“Our Ongoing Legacy of Pioneers,” Ensign, July 2019

Illustration by Dan Burr

In July of 1847, the first company of pioneers entered the Salt Lake Valley after having trekked across the American West in search of a new home where the Saints could worship the Lord free of persecution. Many members in North America can trace their heritage back to these pioneer ancestors. But for most members of the Church worldwide, their pioneer heritage began elsewhere, either with recent ancestors who joined the Church or perhaps even with themselves as they became the first person in their family, community, or nation to embrace the gospel.

This month, as we celebrate our pioneer ancestry, you could ask yourself: Where did my legacy of faith begin? What sacrifices did the pioneers in my ancestry make to dedicate their lives to the Church? How can I honor and share their legacy? What can I do to help others understand and honor their own pioneer ancestry?

Except as noted,* these and other images from the Church History Museum international art competitions can be seen online at ChurchofJesusChrist.org/go/71921.

Woman Holding Book of Mormon and Basket of Flowers, by Jubal Aviles Saenz

Building Now for Eternity, by Sylvia Huege de Serville

Awake, Awake, Put on Thy Beautiful Garments, by Natalie Ann Hunsaker

The Visit, by Chu Chu

* Joseph William Billy Johnson: Holiness to the Lord, by Emmalee Rose Glauser Powell

Family Reading, by Jose Manuel Valencia Arellano

A Stop along the Way, by Carmelo Juan Cuyutupa Cannares

The Fruit of Joy, by Nanako Hayashi

Legacy of Faith “We must be sure that the legacy of faith received from [the pioneers] is never lost. Let their heroic lives touch our hearts, and especially the hearts of our youth, so the fire of true testimony and unwavering love for the Lord and His Church will blaze brightly within each one of us as it did in our faithful pioneers.” President M. Russell Ballard, Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, “Faith in Every Footstep,” Ensign, Nov. 1996, 25.