Pioneer Story Quilt- Log Cabin

Sweet children,

Can you see how this quilt block looks like a log cabin?  The red center represents love and the strips of brown fabric around it are like the logs that make a cabin.

Joseph Smith, his parents and 8 siblings lived in a small log cabin just like the one pictured here.  They worked hard together to make their home a nice place.  Together they read from the scriptures and prayed each night before bed.

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Joseph Smith said "I was born... of goodly parents... who spared no pains... instructing me in the Christian religion... and being in indigent circumstances [we] were obliged to labor hard for the support of a large family..."

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He was living in this cabin when he went into the woods to pray about which church was true.  It was here that the angel Moroni came and visited him and taught him about the restoration of the gospel that he would participate in.

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As you build homes of your own someday I hope you will remember that God can do great things in small homes full of love.

Homes like the one you're growing up in now.  

Love you forever- Mom

Pioneer Story Quilt- Panguitch Quilt Walk

Dear Children,

An early group of settlers in Panquitch, Utah suffered through a terribly difficult winter with little to eat because of poor crops the year before.  When the snow was deep and the weather cold the families realized that they wouldn't make it to spring without extra food.  A group of seven men, probably all fathers, set out to travel to the nearest town to get food.  Their oxen pulled until the snow was too deep and with miles ahead the men set out on foot.  Each step plunged them deep into the snow.  Fighting through the deep snow was exhausting and futile.

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Knowing that their families would starve if they didn't complete their journey, they spread out their blankets and knelt down to pray for help.  When their prayer concluded they looked up and realized that they weren't sinking down into the snow while kneeling on the quilt.

They stood up, spread out another quilt ahead of them and walked from quilt to quilt across the snow and to the next town.  In this way they were able to get the food their families so desperately needed.

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In your lives you will find times where you feel stuck or like your best efforts aren't enough.  Pour out your heart to God in prayer.  Trust Him with your problems.  Ask Him for the help you need.  He heard seven men on a lonely snow covered mountain.  He will hear you, too.

"Ask, and it shall be opened unto you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened."   

-3 Nephi 14:7

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Every year Panguitch celebrates that God answers prayers by hosting a Quilt Walk to remember this miraculous story.  They also have an incredible statue to commemorate the story.

This quilt square was sewn to look like five little quilts laid down on snow.  The pattern is simply a nine patch, with tiny nine patch quilts in the corners and centers.  I hope that when you see it you will remember the power of prayer, and the God who loves you even more than I do.

Love you forever,

Mom

Pioneer Story Quilt- Introduction

Darling Children,

I'm making a quilt for you, every square representing a story of pioneer faith and courage I'd like you to remember as you snuggle into the warmth of the blanket.

Dallin H. Oaks taught:

"It is not enough to study or reenact the 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... We are all pioneers in doing so."

You will be pioneers in your own lives.  God will ask you to do difficult and sometimes painful things to bless your families and to build up the Kingdom of God.  It's my hope that these stories will bring you the strength and courage you need to face the challenges ahead of you.


Love you forever,
Mom