Week 22

Monday August 18  -Worked in the visitor center.  Not as many visitors now that families aren't out on vacation.  Still had several nice couples.  We love teaching the stories and feel so close to these people.  

Tuesday August 19 - Selby took down more facades and then he and his buddies golfed the "Sixth Crossing" golf course (for those who don't know they set up a course in the fields surrounding our village).  I worked on cleaning the office and then I cleaned out the garden shed and organized it.  In my cleaning I discovered a bunny had died in the shed, it wasn't pretty.  Selby's knee gave him lots of trouble after the golf game.

Wednesday August 20  -I finished the shed labeling all the shelves. Selby worked on changing the tie downs on the repeater. and went to Martin's Cove with Elder Woodbury to scout out a project to light the entrance using solar panels for power because the gate is so far from the power.  I seem to be in the rodent business.  Everyone said there was a bad smell in the trek center so I decided that I had to find the source.  Turned out there was a dead mouse under the stairs.  I could find it but I couldn't get rid of it, Sweet Sister Bell removed it for me and I cleaned up the residue.  So creepy but happy it was clean. 

Thursday August 21 -Elder Bearry had to spend the day with his leg up because his knee was killing him and he hoped a day off would get it better.  

Friday August 22 - I heard there was another terrible smell in the visitors center so since I'm on this rodent kick I decided to clean until I found the source.  Got all the pamphlets moved and organized but decided that the rodent was in the walls.  The Visitor Center was originally a fishing camp office and then a KOA campground.  When the church bought the property they turned it into an office and visitor center.  It really needs to be demolished and with the hopes of the new center opening in the next couple of years, maybe that will be the choice.  This site deserves a wonderful center so that more people will stop and hear the power of God in the pioneers lives.  

Saturday August 23 - P-day We went with the Woodburys and Saxtons to Cody Wyoming.  It was about a 3 hour drive.  The first site was the first church building in Cody.  It was a unique design.  It has a circular foyer that has an amazing mural painted in 1950.  The artist was not a member of the church but studied our history for a year and then painted a fabulous historical portrayal.  We then went to a old car show and saw about 150 very cool old cars.  We then went to the Bill Cody Museum.  It was huge and very impressive.  We had a great day.  

Sunday August 24  We went with the Bunnages and had a great day in church.  Elder and Sister Plumhof spoke and moved us all.  Love, being loved and showing love is the core of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  We were taught in RS that we need to think of what others may be thinking.  Everyone has a different view point and we need to make sure that we consider what others are feeling before we make judgments.  

Other than Selby's hurt leg we had another good week.  

Week 21

Monday - August 11 - Last Morning at RCH  Got packed up and cleaned up to leave.  The Lindsay's shared a very nice breakfast with us, so we could focus on leaving.  They have been nice to work with.  Got John and Susan's first missionary email.  We are happy for them in their new adventure.  We helped the Anderson's get unpacked.  Sister Anderson has been sick but thought the time at RCH would be rejuvenating.  As long as the mice leave her alone I think she will love her time at RCH.  Trekkers are finished coming now so it shouldn't be too busy.  We ran to the store again in Lander, got a few phone calls in (not everyone for a long time now), and got back to Sixth Crossing in time to get ready to go to Green Mountain for FHE.   It was an hour away but well worth the drive.  There was a picnic area at the top of the mountain that you could see the whole area of Martin's Cove to Split Rock to the north and then to the south on a clear day you can see interstate 80. WOW!   We roasted hot dogs, sang songs, and told stories.

Tuesday - August 12 -  Today was a work day.  I helped with some cooking projects and some quilting.  Selby helped take down the bathroom facades at Strawberry Creek, and then work on one of the trucks that had problems on the road. 

Wednesday August 13 - Worked in the Visitor Center for the first half of today. Telling the stories has become so enjoyable.  We love telling people of the amazing things that happened here.  We were invited to the Woodburys for dinner and then went out and played golf at the "Sixth Crossing" course.

Thursday August 14 - Helped with a dinner planned for this evening as a thank you to the missionaries from the Facility Manager.  Selby finished his plumbing project for the irrigation of all the lawns here. The dinner was very nice and Selby went golfing again.

Friday August 16 -  We have a freezer with meat that was donated to the missionaries by the rancher that leases the church's land.  We planned the meals for the rest of the mission to use up the meat.  We cooked sloppy joe mix for the dinner tomorrow. Selby went to Gillespie to help take down the potties and the facades.

Saturday August 17-Went to Riverton to grocery shop but then hurried home because I was helping with a dinner that was being served after a rock necklace making class( it was just for fun)  I made a pretty piece 

 Selby placed a new solar panel on the trailer for dry camping. 

Sunday August 18 - Great day at church.  I taught YW to two lovely girls.  I taught on the importance of families and it was great to see these young women so sensitive about their families and their hopes for the future.  We had another general authority come and visit.  He is over all the missions in the world and was assigned by Pres. Packer to come visit our sites.  We are thinking the church may be looking to do further improvements to these sites.  His name is Elder Evans and he spoke in sacrament meeting.  Just as with Elder Clark, he was able to invite such a strong spirit to the meeting.  He counseled us in our prayers to not ask for someone to change but rather pray to know what we can do to help.  He then blessed us that our missionary service would bless us, our children and our grandchildren.  He had the ability to look into each of our eyes and make us feel special.  

The Sage is blooming

Week 20

"Selby is that  storm coming?"

Monday- August 4 - Bob and Patti spent the morning with us and then headed out to Cody to check out the sites there before visiting Yellowstone.  We had such a wonderful visit with them, they are amazing friends.  We packed up some food and clothes and headed to Rock Creek Hollow, with a stop in Lander for a few groceries, to spend the week acting as site/camp hosts.  Rock Creek Hollow is the camp the Willie company arrived after a grueling 15 mile hike over rocky ridge which is the summit of south pass over the Rocky Mountains.  It took some of the people over 24 hours to make the journey from camp to camp.  It was snowing and windy and very cold.  The Hollow offered water and shelter in the hollow rock walls.  13 people died in the journey that day and were buried in a common grave that memorializes them at this place today.  The Riverton Stake also erected a Six foot rock monument that declares "Remember" to remind us of the price that was paid by these people and how they put their faith in Christ.

We go from Monday to Monday and the Martin's cove people come from Wednesday to Wednesday  The Jensen's were here to greet us and teach us our responsibilities here.  We stay in 2 trailers that the church owns and were brought here from sixth crossing at the beginning of the season. 

No trekkers on Monday or Tuesday this week but we did have a couple of people stop by. About 4:30-5:00 a huge rain storm came through for about 45 minutes and then it cleared again.  I had the trailer door open because it was warm and in a matter of seconds the floor and chair were soaked.

Tuesday- August 5 -  Selby worked on the pumps some and I went with Sister Jensen and cleaned benches and railings. We visited with the Jensens some and read a lot. In the evening we went out and filled badger holes along the trail.  We have giant rabbits here that don't seem to mind the people.  We put up the flag each day and say the pledge of allegiance and have prayer together.  Quite and peaceful day.  But can't say as much about the night.  Discovered we had visitors, little grey furry ones.  Before the night was over 3 mice had been trapped and disposed of and Selby had his sleep interrupted and I slept only after all 3 had been eliminated and it was about 3:30 or 4:00,ugh!

Wednesday - August 6-  Went and cleaned benches again ( the birds are constantly busy).   

The Martins Cove missionaries switched out today, so it was good bye to the Jensen's and Hello to the Lindsays. Both couples are really nice people.  We worked on the restrooms as there was a problem with how they had been handled, and of course Selby knew just what to do because of his camp experience.  

Enough said other than he got rid of the smell and the flies.  The trek hosts arrived to let us know how the trek for the day was progressing.  The support group arrived and had 21 vans that they had rented to transport the 300 of them.  They were from Eagle Mountain UT.  The first group arrived about 4:00 and we are to direct traffic and get the kids to unload their carts and get them washed.  We have a power sprayer so they can really get them clean.   The second group arrived at 5:15.  Same routine.They had some really fun leaders and great kids.  We had another rain storm for about an hour which included some hail.  Again it cleared up and had a nice evening attending the groups closing fireside.  The kids got up and shared some of what these sites had made them feel and how they related that to their future in serving God.  We enjoyed hearing how our efforts of sharing this place and its stories had impacted the kids.  More creature escapades, caught one within 10 minutes of going to bed.  This capture wasn't as successful, I don't know all the details but it entailed Selby chasing the trap and its occupant around the trailer until he could throw it outside.  My nerves were frazzled. by the way Selby got a bad sunburn on his head again, yow, it is becoming a problem.  Dr. Freed here he comes.

Thursday August 7 - Got up early and helped the group get ready to leave.  They were up and had breakfast and broke down camp on on the road by9:30.  We kinda of go from feast to famine as far as people are concerned.  We do get visitors that come here by chance and others that have heard about the trail and monuments and stop to get more of the story.  Cleaned benches and bathrooms again. Our next group was much smaller about 65 and were from Cardston Canada.  They had been in a huge downpour at sixth crossing and had to go into Lander to dry out their sleeping bags, so we were really hoping the rain wouldn't hit them today.  They arrived about 4:30 and the rain looked as if it would get them but it literally parted and went north and south of us.  Small miracle.  We had a very good dinner with them followed by their program.  They didn't camp here but rather took their bus back to sixth crossing where they had left the camp pitched. Heard little noises but no catch tonight.

Friday August 8-  Not an early morning since no one was in camp. The Lindsay's went to lunch at Atlantic City as they had heard everyone rave about the great hamburgers.  We started to go exploring when they got back (one of us has to be here at all times) but we didn't go to far because we realized the trekkers were coming in a little early.  

It was another large group with 6 buses and about 350 people.  Everyone was very nice.  Handcart wranglers came and we got all 35 carts onto 3 trailers.  This group was from Denver North and had been one stake until a few months ago so they were trekking as one stake but had their program split by their new stakes.  Both Stakes had nice programs with violin music as prelude and then a pretty musical number by two girls and a young man on his guitar.  Almost a full moon tonight very pretty and no rain.  No critter action but don't worry I stayed up late listening for them.  

Saturday August 9 - Early rise to help this group get going.  They were very efficient despite their bus drivers being late and were up, fed, cleaned up, and even had a program and were gone by 10:00.   We decided to do a little project of cleaning out the storage/shop.  We also went down and did a thorough cleaning of the bridges with buckets of water and scrub brushes.  I also decided the registration area could use a good scrubbing.  Selby and I went exploring again and went for miles out on the mining roads until we got to the river where there had been a lot of gold mining through dredging efforts.  It feels so weird to be so far from anything and the sky seems so large and everything seems so expansive and seems to go on forever.  We got about 5 groups of tourists and gave each of them a small tour of our site.  We had a hot dog roast over our portable campfire with the Lindsays and had a nice visit. 

Sunday August 10 - When you are at RCH  you go to Lander for church because Martin's Cove is 2:15 away.  You also take turns with the other set of Missionaries so there is always someone here to greet visitors and tell them the stories.  The Lindsays chose to go at 9:00 and We went at 1:00.  It takes about 50 minutes from here.  The talks were very good one on Charity and the other on practical Christian Living (the 13th Article of Faith). The Plumhofs were there because they were doing the same kind of split because of sixth crossing's visitor center.  Sister Anderson was there to because she was feeling weak from a bad cold and didn't want to travel and stay in Martin's Cove.  They were all so sweet to tell us how much they missed us.  We spent a very slow afternoon reading a couple of short naps and visiting with the LIndsays.

We have really enjoyed Rock Creek Hollow!

pretty cows

camp site for Willie group

grave marker for the tragedy over Rocky Ridge,camp site for Willie group

Week 19

Rainy day, Yes its July in Wyoming!

Monday -July 28-  We were trained to be the main camp host for this week.  Camp host entails checking in the different units as they arrive to camp.  We are to teach them the rules of camp.  We help park the buses and show them to the handcarts. The trek leaders and medical get arm bands to wear to identify them easily.  We have a rover to go pick up trekkers that need to come off the trail. We also deliver people to spots on the trail that are support people.  Each group has a colored flag to identify their group. We have a 100 sq.ft. cabin that we base in to answer questions.  We start between 6 and 7 in the am and don't finish until after Square Dancing which ends 8-9.  

Tuesday -July 29- We hiked a 10 mile in camp.  We love the 10 mile and we had a group from Meadow wood in the Provo area which was about 90. The ward had invited families to come and we had a young couple that brought their 9 month old girl, Eliza, They placed her in a seat in a covered handcart. They had her dressed in authentic pioneer clothing. She was adorable. She cried from time to time, but mostly smiled and cooed. It was so touching to see the mom pull her along the trail. It made the trek seem as though we were back in time with the real Willie Company. It emphasized the sacrifices parents made to have their children raised in Zion. This Mom found herself in tears as she contemplated the hardships that would have been her young families if they had been in the Willie Company.

It was drizzly off and on all day, but it kept us from having any heat exhaustion.  Our stories get better and better.  Selby does an excellent job.  We were surprised to see it rain like crazy well into the night.  But then again it is Wyoming.

Wednesday - July 30-  Back on camp host - Not too busy as we had just 3 groups.  It was still overcast and cool.  We found out that Sage Camp had turned into a muddy mess with the rain so we kept 2 of the groups at our site because our ground is sandy and not the clay like ground of Sage.  The Schauferts took over our responsibilities about 4:00 so we could greet the Trentman's and give them the whole tour of our site.  We had a wonderful time with them, especially little Jayden.  We had a hot dog and rib dinner and then the Trentman kids helped crank the ice cream maker for some yummy ice cream.  They left about 10:30 after a great visit.

Thursday July 31-  Today was our last hike of the season.  Went with the Elk Ridge Stake.about 95.  Their trek leader was very conscientious, she had planned carefully and was executing her plan well. They had fed their kids the flour and water gruel the morning before as their breakfast for a lesson in what it meant to have the rations reduced for the pioneers.  She had followed that up with a midmorning snack in our Willie Meadow of apples, beef jerky and granola bars.  They were a great group to trek with. We came back to our site in time to go square dance with a group of 300.  It's both hard and fun to do a group that large.  The kids always get into it by the end of the time.

Friday August 1 - Back to the Camp Hot job today.  Everyone checking out.  First group was at 6:00 am because they were headed for Rocky Ridge.  Last group at 3:30 because they had hiked a 6 mile and were headed straight to Rock Creek Hollow.  About 4:30 the Evers arrived for a visit.  We took them on what has become our usual tour.  Had a little adventure along the trail, our rover was low on oil so it stopped cold as we started up a hill.  It allowed us to have a little hike and to see the sun set and almost ran over a skunk.  Fortunately he didn't spray us. We see so many animals here, antelope (with their babies), the moose, fox, hawks, cottontails, jack rabbits, ground squirrels, deer, ducks,cranes, sage chickens, garden snake, magpie, rainbow and brown trout,and of course a million cattle.  

Saturday August 2-  We  attended Elder and Sister Bunnage's granddaughter's baptism in the Sweetwater River at river Camp. Little Bella radiated the joy of being baptized in an unusually strong way. Her father showed feelings of great honor in being able to baptize his daughter. Sister Moench shared a picture of Christ being baptized in the River Jordan and made us all feel like we could imagine being there for that great event after witnessing the baptism here in our own Sweetwater River.  Continued the tour starting at Sage Camp and up to the lower monument on Rocky Ridge and around to the upper Monument.  Bob found a great rock to take home to his water fall from the ridge.  Met a family that Elder Bearry told the Jens and Elise story to. 

We went on to Rock Creek Hollow telling more stories and then over the mountains letting Selby stop and try his hand at fishing a little.  Next down to Lander and dinner a Gannet's.  Bob and Patti were impressed with the good burgers.  Home to watch 17 Miracles.

Sunday August 3  Went to church, no kids to teach today.  Visited the sites at Martin's Cove for Patti and Bob.  Had a group dinner of hamburgers and I made hot crab bites, just for Bob.  We  watched Ephraim's rescue after visiting with several of the missionary couples.  

We love our visitors!!!!

We also love reading of the experiences of Carter, Shelby and Adam and see what faithful missionaries they are.  Love you all. 

Happy Birthday Carter.

Hay grass cut on our site

River crossing with our Trek group

Patti checking out the National Historic Marker.

Bob and Selby at the Lower Monument

Patti and Bob at the Sweetwater River Canyon outlook

After church in Martin's Cove looking at Devil's Gate