I, Frederick Nielsen, was born in Lexington, Lee County Texas on the 25th of October 1875. My father Ole Nielsen died of pneumonia when i was just a babe. I arrived in St. Johns, Arizona in 1881. Times were hard, we killed one of our oxen and dried it, we lived on that until the weeds started to grow! The first winter we were there we dug a hole in the bank of a hill and put a roof of dirt over it, that's where we lived. In the springtime we lived in a wagon box until we made an adobe house. My mother passed away when I was only 13 years old. I wrangled horse on the old Long H Ranch for my board before being hired on for $25.00 a month. I worked there for three years then moved back to town to herd sheep for Will Harris. I begin going with Mary Holgate. We saw each other for three years and then we married December 19, 1899. We didn't have much but we were happy.
In the spring of 1912 we moved up to Richville and I farmed for Tom Irwin. I was looking for a farm to buy. One day a man by the name of Rule Jarvis, who owned the farm just North of where I was working, told me he would like to buy my cows. I told him I would like to have his farm, so we traded. I gave him 40 cows for the ranch at Richville. (this is where many Wards in our Stake hold their Fathers and Sons outings)
I was finally converted to go to the Temple to be sealed to my wife and our children. We had be saving for a long time for this. There were only 7 children living, one had passed away. We traveled by team and wagon and it took us three months and three days to make the trip up and back. It was a hard trip but pleasant. We started out on the 14th of June, 1915. Each night at sundown we stopped and made camp, so each could get proper exercise and rest. They boys and I would care for the horses. After each horse had eaten a helping of grain, they were hobbled and turned lose to graze. Momma and the girls would get our supper. After it was over, we sang songs while I played my fiddle. We told stories and sometimes played games before we had our family prayer and went to bed. Arising early, everyone would gather around the campfire to have morning prayer. Then each child would get busy with their responsibilities so we could get on our way. This same procedure went on each day except Sunday. On that day we did not travel, but rested and read the scriptures.
One afternoon we came to a junction in the road and did not know which way to go to Salt Lake. As we sat there wondering which road to take, i was looking over the beautiful country and i saw a person coming toward us. As he came closer to the wagon, Mother said, "He has a pleasant face and a nice smile, I'm sure he can help us." After greeting this stranger he asked if we were having trouble. I told him no, we just didn't know which road lead to Salt Lake. The Stranger told us, started to leave, turned back, and asked why we were going there. I told him we had traveled hundreds of miles to be sealed in the Salt Lake Temple for time and all Eternity, and have our eight children sealed to us. The man said, "Well, in that case you had better take the other road which is a shorter distance to the Manti Temple, because the Salt Lake Temple closes for the summer in two days, and you couldn't possibly make it there in time." I reached over and patted mother's hand knowing she had her heart set on getting married in the Salt Lake Temple. I turned back to thank the stranger, and ask him to eat with us, but he was gone! No one saw him leave, and he was no where to been seen! You can draw your own conclusions, but we know in our hearts that stranger was sent by a spiritual being to show us the right way to go. We broke the wagon tongue one time, but that is the only trouble we had.
This was an account given by my Great Grandfather Frederick Nielsen who set the example for our family to be sealed in the temple of the Lord. I am thankful to him and my Great Grandmother for their sacrifices and examples. I'm grateful for the many lessons learned from this simple account of their trip. I hope we can all remember the sacrifices and service our ancestors have provided us. These acts of service and sacrifice have afforded us all the blessings we enjoy, both temporal and spiritual no matter what faith we belong to. It is my prayer and hope that we can all provide the same examples and blessings to our posterity!
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