Goblins and other visitors

Things are really beginning to hop around the fort right now.  Our director keeps changing the work shifts in an attempt to find the best timeframe, but he isn't quite there yet.  We received phone calls and texts three times this week to come in early to work when they ran out of missionaries on the current shift.  One of the days, Stephen wasn't quite ready yet, so I hopped on the bicycle and pedaled to work as fast as I could.  I was barely off my bike when I got an assignment to take a group of senior ladies.  We actually had 730 visitors yesterday.

I've had some interesting tours this week.  One of them began with the husband asking me "Why are you here representing the Mormons?"  You can guess that they had a few negative feelings about the Church, since their granddaughter had recently converted.  It was a little touchy along the way, and you may not believe this, but they did NOT take me up on my offer to give them a Book of Mormon.

The senior ladies that I took on a tour were a little slower in speed, so we spent two and a half hours together.  They were very friendly.  I thought it was interesting that they all decided on a whim to go on a road trip to see the Manti Pageant.  They were from Riverside and spent a lot of time together quilting.  I promised to send them the pattern for the Carolina Lily quilt on the bed in the Men's room as soon as Marva and Anna Laura finish the pattern.  These ladies, along with the C7 quilting group, are working on developing patterns for the quilts at Cove Fort.  I am so impressed with their abilities and willingness to give service to our visitors at Cove Fort.

My other interesting tours were people that we knew that came by.  One was the wife of the San Rafael Stake President 35 years ago when we were living in Terra Linda.   I was shocked that I actually recognized this woman and even more so that I remembered her name.  Another surprise visitor was one of our trainers from the MTC, Sister Bateman.  Stephen and I were just getting off shift when she walked up and called me by name.  I felt a little obligaEnsign that says "we need to commit to serve the Lord and our communities with faith and diligence as the pioneers did?"  We are starting to use that as we talk with our visitors.

ted to stay and take her on the tour.  There was a little pressure to try and do all the things that she had taught us -- such as invite and promise.  I also was the lucky person who got to be the guide for the St. George Visitor Center Director and his wife.  I pretended that they were just like anyone else, like Sis. Hinckley as she treated everyone just the same.  Pioneer values are always a good thing to follow.  Which reminds me -- have you read the talk by M. Russell Ballard in the July

We had a great P-day as we visited several of the great hiking areas in the eastern part of the state.  The Lows, another couple serving here, served as tour guides and took us to Capitol Reef National Park, Goblin Valley State Park, and to Little Wild Horse Canyon.  We left early and didn't get home until 9:30 that night.  Goblin Valley was the area where they filmed part of the movie Galaxy Quest where they had to go to get a new "berillion sphere".  Very strange formations which we got to hike all around and through.  Probably my favorite stop of the day was at Little Wild Horse Canyon where we spent a couple of hours hiking in a slot canyon.  It was neat walking through the area and touching the walls of the canyon as we passed through.  I'm hoping that we will have another chance to hike in a slot canyon before we come home.

We had three couples over for dinner on Thursday evening.  It was the start of the really hot weather (at least for here, but not for the rest of you) and we actually wound up sitting outside because the trailer just would not cool down.  While we were outside Elder Low noticed that there was a plane just circling around.  It was making no noise so we determined that it had to be a glider.  Before very long, we noticed that it was headed down and actually disappeared behind the hill.  We all jumped into our cars and headed over to the fort to see if we could find the plane.  It had actually landed in a cut field just behind the fort.  There was a gate so everyone else stopped but I just climbed over and headed into the field to see if the pilot needed any help.  Just as I started off, one of the Elders yelled at me to watch out for snakes.  That made me a little nervous as the alfalfa was knee-high. 

Everything was OK other than the fact that the guy needed his partner to find a way into the field to bring his trailer.  It was a big event here at the Fort.

That is about the limit of what happened this week.  We are enjoying what we are doing and are looking forward to seeing some of you during the next few months.