One more family history story, this one about Louisa Mellor Clark (as you may remember, Lucy Ashby Clark's husband took Louisa as a second wife):
Louisa and her family had traveled to the United States to join the body of the Saints in Utah. On their way there, their handcart company was caught in a severe snowstorm. Many died, from starvation, from the cold.
From Louisa's history:
"My mother, still being weak, finally gave up and said she could go no further. The company could not wait for her, so she bade my father goodbye and kissed each one of the children Godspeed. Then my mother sat down on a boulder and wept.
"I told my sister, Elizabeth, to take good care of the twins and the rest of the family, and that I would stay with mother. I went a few yards away and prayed with faith that God would help us , that He would protect us from devouring wolves, and asked that He would let us reach camp.
"As I was going back to where my mother was sitting, I found a pie in the road. (Remember, this was in the middle of a horrific snowstorm.) I picked it up and gave it to mother to eat. After resting awhile, we started on our journey, thanking God for the blessings. A few miles before we reached camp we met my father coming out to meet us.
"We arrived in camp at 10:00 pm. Many times after that mother felt like giving up and quitting, but then would remember how wonderful the Lord has been to spare her so many times, and offered a prayer of gratitude instead. So she went on her way rejoicing while walking the blood-stained path of snow."
(A note: for those of you familiar with the movie 17 MIRACLES, you will perhaps recognize the story of the pie.)
So, for today, I am grateful for the Lord's answers to prayers.
I didn't know this was in your family history. I've always wondered: why a pie? Why not a loaf of bread? Was there something special about pie? Perhaps that's between the Lord and Louisa's mother.
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