We have been on our mission a little over six weeks now, and we are still loving it. The first couple of weeks we were kind of wondering if we could handle all of the physical work entailed in getting ready to take groups out on the treks. The work doesn't feel so arduous any more. The tasks we are assigned to do are still hard sometimes, but it is so fun to do. We laugh and have a good time with whomever we are working with and soon the job is done.
Spring has finally sprung in Evanston. They are about a month behind our Idaho spring. They have such a short growing season here that very few people try to grow a garden. The elevation and the weather are just not very conducive to doing that. We had lilacs in full bloom in Emmett the middle of May, but they are just beginning to come on now here in Evanston.
On Memorial Day, most of the missionaries went to the Evanston Roundhouse for a Memorial Day Community Observance program and luncheon. It was really nice.
The roundhouse (in the upper right side of the picture), built in 1914 by Union Pacific Railroad, was used to repair rail cars and engines. It is one of the few roundhouse left. They would pull the trains into the building, fix them, pull them out the other side and onto a turntable, and return them to the tracks.
They have re-done the inside and outside of the building and it is really unique. The city of Evanston owns the property and it is used for all kinds of functions. There are still tracks in the floor.
Our missionary group took up two tables for the program. We were allowed to wear our "blues" which we all like better than having to dress up in skirts and white shirts and ties when we leave Missionary Village. At the front table are the Bartons, Pearts, and Cowens. At the back table are the Higginsons, Sister Call, and Ekins. I was taking the picture and Elder Howard and Call were getting ready to present the Army flag in the ceremony.
They asked that two people from each branch of the service come forward to present their flag. No one seemed to be willing to do it for the Army, so Elder Howard and Elder Call volunteered (the only veterans in our Missionary group) just as another man volunteered. So, there were three with the Army flag.
It was nice seeing all of the military flags posted at the front of the room. There was music and speeches before they served lunch.
Bear River State Park is on the outskirts of Evanston, and since it was a beautiful day, we all decided to go on the river walk after the Veterans Program.
It was really pretty. Along the way, we saw buffalo and elk farms. It was about a 3 mile walk--nothing for TREK missionaries! I was a little worried for next week because of how tired I was when we finished.
At the end of the walk there is an old bridge that had been moved there from another part of the city. It was very picturesque.
Elder Howard, Elder & Sister Call, Elder & Sister Ekins, and Elder and Sister Barton are posing on the bridge.
We stopped on the way back on the trail and visited with a lady who was wondering who we all were. We told her our story and where we were all from. She said we needed our picture taken by the fence along the river, and she volunteered to take it for us. We couldn't say no! Here are Brother Higginson, Elders & Sisters Howard, Barton, Peart, Ekins, and Call. What a nice day we had!
Back on the ranch the next couple of days, we were busy getting some final jobs done before TREK starts. We have been doing a lot of weed spraying--especially thistle! I hadn't helped with any of it, but Elder Cowen asked me to take the water tank and weed chemical to a couple of meeting places so the sprayers wouldn't have to come clear back to Missionary Village to refill their sprayers in the 4-wheelers. I was supposed to fill a portable sprayer and spray the area I was in while I waited for them. I had never driven to these places before, so I was a little worried about finding them by myself. Well, I managed to find where to go and filled my sprayer several times to spray all of the thistles around me. It ended up being kind of fun!
Some of our support roads and trails have some really bad holes and ditches in them, so we borrowed the skidster from the ranch and got sand and gravel from our gravel pits to fill them. Elder Howard was one of the missionaries chosen to run the skidster. I think he had more fun on it than he was supposed to, but he did a good job!
The hard part started when we had to shovel the gravel out of the trucks into the holes. We worked two days on the roads and trails, but with lots of hands working it, the job got done. Elder Cowen, Sister Ekins, Elders Call, Peart, Howard, and Ekins are helping here. Even after some sore backs, and Elder Barton falling out of the truck once, the roads and trails will be much nicer and safer for our trekkers to travel on.
After we finished with the skidster, we rode with Elder and Sister Brinkerhoff to take it back to the ranch. On the way across the ranch property we passed the "Cheyenne Social Club." Many years ago, before the Church owned the ranch, these buildings were an "exclusive house of ill repute!" Now, they are just some old buildings that the outfitters or fishermen may use once in a while.
The 235,000 acres of the ranch are in Utah, bordering Wyoming. The ranch headquarters are at the northern end of the ranch, while the trekking in on the southern end. It is a beautiful ranch. Before we came home, and because we hadn't had lunch, we stopped and ate at Jody's in Evanston, a favorite restaurant of the missionaries. We justified stopping there because it was Elder Howard's 68th birthday! We had woken up that morning with the outside of our motorhome decorated and little gifts appeared at our door all during the day.
We were able to go on one more outing before starting our TREKs next week. Sister Moon and her daughter, Sister Moon (we call them the Moon Sisters,) took us on a tour to Fort Bridger. It was really interesting.
From the pamphlet: Jim Bridger established the fort in 1843 as an emigrant supply stop along the Oregon Trail. It was obtained by the Mormons in the 1850s and then became a military outpost in 1958. In spite of temporary times of abandonment during the Civil War and then again during the late 1870s, Fort Bridger remained U.S. Government property until 1890. After the post was abandoned, many of the buildings constructed by the army were sold at public auction and moved off of the fort ground to become private homes, barns, bunkhouses and the like. For a time, the buildings that remained were allowed to fall into disrepair. But after a period of neglect, various groups and individuals took interests in preserving and restoring what remained of old Fort Bridger. In 1933, the property was dedicated as a Wyoming Historical Landmark and Museum.
Several of the missionaries bought harmonicas at the Fort Bridger Museum and we had a little concert around the fire pit there. We even had a cowboy poem from Sister Walker! There was a non-member couple kind of following us around. When we told them who we were, they said that they thought we were tour guides for the Fort! They did enjoy the entertainment, though.
After we left Fort Bridger, we ended up on some of the Guild Family property where they do TREKS as a family business. We had been on these roads before, but they had just put up some of their TREK porta-johns. We took advantage of them! Sisters Peart, Ekins, Howard, Cowen & Higginson, Call, Barton, Walker, and Hutchings, are posing in front of them!
Next, we went to see a culvert built, originally under a railroad, by the Chinese. It is quite a fancy culvert. We were challenged to walk through it by Sister Moon. Some of the "seasoned" missionaries opted not to. Did they know something we didn't know?
The other end of the tunnel was only about half as tall as the opposite end, so by the time you got to the middle, you had to crawl on your hands and knees. Besides that, there was fresh cow manure half-way through! It was quite an adventure!
On down the road, we got near The Needles.
At the bottom the these mountains is where Brigham Young and the Vanguard Company camped for several days on their way to the Salt Lake Valley because he had tic fever. This ended up being a great landmark for many pioneer companies coming later.
We got to see the grave marker for one of Elder and Sister Peart's ancestors. They didn't know they were related to any of the pioneers until they came to the DL&L Trek Mission!
We have two of the coolest little mini-trucks that come in really handy. As we were headed down for some training on staging (where trekkers first come in and start their trek) Elder Howard told Sister Cowan that he hadn't driven one yet. She said, "Take one now." So, we did. How fun they are.
They have really small tires and the steering wheel is on the wrong side! They are a stick shift so it feels really awkward to drive them. They are 4-wheel drive and have a cute little horn! Elder Howard needs to learn to drive one because he has to deliver "mail" to our first trek in it.
We still have our "resident" antelope. He never goes very far from Missionary Village. He seems to like people, but doesn't let us get too close to him. Elder Ekins looked out his window and saw him taking shelter under our slide. It is fun to have him around.
Well, next Wednesday is the big day--our first TREK. We are nervous and excited at the same time. Because Elder Johnson is not well enough to do a trek and is doing gate duty, we were assigned to be the lead couple on his first trek, with Elder and Sister Ekins assisting. We are the only ones without a "seasoned" missionary couple with us. With Heavenly Father's help, we are ready!
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