To understand the pioneers and their accomplishments, we must examine their motives. … They came for freedom and peace, as others have done. They came to make homes for themselves, as others have done. They came to worship God and practice their religion to the satisfaction of their consciences, as others have done; but here is one thing they came for which, so far as I know, has no counterpart in any other pioneer movement: they came with the avowed purpose of establishing a society so that they would be able to take back to the civilization from which they had fled, yes, even to their persecutors, the principles of life and conduct which were the source of their own inspiration, cohesion, success, and happiness. …
What then did the pioneers bring? They brought industry in a measure that has seldom been equaled. They taught and practiced the gospel of work as the foundation for success and happiness. …
They brought education and a love for the artistic and beautiful. …
They brought with them a high order of loyalty and a great capacity for firm devotion to the cause they espoused. …
-President Stephen L Richards (1879–1959) First Counselor in the First Presidency, April 1947 General Conference; Reprinted Ensign, Jul 2010, 52–53
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