MHHS Missionary Reunion - July 11, 2015

Saturday, July 11, 2015 was a WONDERFUL day!

Happily, everyone was able to find us here at Thousand Peaks Ranch.

This is an aerial shot of the Weber side of our ranch and the valley on the Utah side of the mountains.  It also extends over the mountains that are on the left of this picture and into Wyoming.  You can see the upper Weber River and the road on the left of the meadows that missionaries traveled to get to our cabin.

Our son Doug and his friend Corey spent the day with us taking these and other aerial pictures and movies from their drone.  

This is one of their drone shots of the cabin area. 

Elder Vallem and Elder Graham (missionaries from 2012 and 2013) directed the parking of more than 60 vehicles along the road, in the meadows, and in the trees. 

Sister Graham and Sister Vallem manned the welcome table at the front door and asked everyone to check their contact information and update it if necessary.

Soon we had quite a crowd - 131 people!!

Standing next to the beautiful oak handcart made for us by Elder Madsen (from 2013) Elder Moench greeted everyone and explained a little about 

our ranch and its history.

We have a signpost showing where our family members 

went to school and served on missions.

We basically had five activities scheduled during the day.  The first (and most important) one was visiting . . .

. . . and visiting . . .

. . . and more visiting.

It was SO fun to renew our friendships with dear friends!

Some, like the Butlers, took time to just sit and look at the beauty of the mountains.  Those who were golfers, like Elder Williams, tried their hand at hitting the ball down into the fish pond - about 340 yards away. 

About 12:30 pm our second event took place and lunch was served.

We had green salad, vegetable salad, potato salad, baked beans and lamb brats with pulled lamb and rolls.

Then we ate . . .

. . . and ate . . .

. . . and ate . . . 

. . . as we learned to do so well as missionaries!

After lunch Trinity Seely was our third event.  

She entertained us by singing some of her favorites songs.

We are so grateful to their family for making the "trek" up to our cabin in the mountains.  It was such a joy to see them again!

Wyatt had a broken collar bone so we were careful not to hug him too hard.  We've missed them!

Our fourth event was to take group pictures.  

Here we are all together.

Many little independent groups took pictures too, like this one of the Martin's Cove winter missionaries who greeted us when we arrived in January of 2013.

100 % of the 2013 missionaries from Sixth Crossing were in attendance!  Amazing!

This is how that all looked from the drone.  

Such a great view!

Our fifth and final scheduled event was Square Dancing!

We weren't in pioneer dress, but other than that we did it just the same as always with the Virginia Reel first . . . 

. . . followed by O Johnny O as we circled around the handcart.  Such fun!  

After that, everyone had an opportunity to come up to the microphone and tell about what was happening in their lives.

[Those pictures are on this blog but on a separate post] 

Then, as dark storm clouds gathered,Trinity sang one last song, The Hanging of Cattle Kate, before we had a closing prayer and people began to leave. 

Within minutes we were pummelled by extreme wind, rain, and then hail!

We all scurried to help gather the equipment and the tables and chairs, but there was no time to rescue the tent before the storm.  It reminded us of how quickly storms can arise and how, like our dear handcart pioneers, 

we needed to work together in a crisis.

Everyone took shelter inside the cabin and watched the Martin's Cove and Sixth Crossing DVDs sent to us by current missionaries serving at Wyoming Mormon Trail Mission.

Then they ate the most amazing 

mint ice cream ever plus a "Remember" cookie.  

Many had already left to escape the storm, so we froze the remaining cookies and will take them to our friends at the new Wyoming Mormon Trail Mission when we visit them.

Thank you for coming!  What a wonderful day!!

A 5 minute movie taken by the drone will soon be ready to post on this blog, so check now and then.

Hopefully other photos will be coming and will be posted on this blog as we receive them.  Please email us any great pictures you took that day so we can share them with each other and with our missionary friends who are still serving at Martin's Cove and Sixth Crossing!

Love you all!

The Moenches

January 18, 2015 . . . and a WELCOME HOME!

After leaving Martin's Cove, passing all the colored Trek flags, and driving 6 hours pulling a heavily loaded trailer behind our poor little 14 year-old car . . . 

. . . we arrived safely in Salt Lake greeted by all our children and grandchildren.  What fun and what a blessing!

We will be reporting on our mission and speaking in Sacrament Meeting on Sunday, January 25, at 1:00 pm, at the Salt Lake Valley View Stake Center located on the northwest corner of 2300 East and 3900 south.
We would love to see you, 
but please do not feel any pressure to come!  

We will not be having any kind of gathering or open house afterward.  

We will save that for the big party and reunion on 

Saturday, July 11, 2015, at our ranch. 

We love you all and cherish the memories of the times we've had together!  Thankfully the relationships we have formed with each other are lasting - even eternal - and hopefully we will also be worthy to someday meet the amazing handcart pioneers whose lives we have honored and whose stories we have told.

The little banner our kids put up says it all, 
"It's a Wonderful Life!"

January 14, 2015 A FAREWELL . . .

It's SO hard to say goodbye to such an amazing mission, but our last day has finally arrived.

 

We have loved serving here where the handcart pioneers struggled so valiantly to get their families to Zion.

We have loved serving with such wonderful missionaries whom we love and will always hold dear in our hearts.

 Our sweet winter missionaries prepared a fun farewell dinner . . .. . . admonishing us to continue to serve our Heavenly Father.The food was wonderful, of course . . .

 . . . and so was the company!   

After that delicious meal we were treated to some 
personalized songs by the Sisters . . .

. . . and they all gave us a beautiful handcart scene made by Elder Petersen . . . 

 

. . . so that we would always REMEMBER!

And we will!

 

It was also good to have a chance to say goodbye to 
the Stephensens, the Whitlocks, and Chris.

And now it is time for big changes here!

Mormon Handcart Historic Sites

has become its own mission and will be called

WYOMING MORMON TRAIL MISSION!

President Bushman is the new Mission President, and he and Sister Bushman will preside over this new mission for the next two years as it continues to evolve.

We love and support them and look forward to hearing about the future of these historic sites!

We also look forward to our Missionary Reunion 
at our ranch in Utah on 
Saturday, July 11, 2015.

What a blessing and a privilege it has been to serve here.

But for now, farewell and thanks to everyone . . .

  

. . . and God Be With You Till We Meet Again!

OUR 2013 - 2014 VISITORS, plus wind like you can't believe!

On New Year's Day we tallied up the numbers from the two years we have served here. 

These are just the visitor numbers - it does not include the nearly 20,000 trekkers.  Trek groups are way to large to come to our Visitors' Center in the summer.  There are days that we have several hundred visitors, and if we tried to bring trek groups of 200 - 600+ through as well, the center would be so crowded that no one could even move!  They get the stories along the trail.

As we left Casper last Friday we took a few pictures to try to show how the snow looks when it is blowing off the hills and across the roads.  We drove up south Poplar street to where there were some beautiful homes and we had a better view of those wind blown hills.

Along the highway home we also tried to take pictures of how the snow looks, but a picture just can't capture it.

One really beautiful sight we saw was the sun shining through Devil's Gate as we approached it from the east.  This is how the pioneers would have first seen it, minus the fence, of course. 

Usually when you look at it from this angle you cannot see much through Devil's Gate, but the sun was low in the sky and reflected off the snow covered ground, making it easier to distinguish the view. 

Back at the Homestead we marveled at the view to the west.  The snow blows to and fro and circles around, undulating back and forth like it was fluid.

It may look beautiful outside in the snow, but these three little bunnies were hunkered down against the wind.  You can see how their tracks lead down against our apartment building, near one of the basement windows that gives them a little warmth and shelter.

 This morning when we woke up we discovered that the wind had been blowing at 57 mph during the night.  (Note the 57 under Peak)

It plastered the bedroom windows of our apartment so we couldn't even see out.

It also blew snow and ice into the porch area and onto the sliding glass door . . .  

. . . and we had to tape it shut all the way around to keep the wind out. 

It's FREEZING here!!

The wind blew so hard that it broke our flagpole . . .

. . . and bent it all the way down where it hit the roof of the Martin Cabin. 

We had already removed the ripped and tattered flags.  (We go through about 3 sets of flags or more each year due to the wind.)

 Elder Moench sent out a radio message that everyone should stay in their apartments today because the snowdrifts are so high no one can even get to the office or Visitors Center. 

Highway 220 that runs in front of our entrance is closed, as are many roads in Wyoming, so there is no chance of anyone coming to visit our site today.

They are snowed out and we are snowed in!!

Over the weekend we finished our Nativity jigsaw puzzle, and several of the missionaries completed the one of Devil's Tower in less than 24 hours, so perhaps they'll start another one since we can't go anywhere or do anything.

On days like this we marvel at how the handcart pioneers survived these conditions, and we are grateful beyond measure for the electricity that gives us heat, water, and comfort in our apartments!