July 22, 2015 (Gephardt Daily) – A global social media campaign launched by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints recognizes the legacy of early and modern-day Mormon pioneers who have overcome challenges in their lives. The campaign is underway to inspire members and the public to consider the contributions of their ancestors and the pioneer legacy they can leave for future generations.
Participants are encouraged to join the online conversation and use the #IAmAPioneer hashtag on their social media channels. The English version of the website went live on July 12, where people can watch and share a pioneer video as well as share their own pioneer stories.
Every July 24, the Church celebrates and honors the thousands of men, women and children who entered the Salt Lake Valley that same day in 1847. The Mormon pioneers traveled nearly 1,300 miles west by handcart and wagon on the Mormon Trail between 1847 and 1868 to flee persecution and seek religious freedom. These treks ended when the First Transcontinental Railroad was completed in northern Utah in 1869.
The #IAmAPioneer campaign is a collaboration between the Church History Department and the Family History Department. The pioneer campaign will be rolled out in several phases at FamilySearch.org and on Facebook, Twitter and Google+. The online information is available in 10 languages. Other languages besides English include Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish.
Through journals, ledgers and other documents, the Church History Department has recently discovered an estimated 1,000 additional Mormon pioneers who made the trek to the Salt Lake Valley. Their photos, stories and journals are available online by logging into the free FamilySearch website. The information was provided by the Church History Department’s Mormon Pioneer Overland Travel database. Those with Mormon pioneer ancestry will see a list of their pioneer ancestors in their family tree, the company they traveled with and links to stories about them.
Beginning August 9, FamilySearch will allow individuals to access newly available stories and journals from the 500 pioneers who served in the Mormon Battalion.
A handful of additional inspirational pioneer stories can be found at LDS.org.
Modern pioneers are encouraged to discover and share their stories at FamilySearch.org.
