15 October 2018 - Monday

15 October 2018 - Monday

Well, the "day before" has finally arrived!  Mom and I have been so blessed with the many wonderful experiences we have had while serving here in the Wyoming Mormon Trail Mission.  We have met so many exceptional missionaries and visitors to this sacred historic site.  What a privilege it has been to be here!  And now, tomorrow morning, we will be heading for home!  

God be with you till we meet again!

One last look at the entrance to Martin's Cove with Devil's Gate in the background!

Our last correlation meeting was held this morning at the Homestead, at 8:30am, and our group has been shrinking almost every week.  Tomorrow the Robert's and the Lasher's will be the first of the final four couples to depart.  Farewell was the common greeting, and the words from fellow missionaries were very kind and heartfelt.  We have loved the confidence Heavenly Father has given to us to serve in one of His historic places.  

Elder Criddle gave out the work assignments, and we were to return to Missionary Village and finalize our departure tomorrow.  We came back very excited to finish up the details of our return back home to Rigby.  I was able to make contact with the Rigby East Stake Executive Secretary and we have our release interview with President Clarke tomorrow evening at 8:45pm.

Our last breakfast here in the trailer at Missionary Village!

The trailer is in a state of "farewell"

The Man Cave has been a fun place to get ready for the day!

This is the extent of our pantry this morning!

This represents our lunch and our last meal in the trailer at Missionary Village

Mom and I worked for about two hours while the final loads of laundry went through the cleaning and drying cycle.  About 1:00pm this afternoon, after our lunch, we took our last three mile walk to the highway and back.  The sun was out, but the breeze was brisk.  However, we were grateful for the last opportunity to do this together.  

Then tonight, we attended our last Family Home Evening.  The senior couples gathered in the Pavilion for a light dinner, a game of remember, and then the thoughts from the departing missionaries, all four of us tonight!

The set-up for dinner at the Pavilion  

Just so much fun being together united under one cause to share the Gospel

Farewell Elder and Sister Roberts and Lasher!

We invited President and Sister Pace to join us!

So we had a wonderful meal.  We got to play a game of remembering past events that many of us grew up with, and then the Roberts and the Lashers were invited to share a favorite memory here in the mission. 

Here is my feeling on serving with different people.  As I thought about those memories made with individual missionaries, I was impressed to recall, in my mind, some initial feelings.  Not all the relationships started off strong.  Some of the missionaries were shy, and some were very loud and enthusiastic.  We had different ideas, at times, on how to do some things, and  on so many occasions we were all on the same page wanting to be the best we could be.  

After some time in working together and getting to know each other better, the feelings of love and appreciation began swelling in my breast!  And my impression led me to think how important it is to recognize we are all different and we all have some very strong ideas.  But we are all children of a loving Heavenly Father who has put us together to get along and solve unique problems together!  What a great way for the learning process to mature!

Going forward, each of these experiences have been for my good, and will be invaluable as I press forward with my next assignment!  Actually I am excited to see what the Lord has in mind for us when we return back home.  With His work moving along at such a rapid pace, under the direction of President Nelson, and our Savior, I do not want to be left behind.  Nor do I want any of our family members and friends to be left behind!!  These experiences will benefit me the rest of my life!  That is why this last picture that I am posting from this mission experience is this;

Jacob 6:12 - "Oh be wise; what can I say more?

Thank you for your faithfulness in following us in this blog.  This is my 775th posting from both mission experiences as well as the three weeks in the Philippines.  It has been one of the highlights of my life, and mom's life, to record and share these experiences of the last two missions for our precious family, and friends, and you have been so good to follow along!  We love you and will see you soon!

14 October 2018 - Sunday

14 October 2018 - Sunday

Exactly 6 months ago, today, mom and I left for the MTC.  What a six months we have had! And we are so excited to share these precious experiences with our family.  We hope you won't get tired of hearing our stories, because we have quite a few to share!

The morning temperatures were in the teens as we got up this morning.  Many of the senior missionaries, in the 5th wheel trailers, are starting to experience frozen pipes.  However, the pipes in our trailer are holding up well and we are keeping the inside temperatures at a minimum of 70 degrees.  There was a light snow that fell last night and this morning.

Our car was wondering where the garage is too spend the cold nights in?

With the very cold weather, we decided to head into our last Sunday meeting early to help shovel the sidewalks.  It was an inspired decision with all the walkways covered in snow and ice.  But with some extra efforts, we had the sidewalks cleared before 9:30am.  Elder Hansen was already shoveling when we got there at 8:30am, and the Criddles were at the Visitors' Center, and Sister Criddle  was shoveling as well.  Once we all got going, the sidewalks were cleared and the sun came out just enough to melt the residue of the snow by the end of our meetings.  

There is a lady who loves to shovel snow!

Look at those icicles on the Barn!  Temperature was about 28 degrees at 8:00am

Mom has been following the weather forecasts, and the temperatures will be on the rise Monday and Tuesday.  That is awesome for two senior missionaries heading for home on Tuesday!  We are considering going through DuBois and Jackson, Tuesday, unless anyone sees a better route.  Our plans are to leave Missionary Village on Tuesday morning by 6:00am, unless there is ice on the roads.  Pray for sun!  We will keep you posted on our text stream.

After six months in the mission field, and 25 Sunday pot luck dinners with the senior missionaries and family members, we had our last pot luck meal today.  And before anyone feels sorry for us experiencing our "last" pot luck in the mission field, let it be known that we are grateful for the experiences we have had, but we are so ready to be back with our family!  Oh how happy we are to come home to such precious family members in Rigby, Rexburg and Liberty Lake!  There is no place we would rather be!!!

We had 16 people today for dinner, down from an average of 50+ this summer!

We were seated with President Pace and his wife for our last dinner.  Mom and I both had a very nice visit with them and got to know them just a little better.  I mentioned, in an earlier blog, that they are building a new house in Lehi with one of their children, (their daughter and her family).  This family was able to have a daughter before being told they could not have more children.  They decided to adopt and had a very challenging experience going through the adoption process.

They had attempted to adopt on three separate occasions where, ultimately, the birth mom changed her mind about giving up her child.  The granddaughter of the Pace's was six years old when the fourth opportunity presented itself to adopt a black baby boy.  When the time came to go and pick up the new baby boy, this granddaughter became very quiet.  She wondered when the mother of the baby boy would change her mind again!  

The family got to the adoption reception room, and the Pace's daughter invited the granddaughter to hold the new baby boy for the first time.  The six year old refused to hold him.  That is when the daughter invited all the family members to leave the room because she needed to have a talk with her daughter.  After they all were invited to return, the six year old was hugging and rocking the little boy and would not give him up!  She confided to her mom, in the private meeting, that she did not want to be the one holding the baby when the birth mom changed her mind and came to take away the baby.

This little baby boy was the one that was baptized here during conference weekend.  He was the cutest black boy and was so friendly to all the senior missionaries.  But you could tell he was the apple of President Pace's eye!  He is in school and the teacher was having the kids wear different colors to school each day for two weeks.  On the day she told everyone to wear the color brown, he came home and said he would not do that.  The parents encouraged him to wear brown, but there was no way!  When he got to school, the next day, the teacher asked him why he wasn't wearing brown.  He told her that he was wearing brown on his skin everyday so he did not need to wear brown clothes!

This little boy was, on another occasion, waiting in his classroom to be picked up by his mother.  There was a substitute teacher working that day when his mom came to get him.  He told his substitute teacher that his mom was there and asked if he could go.  The teacher looked around and not seeing a black mother told him to wait until she came into the room.  He then looked at her and told her that he was adopted and his mother was white!

His sister is 13 years old and is five years older than him.  When she was first getting acquainted with him as her new brother, the parents were trying to explain the skin color difference.  The little girl made this astute observation when she said something to the effect that she understood.  He has black skin and I have blue eyes.  We are different, but he is my brother....

What a great example for the world to embrace and adopt!  Can you imagine the feeling of unity and appreciation for differences that would be established with this kind of attitude?  Mom and I were grateful for the sweet opportunity to share this last pot luck meal with the Pace's.

Oh, and by the way, we will be home in less than 48 hours!  Thank you for joining us tonight!  We love you!

13 October 2018 - Saturday

13 October 2018 - Saturday

Today marked our last assignment day here in the Wyoming Mormon Trail Mission.  My morning assignment was working the foundation of the Fort Seminoe project, and mom made some medallions for next year.  And our afternoon assignment was a four hour shift at the Visitors' Center.  We looked forward to a very exciting final day!  So we celebrated by having our favorite breakfast this morning.  And I must add that our food supply is depleting right on schedule!  We will probably have a very very small box of food to bring home with us on Tuesday.

We've got the griddle going with the hash browns, and the pancakes are next!

 

The perfect presentation of golden brown potatoes, pancakes and eggs. 

Those are the last of our fresh eggs, and we are on our last half gallon of Almond Milk.  As long as we don't get snowed in tomorrow or Monday, we should be Okay!  Can you tell that we enjoyed this awesome meal??  This must be a reunion cabin addition!!  Grandpa will supply the whipped cream!

At 7:45am we were loading up for our day of senior missionary service.  The temperature got down to only 35 degrees, last night, and the sun was trying to peek through the clouds this morning.  Mom and I are really pulling for some sunny days, but that ideal setting will be very elusive for us today!

It seems like the clouds are a lot tougher than the sun is!

The correlation meeting, this morning, gave mom and I our last opportunity for the prayer and the thought.  Our assignments took us in different directions this morning.  Mom and Sister Roberts had the important assignment to make some more medallions for next season.  Elder Roberts and I went out to the Fort Seminoe project and covered the last area with dirt we had uncovered yesterday.  

We still had a lot of mud on this project, but I was able to use some rubber boots.

The brothers of thunder - check out Elder Lasher's boots!

Our Church History department wanted this "stump" cut off with a chain saw

Leveling the playing field takes on a whole new meaning!

Notice that "stump" in the picture?  It was not a tree that grew up in the foundation over the years.  It  is what appears to be a post set to the original fort foundation back in 1852.  It lifted right out of the foundation with a lot of missionary exertion!  The History Department sure missed this one in their evaluation so we saved it for their next visit.  

I also got the nod to burn the senior missionary trash one more time.  The refuse was littered with lots of tin cans and aerosol cans that we "discovered" when the fire got really hot!  However, we were told just two weeks ago that all the trash would be hauled off in the monthly trash pick-up.  At least that was the plan until the trash filled the dumpster before the 30 days had passed!  So we unloaded the dumpster and built a fire.  Two senior missionaries "dumpster diving" on their last day of work assignments!  What a way to go out!

Setting the trash heap on fire and keeping it burning!

That fire burned for over six hours!

Mom and I got to the Visitors' Center for our 12 noon shift.  I was given the sweet opportunity to assist in giving Elder Criddle a blessing with President Pace.  He hurt his back and has been struggling with different health issues.  He and his wife are here for the winter, so his health concerns are deep and worrisome for them.  They are such good people!

And for my last day in the Visitors' Center I had a wonderful experience with a prospective member.  He was actually scouting out a place to hunt antelope.  When he drove into the Martin's Cove Homestead, I am sure he was not looking for religious dialog.  But he was so receptive to the messages of the pioneer emigrants that motivated them to leave their native countries and gather to Zion.  

I was able to discuss several stories that touched him and allowed me the opportunity to offer him a Book of Mormon.  I introduced this book as the motivation for these precious pioneers to come to America and gather to Zion, even at the peril of losing family and friends and even facing death in the process.   He readily agreed to read the book.  As he took it, I asked him to commit to the promise that he would read about in the tenth chapter of Moroni.  He said he would!

Before our shift ended at 4:00pm, the temperatures had dropped below freezing and the snow began falling.  I was too cold and in too much of a hurry to take a picture... I forgot my heavy coat and could only focus on getting to the car quickly.  Again, another experience that reminded us of the extreme tests these pioneers endured in their quest to get to Zion in 1856,

Mom and I were home in our jammies by 5:00pm.  I had the heater on high and was just starting to feel my hands and feet once more.  That is when there was a knock at the door and President Pace and his wife came for an exit interview.  That was fun!  We sat with them for a few minutes and then they were off to see the Roberts, who will leave on Tuesday as well.  This has been a wonderful mission and now it is time to come home!

12 October 2018 - Friday

12 October 2018 - Friday

Here we are slipping into the last weekend of our mission!  This was a windy, and cold, day in the mission field.  We had assignments back at the Fort Seminoe foundation area.  This time we were told to remove part of the dirt we placed on the ground cover last week during that rain and snow storm.  It appears that the Church History Department wanted the area to be flat before putting the ground cover down and part of the dig foundation area was not flat.  

So, you are called as a full time senior missionary, in a well publicized work mission, to do and redo and then, again, redo an assignment that did not meet the standards from Church headquarters.  What do you do?  You catch yourself from murmuring, and get the job done right, the third time!  It was cold and muddy and so windy, but after our initial "discussions", Elder Hansen and I got to work;

The snow/ice covered foundation of the original Fort Seminoe

The dirt was carefully shaved off the ground cover and passed inspection!

The final shaving of the ground cover with two obedient, but cold, senior missionaries!

Sometimes we are so quick to complain and murmur about decisions that are made beyond our control.  You can get mad, you can refuse to do the work, and/or you can create contention within the ranks of the missionaries.  None of these directions are of any worth in a Zion society.  It is a hard lesson to learn, I can positively attest to.  But serving a mission with all your might, mind, and strength takes some sacrifice.  Maybe somewhere down the road they might ask me about what I would have done differently, but until then, we just have three more days!

This afternoon, mom and I, along with Elder and Sister Hansen, went to Alcova for an assigned ministry effort from the mission.  I am glad we went to get acquainted with some wonderful neighbors.  We met the new school teacher for the elementary school in Alcova, and the new deputy sheriff.  The teacher has 19 years experience in teaching and her class size here in Alcova is 6 (six) students.  The deputy sheriff has been in the Casper sheriff's department for about 15 years and just got assigned to Alcova.

The community in Alcova has about 90 residents in the population.  

We left the gathering after about 30 minutes and the Hansen's took us on a back road drive back to the Homestead.  The route we took went through Fremont Canyon and some beautiful scenic spots;

The canyon walls were 50' high!

This is a picture from one of the vista points

A picture straight down!  I'm glad there was a rail there!

The high, and current, water marks for the Platt River

I'm not sure I would have wanted to help build this bridge!

This is the Pathfinder Lake on the Fremont Canyon trail

It was very interesting to take this scenic ride back to the Homestead.  We have not taken too many side trips this mission, electing to focus on the work, but we were glad to have taken this way home!

Speaking of contention, the Adversary is very anxious for our country to be in an uproar over beliefs and goals.  He stirs up the people so that the focus of the people is not on peace, and the Peace-giver.  What a subtle way to take the precious message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and cloud it with distractions and, ultimately, hatred towards each other.  I was listening to one of Elder Nelson's earlier talks tonight and he made an interesting observation.  

He said contention does not start on the national level, it starts with one person.  Then it spreads and more folks get involved.  Little disagreements in our families and in our wards really start with one person.  I would have to ask, simply, "Lord, is it I?"  Hopefully we are not the ones starting the scourge of contention, but we can be one to limit its growth!

Probably the best way to avoid contention is to not let it affect our feelings, and our actions, with one of Heavenly Father's precious children.  Let us each be the peacemaker in our homes, in our families and in our wards.  Then we can help and assist the process of diminishing contention in our communities and in our nation!

I am so grateful for a living Prophet!  Going back and listening to all of his talks in General Conference has given me a different perspective of preparing for the Second Coming!

11 October 2018 - Thursday

11 October 2018 - Thursday

Although this morning began with below freezing temperatures, there was hope for some sun today!  And by 3:00pm we were not disappointed!  As mom and I got into the car, and headed for the Homestead and our correlation meeting, we saw this beautiful sunrise and cloud formation that left some opportunity for the coming sunshine this afternoon;

We were rooting for the sun to break through and warm us up!

The last few days have been snowy and cold.  All we have seen the last few days is dark and dreary clouds, snow and rain.  The Wyoming winds keep the snow from accumulating on the plains, but the north side of the surrounding mountains become the collecting point.  These mountains are just on the south side of highway 220 at the entrance to the Missionary Village;

What a frozen view from our Missionary Village!

As the senior missionaries gathered for correlation this morning, the last two senior couples were informed that they will be going home on the 23rd of October.  That is a month earlier than they expected.  They are both planning on coming back next year, and one couple offered, in May, to stay for the winter.  They were not the ones selected to stay, and it confirmed to mom and me that the Lord knew who He wanted here this winter.  

Mom and I were separated in our assignments today.  She stayed at the Homestead to work with some sisters in putting the last few handcarts away, while I was assigned to work with two Elders in winterizing the Missionary Village trailers.  These trailers all needed the water turned off, the water lines blown out, the P-traps filled with antifreeze, and the mouse traps set.  As a precious tender mercy side note, mom and I were blessed to be one of the very few residences, if not the only one, free from mice!

Our first order of business to winterize these trailers was finding where to turn off the water going into these trailers!  We found one shut-off valve inside one of the trailers, but the other four had the shut-off valves under the trailers!  That is the last thing I wanted to do was crawl under any of these trailers!  However, I was pleasantly surprised to find 3 of the 4 shut-off valves within reach from the crawl space doors.  That meant I did not have to crawl under the trailer.  I just had to get down on all fours and reach under the trailer to the shut-off valve.  I am finding that it is almost as hard to knee down as it is to get back up!

Then we got to the fourth trailer.  This trailer was no fun.  The valve was six feet away from the crawl space door.... And the 4" drain pipes were just 18 inches off the ground and a little too tight for  Grandpa to crawl under.  So, Elder Call came to the rescue.  He is a lot smaller than Grandpa!  We laid out some plastic ground cover so he would not come in contact with the dirt and in he went!

We are draining the hot water heater and crawling under the trailer!

Elder call got stuck here and I was able to give him a strong armed hand back up!

Now we can say we have done just about everything as senior missionaries!  Elder Call and Elder Klucken and I had a rough and tumble time together, but we got the job done.  At about 3:00pm we were somewhat rewarded for our efforts when the sun came out in all its glory!  That warmth felt so good even if it only lasted an hour!

My final assignment was to work with the propane company and get some of the six propane tanks refilled here in the Missionary Village.  The one tank that was most used this summer was down to 15%.  The driver had just filled all seven of the tanks at the homestead so he had just enough to top this tank off.  The others out here are all above 25% so he will be back with a full tank in the near future to finish off the job.

We use propane for the heaters and the clothes dryers and some of the stoves.

As I was listening to one of President Nelson's early talks, as then Elder Nelson, I was impressed with this thought; sometimes we give each other the "silent treatment" when we disagree with each other, or we get mad at someones point of view.  I have been so guilty of this over my lifetime and I hope to repent and forsake this practice!  He likened the action of giving someone the silent treatment with not saying our prayers.  Giving the Lord the "silent" treatment, by not regularly saying our prayers, is not conductive to moving ahead and drawing closer to Him.  

The same can be said about our eternal relationships that are so important to us today.  It is so important, and beneficial, to our eternal progress, to always talk kindly with each other and explore the feelings and the ideas that we each uniquely have.  If we can communicate with all of our family members with love and kindness, with the goal of better understanding another's unique point of view, we will be that much better off in understanding those promptings from a kind and loving Father.  This message was made for me and I wanted to share it tonight!  Anybody with me on this?

"Some people see things as they are and ask, why?  Others see things as they should be and ask, why not?"  (Charles DuBois)  Elder Uchtdorf offered some wonderful counsel in his General Conference talk last week that goes right along with this idea of helping each other.  How grateful I am to have these messages readily available for our review anytime we want!

10 October 2018 - Wednesday

10 October 2018 - Wednesday

Our last week in the mission field continues to march forward.  It has been very cold here, in Wyoming, the last few days, and we have not seen any sunshine!  Today we had a little break in the weather, with sun shining out at our Missionary Village from 3:30pm until 3:40pm.  But hey, 10 minutes is better than no sun!  And the temperature warmed up to almost 36 degrees!  Most of the day it was below freezing, and an ice rain was falling for most of the morning and early afternoon as we moved handcarts into their winter storage areas.  

The mission experienced the return of the FM manager and his wife today.  The Criddles took two weeks off and went to Oregon to pack up their home and put it on the market.  It was quite a move for two senior missionaries!  They are among the six couples staying here for the winter, and the summer season, next year.  Everybody loves this couple, and they were warmly welcomed back this morning;

Elder and Sister Criddle being welcomed back from their two week sabbatical!

We all got our assignments at the correlation meeting this morning.  It was all hands on deck to assist the Casper young missionaries in bringing all 300 handcarts into the Barn and the Trek Center for the winter.  They picked the coldest day of the year, so far, for this activity.  However, for mom and me, it was a small taste of what the Willie and Martin Handcart companies experienced in 1856;

This was not easy for these senior missionaries!  Mom's heartbeat was high afterward!

The young Casper missionaries making the effort look easy!

Removing all the snow before storing them in the Trek Center

Just a few weeks ago, this was half the dining area in the Barn!

The wind was blowing steady as we brought the carts over to the storage areas.  The pathway was pretty level, and the load was empty, but what a great sense of what the pioneers had to endure over the last 400 miles of their trek!  I could not help but reflect on Francis Webster's story about angels helping push his cart.  I brought over around 10 carts from Outfitting near the Welcome Post, to the Trek Center and two all the way to the Barn.  At first my thoughts were that it was a great workout.  Then my muscles strained to pulled the last two or three carts to the storage areas.  I could only imagine how the pioneers must have felt with the temperatures 30 degrees less, and the weights in the handcarts in the range of 300 pounds.  How could I ever view the sacrifices and the challenges that the Saints endured, without a greater appreciation, after this brief experience this morning?

After we got the handcarts stowed, mom and I assisted in feeding these precious young missionaries.  The meal consisted of potatoes, chili, and all the toppings, along with desserts, and a warm place to recover.  The pioneers had wet clothing, very little nourishment, and family members dying on a daily basis.  Mom and I were so grateful for this small test in our mission experience, today, to "feel" and be "challenged" a little, in the sufferings and the determination of some of the most faithful members of the Church in our history.  I can't complain, ever again, about some cold weather, or the lack of a meal, after this sacred and special glimpse into the life of an 1856 handcart pioneer.

Preparing the meal for the twenty young missionaries

A snapshot of the warn and comfortable building we had to be refreshed!

After the clean-up in the Barn, mom and I joined the Klucken's in working on the senior missionary housing trailers in getting them ready for the winter.  We blew out the water in the pipes inside the trailer next to ours and then put antifreeze in the P-traps in the sinks and showers.  We then drained the toilets and put antifreeze in the remaining water in the bowls and the tanks.  We got the first trailer done this afternoon and we have four more to do for tomorrow's assignment.  

Once I got back home, I got into my pajamas and wrapped up in a blanket to try and warm up my whole body.  The experience tonight was, again, a testimony building experience for me in appreciation for the early handcart pioneers.  I finally got warm tonight.  They had to remain cold for days.  I marvel, and I better understand the love that Heavenly Father had for these precious pioneer Saints in their extreme circumstance.  And I know He loves me just as much as He loves them!  How can I possibly deny the existence of my loving Father and His Son Jesus Christ.  I cannot!

9 October 2018 - Tuesday

9 October 2018 - Tuesday

Here we are wrapping up our last Tuesday in the mission field!  We returned to the scheduled work force as we completed our preparation day, yesterday, in getting our trailer detailed for our departure.  The morning temperature, today, was 28 degrees, and our car was covered in 3" of snow.  I was out sweeping off the car and warming it up when I realized my camera phone was inside!  However, we got some fun pictures at the Homestead as we reported for our opening assignment at the Visitors' Center at 8:00am;

Heading for our work assignment at the VC!  8:00am until noon, then the work party!

Icicles already forming from the wet snow last night

 

Just a very limited glimpse of the precious pioneer situation in October 1856

Mom and I chipped ice on all the walkways to avoid slip and falls

Beautiful picture of Devil's Gate this morning

We had four hours in the Visitors' Center with no visitors.  But we did get the walkways all cleared by 10:00am.  We huddled in the VC near a portable heater, after prepping the sidewalks.  Even though the building is on climate control of a constant 70 degrees, we were still cold!

After our relief came at noon, we changed into our work blues.  We have the young missionaries coming tomorrow to help put the handcarts, and the wagons, in the Barn and the Trek Center.  They will also head out to Handcart Parking to stack the picnic tables in that pavilion.  Part of our assignment was to set up the pattern for the young missionaries to follow in stowing the handcarts;

The empty Trek Center where about 200 handcarts will be stored

The floor was covered in some very large tarps

Here is Elder Lasher stowing some chairs

Handcarts lined up in the Trek Center for the young missionaries to follow.

This effort was duplicated in the Barn.  Half of the Barn will be used for handcart storage and the other half will still be used for an eating area.  Mom and I will be on the food preparation committee, in the morning, to prepare a meal for the young missionaries.

We then went over to the Fort Seminoe project.  They covered the original foundation with dirt last week on a rainy day, and they wanted to return, with the senior missionaries, to fill in some low spots with dirt.  The problem was that the dirt is now quicksand-type mud.  When you step in the wrong areas you sink down eight of more inches.  Mom and I did not approve of working this project.  One precious sister sunk down about twelve inches and then twisted her back.  Our motto now is if we don't feel safe in doing some of these belated projects, to just say NO!

Granny and I went back to the Barn and cleaned out the missionary refrigerators, where there was a lot of spoiled food left by departing missionaries over the last two weeks.  And then we helped out in the wood-shop.  We called it a day at 3:30pm and headed for home.  My sciatic nerve was acting up on my left side, so I rested tonight, and applied some Deep Blue heat.  It is feeling much better!  And  now, I am so ready to join mom in bed in just a few minutes!

I am still marveling at the historic 188th annual General Conference!  Both mom and I are watching the talks, together, and filling in more details about the messages meant for us personally.  Isn't the instant replays of the conference talks wonderful?  We are sure looking forward to your insights and discussions in our up-coming reunion!

Here is a fun diversion shot of mom and the sister's making a snowman!

Sister Klucken and Sister Roberts and Granny started making a snowman in front of the Fort Seminoe project.  It is no surprise that it sure beats sinking into eight inches of mud!  Leave it to those senior missionary sisters to find the positive in a very muddy project!