August 21, 2015

Last night we went on an adventure here on the property.

We learned we have our own fortification left from the

year 1857 when Johnsons Army was threatening to come 

invade the Saints.  So some of us headed off to see it

for ourselves.  It was, of course, up on a scary cliff

that overlooks the road below.  It was so STEEP.

We were on slippery gravel rocks and big cliffs, the

trail was not even wide enough for barely one of your feet.

At this point Sister Peart, who is in front of me is saying,

"Why exactly are we doing this?????"

After getting to the top we saw we had to drop down to 

get to the fortification, it was steep and scarier than what

we had been doing for a long time.  Four of them went down,

five of us stayed where we were.  Glad to know we didn't

have to do extra, getting back to the road was enough for

us.  At least we were hoping to get back to the road,

and not slide down and SPLAT ON THE ROAD.

Our own selfie at the top.  Could be our obituary

photo?

See their tiny figures out on the edge!!  It was absolutely

beautiful up there on top.  And look, real trees not just

sage brush.

This would be Sister Peart and I glad to be alive.  Sister

Kennedy is in the background.  What an adventure, one

we won't have to do again.

Now Jeff didn't do as well. What a dork!

We sat my camera on the top of the 4x4 and I pushed

the timed camera button, started to head for the group and

the camera was wobbling and shaking, almost to

tip over.  This is the photo I got of them laughing

at the shaking camera.

This is the final product.  We continued on to see Lost Creek and

then on the way back to our homes we were able to see

lots of deer.  We had fun spotting them and trying to

see the really BIG DADDY one, we saw a couple 

of those.

Look at the rock, it has a hole in it.  On the left of that

it has another hole but it is hidden by the bush that

is growing there.

That dark spot is the back end of a fat porcupine.

We actually saw two of them during our trip.  This one was

right next to the 4x4 and I wish my camera had been quicker.

We saw a great view of his tail spread out and the quills ready

to fire at us.

This was a fun night spent at the Ranch.

Extra Photos

I forgot to add pictures from our last trek, I am a bit behind.

Check out the little fellow between the slats.

I loved this picture.  What a classic Trek Photo.

It always pays to have a contractor on Trek with you.

A cart was coming apart and we were going to head into 

the Trek Center to get screws, Bishop had all his tools with

him and he did the job.  I think we will have to hire

him to help us out more often.

When we parked the carts for the women's pull to separate the 

boys from the girls a badger ran down into his hole.

The bad part is he kept coming back up and hissing

at the Trekkers, not Good.  So we put rocks into the 

hole and then I stood on the rocks to keep him from coming

back up.  I need to go back and look and see if

he got out or if he dug a way out or, if???????

At the end of the pull the brethren were following behind

singing hymns to them as they finished.  It was touching

as usual.  Always a special moment.

ON Friday night, the last night of Trek we had a terrible

wind storm and rain, thunder, lightening, the whole works.

We had a couple of groups get into some trouble and we

had to put them up in the Trek Center and Depot for the night.

Our group had about 1/3 of their group come in

for shelter, the others stayed out in their camp.

Another Stake brought their entire group in, about 160 of

them.  They actually left from the trek center the next morning.

Their buses picked them up and were gone by 9:00 am.

Our group went back out to camp, had breakfast, a testimony

meeting and then trekked out to staging.  We were pretty

excited they wanted to finish.

The last thing they did before trekking on Saturday morning was 

to have a Hukka dance by the Samoan Branch.

It was so great and invigorating.

Notice Elder Cowan is out there, (he is the one in the red 

ball cap), they invited him to be part of the dance because

they knew he had been to New Zealand on his mission.

We loved the Samoan's, they were the best.

Two of them actually knew several friends of our that

serve with us in the St. George Temple on Saturday mornings.

The world is a small place indeed.  What are the chances?

100 % Gary Johnson.

Not only that, this man was once a young ten year old

who played on Jeff's little league team!

What are the chances?  100%

This guy is a Gubler, related to the Gubler's we know.

He was so fun, you can tell that, right?

Check out this cute family, The tall one is 16 years old.

I look like a midget next to them.

This cute guy is leaving for a mission to Mexico, he was playing

the ukulele while trekking, a new experience for me.

I have to tell you it was so soothing to hear him playing while

we walked.  Trek is always entertaining.

Check out these two.  One is a counselor in the Stake Presidency.

Can you pick out which one it is?  Hay seed and all.  Actually, the

other brother has Parkinson's and he was amazing to watch.

He was so helpful and kind.  He had a hard time doing things. He

would say, "Don't worry, I'm just slow"  People with great courage

and love teach us to be better.  That is what I learned on trek.

August 17, 2015

After we finished our last trek we took off that night,

Saturday August 8 and drove to Rawlins Wyoming with the

Pearts.  We wanted to go to Martin's Cove and see the

handcart sites.  It has been 13 years since we had been there

and living and breathing handcarts for two summers makes

the visit all the better.

We went to Church with the Missionaries that serve at Martin's Cove,

Sixth Crossing and RockCreek Hollow.  What a fun time we

had, they even invited Jeff to speak for a few minutes and

tell a little bit about our mission and what we do.

Lots of questions from them, many didn't know the 

Deseret Land & livestock mission even existed.

They were very friendly and invited us to eat lunch with all

of them after church.  They do a pot luck like us only there

are 50 couples instead of 10!  

Afterwards they gave us a grand tour of the place.  This is the

bedroom where the General Authorities stay when they

visit the Cove.  Nice place.  I guess that is why we don't get

them at our place, our "Addies" don't look as good as this.

We got great treatment over at Rocky Ridge, the missionaries there at

Sixth Crossing took us all over also.  WE got to see so many

wonderful things we would never have seen.  Jeff says

we should keep our badges and use them after we get released, they

open up all kinds of doors.

I know we are Trek Missionaries but it was great riding in their

4X4's instead of walking.  We all agreed this is the way

to see the trail.  Thank you Martin Cove Missionaries.  And, no

we don't want to come and serve there.  We like our own

little piece of heaven.

Our carts are beefier than theirs, Jeff said ours were 

on steroids.  Ray would say, "OOOO more power"

Up in Devils gate we got to climb around in the rocks.  Jeff

hates small places and he was not excited about climbing in the

hole to get through.  But, when Sister Peart went in the water

trying to jump from one rock to another, Cowan decided the little

hole looked better.

We had a fun time with the Pearts.  They are new missionaries

this year and they have loved the experience.  They are

currently homeless, except for their trailer.  They sold their home

while here on the mission.  Their kids are teasing them about

not wanting them to move in with them.  They have been

looking for homes they could buy.  Kids, even grown up kids

are funny.  What, who wouldn't want Mom and Dad to move

in with them?

Being in the little meadows surrounded by the willows was a very

special moment.  We got to be right where the companies would

have camped and looked for shelter from the wind and weather.

We will never forget our time in those sacred, holy places.

Funny picture of the Elders trying to clean off all the bugs we

destroyed and sent to heaven during our drive.

We got home to the mission about ten pm on Monday night, it

was a fast weekend.  But, I have to say the showers were

amazing and the flushing toilets were heavenly.

This Saturday August 15th Jeff and I were asked to be

in the Rich County Fair Parade in Randolf, Utah.

All the other missionaries were busy with family that

had come for the family trek so only Jeff and I went.

This was our entry!.. Jeff wanted to buy candy to throw, I

am glad we didn't.  We didn't have hands to throw it, we 

were busy pulling the cart, up the road and then

back down the road.  Yep, one of those parades where

you do up and then return the same route.

Lucky for us we had some dancers in front of us and

they would stop and do a routine every so often.  

we would get behind but then catch up when they

were dancing.  It was hot 90 degrees and we were

glad it wasn't Salt Lake City on the 24th of July, Randolf

is a small town and the main street not to long.

We did pick up a cute passenger.  His dad works on the ranch

and they come to visit us all the time.  When he saw us

he wanted to ride in the cart, so he made the trip so much better.

As we walked down the street everyone knew him and would

yell his name out, he would wave to them.  Suddenly

we were more popular than before.  So we enjoyed the

walk better,   We gathered candy off the road to give

to him and he ate it while we walked. 

After the parade they had games at the park, this is the

"FISH POND"  Not like the fish ponds in Cedar Park.

This one had real fish and they spent the time catching

them with their bare hands.  What a funny thing to watch.

They did age groups and then at the end it was a free

for all.  Little towns have such a fun time celebrating.

On Tuesday August 11th, Quinns Birthday, we went

on a historical tour of Echo Canyon, Henefer and on to 

Big Mountain.  We had a great time seeing the 

Mormon trail and learning the history.   It was fun for

the first year missionaries.  We even had the Brinkerhoff's

family with us on the trip.  They came for a visit on their

way to the MTC.  Their grandson was leaving on his

mission the next day.  So it was fun having Two 

Elder Brinkerhoff's.

In Henefer they have a museum for the Pioneers.  They

asked us to donate a handcart to them and we did.  It is

handcart #112 and we stopped by there to see how

she was doing.  What a sight to see our cart on display.

So if you are in Henefer, stop by to visit her, she will

love the attention.

We were stopped eating lunch at Mormon Flat and look

what was up on the hill, a MOOSE.  Finally I got to

see a Moose. There has been one on the ranch down by the

depot, out on the trail, everyone seeing it but me, I

keep missing it.  So I was pretty excited to see one here.

This is our group at the top of Big Mountain with Salt Lake Valley

down below us.  2015 Trek is now a memory and

we were lucky to be a part of it again.

And like the sign on our buckets, "O.D.D."

Operation Don't Die, non of us old people died on

the trail, Happy day all is Well.

Here are some pictures of the building the Evanston Stake

has been building for us.  What an act of service.

We purchased the materials and they did the work.  They would

come about 5:00 pm, work until 9:00 pm.  They didn't want

our help, it was, "Let us do the work, you just stay out of the way"

They were so skilled and fast.  Really, start to finish maybe

seven times coming out to finish it.

They had all kinds of helpers, even small ones would work and

help.  This little guy spent his time picking up stray pieces of

lumber and stacking them.  He just loved being with his 

grandpa.  We had several families that had three generations

out helping us.  Evanston is truly the Service Capital of the 

world.  You think of fireworks, but really, it is their

gift of SERVICE that I will always remember.

Notice the one foot on the side of the scaffold.  Scary.

There are so many who came to help.  Several came more

than once, they would show up with the work crew every night.

Even when their ward wasn't assigned.  Many were with us on

Trek so that was fun to see them again.

This would be our TENDER MERCY PICTURE.

This week we have been washing the carts and then

painting them with linseed oil to treat the wood.

Someone took a oil soaked rag into the trek center

and left it on the table on top of a box of latex gloves.

The oiled rag got hot and was smoking and starting

to burn the cardboard box.  Luckily, thankfully,

Elder Kennedy came into the room and smelled the

burning smell and saved our building.  Truly

Heavenly Father was looking out for us that day.

We have seen His hand in our lives so many times this 

summer.  God does live and he loves us all.