17 Miracles Page #4

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to spare her so many times

and offered a prayer

of gratitude instead.

I had left England

with a heavy heart

because the young man I loved

had decided not to join

the church and emigrate with me.

I became discouraged

both because of poor health

and because I missed

the man I had left.

At my lowest point,

I had a dream.

Tamar. Tamar.

I dreamed that my sweetheart

came and stood beside me.

He seemed so real.

But he was not alone.

Another man was with him.

In the dream,

my sweetheart faded off

but the other man remained.

One evening, I went to gather

some buffalo chips

to make a small fire

to warm what little food

was left for me children.

How is the company doing?

How is the company doing?

We are in great need.

We are starving.

Perhaps I can help a little.

Follow me.

Eat.

Hold out your apron.

All I could think is what

this would mean to me children.

Share with the others.

Do not lose your way.

Who are you?

Like you, I am a traveler.

Realizing

I had not even thanked him,

I retraced my steps,

looking for the ca cave. ..

Brother?

Brother?

...but could not find

any hint of it.

I went back to the camp

and divided the meat out

to those most in need.

No doubt this saved lives.

October 15, 1856.

The Saints are getting weak

and failing fast.

A great many are sick.

What can you tell me

of Brother Linford today?

The entire camp

has had to resort

to eating anything

that can be chewed.

It hurt Sister Rowley

to see her children so hungry.

She watched as they pulled

loose rawhide from the cart,

roasted off the hair

and chewed the hide.

Dearest Father. ..

...for the blessing of thy

Gospel we are forever grateful.

But now I must

get us all to Zion

and see the sealing work

done for us.

We pray that we might have

the nourishment

to complete our journey.

She remembered

two hard sea biscuits

that had been left

from the voyage.

They were not large and were so

hard, they could not be broken.

Surely two hard biscuits are not

enough to feed eight people.

But five loaves and two fishes

were not enough

to feed 5,000 people, either.

We know that through thy power,

what is small and weak may

become great and significant.

For the first time

in many weeks,

the Rowley family

did not go to sleep hungry.

He is watching over us!

October 19, 1856.

Winter came on all at once.

In the weakened condition

of the company,

the many river crossings

became perilous

and seemingly impossible.

My betrothed spent the day

as the Savior would have,

helping those in heed.

I wondered

how he could bear it,

walking the day

through that bitter water

Later I would wonder

how I could be so weak

as to allow him to do so.

What if we should fall?

I would never let you fall.

George was not the only one

to give so much of himself

that day.

But he was the only one

that I loved so much.

The cold and freezing water

are not the only reasons

the Saints are failing.

He has been giving us

his rations.

He's starving to death.

God bless you, Levi Savage.

What will you eat?

October 20, 1856.

After eating his supper

my best friend,

John Linford, died.

Stop it!

Get away from there!

On leaving this morning,

I saw the wolves at the grave

we had just filled.

I tried to compel them away,

but they got the better of me.

Betsy.

We must be up and about.

Betsy!

The brothers

need to stove the tent.

Oh, Betsy.

Oh, no.

What are we to do?

Oh, no.

There was only one thing

they could do,

and the ground was now too hard

to open.

Sleep well, my bonnie lass.

She's in a better place,

Elizabeth.

Truly she is.

Elizabeth!

-Elizabeth!

-Come with me, James!

-What?

-We forgot!

How could we forget?

What did you forget?

Not me, we!

We forgot!

We were promised

by a servant of the Lord

if we would live the Gospel,

all the members of our family

would arrive safely in Zion.

Wait! Stop!

Talk to me, Elizabeth!

Stop!

Oh, my dear wife,

she's resting peacefully.

She's gone to the other side.

All the members

of our family, James.

All the members of our family.

Margaret! George!

Come on.

Come back to us, wee one.

In this condition,

she's better off than we.

No!

Dear God, we have given our all.

We know that through thy Son,

all things are possible.

Please, Father.

Please.

Please, Father.

Put some water on the cloth.

We'll warm her neck.

She lives.

Our sweet wee one lives.

When I was told

of the miraculous healing

of Betsy Cunningham,

I could not hold back my tears.

Bodil Mortensen

was assigned to care for Niels

as the company staggered

through a blizzard

all day

and late into the night,

looking for protection

from the storm.

She was completely exhausted

but then still had to

collect firewood.

She endured all

that was humanly possible,

than must have sat down

to rest.

It would be her final rest.

Jens Nielson collapsed.

All Sister Nielson could do

was help him into the handcart

and pull him herself

When they finally made it

to camp that night,

they learned their child,

Niels, had frozen

and a few hours later

was placed in a grave

with 12 others.

During the night

of severe cold,

The men were weak

but dug a shallow grave.

My father held me up to see

my playmate Bodil Mortensen

lying among the dead,

as was Niels Nielson.

Even now, more than

half a century later

the image still haunts me.

In the progress of the journey,

it was not difficult to tell

who was soon to die.

The hollow eyes

and sunken countenance,

with the gradual weakening

of the mind,

plainly foreboded the coming

and not-far-distant dissolution.

Death came in many ways.

Some died lying side by bide

with hands entwined,

showing the last agonies

and suffering of life

with a final gasp

of love and affection.

Some had just offered

a fervent prayer

and their spirit taken flight

while doing so.

Some were singing hymns.

Others while eating

crusts of bread.

Some, like Albert, began the journey

with so little of life's mercies.

The fact that he survived for

even 300 miles was a miracle.

I always wanted a strong body.

Now I'm going to get it.

When you get to Zion,

think of me.

You know something, Albert?

You are superb.

Many of those whose spirits

were about to leave us

left us with profound words.

It will all be worth it

if my posterity

will keep the faith.

Tell me son I died

with me face towards Zion.

I watched men dig graves

for their brethren

and, before the day

was finished,

lie themselves

in the very grave they had dug.

Savior

Redeemer of my soul

Whose mighty hand

Hath made me whole

Whose wondrous power

Hath raised me up

And filled with sweet

My bitter cup.

What tongue my gratitude

Can tell

Oh, gracious God

Of Israel.

No person can describe it.

It cannot be comprehended

or understood

by any human in this life,

but only by those who were

called to pass through it.

All I ever wanted is to do

God's will and be with my son.

I have asked God for this

over and oven

Of the 500 members

of the company,

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