Prologue: A friend and I were discussing today as we were making Halloween sugar cookies for our children to decorate why so many saints are leaving the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Do we really know or more importantly are we willing to listen to the "why?"they are leaving, or is it we are afraid of the answers we might find. Perhaps, our own faith might be tested and that scares us. Elizabeth strengthened my faith tonight- she gave me my answers.
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| Kingswinford, parish church |
It was on this High street that Elizabeth and James met two Americans, Mormon missionaries who shared with them the Gospel of Jesus Christ- the restored church. It was March 1842- they were baptized that very day!
Elizabeth's faith was tried and tested. As the wife of a shoemaker, they family relocated often. During this period Elizabeth buried four of her nine children in tiny caskets in different towns. It was her faith in the resurrection which kept her going.
The family eventually relocated to Dudley where Christopher was able to add to the family's income as a blacksmith. This provided the means for Elizabeth's daughters to be educated. Elizabeth herself could not read or write.
Determined to see her children grow up in "Zion" the Weavers saved for seven years. During this time Mormons were harassed and persecuted for their beliefs. Finally, the day arrived on April 29, 1865 when the family boarded the Belle Wood at the Liverpool docks bound for New York City. It was on this ship that their son Christopher met Ellen Jackson whom he would one day marry. The family arrived in American on May 31, 1865.
Many of the passengers of the Belle Wood made their from New York to Nebraska where they waited their wagon train assignment. Elizabeth and James made a temporarily settled in Western Johnson County and became part of the network supplying Zion bound wagons trains. These once city folk were now farmers who had to become accustomed to the unpredictable weather of the plains.
Following their faith to Zion, the Weaver left the financial security of their farm and bought rail tickets to Zion. Delighted by the mountain peaks topped with snow in the early spring Elizabeth and James arrived in Utah at the Ogden Union Depot in 1874. It had taken them 30 years to reach Zion. James' brother John brought them to his home in Kaysville where they once again farmed and toiled in the dirt.
In August 1879, James and Elizabeth fulfilled their dream uniting their family unit throughout the eternities- never having forgotten the four little ones they buried in the English soil. They were sealed as an eternal unit in Salt Lake's endowment house.
The Wasatch mountains were the backdrop to their remaining days. Together, they worked and toiled as they had done since their earliest days in England. Body worn and tired Elizabeth passed away at age 67 on June 24, 1887. James followed soon after on a cold March day in 1888. He was 73. They were married for 45 years.
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| Kaysville cemetery, Utah Epilogue: I admit, I too have questions. But you know what, it took Elizabeth 30 years to reach "Zion." She buried 4 of her nine children before she even left England, she lived the life of a pioneer woman on the plains in dugouts. Her livelihood was tested by weather- tornadoes, heat, chilling temperatures. She left the life of "city folk" to become a farmer's wife. And all the while she was determined to raise her children in Zion... you know what Elizabeth and I are a lot a like. Only my faith is tempted tried and different ways, but I am still determined to "raise my children in Zion." Elizabeth and James were sealed in the Salt Lake Endowment house in August of 1879. Travis and I were sealed in the St. George Temple in July 1995. It took Elizabeth 30 years to reach Zion temporally... Its okay I am still trying to get their symbolically. I have been blessed with her faith- I don't need to have all the answers right now! |
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