President Bush at MHHS

We couldn't believe it when President George W. Bush recently came to Mormon Handcart Historic Sites!  We put a missionary badge on him and clicked this photo.

...Just kidding. This is Elder Stockamp who is serving at Willie Sixth Crossing site.  But at first glance, don't you think he looks like President Bush!

Martin's Cove

President Gordon B. Hinckley made this statement about this location.

"We hope that a spirit of peace and reverence and sacred remembrance will hover over this whole area as a beneficent cloud on a hot summer day, and that those who here perished will not have died in vain.  I make a plea, go in a spirit of reverence and respect and know that you are walking on hallowed ground."  (May 3, 1997)

Trail Sites & Scripts

The last few days we've had extensive training at the numerous trail sites that will become our weekly work locations.  There are stories and pioneer experiences that are shared at each location.  Our wonderful trainers (who are here for their 2nd year) took us by "rover" to all these sites and shared the stories that we'll be learning and soon sharing ourselves.  It was a fun and informative day.  Two days later we "trekked" to all these sites and actually walked the trails and Martin's Cove where our youth trekkers and visitors will be walking.  To follow are some photos of these two training days:

Gathering at the "Homestead" for our rover travel training

Receiving instruction at the Sweetwater

Windy Sweetwater crossing

Rovers on the trail

Trekking to the Cove

Missionaries at the base of the Cove

Trekking into the Cove

At the top of the Cove

View across the valley



Faith, Obedience, Sacrifice, Charity

Today's training was especially great for us as it was presented by Jenny Lund, an old dutch oven competition friend, who is the Director of Church History Sites.  Her training was wonderful and we learned much.

Most visitors have no understanding of what happened here.  Of why it happened and why it's important.  Our opportunity is to share this, and to do so in a way that it comes to life for them.   Faith, obedience, sacrifice and charity are the messages that are seen over and over again in the lives of the handcart pioneers and the experiences and the stories we share illustrate this for our visitors.  A typical year has around 50,000 visitors from May-September, with nearly 50% being visitors other than youth trek groups.

Many of the pioneers were wonderful journal keepers.  This seems so amazing to me.  I do a terrible job of journal writing.  I often wonder what kept them recording their daily activities and experiences so faithfully.  From those first hand accounts we have accurate detail and understanding, through their eyes and experiences, of this place and what truly happened here 156 years ago.  How grateful we are for the valiant people they were and the faithful lives they lived.

Day #2 Training

Today we met with all missionaries and leadership at "the Trek Center".  This great log building serves as a training center, orientations for school groups and trekkers, and for Sunday services during the summer months.  It's the most unique church building we've ever met in!  There's a buffalo skin on the wall, signs reminding everyone of an urgent need in this dry, windy climate to drink lots of water, photos of pioneers, and flat screen tv's for presentations...we received lots of instruction and then headed out on site to tour the "homestead". 

We learned that there were 27,000 youth trekkers here during summer 2011 and about 20,000 other visitors.  The campgrounds and trails here facilitate these trekkers, and the other sites are of great interest to visitors. 

Entrance to MHHS

 Blacksmith Shop w/handcarts

Barn

Handcarts for visitors to take out

Museum & Humanitarian Center

We're Here!

We arrived at Mormon Handcart Historic Sites on April 25, 2012.   The beginning of grand adventures as we serve our mission here in Wyoming! 

We had a meeting that evening in "the Pavilion" with Elder and Sister Fenn, the Director and his wife at Mormon Handcart Historic Sites (MHHS).  They're delightful!  There are 98 missionaries serving here at this site of Martin's Cove.  Another 44 serve at the Willies Sixth Crossing site.  According to Elder Fenn,  this is "the most celestial RV park in the world"!  From the kindnesses and interactions we've had in our first hours here, we're getting our first glimpses of why this is so.
The Church owns 12,000 acres here, with another 85,000 leased from the BLM.  This is also a working ranch with 1200 head of cattle.   We began our first day with training and tours of Missionary Village facilities and what to expect in the coming days and weeks.

That evening we met with our District for dinner.  They're a great group.   From the left, Elder & Sister Smith, Elder & Sister Ohm (District Leaders), Elder & Sister Shepard, and us.  Smiths and Ohms are here for their 2nd year. 

It was a great first day here in the mission.  We're excited for a full schedule of learning in the coming days and weeks!

Trusting & Looking Up

I thought recently about the quote that President Gordon B. Hinckley shared in a General Conference…“Life is just like an old time rail journey ... delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders, and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed. The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride.”

We’re experiencing one of those delays or sidetracks now as we’ve been trying to sell our home since June of last year. We have a new home being built in South Jordan. The home we thought we were supposed to be in. But it is to be completed in 20 days and we are leaving on our mission shortly after that. It’s been a difficult thing realizing our dream is not coming
about. We thought we were doing the right thing and moving to the right place. Our Ward family and immediate family have been praying and fasting for this sale for months. I suspect someday we will look back and say how grateful we are those prayers were not answered, for we trust Heavenly Father has another, better plan.

Little Nathan recently had a very serious spinal surgery. It scared us so much as he's gone through this potentially life-altering surgery. He's recovering well. Wearing a neck and head brace to protect the fragile, still developing bone replacing deteriorated discs.

Ron has had one medical problem after another. Arthritic knees that he is trying everything possible to overcome, short of replacement surgery, so he can walk the needed 3 miles a day on our mission. Eye problems that have gone from herpes infection to cataract surgery to clouded sight in his one remaining good eye. Shingles, then intestinal infection, then plummeting blood pressure for no apparent reason. Now his blood pressure has shot up the other way and recent stomach scope showed a hiatal hernia and ulcer. In between all that he had surgery on his foot and is back in for more knee treatment. Craziness...

I was recently blessed to be in attendance at our Stake Women’s Conference and the beautiful presentation on Jesus Christ helped me remember and get back on track with my knowledge that when we trust and have faith and leave things in the hands of our Savior and Heavenly Father, they always turn out for the best, for They love us and have our interests always as their #1 concern.

We've been doing a lot of studying and reading journal accounts of the pioneers who were on the handcart companies in Wyoming when early winter snow storms caused terrible suffering and hardship for all. One journal entry, from Susanna Stone Lloyd was simple, but profound..."we traveled on, trusting in God". And that's what we will do as well. Our challenges are nothing compared to theirs. We'll go forward in faith.