64. Don't forget them! Keep stories of our ancestors alive!

We are very blessed to live here in St. George, Utah, where there are many wonderful and inspirational activities to go to.  On Wednesdays, here in the Tabernacle, they have a program, usually quite musical, and on Friday nights, they have an inspirational lecture by a well known person.  On Saturdays from 12:15 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. they have an organ recital, or other musical recital.  Many other nights they have concerts by local choirs and musical groups.

This is an amazing building, to realize it was built in the desert small pioneer town of St. George, when people were so in need.  My grandfather, William Gustavus Miles, was a stone cutter on that very building.  It has a magnificent interior, and has spiral staircases, and a balcony on 3 of its walls.  I have enjoyed accompanying many talented people in several concerts there.  It has a lovely Steinway piano!

Tonight we went to a wonderful program by Clive Romney.   It was his great grandfather who was the architect of the Tabernacle.  It would take quite a space to tell all he has done -- written music, performed a lot, and is well known as a storyteller.  Tonight his main theme was keeping the stories of our ancestors alive in our homes, telling their stories, and remembering the many blessings we have that we would not have if it weren't for their sacrifices.  He sang several original songs about very touching pioneer stories.  He has written poems and songs for his own family reunions, etc.  He told of a grandfather that he thought was quite strict and stern.  But he found out many things about that grandfather after he died, which showed him to be a very generous and loving man.  He was surprised at how different his own grandfather really was, from what he had perceived him as a child.  

His encouragement to all was to tell our children and grandchildren of our own lives, and tell them also the choice stories of our own ancestors, so they will truly know who they are!  When we realize what strong and faithful people we come from, we realize our own lives can also inspire others, and give them good examples to follow as they face their own trials.

My great grandfather -- my grandmother Levinah Wilson Allen's father, George Deliverance Wilson, is one I want to tell about tonight.  I may tell his story in more detail later, so I'll just mention a few things, and a very special story of a happening in his life.

At the age of 23 George Deliverance was stricken with consumption, (tuberculosis) a much dreaded disease, which at that time, was taking a heavy toll in that neighborhood.  His condition became very serious, and he was told by the doctors that he could not live very long. He decided to leave home and travel for his health, in hopes of relief. While traveling, he heard of a strange new religion being preached by Joseph Smith and his associates, and so he decided to investigate. He found the Prophet in Kirtland, Ohio, and made inquiries about the new religion. The Prophet gave him the Book of Mormon and told him to read it and if he was not satisfied to read it again. He took the book and as he said, never ate or slept until he had finished reading it. He then returned to the prophet and asked for baptism, thoroughly convinced that he had found the truth in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

He was baptized in 1834 by Oliver Cowdrey; and through the power of the Priesthood and his faith in God, he was instantly healed and never again felt a symptom of that dread disease.  After he had received the Gospel and the wonderful blessing of health, he returned to his family in Vermont; and most of them came to Kirtland, where on February 2nd, 1836, his parents and some other members of the family were baptized.

Later I'll tell about his being in the Mormon Battalion, coming as a pioneer to Utah, marrying a lovely almost 17 year old girl, Martha Ann Riste, newly immigrated from England, and having 11 children.   A photo of Martha Ann Riste Wilson, and her 5 daughters is in blog # 40.  But her life story is very interesting, and needs its own page! (Later)

The story I want to tell tonight is this:  (The children who told it were children of George Deliverance Wilson, and Martha Ann Riste, his wife -- they had been named after their parents.)  This happened in Hillsdale, Utah, near Panguitch, and Bryce Canyon.

The following story of this early Hillsdale period was first heard by the grandchildren very many years after it occurred. It was then told to them by other people who had lived in that vicinity at that early time. When George and Martha, the oldest children then living, were questioned about the truth of the story, and asked why it had never been told, they replied that they had always considered it too sacred to be talked about. We too consider it very sacred but feel that it should be recorded for the faith of future generations. 

This is the story from the words of George Hyrum and Martha.

“ During the winter just passed, the family had been having a very hard time. Food was very scarce. In the summer the crops were planted and doing nicely. One day a severe storm came up. Aunt Martha said she rushed to gather some clothes from the line before the storm broke. She saw her father down by the brow of the hill by the lumber mill. He seemed to be moving his arms in a strange fashion and the thought passed through her mind, “What on earth is father doing?”, but being in a hurry she paid very little attention. 

When the storm was over her father yoked up the oxen and took the entire family to see the results. He drove to the bottom of the field and they all saw that a hail storm had traveled to the edge of their farm, and then split and gone out on the hills on either side of the narrow valley of the Sevier River, where their home was located.They marveled at the great size of the hail stones. Their father took them along the hills on either side of the valley. They could see that the storm had been so severe that the hailstones lay in great heaps. Even the limbs on the pine trees were broken. Their field and its crops were perfectly safe. Their father said nothing at the time. 

At a later date, one evening when the family were all seated around the fireplace, their father told them that he had seen the storm coming and he knew that if the crops failed that summer it would mean starvation for them. He had walked down to the mill and rebuked the storm by the power of the Priesthood.  The Lord had recognized that power, and the storm had been swept aside from their field.” 

Sextus Johnson, a boy who was present at that time wrote the following regarding this event. He told of seeing and hearing George Deliverance rebuke the storm, then, to quote from his words, “I was inside the shed with his (George Deliverance’s) son David, a boy about my age. The storm lasted for about half an hour. When it passed it left the whole valley white with hail. David and I started out from the shed but turned back. Hail two to six inches deep was too much for bare feet. Suddenly we became aware that there was bare ground just through George Deliverance’s fence. We crawled through. There was no hail on the ground in the wheat field, but plenty of hail was piled along the fence, which extended about half a mile. It was as if the fence was an impassable barrier beyond which the hail could not go. I was surprised then and puzzled, but may times since I have stood on the ground, almost in awe as I fully realized that there a miracle had happened and I had been a witness.”

I hope these wonderful stories will be remembered, and passed down from generation to generation.  Also, the stories that are happening to us each day need to be recorded and remembered.  It is possible that the turmoil and wickedness in the world today will be the most difficult time for the Saints, and the whole world, since Adam and Eve.  Our writings may become "Scripture" to our descendants!