'All is well': Teens from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints re-enact pioneer journey

Palm Coast Observer
Neighbors

The boys wore straw hats and long sleeves. The girls wore full-length dresses and bonnets. And they pulled loaded handcarts through sugar sand and mud in the mid-summer heat.

It was a re-enactment of sorts, a tradition among members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Every year on July 24, Mormons commemorate the trek of the pioneers across the Great Plains and through the mountains to find a safe place to practice their faith. Led by Brigham Young, the pioneers ended up in the Salt Lake Valley in 1847. A Mormon hymn called "Come, Come, Ye Saints" — with the refrain, "All is well" — was written for the journey.

Many people learn about the pioneers from U.S. history textbooks, but, in the first week of August, 14 teenagers and several adult leaders from the Bunnell Ward of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — along with 70 other Mormon teens from the DeLand region — completed a 22-mile trek through trails between Melbourne and St. Cloud, as a re-enactment of the journey.

Eddie Brouse, who lives in the R-section of Palm Coast, is the bishop of the Bunnell congregation of the Mormon church, and he accompanied the teens. The highlight of the trek? “Seeing the kids learn the value of sacrifice and work — and actually enjoying it,” he said.

From left: Eddie Brouse, bishop of the Bunnell Ward of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, with his wife, Christina; Denise and Craig Barton, of Bunnell; and Sherry and Peter Bugnet, of the W-section of Palm Coast. Courtesy photo

Sherry Bugnet, a resident of the W-section in Palm Coast, is the Young Women president in the Bunnell Ward, and she also helped lead the teens on the journey.

“I had a pedometer, and I walked 71,247 steps,” she said with a smile. She added: “It helped me know that — and it did the same thing for the kids — we can do hard things. It also helped me to understand the sacrifice that others made.”

In particular, she said, although the focus was on the sacrifices of the pioneers who left their homes — and some died on the journey — Bugnet said she felt connected to Jesus Christ. After all, the pioneers were traveling into unknown territory specifically because they wanted to be able to worship Jesus in the way they felt was right.

Bugnet recalled: “I had a dream about a couple weeks before and was talking in my dream to pioneers who were saying, ‘Why are you doing this? This is silly. The real sacrifice you need to honor is the Savior’s.' So I really tried to focus on that while I was walking — especially in the hard parts.”

The Bunnell Ward building is located at 402 N. Palmetto St., next to Bunnell Elementary School. Services begin at 10 a.m. Sundays.