until done on one side, then turn over

and cook the other side.

Makes 12 cakes.

Hope you have a GREAT

Family Night!