Posted by admin on Dec 18, 2015 in Christmas Past 2015, Uncategorized | 5 comments

On the 7th Day Christmas Past, culinary Christmas traditions. Question:  What culinary Christmas traditions were brought by immigrants gathering to Zion? (To be entered into today’s daily giveaway & FREE tour drawing, Comment & Share your thoughts on Facebook or our blog of story below.) Immigrant Culinary Christmas Traditions Just like today, no Christmas celebration in pioneer times was complete without a feast even when families had no means to provide gifts they went to great lengths to procure extra food to make the holiday special.  Like the Cratchits in Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, Latter-day Saint families felt to thank God for even a small feast when they had little more than each other. Mormon immigrants from across the world carried their culinary Christmas traditions with them when they gathered to Zion. Scottish Saints made shortcake for their holiday celebrations, while Danish Saints supped on “sweet soup made of rice and fruit juice.”  Plum pudding was the season’s delight for British settlers in Utah. Ann Mailin Sharp, a handcart pioneer of 1856, made due with what she had to make this holiday concoction with “flour, suet molasse, dried ground cherries, ground cherries, and a few dried wild currants.” The ingredients, “sewed up in a white cloth,” were “kept boiling for hours in the kettle hanging over the fireplace.” When the pudding finished cooking, a small amount of brandy was poured over it and lit with a match. The blue flame rising from the pudding may very well have reminded British converts of the Christmases of their past and given them hope for a bright future in Christ. Many Scandinavian immigrants ate their celebratory dinner on Christmas Eve. On Christmas and New Year’s Day, Scandinavian Saints looked forward to rice mush cooked in milk and sweetened with cinnamon and sugar. Even the animals in Scandinavian homes received an extra share of food to commemorate Christmas Day.  Here is Julia’s account (a Scandinavian immigrant) of how badly she wanted their traditional rice dish: “Christmas Eve came. This was our first Christmas in the new land. Of course we expected to keep it as best we could. According to our custom we felt that we had to have rice mush with sugar and cinnamon.  This was our main Christmas dish in the old country, as much the rule as plum pudding in this country. But where to obtain the milk in which to boil the rice? “Where Shall I go?” I asked.  “To folks that have cows,” I was answered. So I went to David Holiday’s. Why he had a whole corral full of cows! I knocked at the door. “Come in,” they shouted in chorus. When I entered they asked me to sit down, but as I was in a hurry  I said, “I only came to ask if you can sell us some milk.” At this for some reason an amused grin lit up each face. They all burst out laughing, and...

Posted by admin on Dec 17, 2015 in Christmas Past 2015, Uncategorized | 9 comments

On the 6th Day of Christmas Past, SIX other Marys. Question:  Why did a pioneer father name all of his daughters Mary? (To be entered into today’s daily giveaway & FREE tour drawing, Comment & Share your thoughts on Facebook or our blog of story below.) Mary, the Mother of Many Marys Sitting on his knee one day, William Meeks, told his little daughter, Mary Jane Meeks (Pearce), this story of why she was named Mary.  He thought Mary was the sweetest name he had ever heard.  He loved the story of Mary, mother of Jesus, and, the sweetest girl he ever knew was Mary Elizabeth Rhodes, so it was she he chose to become his wife.  When their first daughter was born she looked so much like her mother that he insisted that she be named for her mother.  She was named “Mary Elizabeth.” When the second daughter was born she was just as sweet and so that she would not be denied the name of Mary, she was named “Mary Ann.”  When the third daughter was born he could not be partial after giving the first two this favored name, so she was christened “Mary Jane.” It was then that the father said he could not think of treating one child better than the other.  “Hereafter,” he said, “I will give the name of Mary, and mother may choose any name she wishes to go with it.”  The fourth child was “Mary Ellen;” the fifth, “Mary Melissa;” and the sixth child was named “Mary Louise.”  All have been happy with their names and happy to know that there was no partiality shown.  In addition to the six girls there were also five sons, Harvery, Henry, William, Joseph and John born to William and Mary Elizabeth Rhodes Meeks. Taken From: Kate B. Carter, Our Pioneer Heritage – Vol 15, p. 142. “Mary, the Mother of many Marys” from Sylvia Pearce...

Posted by admin on Dec 16, 2015 in Christmas Past 2015, Uncategorized | 9 comments

On the 5th Day of Christmas Past, 5 days at Sea. Question:  What can we learn from Elder John Taylor’s Christmas at Sea? In 1839 Joseph Smith received a revelation that called all of the members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles to go to England to preach the gospel.  Nine of the Twelve responded, one of them being Elder John Taylor.  Their heroic story is one of determination and faith to accomplish their mission under adverse circumstances. This mission call came at a difficult time for the Saints, who were in turmoil and poverty after being driven from Missouri by mobs.  With little time to settle their families, the Apostles nevertheless responded immediately to their calls.  John Taylor left his wife, Leonara, and three small children, all of them quite ill, in a small, dilapidated, abandoned military barracks with only one window.  He also left them with little to sustain them for two years, but he had determination and faith that the Lord would take care of his dear family in his absence. The missionaries traveled without purse or scrip, which meant that although they had a small bit of luggage, they had no money and depended on the kind donations of strangers for food, lodging, and transportation.  This was the way the Savior had sent out His disciples to do missionary work almost two thousand years before. It took Elder Taylor four months to make his way to New York City, where he arrived on Dec 13, two weeks before Christmas.  He and his traveling companion, Theodore Turley, were essentially penniless but were filled with the Spirit and with optimism about the future.  While in New York they stayed with Elder Parley P. Pratt, who was temporarily in the city to arrange for some publishing for the Church.  Elder Taylor didn’t say anything about his lack of funds.  Instead, whenever anyone asked about his financial situation, he would reply, “I have plenty of money!”  So Elder Pratt, who needed additional money to publish his missionary tracts asked Elder Taylor if he could contribute several hundred dollars to fund the publication.  Elder Taylor replied, “You are welcome to all I have.”  He put his hand in his pocket, pulled out a one-cent coin, and gave it to Elder Pratt.  Surprised, Elder Pratt reminded Elder Taylor that he had claimed to have plenty of money.   Elder Taylor said it was true.  He explained that he had clothes on his back, was provided with excellent food in Elder Pratt’s home, and “with all these things and a penny over, as I owe nothing, is not that plenty?” Elder Wilford Woodruff also had recently arrived in New York.  Unlike Elder Taylor, he had secured the $15 necessary to buy a ticket to sail for England on the ship Oxford, which was due to leave in a few days.  Elder Woodruff insisted that Elder...

Posted by admin on Dec 16, 2015 in Christmas Past 2015, Uncategorized |

    Answer 4th Day Christmas Past: Thank you for sharing your insights of yesterday’s story about making sure we always make room for Christ in our own personal mangers no matter how weak we are. Congrats to 4th Day drawing winner, Meredith Brito, who won a Nauvoo Temple sunstone ornament & 2 Nauvoo scene ornament blocks!    Please contact MHA office 801-272-5601 or info@mormonheritage.com within 30 days to arrange for how to receive your prize. Thank you everyone for your insights on both FB and our blog.  The Story still available on yesterday’s Question website blog...