June 8, 2016 - Wednesday in Nauvoo

We both had an early schedule this morning.  Mom had the assignment to work in the gardens, and I worked at the Handcart Station.  Mom walked down to her assignment and left the house at 6:25am.  I left the house and walked to my assignment at 7:10am.  It was such a nice day today!  Even though there is a heat wave forecasted for this weekend, of temperatures into the 100's, we saw temperatures only hit the mid 70's today.  Even walking back home was not too uncomfortable.  My walk was about a mile each way, and mom went closer to two miles each way.

We had some work to do with the vegetation growth along the trek trails this morning.  We had the weed-eaters and the hedge trimmers singing some serious tunes to begin our site assignment responsibilities!  Here is a shot of a trail, I attacked, that is about a quarter of a mile long;

The front part of the 1, 2 and 3 mile treks

We had two groups of trekkers this morning.  The first group was a mother and son who came here to trek together for an ancestor who was with the James G. Willie Handcart Company of 1856.  They were walking for the Reeder Family, Caroline (17), Robert (19), and their father David (54).  [The mother had died in childbirth for Caroline].  The father, David, died on the trail to the Salt Lake Valley on October 1, 1856.  And Caroline died two weeks later.  Only Robert survived to see the Salt Lake Valley.  I am humbled and constantly amazed at the sacrifices the Saints made to make their trip to Zion.  And what is even more significant is that they never complained about the hardships in later years.  In fact many of them felt it a privilege to go through this experience to become, "better acquainted with God"...

Descendants of Robert Reeder

We then had a Young Women's group from Allen, Texas, here in Nauvoo for the week.  And today, they were pretty excited to take this 2 mile trek adventure together.  Here is a picture of them preparing to go;

Allen, Texas Young Women

I gave them orientation on the things to be aware of along the trail.  We always caution them on poison oak and poison ivy, although we have yet to see any this year.  We also caution them to be aware of the thorny Locust Tree.  This tree has long pointed thorns that can pierce the skin and has been known to go all the way through a hand or foot.  It is only located off the marked trail.  Here is a picture I got today of the tree;

Thorny Locust tree

A little closer shot...

 

 

See those hidden thorns??

This tree looks so good from a distance, but these thorns are hidden right below the surface.  It is exactly like the Adversary.  He makes things look good in disguise of what is really bad for us.  I love showing them the bare branch of the tree, after the leaves fall off in the late Fall, and then compare the covered branches with these beautifully deceptive leaves!  Great object lesson for teenagers!

I got home about 12:30pm and quickly took a shower to get ready for our temple session at 4:00pm this afternoon.  Mom got home about 30 minutes later and did the same.  We both had dinner together, before the session, and had a chance to take a much needed nap!  Working in the sun, for both of us, takes so much energy out of us!  We have had a full and wonderful day, and still no Levi!  Tomorrow is my mom's birthday... maybe tomorrow Levi???