At the conclusion of our service mission we spoke in our ward sacrament meeting about our experience. We wrote, and the choir sang this song, “He Rescues Me.” Here are the lyrics.

Handcart saints who crossed the plains through snow and wind and dreams,
Mid trials of faith and frozen tears drew back from icy streams.
With broken hearts they faced their fears in faith called out His name.
Then Heaven spoke, the call was heard, the rescuers, they came.

Pioneers were temple bound each family to be sealed,
But some grew ill in bitter chill not everyone was healed.
Beloved dead were laid to rest, for now in shallow grave.
Till gathered in the house of God, came rescuers to save.

Now today my goal’s the same I live for Zion’s dream,
As perils rage and hearts yet fail I ask him to redeem.
In temples I make covenants I put on Christ with care.
Then in His name I oft return, to rescue others there.

He rescues me, with work and faith let God prevail.
He carries me, as I give my all, I know
He atoned for me, and oh what joy will fill my heart, when
He rescues me and gathers safely home.

 
Excerpts from my talk – Ken Hardman, March 9, 2025

Thank you Choir for working hard to learn this hymn. The words came over time as Sister Hardman and I reflected during our assignments at Mosida. For one of the re-enactments, the youth walk through or are carried across our beautiful man-made Sweetwater River. Before this crossing, we gathered them together and talk about three types of rescues. These three rescues were summarized in the three verses of that hymn, He Rescues Me. I’d like to now tell you the details of these rescues.

My focus is on The Atonement of Jesus Christ, the master rescuer, and on how our suffering can help us appreciate more his suffering for us and the joy we can feel because of his sacrifice and obvious love and eventual rescue. I testify that we, like those whose trail and trials came before us, we can come to know our Savior better as we consider pioneer hardships, and as we experience our own trials.

First Rescue – “Generally, the pioneers followed the rivers because it was their sole source of drinking water for them and their livestock. All handcart and wagon companies crossed rivers many times to cut miles off their trip. This was especially true of the Sweetwater River which meandered back and forth across the prairie. Two of these crossings were very challenging for the handcart pioneers in 1856. The 1st was when the Saints crossed the North Platte River near present day Casper, Wy. It was in the middle of a severe snowstorm and many were so weak that they lacked the strength to setup tents… They simply crawled under them. 14 people died that night. The 2nd was the crossing of the Sweetwater River again to get up into Martin’s Cover for protection. When the people arrived at the banks of the river they shrank back and wept because they had already suffered so much from previous crossings. Seeing how fearful the Saints were, the rescuers dedicated themselves to carrying many across the river.”

Many miles ahead of the Martin Company was the Willie Company who were “stranded, cold and starving,” President M. Russell Ballard stood at their rescue site and read the words of John Chislett. “Just as the sun was sinking beautifully behind the distant hills,… several covered wagons… were seen coming toward us. The news ran through the camp like wildfire… Shouts of joy rent the air; strong men wept till tears ran freely down their furrowed and sun-burnt cheeks…” (You Have Nothing to Fear from the Journey) “The rescuers who were the Valley Boys sent out by Brigham Young made up that first rescue.” (from Mosida script)

Second Rescue – “The Second Rescue took place in the Riverton Wyoming Stake in the 1990’s [when] President Lorimer, the stake President, made an announcement at the end of Stake Conference [that] we are going to be involved in the Willie Project… It was discovered that a lot of the temple work had not been done for the handcart Saints… It took four years to complete over 4000 ordinances… [Miracles that stake members experienced underscored to them the] importance that [the temple] work [be] done.”

But I’d also like to focus on the joy likely felt by the handcart saints who were rescued by this proxy temple service. The 1856 handcart saints were headed to Zion to be with the Saints but also to receive temple blessings. Those who died on the trail didn’t receive those blessings in life. To imagine how they may have felt when their temple work was finally done, lets look at the experience of President Joseph F. Smith and his vision of the redemption of the dead. This vision occurred about sixty years after the first rescue and seventy-five years before the second rescue. Even though this vision speaks of Christ’s appearance to those in the spirit world between his death and resurrection, listen to the emotion and joy that surely applies to anyone who has been faithful, offered sacrifice, and suffered tribulation in Jesus name, anticipating redemption and deliverance by the Savior.

In section 138 we read, “I saw the dead both small and great. And there were gathered together in one place an innumerable company of the spirits of the just, who had been faithful in the testimony of Jesus while they lived in mortality; And who had offered sacrifice in the similitude of the great sacrifice of the Son of God, and had suffered tribulation in their Redeemer’s name. All these had departed the mortal life, firm in the hope of a glorious resurrection, through the grace of God the Father and his Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ. I beheld that they were filled with joy and gladness, and were rejoicing together because the day of their deliverance was at hand…” (D&C 138:11-15)

Third Rescue – “Now…the third rescue…” We face many challenges and distractions in our day. President Ballard said of the pioneers, “…who can say if that was any more difficult than is the task of living faithful, righteous lives in today’s confusingly sinful world, where the trail is constantly shifting and where divine markers of right and wrong are being replaced…” (Ballard, You Have Nothing to Fear…)

Brothers and sisters, “You [and I] are the third rescue we speak of to the youth. Everything you do to bring the temple saving ordinances into your life or doing temple work for others is part of the 3rd rescue… [and] continues as [we] friendship others and do missionary and temple work. Our goals are the same as those original pioneers,” (Mosida) The Gathering of Israel, coming unto Christ and the House of the Lord, repenting and being rescued through the Atonement of Christ.

Joy of being Rescued – “Standing on the same hill from which the Willie Company first saw their rescuers,” Elder Ballard said, “I contemplated the joy that will fill our hearts when we fully come to know the eternal significance of the greatest rescue—the rescue of the family of God by the Lord Jesus Christ…” (Ballard, You Have Nothing to Fear…)

Acquainted in Extremities – Francis Webster had traveled the world when he was 18 … After moderate success as a prospector during the Gold Rush he returned to England where he married and answered the call to gather to Zion. He could afford to travel in comfort but answering the call of Church leaders he elected to travel in a less expensive handcart and paid “the fare for nine persons besides [himself] and [his] wife… They were exposed to the worst extremities including dysentery, frozen feet, and fortune reduced to tattered clothes. “Decades later, when Francis Webster was an old man, he was sitting quietly in a Sunday School class in Cedar City as some people were criticizing Church leaders for the handcart tragedy. When he could bear the criticism no longer, he stood and asked the people to stop. Speaking calmly but with emotion…he said: We suffered beyond anything you can imagine, (pause) and many died of exposure and starvation… [But we] came through with the absolute knowledge that God lives, (pause) for we became acquainted with Him in our extremities.” (Andrew D. Olsen, The Price We Paid)

This story has always grasped my attention. How does one come to know God in their extremities? In Joseph Smiths extremity in Liberty Jail God said, “All these things shall give thee experience and be for thy good.” And then referenced the suffering of the Son of God.

Lehi said to his son Jacob that the suffering of his youth would be consecrated for his gain.

Two years ago, President Russell M. Nelson said, “…[Recently], I injured the muscles of my back… As I have wrestled with the intense pain… I have felt even deeper appreciation for Jesus Christ and the incomprehensible gift of His Atonement. Think of it! The Savior suffered ‘pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind,’ so that He can comfort us, heal us, rescue us in times of need. (read Alma 7:11-12) (See Infinite Atonement, Ch. 27)
President Nelson observed, “My injury has caused me to reflect again and again on “the greatness of the Holy One of Israel. (2 Nephi 9:40) During my healing, the Lord has manifested His divine power in peaceful and unmistakable ways.”

But What About Me – But what about me? Does it really apply and work for me? Yes, again from Alma 7:12, “And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities.” (Alma 7:12)

When I apply the Atonement in my thinking about trials, I have noticed an increase of love in my heart for others, whether friend or those who challenge me. His love fills my heart.

Brothers and Sisters, please ponder with me for a moment. We just participated in the sacrament. We took into our flesh blessed and sanctified emblems of his flesh, reminders of the body and blood of Christ, which he sacrificed for us. What did he experience in the garden and on the cross that not only paid infinite price to justice, but gave him the power, the mercy, the tenderness, “according to the flesh, that he [would] know…how to succor his people according to their (may I add, individual) infirmities?” In some miraculous way He, in his extremity became acquainted with you, individually, in your extremities. And he suffered your very same affliction, such that he truly and fully knows your pain. But don’t stop there, Because of his divine powers, infinite knowledge, and love, he knows not only how you feel now, but also what you need now, and what redemption looks like for you in eternity, and the best path to guide you there.

Isaiah saw in vision, “When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his see.” (Isaiah 53:10) Elder Merrill J. Bateman taught, “The Savior’s atonement in the garden and on the cross is intimate as well as infinite. Infinite in that it spans the eternities. Intimate in that the Savior felt each person’s pains, sufferings, and sicknesses.” (as quoted in The Infinite Atonement, pg. 141, with reference to 57)
Jesus Christ is our Master Rescuer. Just as the pioneers were saved through the sacrifice and faith of others, we are rescued through His Atonement, and we can assist in the rescue by serving in His work.”
Conclusion and Testimony – Our senior service mission was a marvelous work and a wonder. One of the fun things was calling hoedowns, watching youth with smiles bigger than the desert moon while dancing during a dusty sunset. One of the lasting things is the missionary relationships we now cherish. One of the most meaningful scenes during our mission was observing youth quietly reflecting, wondering, focused deep in thought, receiving further light and truth as they listened to stories and testimonies about sacrifice and the faithful from one of these missionaries. So, I finish with this invitation. This is the opportunity of service; to see the Gathering of Israel, to feel it, and to help bring it to pass. Jesus said, “For if you have desires to serve, ye are called to the work.” (D&C 4) I invite all of us to seek and accept all such participation in this “marvelous work and a wonder,” the Gathering of Israel on both sides of the veil, in both directions of time, helping this needy world prepare for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

He rescues me, with work and faith let God prevail.
He carries me, as I give my all, I know
He atoned for me, and oh what joy will fill my heart, when
He rescues me and gathers safely home.

I testify, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.