• Immunizations and modern medical knowledge. “He died in my arms about 4 o’clock. This was the second child which I have lost, both dying in my arms. He died with whooping cough and black canker.” - Hosea Stout
• Comfortable hospitals to give birth in, safe birthing practices, and personalized care. "I was the midwife, and delivered nine babies that night." - Jane Johnston … "There on the banks of the Charlton River, I was delivered of a fine son. Occasionally the wagon had to be stopped that I might take breath. Thus I journeyed on… But I did not mind hardship of my situation, for my life had been preserved, and my babe was so beautiful." - Zina Huntington Jacobs Young
• Shoes. “We heard about the church in Connecticut and determined ourselves to go. We had to walk the last 500 miles. Our shoes wore out and we had to walk barefoot. Our feet cracked and bled, but we cared not – for we were headed to Zion!”
• Water-tight homes. “Housing was scarce the first months in Nauvoo. We lived in five homes the first year we were there! They all smoked or leaked terribly. The last house was a rough little 12 foot square log home, and I think it looked the worst of them all – but it had the distinction of neither smoking nor leaking.” – Bathsheba Smith
• I have food to excess. I don’t have to listen to my children ask for food and feel helpless. I don’t put my children to bed hungry and listen to them cry as they fall asleep. "We are entirely destitute of anything even to eat, much less to nourish the sick." - Hosea Stout … "The suffering and sadness of that camp I shall never forget. It is impossible to describe the cries of the hungry children, the sadness of others for the loss of their loved ones. What a terrible night of misery…" - Mary Field Garner
• If I choose to move to another city, it is through my own decision – not because I have a mob breaking my windows, setting fire to my crops and threatening to kill me and my family if I stay. "My last act in that precious spot was to tidy the rooms, sweep up the floor, and set the broom in its accustomed place behind the door. Then with emotions in my heart… I gently closed the door and faced unknown future; faced it with faith in God…" - Bathsheba Smith
• I have a beautiful, spacious chapel just down the street from my home, where I may partake of the Sacrament – I don’t have to sit on the ground in a grove of trees, nor do I have to sit with my children piled on me, sitting 15-17 people in a pew built for 5-6.
• There is magnificent House of the Lord 20 minutes from my home. Professional construction workers built it, with funds from tithing. I didn’t have to sacrifice one day’s labor out of every ten, nor did I have to sew clothing for the workers.
• My husband, more than likely, will never be called to preach the gospel for three years while I care for the family, moving several times to protect them from hateful mobs. "The thoughts of leaving my family … at this critical time are indescribable. My family consisted of a wife and two small children, who were left in company with an aged father and mother and a brother… When we were to meet with them again, God only knew. Nevertheless, we did not feel to murmur." - William Hyde

 I am forever in the debt of those who have paved the way for me. I hope I will never forget that.

“What a grand world this would be, if we could forget our troubles as easily as we forget our blessings!”