The DL&L Trek Mission is on a cattle ranch owned by the LDS Church. There are around 250,000 acres, with about 15,000 cows. We use about 20% of the land for the trails we trek on. So, for the first two weeks, large cattle trucks pulled in (about 10 trucks each week) and the cows and calves were locked up in the pens. Then all of the cows were branded, inoculated, and cut. The calves got separated from their moms during all of this, so there was constant mooing going on from both.
The corrals are just behind our Missionary Village so we could hear them all day and night, until we got used to the noise. When they all got turned out, it took the cows and their calves a while to find each other, and then they wandered off as a herd to find good feeding ground.
This bunch of cows seemed quite interested in our handcarts! At the end of the two weeks, all of the cowboys came over to the Trek Center and we fed them. It was really interesting to get to know some of them. There was one "cowgirl." I asked her what her job was in the process. She said, "Anything they let me do."
We have been learning the trails by riding them in the Rangers. When we start the treks, one of the four missionaries assigned to each group will be driving one at the back of the handcarts to use as an emergency vehicle (and maybe also to give some of us "elderly" missionaries a break from walking?) if the need arises--broken carts, flat tires, illness, accidents, etc.
We have six trails to learn, along with their support routes--each between 25-30 miles long. Right now, our minds are on overload, but the experienced missionaries say it will all come together and we will be able to guide our groups on the right trails. We are just having faith that we will be able to do so!
It is so beautiful on the ranch. Each trail we go on seems to be more beautiful than the last on. We are so blessed to be on this mission and enjoy the beauties of this special place.
We are having lunch on the trail at one of the campsites. Afterwards, Elder and Sister Peart taught us to play Taco Chicken Boom. What a fun game. We will share it with our family and friends some day.
As we go along the trails, Elder and Sister Peart, Elder Howard, and Elder Ekins mark the guideposts. Without these guideposts, I am sure we would get lost!
There are animals everywhere, especially ones who dig big holes--many times in the middle of the trails. This one is a little ground squirrel. The hole just above him is a badger hole. There are lots of holes, but we haven't seem many badgers out and about yet. The few we have seen are very scary looking! We have to be very careful to look where we walk!
There are lots of gates on the ranch, and some of them are a little complicated to open. Elder Cowen was glad to see this "easy-open" metal gate until it took them almost 15 minutes to open, with Elder Howard's and Elder Barton's help. The rule is: if the gate is open, leave it open; if the gate is closed, close it after you go through it.
We all have to learn to drive the Rangers. Here is Sister Walker on her first trip driving on the trails. She did good. She only hit the breaks twice, hard enough to bump my face once and my hand next! It is nice that we have seat belts!
Another thing we have is a lot of DUST--especially when traveling in the Rangers. I had a jacket on all day, but it got a little warm so I unzipped it. You can see the dust on the front of my shirt and it was about a half inch thick on my face!
We got the new flag that the Cowen's had sent for. Elder Howard and Elder Call were asked to do a flag ceremony (both of them have served in the military) and raise it on the flagpole. It waves majestically in our Missionary Village!
There is a lot of work to do as we get ready for our treks to start the first part of June. Each day at Prayer meeting we are given work assignments. Many times they are assignments that we have never done before, or think we won't be able to do. But Elder Cowen says to "stretch" ourselves. Sister Barton nor Sister Call had ever driven a riding lawn mower. Sister Barton started first. All of a sudden she hollered, "Open the gate! I don't know how to stop this thing!" Sister Call got the hang of it, with a little help from Elder Call.
Sister Barton and I took on the task of moving a big satellite dish that wasn't used any more and had been an eyesore for a couple of years. It was held down by cinderblocks and was quite a chore getting all of it "deconstructed" and thrown over the fence to be hauled to the junk pile. We managed, with assistance from Elder Call and Elder Barton.
Getting the handcarts ready--tightening bolts and screws, checking wheel bearings, and fixing loose and broken boards, seemed to be a never-ending job.
We would pull them into the trek center from the back of the building, check them out and fix anything needed, and then pull them back outside to be loaded and taken to the trek staging areas. Even without anything in them, they are quite heavy. Some of them took three of us Sisters to turn them on end so we could work on them. I can't imagine pulling them all the way to Salt Lake, full of everything you owned, and sometimes even sick family members!
At last--the last handcart! Myself, Sister Hutchings, Sister Brinkerhoff, Sister Call, and Sister Ekins had the privilege of doing the last one, although everyone had taken turns working on them.
Elder Howard keeps putting his hands in places he really shouldn't. He just finished loosing a fingernail, and another is about halfway gone. I think he forgot to wear a glove on this hand when he poked it into something!
The mission owns the port-a-johns that are used on the treks. When we have five trek groups each week, from 50-600 people in each group, it takes a lot of port-a-johns. So, we have to do the maintenance on them. Elder Howard and Elder Brinkerhoff have the responsibility to keep the trailers they are mounted on in good repair, but they spent a lot of time working on the johns, also.
Lots of times, the sisters get assigned to work along side their "companions" so here I am, helping with the port-a-johns! A great assignment!
The port-a-johns each have a "plug" that is used whenever they are moved during the trek because they are only pumped out on Mondays. Here are some newly made plugs waiting to be painted and finished. Who would have known that there was a mission where the missionaries would be making port-a-john plugs! There has to be a spiritual story of some kind come from this experience!
Desert Land and Livestock Ranch started out as a sheep ranch many years ago. The Church doesn't own any sheep now, but they allow a sheep rancher to move his flock across the ranch. The baby lambs are so cute! One of them got stuck in a badger hole and had to be rescued by Elder Higginson!
This sheepdog is as big as the sheep. He was very protective of his flock and has been known to actually walk out in the road in front of a car to stop it when some of the sheep are crossing the road.
There are many antelope, deer, and elk on the ranch--thus there are many horns and antlers shed each year. Sister Hatchlings found a beautiful pair of elk antlers. Unfortunately, they all belong to the ranch, but she is trying to negotiate a deal with them so she can keep these. I am not sure it is going to work out for her, but good luck!
On May 5, Cinco de Mayo, we all decided to go to Evanston WY, which is only about 10 miles away, and have a Mexican dinner. Afterwards, we all went to the High School to watch a performance of "Oklahoma" by the students. It was great. Some of the kids were members of the Wards we attend church at on Sundays. In order, from the left are Brother and Sister Hutchings, Brinkerhoff, Howard, Call (sister only), Barton, Peart, Walker, Ekins, Higginson, and a little bit of Sister Cowen. Elder Call took the picture and Elder Cowen was at the head of the table and couldn't be seen.
The Saturday before Mothers' Day we traveled to Grantsville UT to see our 17th grandchild be baptized. Lindee is our Daughter, Sarah's, youngest. She is just the most special little redhead. Her dad, Ryan, baptized and confirmed her a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. We are so proud of her. On the way home we went to Walmart. Elder Howard said he wanted to buy his Mom some flowers for Mothers' Day. (She passed away many years ago!) The next day he presented me with 6 (one for each child) "roses." The roses turned out to be tulips, but they were very pretty!
We always have a potluck dinner after Church on Sundays. Since it was Mothers' Day, all of the Elders--Call, Ekins, Peart, Cowen, Barton, Howard, Higginson, and Walker-- set the tables (the Sisters still cooked dinner) and . . .
. . . did the dishes and clean up! What a treat that was! Elders Walker, Howard, Call, Higginson, Ekins, Peart, and Barton look like they are having a good time.
While this was going on, we Sisters--Sister Howard (me), Peart, Cowen, Ekins, Higginson, Barton, Call, and Walker--got to just sit, relax, and visit. What a great Mothers' Day we had!
Some very good friends from Emmett, Barrie and Jan Smith, came to visit. All of us from Emmett--us, the Walkers, and the Brinkerhoffs--had such a good time. They stayed in our Addies (our little two-room hotel we have here at Missionary Village.) We shared pizza Sunday night in the Depot and then they all came to our home and had Egg McMuffins for breakfast. We were so glad they took time out of their vacation to stop by to see us.
Our mission has been great the first two weeks. We didn't know there was so much physical work to getting ready for the trek season. We have stretched a little and learned new things. We are getting to know new friends and old friends better. The spirit is so strong here--the spirit of pioneers gone before us and the spirit that can be life-changing for us and for the youth that we will soon be taking on these treks. We are so blessed to be serving at the DL&L Trek Mission.
No comments:
Post a Comment