Ogden Valley News | 2008-07-15 | Page 11

Volume XV Issue XV The Ogden Valley news Page 11 July 15, 2008 Autobiography and Teachings of Moroni Daniel Ferrin Note: This is the second in a series regarding the life of Moroni Daniel Ferrin who moved his family to Eden on July 24, 1862 when Moroni was 18 days old. This history was provided by his descendent Mark Ferrin of Eden. Chapter II My father and mother, being sincere Latter-day-Saints, taught their children the principles of that religion and led us, both by precept and example, to attend Sabbath Schools and different kinds of religious meetings which enabled us to get the testimony and teachings of other people along religious lines. Among other things, we were taught that there existed somewhere in heaven a great person who was called God and that he it was who made the earth we were living upon; also the sun, moon, stars, trees, flowers, grass, and all vegetation; the clouds, rivers, lakes, seas, mountains, hills, and valleys; that he also made the fishes, frogs, snakes, dogs, cats, cows, horses, and all kinds of animals; and that he made men and women and children, like us, and everything else. They said he was a man in form something like other men, but had greater wisdom and power and was the father of our spirits, so he was our Father who lives in heaven, but we have other fathers who live on the earth who are the fathers of our bodies. They said that God could see what we do and hear what we say even when no one else sees or hears us, and he could understand what we think. They said he loves those who are good and wants us to be good and has promised that if we will, we can come and live with him and be happy after we die, but that he does not love evil, and, if we do evil and will not stop it, the people would not like us and heavenly father would not like us and if we should die while we are like that we would have to go and live with the bad man whom they called the devil where we would be punished and feel badly. So we should try to be good, to please Heavenly Father as well as our earthly parents and every one else, that we should not lie, nor steal, nor do anything that was bad, and if we made any mistake and did wrong, we should repent and do it no more and Heavenly Father would forgive us and help us to do right if we try hard. They said that Heavenly Father does not get sick and die as people do here, but that he lives forever and knows all things and has all-power, and that he would do many things for us if we would try hard to please him, and I soon learned, too, that when I did good things, I felt good and when I did bad things I felt badly. We were taught that the Lord sometimes lets people see him and talks to them, but not very often, that he sometimes lets people know his will by inspiring them with his spirit or by sending messengers to tell them and when he does so and the people write it down such writings are called scriptures. We were taught that there are a number of books written which are scripture books and that we should love such books and study them and learn about Heavenly Father and what he wants us to do and how he wants us to live. There may be other scripture books in the world, but we have four with us. They are the Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price. I remember well how these teachings and experiences impressed me in my childhood, and how hard I tried to keep from telling things which were not true and from swearing and doing other things which they said were not right so that I could feel good and people would like me, and if I should die, as some other children had, I could go and live with Heavenly Father where I could always be happy. I loved to play and seemed to think playing was the perfection of happiness, and the older folks said it was alright to play if I did not do wrong things while playing. So I tried to be honest and fair in my playing and not do things which would injure the property of people or make them trouble. I know in my childish weaknesses I did not always succeed in these good resolves, but it was my desire and I tried to. My father accepted a call to go on a mission to England to preach the gospel to the people of that country. He left us and started for England in 1868. So my mother was left with a family of seven children for two more had already been added to the family since we moved into the little valley. Their names were George Elihu and Wilmer and, another, Lucy Lorenda, was born soon after father went away, making a family of eight besides herself for mother to care for. She had the new farm which had been partly brought under cultivation; a piece of meadow land; the saw mill; and some cows, oxen, horses, pigs, and chickens from which to derive revenues. Mother worked hard, herself, and the children helped as children can. The people of the little town were very kind and good to help her in the absence of her husband. I remember well how at both seed time and harvest and at other times when occasion required, the grown young men of the place would come together at appointed times and do her work while she would cook nice dinners and suppers for them. They called these occasions plowing bees, harvest bees, haying bees, or any other kind of bees which the nature of the work suggested. The ladies also would get together in sewing bees, quilting bees, etc., and help her with such classes of work. With such assistance she managed to keep us fed and partly clothed although the hardships of the new place were many. Among the principal difficulties were the long, cold winters, the late frosts in the spring, and the early frosts in autumn, and the grasshoppers that came by the millions and devoured much of our growing grain. In the autumn the old grasshoppers would deposit their eggs in the earth where they would remain over winter and when the sun warmed the earth in the spring, the eggs would hatch and the young hoppers would come out just after our grain was planted and began to grow. The little hopper would start hopping and gather in such great droves that it looked as if the very earth was moving. A drove of these would start in at one side of a field of growing grain, pass over the field and eat every green thing so that the field would be left as bare as a floor To save our grain from such destruction, different methods were employed with but partial success, for these crea- tures were so numerous that it seemed like the very dust had turned into hoppers. One method was to dig pits or holes in the earth and the men with sacks, towels etc. and the women with aprons would surround a bunch of hoppers and drive them into these pits and then cover them over with earth. In this way bushels and bushels were buried but others came and passed on over the graves of their companions on their devouring march. Another method was to dig a ditch and fill it with running water along the side of the field which the hoppers were approaching in an attempt to either drown them or carry them past the field. They would jump into the water and many would drown and float down the stream, sometimes lodging against some obstruction making a dam in the stream and backing up the water. Others would succeed in swimming across, gaining the opposite bank, and proceeding on their terrible march. When a few weeks old, the hoppers would go into the cocoon state and in a short time would shed their outer cover and come out with wings. As they all hatched about the same time so they would get their wings about the same time and begin to fly. HISTORICAL cont. on page 12 Historical Photo Pictured above Effie Wangsgard Van de Graaf as Goddess of Liberty in the Huntsville Parade - July 4, 1898. Photo courtesy of Stanley Wangsgaard “Wangsgaard/Wangsgard Roots and Branches, 1866-1989.” Celeste C. Canning PLLC Attorney at Law 2590 Washington Boulevard, Suite 200 Ogden, Utah 84401 Local: [phone] Office: [phone] Email: [e-mail] Meeting the Legal Needs of Small Business and Their Owners FREE Initial Thirty Minute Consultation. Appointments in Ogden Valley upon request. Short Sale New Construction eden acres, Preserve & Durfee Creek as low as $100 per square foot* Contact Us Immediately for Information *Third party approval required PH:801-745-8400 | FAX:[phone] | P.O. BOX 985 EDEN, UTAH 84310 | www.mOUNTAiNlUXUry.cOm