Pioneer Women

I have no pioneer ancestry, but as a member of the church, I belong to a family that has thousands of pioneers in its background. I'd like to tell you a few experiences that those pioneers had and especially the women. Sister Draper asked me once if I thought I would enjoy being a pioneer, and I said, "Yes, I would. I'd have made a good one, too." 

I know that in a group the individual is caught up in the spirit of the community and the goal is a common goal. There is a strong support system, and if perhaps I'm not the strongest willed person in the world, in my "oneness" I feel great support from "groupness" or of community spirit.

I am also sure that it would be hard to endure the physical hardships the pioneer women had to encounter day after day, but worse than that would be those emotional experiences they had to endure. They left their homes with hardly time to say a proper goodbye, and left many things which were dear to them. They had left most of their conveniences in New York, Ohio, Missouri or Illinois. Thus they were faced with putting to full use all the talents and skills at their command to make life bearable.

---Undated note by my grandmother, Dorothy Wilson White - maybe in preparation for a Relief Society talk? And I agree with her - she would have been an awesome pioneer!