We just returned from Martin's Cove where we participated in the commemorative crossing of the Sweetwater River on November 4. It was wonderful to be there with President and Sister Bushman, the Jensens, the Petersens, the Christensens, and others we have come to know and love.
President Bushman prayed for snowy, windy, freezing weather with ice in the river, but it turned out to be a delightfully balmy day with no ice in the river and NO wind! Most of the day we didn't even wear our coats. At Fort Seminoe there is now a replica of the tents that were used by the handcart pioneers, and it's amazing that they were able to fit 20 people into each of them.
Crossing the river was cold, to be sure, but nothing like what the pioneers experienced. This year President Bushman had us all gather at 9:00 am - an hour earlier than in years past. That's because after crossing the Sweetwater we continued overland with the handcarts and headed up to Martin's Cove.
We left our handcarts on the trail and walked on up to the amphitheater at the top of the Cove where we had a short meeting with pioneer stories and experiences as well as a minute or two of silence to reflect on and remember the handcart pioneers. Then we continued back down to pick up the carts and pulled them back to the Homestead along the front trail.
Some of you may remember Larry Martin who was baptized in the Sweetwater River at Martin's Cove just a few months after we arrived to serve. He had been a member of the church in his youth but left it after high school and lived a pretty wild life for years and years until a friend invited him to come up to Martin's Cove. There he truly felt the spirit for the first time and decided it was time to change his life and come back to the church. It took months and months of study, repentance, and hard work with his bishop and stake president,
but he stuck with it and was baptized on May 4, 2013.
but he stuck with it and was baptized on May 4, 2013.
Last Wednesday, November 4, he was driving to Casper, Wyoming to purchase a vehicle there and bring it back to Utah. He stopped by Martin's Cove just to say hi to everyone there, and when he found out we were crossing the river he stayed all morning and came with us. He and his wife and 9 year old daughter were sealed in the temple this past spring, and he is now a high priest working with the scouts. Pretty great!!
It was wonderful to be able to trek with handcarts on those hallowed sitess and just to be there again! We did eventually have a tiny bit of rain and the wind picked up some, but the day was mellow and pleasant compared to most November days in Wyoming.
Upon reaching the Gathering Room we were treated to a delicious lunch of soups and breads and other goodies provided by the missionaries and other guests. So yummy! A YSA group from Billings, Montana, camped out the night before and came with us through the river and on our little trek.
We also want to share a little miracle - actually a monumental miracle - that has happened in our family. You may remember that two of our children are in wheelchairs because of a condition called Freidreich's Ataxia, which was caused when they inherited a recessive gene for that disease from each of us. As carriers, Elder Moench and I are not affected, but because those two children each inherited the recessive gene for the disease, they now have it.
Our daughter Lisa is married and has three children, the oldest of whom is serving a mission in Quayaquil, Ecuador, and loving every minute of it. But our youngest son has just been living at home and working at NIKE for 17 years since he graduated. He never thought anyone would ever be interested in him, and he has been so very lonely as he watched his siblings and then all his friends marry and begin their families.
So . . . unbeknownst to us while we were serving our mission, this youngest son, Bryan, summoned up all his courage and decided to go onto one of the LDS dating websites just to see what would happen. He wrote right up front that he was in a wheelchair so that anyone who might be put off by that would not even contact him. However, several girls responded to him and he went out with a few of them. He dated one girl for a couple of months until she politely told him that she just wasn't up for anything serious with someone in a wheelchair. That really hurt him, but amazingly he kept on trying, and then a girl named Emma responded to him. They just talked back and forth online for a long time until finally they decided to meet in person last February.
Long story short, they talked and talked and dated for months and months and fell in love and are getting married in the Oquirrh Mountain Temple on December 9! They are having a little reception the next evening,
December 10.
It's a miracle! They are so darling and happy together, and we are all so happy for them! She is an amazing girl, his same age, lives here in Salt Lake, teaches school, and was also very lonely. We've had a long talk with her about Bryan's condition and what it would mean for her to have that in her life instead of a robust, energetic husband. She told us that it was BRYAN she loved and she was willing to deal with him having an imperfect body in this life because they would be together for eternity! What a woman!
We helped them locate, purchase, and renovate a condo that is already wheelchair accessible, and it is almost all ready for them to move into. This is the best thing that could have happened to our son Bryan, and he is a changed man. Once he thought his life was meaningless, worthless, and lonely, and now he is so happy he can't believe it. They are both still young and hoping to have a little family. We will help them all we can, of course.
We just wanted to share our joy with you and let you know that nothing is hopeless or impossible, and that there are still amazing miracles in the world. Our Heavenly Father truly does have a Plan of Happiness for everyone!
We are still planning to have another missionary reunion in the summer of 2017 after the Bushmans have been released, and we're hoping to be able to see ALL of you there!
