PREFATORY
STATEMENT
Mesa,
Arizona
June, 1930
My Dear Children
and Grandchildren:
Today I
am beginning the narration of the simple tale of our family life. I shall
compile and write it especially for you; also, for any of our kinfolk or
friends who may be interested in it. If you follow our story through, you
may be able to trace therein the pattern of faith by which we of my generation
lived; by which we founded and developed the Mormon communities which are
now your homes.
My father,
David Udall, began our story with the writing of the "Preface" to his journal
in St. Louis, Missouri, nearly eighty years ago, a few months before I,
his eldest child, was born. He was then a young man twenty-two years old.
He and my mother, Eliza King Udall, had embraced Mormonism in England and
were on their way to Zion--to Utah in the Rocky Mountains.
Father's
journal, which is before me as I dictate these words, is bound in cardboard.
Some of its leaves have been resewed into their places by devoted bands
now gone to rest. The paper and ink show the touch of years--years which
give more meaning to father's brief, but precious words.*
You, my
children, are living in a new age, but you, too, will have your frontiers
to explore, your divides to cross, your own deserts to subdue. Most important
of all, you will have home and state problems to solve that will challenge
the pioneer blood that runs in your veins. Trust in the Lord, be true to
yourselves and all will be well with you.
My love
and blessings are yours always.
David
K. Udall
Written
in my office
in the
Arizona Temple.
*The
preface referred to, with a condensed summary of his journal, appears as
an appendix to this volume.
page iv
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