The story of Paris Thomas has been making the rounds on the Internet. When he was six years old, his father was sent to prison. The family was forced to leave their home and live in a car with pretty much nothing but the clothes they were wearing. Paris’ mother tried to find a job, food, and help for herself and her children but she had a hard time of it and they were homeless for a while. Eventually she did find a job and was able to find a home for the family. Paris dropped out of school.

When Paris was fourteen, Mormon missionaries were tracting through the neighborhood. This means they were going door to door asking people if they’d like to learn about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which is the real name of the church. Mormon is just a nickname.

His friends teased him about having two white men coming to the house, thinking they were police officers. Paris wasn’t interested in the gospel message the missionaries were giving his family, but finally the missionaries told him that if he wanted to know what was true, he needed to ask God, who is the only source of truth. So Paris did. The answer he got was a feeling of joy, love, and peace, a new experience for him.

How did this change Paris’ life? As he built his testimony and learned more about the gospel of Jesus Christ, he started to understand he was on earth for a reason and God had a plan for him. His brother had died at age eighteen and he hadn’t felt there was much hope for himself either. Now he knew differently. He knew who he was—a child of God—and why he was here.

His mother had lost two sons but she can see she isn’t going to lose Paris. He’s back in school, doing well, and making something of himself. He says he does not want to blame his circumstances for anything—he’s better than his circumstances. In fact, he feels the poverty and the homelessness, the grief of losing his siblings and having a father who was arrested…all those things that often make people give up…have actually made him stronger and helped him become the good man he is. He hopes he can help other people who face similar challenges to move beyond those trials and into something better, just as he is doing.

Meet Paris for yourself. He’s a man worth meeting.

Ryker Matthews, an All-American lineman at American Fork High School in Utah, was recently selected as the Army All-American player of the year—one of high school football’s highest honors.  It helps that Ryker is 6’6″ tall and weighs 285 lbs, but the honor focuses on his character, not his size.  The Army chooses its All-American candidates by judging performance and honor on the playing field, and a commitment to excellence in daily life…

“…representing the same strengths and values demonstrated by Army soldiers including loyalty, respect, honor, and integrity.”

Ryker has been officially invited to the prestigious Army football three-day learning experience featuring NFL and NCAA coaches, as well as to participate in game-week activities, culminating in the Army All-American Bowl scheduled for January 8^th, 2011 in San Antonio.

Last summer  Ryker participated at the Nike camp.  A  storm of division candidates and hopefuls blitzed around the playing field. One reporter stated:

“Among the top offensive lineman performers was Ryker Mathews. Mathews dominated in every category the camp had to offer. He was clearly the best offensive lineman in attendance.”

In spite of his imposing size and talent on the field, Ryker presents an unpretentious smile and genuine demeanor.  As one of the top linemen in the country, Ryker recently committed to play college ball for Brigham Young University.  He will transfer to the university mid-year to participate in spring practice for the 2011 season. Convinced to join the Cougars partly out of his respect for Coach Weber, Ryker said, “I love everything they have to offer. I love the atmosphere, the coaches, and the school. I have met some of the players and that also helped influence my decision.”

BYU students agree to adhere to a strict honor code which prohibits smoking, drinking, sexual liaisons, and cheating.  Ryker is comfortable with those standards, because he has always lived them.  His mother is most proud of the choices Ryker has made to bring him to this point.

Have you ever daydreamed about being a hero? In the 1800s, the Mormons were forced, because of persecution, murder, and hatred, to leave their homes and move to the Utah desert. It was a long, hard journey, often made by walking the entire distance, but it gave many teenagers the opportunity to become heroes. Their stories are still told today.

The Martin Handcart company had more problems than many of the companies. They were so desperate to reach Salt Lake set out too late in the year and storms came early. They had been advised to wait, but they were anxious to get started in a safe new home. They ended up traveling in the cold of winter, when it was hard to find food or to stay warm.

In October 1856, Brigham Young learned they were in deep trouble. The semi-annual conference was about to begin, so during the conference, he asked for volunteers to form a rescue party. The rescuers found them, bringing food and help. However, by the time they reached the Sweetwater River, the people in the Martin Handcart Company were very weak from having been hungry and cold for so long. The very deep, wide, and icy cold river was more than they could handle and they were afraid their journey would end right there, because they weren’t strong enough to cross it. Three teenage boys from the rescue party, George W. Grant, David P. Kimball, and C. Allen Huntington, took matters into their own hands and decided to carry people across. Those three boys carried almost every member of the handcart company themselves. However, this came with a price, as heroism often does. They became quite ill themselves from the strain and the challenges of spending so much time in icy water with heavy loads. Eventually—years after their heroic actions—they all died from complications of that day of heroism. Brigham Young was moved by their sacrifice and cried when he learned what they’d done.

Mary Goble was a teenager in the Cluff Wagon Company, which was to follow the Martin Handcart company in order to help them as needed. Because they had wagons and not handcarts, they had better supplies and more options open to them. Her heroism came in the form of helping her mother. Her mother became very sick during the journey and the company was traveling in an area with no water. They’d been able to melt snow sometimes to have something to drink, but Mary’s mother longed for water from the freshwater spring a few miles away. Mary set out to get it for her, traveling with a woman from the company. As they were walking, they found a very sick man. He was old and unable to move. They knew he would die of frostbite soon if they didn’t get help. Mary continued on to get the water and the other women went back to the camp to get help for the man.

Mary was naturally frightened to find herself all alone in the woods. The travelers were afraid of the native people and Mary was so busy watching for them she lost track of where she was. Soon she realized she was completely lost in the wilderness. The snow was all the way up to her knees and it was almost midnight before search teams found her. They tried to treat her frostbite.

Mary’s mother died just as they entered the Valley and they carried her body in the wagon the rest of the way. Already, three of Mary’s younger siblings had died during the five month journey. When they arrived that evening, they were quickly given shelter and food. Brigham Young himself came to greet them the next morning. Tears filled his eyes when he saw Mary’s frozen feet and learned her mother was dead. A doctor was sent for who had to amputate her toes because they were unable to be saved from the frostbite. Naturally, this was traumatic for her, but Brigham Young made a prophetic promise to her the rest of her feet and her legs would heal. It didn’t seem at first like this was going to be true. She continued to get worse and the doctor told her he needed to amputate her feet. She refused, remembering Brigham’s promise and having faith in him. The doctor was amazed, a few months later, that she was completely healed.

Sometimes a hero is just someone who keeps on going, doing what needs to be done even when their hearts are breaking and their bodies are weak. This was the case with Maggie, age thirteen, and Ellen, age nine, who left their home in England to come to be with the Mormons, whose religion they had just joined. The Pucell family immigrated to the United States on the same ship that brought Mary Goble.

They found, when they arrived, their wagons and handcarts weren’t ready and it was July before they could begin their journey. They traveled to Winter Quarters in Missouri and then set out for Salt Lake. They had to cross the Platte River several times, and the last time there were chunks of ice floating in the water. Some were too weak to even attempt to cross a deep icy river and sat down, where they died. Others, including the Pucells, braved the water. However, the girls’ mother became very ill from doing this and had to be placed in the wagon. Their father, although weak and thin from lack of food, tried to pull the wagon up the steep hills himself, with the girls pushing the back of the wagon.

When it came time to cross another stream, again icy, the father fell. He managed to get back up but died on the other side of the stream. Now there were only the girls to care for their mother and manage the journey. Their mother soon died also and the girls were orphaned. Despite their broken hearts and the fear they must have felt, they kept right on going, managing as best they could with whatever help was available, until rescuers came. Then they continued on, still struggling in the icy cold, although at least with a little food and warmer clothing to help them. Everyone had been hungry for so long they were dangerously thin and weak.

The girls had frozen arms and legs. Ellen had to have her legs amputated at the knees—and because the Saints were newly arrived, they didn’t have proper tools or even anesthesia. Can you imagine having your knees amputated while you’re still awake and without pain killers? This didn’t stop Ellen, though. She went on to marry and have a large family. She spent her life in pain, because her legs never healed properly, but was never heard to complain. Without the wheelchair she might have had in modern times, she learned to get around on her stumps and to devote her life to helping others.

Life can be hard. A lot of times, our trials are not our own fault, but we still have a responsibility to follow the examples of these teenagers and make something of our lives. We can learn to endure our trials and to find our proper place in whatever life we’re given.

This is the first in a series of posts about teenagers who were Mormon pioneers.

July 24 is Pioneer Day. For Mormon teenagers, this is a day of fireworks and parades, but it’s also a day to remember the Mormon pioneers. Can you imagine spending your teen years walking across the country, helping to pull a handcart because you can’t afford a covered wagon, maybe watching your friends, siblings, or even your parents die along the way? That’s how it was for a lot of teenagers. There were dances, but they were held after a really long day of walking. They had friends, but they talked as they worked or walked. These teens had to be adults long before a modern teenager might have to, just because they had so much responsibility and they’d already had hard lives. Many had lost parents or watched their homes destroyed. Some had even been attacked and every day they faced serious dangers from people who had forgotten our country believes in religious freedom. That kind of life makes you grow up fast.

The teenagers in the early church had interesting lives and many of them recorded their experiences in journals or later wrote their life stories. One boy, Henry Sanderson, became a Mormon when he was thirteen. He lived in Connecticut and when his parents converted, he had to endure a lot of teasing and bullying from people who didn’t like Mormons. He was relieved when his parents decided to move to Nauvoo to live with the Mormons, so he could escape the persecution. There, he became friends with the sons of Joseph Smith, the Mormon prophet, who lived two houses from him. Every tenth day, Henry helped to build the church’s temple, a special building used for sacred ordinances.

Joseph Smith was murdered when Henry was fifteen. He had watched as Joseph was arrested and taken to prison on false charges, which allowed him to be killed without protection from his own people. For a while, people weren’t sure what would happen to the church. The murderers hoped the church would die with Joseph, but it didn’t. Brigham Young took over and life went on, but not exactly as before. Things became very hard for the Saints, as the Mormons called themselves, and Henry’s family needed income. He and his father went to St. Louis to find work and Henry was hired to work for shoemakers. At fifteen, he worked full-time.

In 1845, the family moved to a farm, where his father was hired to work. However, an illness, probably malaria, struck and Henry’s father died. In those days, that meant the oldest son, Henry, was now responsible for making sure the family survived. However, Henry himself was also ill with the same disease. Despite this, the family returned to Nauvoo, the city where the Mormons lived. One sister stayed behind to work for a bit, so Henry, still sick, returned to bring her back when her job ended. He worked for his passage as an assistant fireman one way and a cook and dishwasher the other way.

At age seventeen, Henry joined the Nauvoo Legion. The Saints were in a lot of danger. Joseph Smith’s murder hadn’t ended their persecution and the Saints knew they could all be killed at any time. He had a gun and helped patrol the city, watching for enemy mobs.

When the Saints finally decided they were going to have to leave Nauvoo, Henry and his family joined them on the trek west. Henry worked for another family to help pay the costs. However, the United States government stopped the travelers and asked for volunteer soldiers to help fight the Mexican War. Henry was sure Brigham Young would refuse, because the government had refused to protect the Saints in their time of danger. To his surprise, Brigham Young agreed and Henry became a soldier. When his time ended, he entered the Salt Lake Valley, but he wanted to be with his family, so he traveled with Brigham Young’s company to Winter Quarters, where many of the pioneers were preparing for the journey. He returned to Utah in three years.

Henry’s life was unusual compared to teens today. By the time he was an adult, he had lost his father, been a soldier, led a family, worked full-time, and become a pioneer. His teen years weren’t filled with the fun of a typical teenager, but he never complained about it. He was proud of what he had accomplished at such a young age.

This story is retold from William G. Hartley, “Nauvoo Teenager: Henry Sanderson,” New Era, Oct 1989, 44. Read the story to learn more about his teenage years.