10 May 2018 - Thursday - Happy Birthday Josie!

10 May 2018 - Thursday

For our precious Josie's birthday, today, we took an eight mile trek through Martin's Cove as part of our training.  Our trek training began at the Outfitters cabin at 9:00am.  We left our trailer at 7:50am to get there on time, and to see who we could talk to early.  But first some anxiously awaited pictures of our hair-cutting event last night;

New do for Granny the handcart pioneer!

"Grandpa " with his new do!

And here we are at the Outfitters Cabin - 8:45am

It was an absolutely beautiful morning with cloudy sky's, and cool breezes, to encourage us in this training.  There were about 30 senior missionaries from Martin's Cove, and from Sixth Crossing, in this group.  There were several assignments given to missionaries along the way to help us prepare for the youth groups this summer.  Mom and I were the "mingler's making sure the senior missionaries were doing OK.  

The beautiful morning sky

We are just beginning the trek

Looking towards Martin's Cove area.  We will be there in about 4 hours

This was another great opportunity for mom and I to talk to the other missionaries.  Since we have two groups, one from Martin's Cove and one from Sixth Crossing, activities like these give us that opportunity.  The scenery is unbelievable.  We have Devil's Gate right behind us, and Split Rock is about twenty miles ahead of us, in the above picture.

Another Woman's Pull experience - Granny is up front

Granny catching her breath - what our women can do!

I have to talk just a little about the experience we have here with the women's pull.  As the Saints were moving west from the mobs in Nauvoo, the men were called upon to do a variety of things that took them away from their families.  They were called on missions, they were called to serve in the Mormon Battalion, and they were placed in many extreme situations where they literally gave their lives for their families.  

The Women's pull represents the extreme challenges that were placed on the wives and mothers and sisters and daughters left to care for the family in the absence of the men.  It would be my desire that all my grandsons understand, appreciate and love and support the girls and the women in your lives.  They would all lay down their lives for you if they needed to.  And for all the children, giving birth to a son or a daughter takes our mothers down that sacred road where life and death are very close together.  If you read this part of the blog, would you give your mom's and sister's a big hug of love and appreciation for Granny and Grandpa?

The Dan W. Jones cove is the prelude for the trek through Martin's Cove

The view over the valley from Dan W. Jones Cove

From this point in our trek, we remained silent as we walked the two miles in and out of Martin's Cove.  The feeling going into the cove was sacred and reflective.  As we walked through we could feel the spirit of the pioneers who gave their all here.  Then, as we left the cove there was a spirit of hope and encouragement as we heard the birds singing to us as we walked the dusty path back to our handcarts parked about a mile away.

A visitor, that was not a member of the Church, asked awhile ago about the feelings he was having in the Martin's Cove area.  One of the members of the presidency asked him what he thought it was.  The member of the presidency was shocked at his answer.  He said he expected the visitor to say that the feeling was spiritual or inspiring.  Instead he said; "This place feels clean".

Entering into Martin's Cove

Thought provoking - what is our enemy?

The mountains around the Cove.

The plaque that spoke about the the unseen and the persistent enemy is really about those influences that take us away from our Heavenly Father.  It could be money, nice clothing, pride, offenses given to us by others, or unkind remarks or treatments.  Or it could be freezing snow, starvation, and exhaustion.  Whatever it is, we can work through it with our faith, persistence and in our watch-care over each other.  As our precious Ali posted tonight, "How big are your problems on a scale of one to God"?  

We can do hard things and we, as a family, can endure well.  The absolute worst that could happen to us as we choose those things, that will bring us closer to our Heavenly Father, is that we die giving it our best effort!  The experience of the handcart saints reminds us that we, too, can do hard things, if we just remember who we are and who we can become!