The Life and Times of Wilford Woodruff
Border Crossing Migrants finding Refuge

Picture border crossing migrants working in the fields and orchards.
Southern California, you think?
Not quite, how about Mormon Pioneers finding a better life in Colonia Juarez, Mexico!

With the blessing of Wilford Woodruff, 4th President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (1889 - 1898) Mormon families committed to living the principle of Plural Marriage found safe refuge north and south of the border after president Woodruff presented the church with The Manifesto.

Colonia Juarez definitely benefitted from the presence of these thrifty and hardworking mormon settlers, planting orchards, making the desert bloom like a rose.

And not only to Mexico mormon families travelled, but in northern direction as well, into the Canadian province of Alberta, looking for a more tolerant legal environment.

The 19th century Mormon migrations into Mexico and Canada not only makes us more susceptible to the plight of migrants in the opposite direction, but has remarkable connections with other contemporary social issues as well.

One hundred years after these historic events during the administration of church president Wilford Woodruff the media is reporting on border crossing Latter-Day Saints travelling to Canada giving expression to yet another redefinition of traditional marriage, and Colonia Juarez is on the brink of coming out of obscurity with the prominence of one of her grandsons: Mitt Romney. These news articles may not agree with our personal opinion on these matters, but give us plenty food for thought.
These issues are controversial of course, just as they were at the time of Wilford Woodruff!

Both Alberta and Colonia Juarez are thriving comunities with a strong Mormon presence dating back to those eventful post-Manifesto days when president Woddruff was leading the church. Both Albert a and Colonia Juarez have a temple to attest to that fact and are tangible evidence of the premise of faith, liberty, and social justice.
In an era where people are excluded from society because of cultural misunderstandings based on fear and hatred, places like these can be seen as examples of how obstacles can be overcome in an atmosphere of love and respect for all God's children.

Perhaps president Gordon B. Hinckley expressed it best in his 1999 Dedicatory Prayer at the Colonia Juárez Chihuahua México Temple:

We remember before Thee those who, more than a century ago, came here and established these and other communities. How hard they worked, how heavy was their labor. They established a Zion in this part of the earth. Here they built meetinghouses and schools. Here they established their homes and their farms. They made the earth yield a harvest, even as a rose growing in a desert land.
Bless Thy Saints that they may continue to live here without molestation. May they live in peace and security. May they be prospered as they cultivate their farms and pursue their vocations. May the sons and daughters of father Lehi grow in strength and in fulfillment of the ancient promises made concerning them. May there be constant peace between the cultures and may they dwell together with love and respect one for another.

 

 

May 2006 - Robert Poort