I just wanted to repeat a story that was told in Church on Sunday. I can't remember the speakers name so I'll just call her Sister Elenore Green. Sister Green is in her late 70's or early 80's and was born and raised in the only Mormon family in Nebraska.
Elenore's Great-Grandparents were Mormon pioneers who were traveling with a group destined for Salt Lake City. They were one of four families that had grown tired of traveling and had decided together that they wanted to stop and settle in Nebraska. They approached the other Mormons and tried to convince them that they should stop. The leader of the group refused, he had his orders from church leaders and would continue leading his company into the Salt Lake Valley. That didn't fare well with these four families and they were very angry. They decided to settle in Nebraska and cursed the Mormons for going on and leaving them to fend for themselves. They would burn their Church records and would never again be associated with the Mormons.
All but Elenore's Great Grandmother, she couldn't bare the thought of cutting all ties with the Mormons, so she hid a copy of The Book Of Mormon, and years later, it was found in her home by her daughter. Her daughter kept the book and handed it down to her own daughter (Elenore's mother) who studied it and learned to love the Gospel. She was a well respected member of the community and was the one that the townspeople would go to when they needed help or advice, but because the Mormons were still hated, she kept her beliefs a secret. She went on to have her own family, and there still wasn't a Mormon Church, so she and her family attended the local Presbyterian Church.
From a very young age, Elenore knew that she came from one of the four original families who had left the Church. And that she could never tell anyone that she was a Mormon. Everyone cursed and talked very badly about the Mormons and how they had abandoned them in Nebraska. Elenore spent her entire life hiding the fact that her family was Mormon, until years later.
While in college, Elenore was traveling by bus with her college class, making a loop around Nebraska. They were in Idaho near the Utah boarder, and she was riding in the front of the bus next to the professor. She heard a bunch of guys, who were in the back of the bus grumbling. And they were making fun of and just saying terrible things about the Mormons. The closer to Utah they got, the louder they got. Finally, Elenore couldn't take it any longer. She was shaking and she was scared but she pushed all that aside and told them that the things that they were saying were not true. One of the boys in the back asked how could she possibly know more than he on this subject. She just took a deep breath, stood up and said "Because I am A Mormon".
Everyone was shocked and the bus grew so quiet that a pin drop could be heard. Elenore's professor was so impressed with her courage, that he told the bus driver to make a detour down into Salt Lake City to see the Temple. He wanted to see for himself, what she was talking of. That was her first time visiting the Salt Lake Temple and she had the opportunity to share it with all of her classmates. Giving her testimony for the first time, was such a welcomed relief, that she knew right then, that she would never again hide the fact that she was a Mormon.
I think a lot can be learned from Sister Green. I AM A MORMON!
