17 Miracles

This summer a film came out called 17 Miracles. It is the true-life story of the Willie handcart company, with some Martin company stories mixed in. The main character is Levi Savage, who was instrumental in helping the European Saints in the Willie company as they trekked to Zion. Although they suffered great tragedies, the members of the company experienced the Savior's love through many wonderful miracles. If you want to see this moving film, you can purchase a copy movie at Deseret Book, Amazon, or anywhere else movies are sold. It will touch your life.

For even the poorest of the handcart pioneers, such as Ann Rowley, a widow traveling with eight children, the luggage limit of 17 pounds meant leaving behind things they valued greatly. Ann recalled that in Iowa City "everything that even hinted of being a luxury [had to] be eliminated. There were many keepsakes that I wanted to take but couldn't. But there was one thing I didn't consider a luxury and that was my feather-bed. It wouldn't be so bad to walk 1,300 miles if one had a feather-bed to sleep on at night, but no matter how I folded it, it was too bulky. But a feather-bed is a feather-bed, and when it came to choosing between Zion and a feather-bed, well it was a little too late to turn my back on Zion, so I ripped it open and emptied the feathers on the ground and used the tick to cover the supplies on the handcart."
Ann Rowley Chooses Zion, The Price We Paid, p. 65