They Came in Search of Freedom

Standing alone, in the down-pouring rain of the Barbican, Plymouth, Devonshire, England, I
walked toward the Plymouth Steps, gazed through the gray, wet skies across the stormy
Plymouth Coast and reflected up that 16th day in September 1620 when our ancestors descended
these great stone steps and boarded the Mayflower in search of religious freedom.

Upon these steps tread the boots of twenty-one year old John Alden, indentured servant and
cooper of Harwich, and the dainty shoes of Priscilla, daughter of William Mullens, shopkeeper
of Dorking Surrie. Had it been a cold, damp, dreary day such as this one, when they set sail, I
wondered? At least, in the sixty-five-day sea voyage they must have encountered many such
storm tossed days. Were they prompted, I wondered, by the same divine spirit that carefully
guides the House of Israel to their promised lands? My thoughts reflected upon 1 Nephi 13:13:

"Then I saw that the Spirit of God inspired other Gentiles to follow him to the promised land, out
of captivity."

I began to feel a real, warm blood connection with these my great ancestors and stood basking in
the heredity of their fame.

Protected from the elements only by my opened umbrella, I pondered upon the Plymouth
Memorial Plaque which was enshrined in a small Grecian-type temple by the edge of the wharf,
supported by four round columns:

     "On the 16th of September, in the Mayoralty of Thomas Townes, After being
      entertained and Courteously used by divers Friends their dwelling' the Pilgrim Fathers
     sailed from Plymouth in the Mayflower, in the providence of God to settle in NEW
     PLYMOUTH and to lay the foundation the NEW ENGLAND STATES--- The ancient
     Cawsey whence they embarked was destroyed not many years afterwards, but the site of
     the embarkation is marked by the stone bearing the name of the MAYFLOWER in the
     pavement of the adjacent pier. This tablet was erected in the mayoralty of J.T. Boord
     1891 to commemorate their departure and the visit in July of that year of a number of
     their descendants and representatives."

My eyes cast downward in contemplation; I was standing, with both feet, upon that Mayflower
stone embedded in the cement dock-- on the site where my great forefathers had waited, sitting
on their trunks and boxes, to load the few worldly possessions they could take with them into the
small cargo boats which would take them aboard the Mayflower-- an adventure which would
place the footsteps of many generations of their descendants upon the soil of God's Promised
Land.

I walked through the puddle-filled cobble stone streets of Plymouth wandering in and out of
quaint shops in search of Plymouth mementos. On one street corner, I accidentally ran into a
large hand carved wooden plaque dedicated to the Pilgrim Fathers. The first line of the plaque
read:

     John Alden, Cooper-- Harwich-- The first to step ashore.

Truly, I had spent a beautiful hour in silent reflection of this important historical site. As I
boarded the bus to travel to the near by quaint fishing village of Loor, I looked back over the
gray waves, which were dashing upon the Plymouth Steps, and the thought came to my mind:
"Now do you understand what it means to have the Blood of Israel in your veins?" A smile
encompassed my face. "Yes," I thought, "I think I'm beginning to understand."

-Irene Tolman