20 May 2018 - Sunday

20 May 2018 - Sunday

Mom and I have enjoyed our Sabbath Day.  It was cold this morning as we left for the Homestead at Martin's Cove.  The temperature was in the mid 40's.  But the morning was absolutely gorgeous as the temperatures rose and the sun came out.  By the time we returned back to the missionary village this afternoon, it was a very pleasant 65 degrees.

Our Sabbath Day consists of meeting together as senior missionaries at the Martin's Cove Branch. It has 7 official members!  The average Sacrament Meeting at this point in our mission is around 56 members.  Today we had a family of three join us.  I was privileged to help pass the Sacrament.  Each of the senior couples are assigned to speak in the sacrament meeting over the course of their six month assignment.  Mom and I will be speaking June 10th.  There are usually 2 senior couples who speak together.

We are also assigned Sunday school lessons and Priesthood and Relief Society lessons.  We have not been assigned to teach at this point.  The depth of church experience is wonderful here.  You can't help but learn new things from the varied experiences of the missionaries, and, as one of the speakers noted today,  you can help but cry from the strong influence of the Holy Ghost on these sacred grounds!

Then, after our meetings, we come together in the "Barn" to share a pot-luck meal.  The Barn is the old barn building on the Sun Ranch, and it has been converted into a large dining area for the missionaries and their guests.  There are a lot of great dishes that are made each Sunday.  Mom and I have been consistent in bringing our favorite salads, but on one occasion, we brought some lemon bars... When you come to see us, please plan on staying for the Sunday meetings!!

This is our final week of trek preparations.  Next week, on May 31st, we have our first group of trekkers.  The Visitors' Center will stay open from 9:00am until 9:00pm beginning this Friday.  The off season hours has had the center closing at 7:00pm.  As you can imagine, mom is so excited about getting the closing shift in the Visitors' Center this summer!!

It has been such a blessing to be here and see for ourselves the sacrifices that have been made over the years.  Certainly the sacrifices of the handcart pioneers and the two wagon companies from 1856 take a central role here.  Then we see missionaries who are giving their time and talents in serving the youth who come here, and, even serving the struggling senior missionaries with a variety of health issues.  It really is a Zion society and we can't wait to share some intimate experiences with each of you when you come!

And, as always, I love to read your comments and insights.  We invite all those who take the time to read the blog to leave us a comment.  The love we feel for each of you is growing stronger everyday, and we appreciate your love, and prayers for us, as we are away for a season!

19 May 2018 - Saturday - Mia's 9th birthday!

19 May 2018 - Saturday

Today was our preparation day.  After our morning prayers of gratitude for Faith being preserved, we got ourselves ready for the events of the day.  We sent our greetings to Mia for her birthday and are so grateful for her.  What a blessing it is to be a part of this precious family.  It was quite apparent yesterday how quickly things can change within the sanctity of our families.  It is so easy to take for granted our love for each other, our relationships, with each other, and our hopes and dreams as a family.  

As a sweet token from our Heavenly Father, today mom and I were easily able to recognize His Hand in the lives of the Lasher's and the Sathre's.   Both families had potentially life changing experiences that could have gone terribly wrong.  Instead, we all received precious lessons of faith and testimony that Jesus loves each one of us, and is very much in the details of our lives.  

Yes, we will continue along the Covenant Path that will lead us back to our Heavenly Home.  Only today, after these tender mercies afforded each one of us, we were strengthened, and we will rejoice in the goodness, and the watch-care, that has been extended to our family.  This has been the essence of our preparation day, and we are so very thankful for the generous outpouring of love, from Him, to mom and me, and each member of our wonderful family.

There is no place I would rather be than with my family and I know I speak for Granny as well!  We love you and we continue to pray for you morning and night!

18 May 2018 - Friday

18 May 2018 - Friday

We can't believe another week has come and gone for us in the mission field.  Our day began with our morning preparations and travel into the Homestead at Martin's Cove.  The morning was cloudy with the sun trying to come out for our benefit.  However, the clouds ended up prevailing and we had thunder and lightening and hail and rain this afternoon during our district meeting.  But we were safe and out of the weather, and for that we were grateful.

You see, we had the assignment to work out at one of the camps for the trekkers, as we countdown to the beginning of the trek season on May 31st.  We cleaned up the many of the hundreds of groundhog holes and tunnels at the Cherry Creek campground, and then did some weed clearing at the amphitheaters.  We also had some other cleaning assignments for our district meeting before the actual meeting at 3:00pm.  

Some of these holes took logs and large rocks to help fill!

As we capped off hundreds of holes, the varmints uncovered them again!

It was a lot of hard work to fill in these holes.  The concern was that the campers would get hurt if they stepped into one of these holes while walking or playing at the campgrounds.  But we soon discovered that these animals have a system of  "ministering" amoungst themselves... When one hole was covered, the word got out to come and help uncover it again and the response was amazing!  They would pop up out of the newly uncovered hole and give us a lecture on messing with their work!

Here we are reducing the spring weed crop at the amphitheater overlooking the Sweetwater River

Being outdoors this morning, we were at the mercy of the weather patterns.  However, we were spared any rain, hail of thunder and lightening until we were safely in our district meeting this afternoon.  Elder J. Taylor is our District Leader.  This is his second year here in the mission.  He has several metal pins in his back from a terrible accident several years ago.  When the weather gets cold, he can hardly move.  When they were asked to stay last winter, he told the mission president that he had a very low tolerance for cold due to his back surgeries.  

The mission president, who himself has been afflicted with cancer, shingles and a severely injured back, gave Elder Taylor a blessing and told him he would be able to thrive here during the winter months.  And wouldn't you know it, they had one of the mildest winters on record here last winter!

In our meeting we also heard a wonderful testimony building story from Elder Reese.  He had lost his radio on a work day that his parents from Arizona decided to come and surprise him and his wife.  His parents  must be in their 80's, but they were very active and took several hikes around the area including the hike to the top of Devil's Gate!  Elder Reese was excited to see his parents, but was torn between his work assignment and the key part he was given before he knew his parents were coming.  

Add all this concern to his losing his radio!  We all have these radios and they run about $200 each.  When Elder Reese came to work on the next day, he and his wife looked everywhere for that radio.  They tried to retrace every step and could not find the radio.  He even went out to a place far out in the fields, where we dump the grass clippings, to see if he had dropped it out there. Still no radio.  

Then he and his wife offered a prayer and said something to the effect that the radio could be replaced, but he pleaded for divine help to locate it if possible.  Within 30 seconds of ending that senior missionary prayer, he looked out in the field, about 25 yards away, and there was the radio.  His humble and sincere prayer confirmed to him that Heavenly Father was is the very intimate details of his life and in each of our lives!

Such learning opportunities and teaching moments come regularly as we serve together.  What a blessing it is to serve a mission and we hope and pray for all of our future missionaries to know that heavenly Father needs them to prepare well for their future service!  It will be an awesome experience as you learn the things that you are being taught today!

The official mission hat!

Finally, take a look at this hat.  I can order these hats for any family member who wants one.  If you let me know by text message as soon as possible, I will order them and have them here with me.  Just let me know if you would like to have one!  Granny says I look good in mine!

17 May 2018 - Thursday

17 May 2018 - Thursday

Mom and I had a fun and fascinating day today.  It has become our custom to be up and doing by 4:45am each day to get ready for our day.  And we understand that when the trekkers come in, we may need to be up even earlier to meet trek groups at their campgrounds as early as 6:00am.  We can do that!  We had finished our morning routine of praying and reading and taking the morning walk by 6:30am.  And then we were on our way to Martin's Cove and the Homestead by 7:30am for our correlation meeting at 8:30am.

I feel so much better being early!  Mom and I got an assignment to set up the trek room after the floors were painted earlier this week.  As we were wrapping up our assignment at about 9:45am, we were surprised by a school group who did not confirm their arrival in advance.  However, it was so fun to see the missionaries get on their radios and signal where they would cover for the tours.  I went to the blacksmith shop and felt right at home from the Nauvoo experiences.

Blacksmith Pa!

I had so much fun working here in the Blacksmith Shop today.  Elder Lewis gave the presentation on the duties and the history of the Blacksmith and I gave the story and the history of the Prairie Diamond.  That is such a fun story to tell and connected it to the 500,000 emigrants who came through this area in the mid 1800's.  Of course, with the school groups, I could not tell my "Mary's" version, but I had fun telling them that 3 of those 500,000 were boys who wanted to marry this one girl. 

In one of the groups I asked them how could three boys marry one girl??  It was, of course, a rhetorical question.  But this one precious 10 year old girl answered me in the most innocent way.  She said, "well maybe they could take turns?"  That caused the school teacher to blush and try to set the record straight, but that just added to my story!

The boy that got to marry that pioneer girl had to be the most creative of the three, and would not shy away from the challenge to fulfill the father's command that the boy that would marry his daughter had to give her a diamond ring.  I was able to tell them that sometimes they would be asked to do hard things that somehow would seem impossible, but to never give up like the other two boys did!  It was a fun object lesson!

I also asked them if they wanted one of these awesome prairie diamonds....  and the answer was always unanimous in the affirmative.  With their enthusiasm I told them that with each prairie diamond ring, we would offer them FREE lifetime sizing and cleaning when they brought their families back!  (Then we could discuss the Gospel).  In one of the other groups another sweet girl told me, as she stared at my missionary badge, that she just saw a "Sister Lasher"....  Precious kids!

The beautiful spring buds coming out in full today!

By the time the school group was served, it was time for lunch.  I met Granny at the Barn where we have lunch on our work days.  We sat next to the Criddle's who have one of their families living in Amy and Josh's ward in Liberty Lake.  We have really enjoyed getting to know the Criddle's.  And today, he shared a very tender story with us.  

Our friend Elder Criddle

Elder Criddle is the great, great, great grandson of William W. Player.  William W. Player came over from England in 1840 by the request of the Church leaders to work on the Nauvoo Temple.  He was not in the least interested in getting paid, but he wanted to consecrate his time, and his stone cutting talents, and was made the head stone setter for the temple.  In fact, he was one of the few who set the capstone for the original Nauvoo temple as one of the final efforts in completing the temple.  

Then in 2002, when the Criddle's found out that the Nauvoo Temple was going to be dedicated on June 27, 2002, they knew they wanted to be there.  With tears in Elder Criddle's eyes he spoke of the tender mercy that he experienced on that day of dedication.  They got there early in the morning of June 27th and they were sitting in the front row.  As the dedication got started he could not help but think about his great, great, great grandfather William W. Player. He also notice the security guard standing on the front of the stage who soon came over to him, after the program started, and asked him, "what do you want?"

He thought he was going to be arrested!  But the guard asked him again, "I can see you want something, what is it that you want?  Elder Criddle then told him about his great, great, great grandfather who set a similar capstone for the original temple  in 1845.  The guard then escorted him,

and his son, up on the stage and let President Hinckley know who he was.  He was then a participant in the capstone setting for the 2002 Nauvoo Temple. 

I am crying right now thinking about that tender mercy that was so sweetly provided by a sensitive security guard and an all knowing Heavenly Father.  Perhaps William W. Player was also allowed some influence in that remarkable event!

And for our final activity tonight, mom and I took a three mile walk around the Missionary Village.  It is the best time for both of us to be together for this exercise.  I took this picture at the end of our walk;

Our three mile walk this afternoon!

The building right behind mom is the Pavilion.  This is where many of our activities take place here and it is where the land line phone is waiting for us to call home!  Our trailer is at the far left of the picture.  We feel it such a sweet surprise and blessing that we are so close to the meeting room and for the marvelous view we have just outside our kitchen window that overlooks the fields that the handcart pioneers had to pass through after the rescue.  They still had about 350 miles to go until they got to Salt Lake City and there were still a few dozen that would perish on the last leg of their journey.  Sometimes I can see in my minds eye their faithful efforts to continue their journey to Zion.

We love you and thank-you for checking in with us tonight!  It has been another remarkable day!

16 May 2018 - Wednesday

16 May 2018 - Wednesday

It is now official!  We have been in the mission field for one calendar month, and what a busy month this has been!  And it is all mostly covered in the previous blog posts!  Except for today... I am now unveiling today's activities...

This was an absolutely beautiful morning.  We woke up to low 40's, in the temperatures, that made for some very restful sleeping.  We were up at 4:30am and getting ready for the day by 4:45am.  We had the assignment to open the Visitors' Center this morning at 8:00am, so we got going a little earlier.  Our morning prayers and Scripture reading got us jump started, and then my three mile walk was so invigorating.  I was watching rather intently on the sunrise.  Each morning we have such a unique look, and today was no exception;

I took 5 other pictures to get the sun peeking through the halo just right!

I was able to walk on the gravel roadbed, at the speed I needed to, so that I could register walking a mile in fifteen minutes.  I really feel the workout with the quickened pace.  We then left for the Homestead, at Martin's Cove, right at 7:30am.  That got us to the Visitors' Center a few minutes before 8:00am.  Our routine is to open the center, the museum, the wash-house, the bunkhouse and the Martin Cabin.  While mom was vacuuming the Visitors' Center, I  sweep off the sidewalks and got all the buildings unlocked.  And then mom helped me wash the bird droppings on the sidewalks.  

After finishing the opening procedures, we had our first guests.  The center is supposed to open at 9:00am but these folks got there at a little past 8:30am, and we were not about to make them wait.  We had several visitor's that came before 11:00am and mom had a sweet single sister, who was not a member, that we know of, and spent some time with her.  

She wanted to walk out to Devil's Gate, and we gave her directions to get there.  When she got back, mom gave her a tour of the Visitors' Center, and ended up bearing her testimony, and gave her a copy of the Book of Mormon.   We also gave her a copy of, "Tell My Story, Too.  She was so impressed with the information mom shared with her about these precious handcart pioneers that we decided to give her one of the two copies we brought with us.

Here are some old rocks and petrified wood pieces

This is a big piece of petrified wood.  Check out how it is developed on google!

There is so much to see here in the area.  The rocks and the formations are beautiful.  Mom and I are always looking for arrowheads and different unique rocks.  Perhaps some of our granddaughters might want to go exploring for rocks with us when they come to visit!  And believe me, when you come to see us, expect a lot of hugs and kisses!!

Today we had three ladies come from the Church History department to look over the artifacts here at Martin's Cove.  I had a chance to say good morning to them, but they were not too anxious to speak to me.  It is always too bad when some church members get in certain Church positions that they treat others with dis-respect and disdain.  I only mention this so that our young and older family members never treat someone any different than they would treat Jesus if He came walking by you.  I am sure He would make sure He was never too busy or too preoccupied to make someone feel inferior!  Enough said....

At around 9:30am the school group came from Paradise Valley, here in Wyoming, about an hour away.  They were a group of 4th graders and they were excited to be there!  I was standing outside the Visitors' Center, and greeting them just like I did with the three from Salt Lake.  One precious girl named, Nancy, saw me as she was heading for the restroom and stopped and ran up to me.  She looked at my name badge and said, "I am a Mormon!".... "Where did you serve your mission?"  She was so proud of who she was and wanted me to know it!

Here is a snapshot of the school students filing in for orientation.

The school groups taking the handcarts through Prairie Park

Wouldn't it be wonderful if we were all proud of who we are?  And especially knowing who we can become!  Being enthusiastic about being a Mormon tells me a great deal about who Nancy's parents are! 

A few days ago one of the senior missionaries was showing a school group what a typical 17 pound bucket would possibly contain for these handcart pioneers.  When she asked the group what they would take along, another very enthusiastic 4th grader said, "I would take my Book of Mormon!"  These precious young people are teaching us how we should be and how we could be as faithful and enthusiastic members of the Church!  And how much better it is if our classmates, and fellow citizens of the Saints, hear our enthusiastic declarations!

The cloud formation coming home this afternoon

And the clouds showing the setting sun who is in charge!

And finally, the last two pictures of the day.  The clouds were absolutely gorgeous.  Mom snapped the first picture of the thunderheads off in the distance towards Martin's Cove from our Missionary Village.  Then I caught the setting sun as we were taking our evening walk.

The views are spectacular and I hope I don't post too many of these wonderful pictures.  But it does give you an idea of how our environment is here in the mission field.  Every day is a special day! 

15 May 2018 - Tuesday

15 May 2018 - Tuesday

Mom and I were in for a new experience today, in our service here, in the Wyoming Mormon Trail Mission.  First thing this morning, we awoke at 4:45am and began our morning preparations for the day.  We had our personal prayers, and then our family prayer together, and then read our Scriptures together.  As mom continued her preparations for the day, I went out in the cold, fresh Wyoming morning air and enjoyed my three mile walk.

On my walk this morning I enjoyed the beautiful sunrise.  I thought about the association we are having with some choice senior missionaries who are sacrificing their time away from loved ones to be here.  We are all united in our efforts to give the most meaningful and spiritual experience to all those who will be coming to visit this sacred historic site.  I feel the power of the Holy Priesthood that has consecrated and dedicated this land of sacrifice that was given by those precious handcart pioneers in 1856.  What a privilege it is to serve as a full time missionary, in this capacity, with my sweetheart.

One of the new experiences we participated in was the restroom cleaning.  Somehow the "RR" designation for restroom cleaning became the "Rah Rah" assignment.  Who could have guessed that such an assignment would generate such a euphemism!  Well, of course you need to see an action shot!

Its all about the blue rubber gloves and the smile!

In the area called the "Homestead", we have four major bathrooms to clean.  Two are small missionary bathrooms like this one, but the other two are large bathrooms that facilitate groups of up to 300+ trekkers and visitors.  This was our first assignment to train in this area.  We found out that this work can be done as early in the morning as we desire.  After our cleaning is done, we are free for the rest of the day.  This morning we started our training about 9:30am and, by that time, the restrooms had already been in full demand by visitors and school groups.  Mom and I have decided we want to have this work done before 9:00am on the days we are assigned.

After this training was completed at 11:00am, mom and I looked around for other projects.  Although we could have gone home, we wanted to put in more time since it was just a training day.  Mom had been working on some souvenir medallions a few days ago, so we went to the sewing room to see what more we could do.  The room was empty, but we soon lined up some medallions to assemble.  Actually, mom did the assembly and I took a very uncomfortable snooze in the adjoining chair.  I woke up just in time to snap her picture and then went right back to closing my heavy eyes.

Each child will get one of these medallions this summer!

Then we had our lunch together with about 20 other senior missionaries in the "Barn".  That is the large gathering room on the Homestead where we have our Sunday pot-luck dinners and our mission assemblies and dinners.  It is always fun for me to watch the interactions of the missionaries and listen to their assorted and fascinating life stories!

Once we completed lunch we took a hike along and through Rattlesnake Pass.  We were on guard for snakes since one of the senior missionaries got a picture of a bull snake this morning at the entrance to Martin's Cove.  We walked along through this pass, which is part of the Oregon Trail, that parallels the Mormon and California and Pony Express trails. It is along this path that over 500,000 emigrants traveled between 1840 and 1869!

Devil's Gate is on the right just on the other side of the mountain.

There are thousands of these ant hills that are about 30 feet apart along the trail

We walked about two miles and then headed for home.  Notice in the above picture the white mound of dirt.  This is actually sand that thousands of ants have built their home in. I have heard that these ants like to bury old arrowheads in their mounds.  I have not made the attempt to dismantle one of these hundreds of mounds along the way, yet.  But maybe some of my grandson's might want to help me?? 

We got back to our trailer about 2:30pm.  This has been so fun to come home to this trailer!  We can't wait to show you this living space that has been provided for us.  It is very comfortable, and is our refuge for coming home to, and recharging, after some very busy days!  

Thank you for checking in with us tonight!  We love you, and we hope to see you this summer!  And please leave a comment on the blog!  I love hearing from all of you!

14 May 2018 - Monday

14 May 2018 - Monday

Today has been such a busy day for these two senior missionaries!  Being the 14th of the month, it is officially one month ago we left our precious family in Rigby and headed for the MTC.  It has been both a fast month, and a long month, away from our family, but what wonderful experiences we are having!

I was up at just a little before 5:00am to begin my day.  We had our morning prayers and Scripture reading and by 5:45am I was out on my 3 mile walk.  I have been trying to do this three mile walk in under 45 minutes but I have not yet conquered that!  Today it was 50 minutes and I had a beautiful sunrise this morning and then caught a beautify sunset and rainbow this evening,  Take a look;

It was cold and threatening rain but the clouds began parting!

I am hoping for a better shot of a rainbow!

Throughout the day the sun was coming, and going, and the clouds were winning the battle.  We got to work with a school group from Casper today, and mom was one of the group leaders.  I was still shadowing another Elder at Fort Seminoe, and took 4 groups through the presentation myself.  These were 4th graders, and at least one of the kids came last year, and knew some of the answers.  However, I asked his group how many states were in the union in 1856.  They finally got the answer, and I told them to quiz their teacher when they got back to school!  Does anyone know the answer??

Then mom and I met up for lunch after escorting, and teaching, eight of these school groups.  After lunch we did some lawn mowing.  That was quite a workout for me!  We probably mowed about five acres of grass between three couples and it took us over three hours to complete.  The grass was thick and wet from the rains over the last few days.  Here is an action shot of one of the senior missionaries attempting the coliseum cut;

This is probably the finest example of missionary mowing muscle!

As we were completing the yard duty, mom pointed out some Pelicans flying right near Devil's Gate.  With the reflexes of a 20 year old, I whipped out the camera and caught this fine flying bird in almost the perfect angle.  See what you think; 

There was a flock of these birds but only one wanted to be in the picture!

Here are the others flying over Rattlesnake Pass just a little east of Devil's Gate

Family Home Evening in the mission field

Our district was in charge of the Family Home Evening tonight.  It was held right next to our trailer at the Missionary Village Pavilion.  How convenient is that?  We had all five districts in attendance.  Our activity was to have each of the other four districts act out situations from the handcart experiences.  This was a hilarious evening that lasted just one hour.  Since our district was in charge, we supplied props and treats.  The rest was pure delight in seeing how creative and fun senior missionaries can be. 

As President Henry B. Eyring has taught us; "Never, never underestimate the Spiritual power of Temporal service".  As we serve together in this Wyoming Mormon Trail Mission, we work hard each day.  Most of the missionaries try to do their very best, and strive to be the kind of missionary that Heavenly Father wants them to be.  They are inspiring to watch, and to participate with!