Jesus Christ, Our Ultimate Savior
- April Tribe Giauque
- May 12
- 7 min read
Written By April Giauque
Elder Cook
Temples are the Houses of the Lord, and saving ordinances are performed there. Why are these saving ordinances needed? They prepare us for eternal life and connection with Heavenly Father and our families. They are formal acts performed by the priesthood authority that help us remember our identity, relationship with God, and the path to eternal life.
President Russell M. Nelson assigned Elder Cook to dedicate the Casper, Wyoming Temple late last year, and Elder Cook had a profound, emotional, and spiritual experience there. With clarity, he shared with all of us the role temples play in rescuing God’s children through the Savior’s Atonement.
The area of the United States where the Casper, Wyoming Temple District lies includes a portion of the overland trail used by Latter-day Saint pioneers between 1847 and 1868. 60,000 Latter-day Saint pioneers traveled the trail from wagons to handcarts. They came along the Platte River near Casper and continued to Salt Lake City.
In preparation for the temple dedication, Elder Cook reread some of the trail’s history. Almost all wagon and handcart companies were successful on the trail. All experienced their share of hardships and testing, walking over 1,300 miles over 3 months, but only one group, the Martin Willie Handcart companies, suffered intense suffering and death.
Elder Cook reviewed the accounts of the Willie and Martin handcart companies from when the terrible weather conditions commenced. I became intimately aware of the challenges they faced at the crossing of the Sweetwater River, Martin’s Cove, Rocky Ridge, and Rock Creek Hollow. With those stories of suffering, loss, and survival still fresh in his mind, he entered the Casper, Wyoming Temple.
In the foyer, he was greeted by two pictures: one was titled “In Between Storms,” and the other was “Heaven’s Portal” (that same place is called “Devil’s Gate”). The idea that there is a break in the storms of life, and if one is looking at the rock formation in the spring and summer, one would see it as Heaven’s Portal and not as Devil’s Gate. Elder Cook said, “The awareness of these two images were the understanding that there were bright spots along the trail even in the storms of life, someone is greater than all of this.”
As he turned from the two paintings, he saw the Savior, Jesus Christ. This immediately invoked overwhelming feelings of gratitude for in places and times of great suffering and tragedy, there is one who is the ultimate at saving.
Elder Cook taught us that in a world of great beauty, there are also enormous challenges. “As we turn to Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world, He rescues us from the storms of life through His Atonement in accordance with the Father’s plan. The Atonement of Jesus Christ provides the ultimate rescue from the trials we face in this life.”
For Elder Cook, the foyer in the Casper, Wyoming Temple was a perfect preparation for the temple ordinance rooms, which allow us to receive the ordinances of exaltation, make sacred covenants, and fully accept and experience the blessings of the Savior’s Atonement. The Father’s plan of happiness is based on the Savior’s atoning rescue.
Think back to England in the 1850s. It was filled with mills and factories, a working class, and poverty, yet the missionaries brought Jesus Christ to the best people there, and these poor wanted to be joined with the Saints.
One missionary account by Millen Artwood said that when the handcart plan was announced, “it ran like fire in dry stubble, and the hearts of the poor Saints leapt with joy and gladness.” Many had “prayed and fasted day after day, and night after night, that they might have the privilege of uniting with their brethren and sisters in [the] mountains.”
How do you move tens of thousands of people to America, have them walk across the continent, and arrive in the Salt Lake Valley with little to no money? You develop the cheapest way for them to travel—the handcart. Most of the handcart Saints experienced hardship but avoided major adverse events. Near Casper, Wyoming, the Willie company and the Martin company experienced starvation, exposure to freezing weather, and many deaths.
Most of these travelers sailed from Liverpool, England, in May of 1856 aboard two ships. They arrived at the handcart outfitting site in Iowa City in June and July. Despite warnings, both companies departed for the Salt Lake Valley too late in the season.
Elder Cook said that “President Brigham Young first became aware of the perilous situation of these companies on October 4, 1856. The next day, he stood before the Saints in Salt Lake City and said, “Many of our brethren and sisters are on the plains with handcarts, … and they must be brought here; we must send assistance to them … before the winter sets in.” Brigham Young asked the bishops to provide 60 mule teams, 12 or more wagons, and 12 tons (10,886 kg) of flour and proclaimed, “Go and bring in those people now on the plains.”
Elder Cook reported that “the winter storms began nearly two weeks after the first rescuers left Salt Lake City. The accounts of members of the Willie and Martin companies describe devastating challenges after the storms began. These accounts also depict the great joy when the rescuers arrived.”
Mary Hurren described the arrival scene:
“Tears streamed down the cheeks of the men, and the children danced for joy. As soon as the people could control their feelings, they all knelt down in the snow and gave thanks to God.”
Two days later, the Willie company had to travel the most difficult part of the trail, going over Rocky Ridge, in a freezing storm. The last of them didn’t reach camp until 5:00 the next morning. Thirteen people died and were buried in a common grave.
On November 7, the Willie company was nearing the Salt Lake Valley, but that morning, there were still three deaths. Two days later, the Willie company finally reached Salt Lake, where they had a marvelous greeting and were welcomed into the Saints' homes.
That same day, the Martin company was still 325 miles (523 km) back on the trail, suffering from cold and inadequate food. A few days earlier, they had crossed the Sweetwater River to reach what is now called Martin’s Cove, where they hoped to find protection from the elements. One of the pioneers said, “It was the worst river crossing of the expedition.”
Elder Cook goes on to share a story about that river crossing and a “rescue” that happened there: “Some of the rescuers—like my great-grandfather David Patten Kimball, who was just 17 years old, along with his young friends George W. Grant, Allen Huntington, Stephen Taylor, and Ira Nebeker, ‘spent hours in the frigid water,’ heroically helping the company make the Sweetwater crossing.”
I realized that all the rescuers followed the Prophet and played critical roles in saving the stranded Saints. All the rescuers were heroic, as were the emigrants. Look at how all of us play a role in rescuing our families to return home. We need to put forth the effort, and God makes up the rest.
“In the heroic effort of the handcart pioneers, we learn a great truth. All must pass through a refiner’s fire, and the insignificant and unimportant in our lives can melt away like dross and make our faith bright, intact, and strong. There seems to be a full measure of anguish, sorrow, and often heartbreak for everyone, including those who earnestly seek to do right and be faithful. Yet this is part of the purging to become acquainted with God.”
Elder Cook brings the story of the Willie and Martin Handcart Company into focus with the next statement: “In His eternity-shaping Atonement and Resurrection, the Savior broke ‘the bands of death, having gained the victory over death’ for everyone. For those who have repented of sins, He has ‘taken upon himself their iniquity and their transgressions, having redeemed them, and satisfied the demands of justice.’” Without the Atonement, we cannot save ourselves from sin and death.
Elder Cook continued, “As we rely on Jesus Christ and His Atonement, He can help us endure our trials, sicknesses, and pain. We can be filled with joy, peace, and consolation. All that is unfair about life can be made right through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.”
My mind and heart have been focused on how Jesus saved all those souls. He alone had the power to welcome in those who passed through the veil and send angels to help push the survivors and the rescuers through the physical and spiritual hardships and back into the safety of the Valley. There is something in this talk and story for all of us—in fact there are three things to keep focused on:
First, do what we can to rescue others from physical and especially spiritual challenges.
Second, gratefully and joyfully accept the Savior’s Atonement.
The third counsel is to set aside consistent time to contemplate the Savior’s Atonement faithfully.
How do we do all three? Attending sacrament meetings and partaking in the sacrament are especially significant. We should also regularly worship in a temple, where possible, because it reminds us of the Savior’s Atonement and what it overcomes. As a bonus and even more importantly, temple attendance allows us to provide spiritual rescue for our deceased loved ones and more distant ancestors.
The answer is always Jesus and when we have our hearts and eyes focused on Him, we can read and learn from the sacrifices and examples of prior generations. We must never forget that, and yet, in our adulation, appreciation of what they did, our worship should be centered on the Savior of the world and His atoning sacrifice because he was and is the ultimate rescuer.
Elder Cook's Testimony: "I testify that the key to the Father’s plan of happiness is the Atonement wrought by our Savior, Jesus Christ. He lives and guides His Church. The Atonement of Jesus Christ provides the ultimate rescue from the trials we face in this life."
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