The Atonement of Jesus Christ provides the ultimate rescue from the trials we face in this life. President Russell M. Nelson assigned me to dedicate the Casper Wyoming Temple late last year. It was a profound, emotional, and spiritual experience. It brought into clear focus the role temples play in rescuing God’s children through the Savior’s Atonement.

What role DO temples play in rescuing God’s children?

The stakes in the Casper Wyoming Temple District include a portion of the overland trail used by Latter-day Saint pioneers between 1847 and 1868. In preparation for the temple dedication, I reread some of the history of the trail along the Platte River near Casper and continuing to Salt Lake City. The trail had been a thoroughfare for hundreds of thousands of western emigrants. My primary emphasis was the more than 60,000 Latter-day Saint pioneers who traveled the trail.

See: Five Things You May Not Know About the Handcart Rescue

Most of our pioneers came by wagon, but about 3,000 crossed in 10 handcart companies. Eight of these handcart companies made the monumental trek with remarkable success and few deaths. The Willie and Martin handcart companies of 1856 were the exception.

In the 1850s Church leaders decided to form handcart companies as a way to reduce expenses so that financial aid could be extended to the greatest number of emigrants. Saints who traveled this way put only 100 pounds of flour and a limited quantity of provisions and belongings into a cart and then pulled the cart across the plains. Between 1856 and 1860, ten handcart companies traveled to Utah. Eight of the companies reached the Salt Lake Valley successfully, but two of them, the Martin and Willie handcart companies, were caught in an early winter and many Saints among them perished.

I reviewed the accounts of the Willie and Martin handcart companies from the time the terrible weather conditions commenced. I became intimately aware of the challenges they faced at the crossing of the Sweetwater River, Martin’s Cove, Rocky Ridge, and Rock Creek Hollow.

Why did the Lord allow Saints to perish on the plains?

I had not been inside the Casper Temple prior to the dedication. When I entered the foyer, my attention was immediately drawn to an original handcart painting titled Between Storms. The painting was clearly not intended to depict the tragedies that had occurred. As I gazed at it, I thought, “This painting is correct; the vast majority of handcart pioneers did not experience tragedies.” I could not help feeling that this is like life in general. Sometimes we are between storms and sometimes between clouds and sunshine.

When I turned to the original painting on the other wall, titled Heaven’s Portal, I realized that this beautiful summer painting of what was called “Devil’s Gate,” with the calm and clear Sweetwater River flowing through it, presented the beauty of the Lord’s creation, not just the challenges the pioneers faced in that horrible winter season.

Then I looked forward, behind the recommend desk, and saw a beautiful painting of the Savior. This immediately invoked overwhelming feelings of gratitude. In a world of great beauty, there are also enormous challenges. As we turn to Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world, He rescues us from the storms of life through His Atonement in accordance with the Father’s plan.

For me, the foyer was a perfect preparation for the temple ordinance rooms that allow us to receive the ordinances of exaltation, to make sacred covenants, and to fully accept and experience the blessings of the Savior’s Atonement. The Father’s plan of happiness is based on the Savior’s atoning rescue.

What is your favourite scripture about the Atonement of Jesus Christ?

The pioneer experience provides Latter-day Saints with a unique historical tradition and a powerful collective spiritual legacy. For some, the migration had been years in the making after being forcefully driven from both Missouri and Nauvoo. For others, it began after President Brigham Young announced the handcart plan, which was intended to make emigration more affordable. The handcarts cost much less than wagons and oxen.

A missionary in England, Millen Atwood, said that when the handcart plan was announced, “it ran like fire in dry stubble, and the hearts of the poor Saints leapt with joy and gladness.” Many had “prayed and fasted day after day, and night after night, that they might have the privilege of uniting with their brethren and sisters in [the] mountains.”

Most of the handcart Saints experienced hardship but avoided major adverse events. But two handcart companies, the Willie company and the Martin company, experienced starvation, exposure to freezing weather, and many deaths.

Most of these travelers sailed from Liverpool, England, in May of 1856 aboard two ships. They arrived at the handcart outfitting site in Iowa City in June and July. Despite warnings, both companies departed for the Salt Lake Valley too late in the season.

President Brigham Young first became aware of the perilous situation of these companies on October 4, 1856. The next day he stood before the Saints in Salt Lake City and said, “Many of our brethren and sisters are on the plains with handcarts, … and they must be brought here; we must send assistance to them … before the winter sets in.”

He asked the bishops to provide 60 mule teams, 12 or more wagons, and 12 tons (10,886 kg) of flour and proclaimed, “Go and bring in those people now on the plains.”

The combined number of pioneers in the Willie and Martin handcart companies was approximately 1,100. Some 200 of these precious Saints died along the trail. Without the timely rescue, many more would have perished.

What would have happened to these pioneers if the Saints had not followed President Young’s counsel?

The winter storms began nearly two weeks after the first rescuers left Salt Lake City. The accounts of members of the Willie and Martin companies describe devastating challenges after the storms began. These accounts also depict the great joy when the rescuers arrived.

Can you imagine the great joy the handcart companies must have felt when their rescuers arrived? Have you ever felt similar joy?

Describing the arrival scene, Mary Hurren said: “Tears streamed down the cheeks of the men, and the children danced for joy. As soon as the people could control their feelings, they all knelt down in the snow and gave thanks to God.”

Two days later, the Willie company had to travel the most difficult part of the trail, going over Rocky Ridge, in a freezing storm. The last of them didn’t reach camp until 5:00 the next morning. Thirteen people died and were buried in a common grave.

On November 7, the Willie company was nearing the Salt Lake Valley, but that morning there were still three deaths. Two days later, the Willie company finally reached Salt Lake, where they had a marvelous greeting and were welcomed into the homes of the Saints.

That same day, the Martin company was still 325 miles (523 km) back on the trail, continuing to suffer from cold and inadequate food. A few days earlier, they had crossed the Sweetwater River to reach what is now called Martin’s Cove, where they hoped to find protection from the elements. One of the pioneers said, “It was the worst river crossing of the expedition.” Some of the rescuers—like my great-grandfather David Patten Kimball, who was just 17 years old, along with his young friends “George W. Grant, Allen Huntington, Stephen Taylor, and Ira Nebeker—spent hours in the frigid water,” heroically helping the company make the Sweetwater crossing.

“I remember reading about a fire fighter in the eastern United States who ran into a burning house to rescue several children from an arson-induced fire. While his colleagues battled the blaze to keep it from spreading to other structures in the neighbor-hood, this man dashed into the building again and again, each time emerging with a child in his arms. After rescuing the fifth child, he started back into the inferno once more. Neighbors shouted that there were no more children in the family. But he insisted that he had seen a baby in a cradle, and he dove into the intensifying heat.

“Moments after he disappeared into the fire and smoke, a horrifying explosion shook the building and the entire structure collapsed. It was several hours before fire fighters were able to locate their colleague’s body. They found him in the nursery near the crib, huddled protectively over a life sized—and practically unscratched—doll.

“As I think about such heroism, however, I’m reminded that the most heroic act of all time ever was performed in behalf of all mankind by the Son of God. In a very real sense, all of humanity—past, present, and future—was trapped behind a wall of flame that was fueled and fanned by our own faithlessness. Sin separated mortals from God (see Romans 6:23), and would do so forever unless a way was found to put out the fires of sin and rescue us from ourselves”  (Cited in Our Search for Happiness: M. Russell Ballard, p. 11).

While this event has received much attention, as I learned more about the rescuers, I realized that all of them were following the prophet and played critical roles in saving the stranded Saints. All the rescuers were heroic, as were the emigrants.

Studying their story, I appreciated the precious relationships and the long-term eternal vision among the emigrants. John and Maria Linford and their three sons were members of the Willie company. John died hours before the first rescuers arrived. He had told Maria that he was glad they had made the journey. “I shall not live to reach Salt Lake,” he said, “but you and the boys will, and I do not regret all we have gone through if our boys can grow up and raise their families in Zion.”

President James E. Faust provided this marvelous summary: “In the heroic effort of the handcart pioneers, we learn a great truth. All must pass through a refiner’s fire, and the insignificant and unimportant in our lives can melt away like dross and make our faith bright, intact, and strong. There seems to be a full measure of anguish, sorrow, and often heartbreak for everyone, including those who earnestly seek to do right and be faithful. Yet this is part of the purging to become acquainted with God.”

What does it mean to be purged?

A man who crossed the plains in the Martin handcart company lived in Utah for many years. One day he was in a group of people who began sharply criticizing the Church leaders for ever allowing the Saints to cross the plains with no more supplies or protection than a handcart company provided. The old man listened until he could stand no more; then he arose and said with great emotion:

“I was in that company and my wife was in it. … We suffered beyond anything you can imagine and many died of exposure and starvation, but did you ever hear a survivor of that company utter a word of criticism? … [We] came through with the absolute knowledge that God lives for we became acquainted with him in our extremities.

“I have pulled my handcart when I was so weak and weary from illness and lack of food that I could hardly put one foot ahead of the other. I have looked ahead and seen a patch of sand or a hill slope and I have said, I can go only that far and there I must give up, for I cannot pull the load through it. … I have gone on to that sand and when I reached it, the cart began pushing me. I have looked back many times to see who was pushing my cart, but my eyes saw no one. I knew then that the angels of God were there.

“Was I sorry that I chose to come by handcart? No. Neither then nor any minute of my life since. The price we paid to become acquainted with God was a privilege to pay, and I am thankful that I was privileged to come in the Martin Handcart Company.”’ (Handcart Pioneers in Our Heritage)

In His eternity-shaping Atonement and Resurrection, the Savior broke “the bands of death, having gained the victory over death” for everyone. For those who have repented of sins, He has “taken upon himself their iniquity and their transgressions, having redeemed them, and satisfied the demands of justice.”

Without the Atonement, we cannot save ourselves from sin and death. While sin can play a significant role in our trials, life’s adversities are compounded by mistakes, bad decisions, evil actions by others, and many things outside of our control.

Preach My Gospel teaches: “As we rely on Jesus Christ and His Atonement, He can help us endure our trials, sicknesses, and pain. We can be filled with joy, peace, and consolation. All that is unfair about life can be made right through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.”

During this Easter season, our focus is on the Savior and His atoning sacrifice. The Atonement provides hope and light at a time that for many seems dark and dreary. President Gordon B. Hinckley declared, “When all of history is examined, … [there is] nothing … so wonderful, so majestic, so tremendous as this act of grace.”

I share three recommendations which I think are particularly relevant for our day.

First, do not underestimate the importance of doing what we can to rescue others from physical and especially spiritual challenges.

In what ways can we be rescuers?

Second, gratefully accept the Savior’s Atonement. We all should strive to exhibit joy and happiness even as we face the challenges of life. Our goal should be to live optimistically on the sunny side of the street. I have observed my precious companion, Mary, do this her entire life. I have appreciated her sparkling, uplifting approach even as we have faced problems throughout the years.

My third counsel is to set aside consistent time to faithfully contemplate the Savior’s Atonement. There are many ways to do this in our personal religious observance. However, attending sacrament meeting and partaking of the sacrament are especially significant.

In the October 2024 General Conference, President Nelson gave this invitation:

‘There is no limit to the Savior’s capacity to help you. His incomprehensible suffering in Gethsemane and on Calvary was for you! His infinite Atonement is for you!

I urge you to devote time each week – for the rest of your life – to increase your understanding of the Atonement of Jesus Christ.’

How are you doing with this invitation?

Equally important is regular attendance in a temple where possible. The temple provides a continuing remembrance of the Savior’s Atonement and what it overcomes. And, even more important, temple attendance allows us to provide a spiritual rescue for our deceased loved ones and more distant ancestors.

President Russell M. Nelson, at our last conference, emphasized this principle and added, “[Temple] blessings … help to prepare a people who will help prepare the world for the Second Coming of the Lord!”

How do temple blessings help to prepare a people who will help prepare the world for the Second Coming?

We must never forget the sacrifices and examples of prior generations, but our adulation, appreciation, and worship should be centered on the Savior of the world and His atoning sacrifice. I testify that the key to the Father’s plan of happiness is the Atonement wrought by our Savior, Jesus Christ. He lives and guides His Church. The Atonement of Jesus Christ provides the ultimate rescue from the trials we face in this life. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

What parts of Elder Cook’s message most impressed you?

NB: Passages in italics are direct quotes from Elder Cook’s talk.

You can watch Elder Cook’s talk here.

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