SO . . . IS THERE LIFE AFTER TREKKING?

Even though regular trekking is over for this summer we still work hard all day long and have hundreds of visitors, but in the evenings we are beginning to enjoy the many "end of summer" activities.

  

The Martin's Cove missionaries had their Family Home Evening Talent Show,

and we were treated to the Fabulous Blues Brothers . . .

. . . and Sister Ames doing a reprisal of last years' chicken song, plus

Elder Taylor, Jr., playing his beautiful clarinet solo . . .

. . . and the Dir-Trek-FM Sisters with their rendition of Count Your Many Wrinkles. 

 We heard from the Bushman's district as they sang parodies of Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam and When We're Helping We're Happy . . .

. . . and from our dedicated Bug Sprayers 
(to whom we are all indebted for a nearly bug-free summer) 
plus Sister Grover's animated retelling of The Mitten by Jan Brett 
and songs written by Elder Bushman during his Prison Days. (I think that was a joke!)

 We also had a Chili Cook-Off and the winners were:
Sister Judd for her Rib-Ticklin ' Red Chili, 
Sister Young for her White Chicken-Lickin' Good Chili, 
Sister Bingham for her Rip-Roarin' Mouth-Burnin' Stomach-Churnin' Chili,
and Sister Erekson, who won the People's Choice Award.

We had lots of fun on our Girls' Day Out in Casper . . .

 It had to make Christopher & Banks happy
that they opened their doors at 9:00 am for us!

Then we went to Guadalajara's for lunch - delicious!

 Look how cute their chairs are!

 But we paid for our day of fun, as the power was out for 16 hours starting that night, and the next day it poured all day long!

 It hasn't rained on us this much since we've been here,
and we worried that the buildings would flood.

 Happily it all cleared up and warmed up,

but sadly the Martineaus left us to go home for health reasons.

We can always find a reason to get together to visit, laugh, and eat (of course!)  
Thursday night the Ames made delicious pizza crust dough 
and we "Homestead Missionaries" made our own gourmet pizzas. 

We've both gained so much weight that when it is time for US to be released 

they will just take us to the top of the Continental Divide, 

give us a push, and we will roll all the way home to Salt Lake!

And this is just the beginning of the end!

RANDOM THOUGHTS AND PICTURES NOW THAT TREKKING IS OVER

D. J. Black, the young man in the center of this picture came here on a pioneer trek 4 years ago as a rebellious teenager, but he was touched by the stories of the pioneers at Martin's Cove and determined to turn his life around.  

He served an honorable mission to Alabama, and was released the day his stake left to come here to trek again this year.  His family drove him all the way up here from Clearfield to meet with his stake president (on the right) and Elder Moench took them all up into Martin's Cove where the stake president released him as a missionary in that sacred place.  Then he joined his stake on their trek.  

It was a tender moment for everyone there, but that's not the end of the story . . .

. . . because there's a connection.  

He saw Elder Moench's nametag and asked him if he was a printer.  He said no, but his cousin Darrell was.  Then Elder Black said that he had lived for a few months in the basement of Jeanine Moench Hansen (Darrell's daughter) in Alabama.  Elder Moench got in touch with Jill Moench and she called Jeanine who phoned us at Martin's Cove to tell us what a wonderful missionary Elder Black had been - one of their very favorites.  She got teary as she told how she still had little notes and things he had written to their family hanging on her refrigerator and what a great influence he had been on her own son, helping him make the decision to serve a mission.  

A coincidence?  No!  There really are NO coincidences!

After being strangely absent for most of the summer, Oscar, the famous Great Pyrennes dog, finally joined us for the last two weeks of trekking.  He is getting older and we have been a little concerned about him, but he likes me and sleeps on our front porch when he's at the Homestead.  We don't know how many more years of trekking he has, but he is somewhat of a legend here, as he picks and chooses which treks to accompany, frequently those with children or handicapped trekkers.

Martin's Cove has turned from green to tan as the tall grasses have gone to seed and the trekking season comes to a close.  

It is still beautiful to me in every season!

The handcarts are empty now and are lined up down by the Trek Center so they can be stored there after our upcoming three weekends of Trek Leader Training in September.

 The handcarts at Sixth Crossing are also ready to put away.

This beautiful painting of Christ that Julie Rogers so kindly donated to us a few weeks ago . . .

 . . . was framed in Salt Lake and then brought here by the Limbergs and the Taylors, missionaries who served here last summer . . .

. . . and we hung it at the front of the Trek Center where we hold our church meetings during the summer months.  Now we have a picture of Christ, the ultimate rescuer, to look at in addition to the many other pictures Julie has painted of handcart pioneers and rescuers.

Wednesday, August 20, 2014, we took a P-Day and drove to Salt Lake so we could join our family at the Salt Lake Temple where little Jacob Thomas Raybould was sealed to his family.  What a sweet and tender experience it was to be in the temple with nearly everyone in our family as well as many dear friends!

  Jacob and James complete this wonderful family!

 Jacob is such a sweetie, and we look forward to getting better acquainted with him when we return from our mission.  Just look at his happy little face!

 We love our beautiful daughters . . .

 . . . and our favorite daughter-in-law!  (Sadly, Doug had to be out of town.)

This giant full moon shines down on us through the trees, and on all of you as well - no matter where you are.  

Come and see us at Martin's Cove!

SWEET AND TENDER MOMENTS

This past Friday through the miracle of Facetime (and the even greater miracle that we were able to connect to it at just the right moment) we sat at the office out here in the middle of nowhere in Wyoming, and watched our oldest grandson Abel Paulsen at the beach in California open his mission call to the Ecuador Guayaquil South Mission.  He will leave December 3 for the MTC in Mexico City, and for a brief time we will be missionaries together!

After coming here for Isaac's baptism our four daughters and their families went to California for a beach vacation together, and while they were there Abe's mission call came in the mail - in SLC.  Kim's husband John needed to return to Utah for several days, and before flying back to the beach he retrieved the large white envelope from Lisa's mailbox and brought it with him so they could all watch Abel open it there in California.  He will be an outstanding missionary!

Baptisms are a highlight for every missionary - even us!  

Because we are more than 60 miles from any kind of civilization we do not have the opportunity as missionaries to teach investigators the discussions and work with them until they are baptized.  However, we DO have wonderful baptisms in one of the most beautiful and meaningful settings anywhere in the church.  

Our "baptismal font" is the Sweetwater River.  

This is the river where rescuers known as the "Valley Boys" spent a snowy, freezing day carrying the beleaguered pioneers from the Martin Handcart Company across the ice-filled waters so they could take refuge from the wind in what is now known as Martin's Cove.   

More current information from journals and letters sheds more light on that experience:  there were five young men whose names we know, and many others whose names were not recorded, and contrary to a popular story that continues to float around in the church, none of those young men died that day.  Nonetheless, their great act of sacrifice and charity will always be honored and remembered.

Today when baptisms take place in the Sweetwater River the conditions are not at all what they were when the Martin Company crossed during the November snows of 1856.  These days are warm and green and beautiful, and the children who come here to be baptized are from all over the country as well as from wards in Wyoming. 

It is especially meaningful when the baptisms are part of a ward or family trek.  The participants gather along the banks of the Sweetwater in their pioneer clothing to watch. 

Whenever a new member of the church is baptized it is a sweet and tender moment, and we are grateful to have been privileged to participate in so many of them.