We
hope that all of you had a great 4th of July with family and
friends. There were no fireworks
and Cove Fort, but seemingly they had them in a lot of the towns around us
(Beaver, Fillmore, Richfield) with no expense spared. Our thanks go out to Lenora Birchfield, Curtis Nelson, and
Josh Burrow for helping Stephen and I get the recipe for oven-baked eggs to use
at our 4th of July breakfast.
We were in charge of it along with another couple. We got a letter from Jared, our son,
this past week and he commented that the Clovis 7th Ward was
thinking about breaking with tradition and NOT serving eggs, sausage, and
pancakes. Funny he should mention
that since Stephen pushed through the idea of having Breakfast Burritos here. No one seemed too disappointed that
there were no pancakes. The best
part of the plan was that there was no sticky syrup to clean up
afterwards. It was actually
raining when we were setting up outside, but it stopped just in time for us to
serve everyone outside.
Probably
the biggest excitement this week was the arrival of Jenny and Matt and their
girls, Samantha and Kelsie. They
spent from Sunday afternoon to Tuesday lunch with us. We took them down to the fort after dinner on Sunday. The girls were not as interested in the
fort as I would have liked them to be, but then perhaps I might be the only
person that excited about it.
Monday
we split our time between the Fremont Indian Village and the Miners’ Park near
Marysvale. Sam found the dresses
made from buckskin in the pit house and spent her time at the discovery center
wearing one. We also took them to
the Cave of a Hundred Hands. We
were looking at the handprints when the next thing we realized was that Kelsie
was on the other side of the bar fencing which was supposed to keep people out
of the cave. I guess the state
needs to revamp their fences to federal guidelines for cribs so that the
bars/slats are closer together. We
actually learned more this time going to the Miners’ Park because there were
brochures in the box that gave explanations of what we were seeing.
We
put the girls to bed on the hide-a-bed in the front room Monday night. As soon as Stephen and I went to our
bedroom in they both came wanting to read and play games. It really was fun to have them here and
to enjoy being grandparents again.
Before
Jenny had to head back, we made a trip north to show them the obsidian beds
west of Kanosh. We took one wrong
turn that took us on a dirt road where the dust/dirt was pouring down the back
windshield and the dust was pouring into the car. It certainly gave me a new appreciation for the “improved”
roads around here. I thought that
we would only be there a short time, but both Jenny and Matt got into the hunt
for the perfect pieces of obsidian.
We even found some pieces of mahogany obsidian. Jenny took home enough to give to all
of her students this year when they talk about rocks and minerals. Our last stop for the day was at the
hot springs outside of Meadow. The
girls seemed to like the pool with all of the small fish in it better than the
deep blue one.
This
week I spent quite a bit of time in the office inputting bishops and stake
presidents so we could put them into contact groups to send out emails. Whenever I would go over there, I would
have to ask “the chair” permission to leave and had to take a radio with me so
they could call me back in case they needed me. I love helping out and doing different things, but it was a
little irritating when I would have someone come to the office and tell me that
I was needed. At times I think
there may be too many bosses in the Missionary Prep Room (MPR) – I guess I can
understand how that could happen when the room is filled with former bishops,
high councilors, Relief Society presidents and others. The bottom line is that the Church is
true no matter what the members do.
Things
at the fort have been a little slow this week with numbers averaging between
200 and 300. I don’t even think
that we broke 200 on the 4th of July. I did, however, give the first gospel tour of the day on the
4th at 6:45 in the morning.
There was a big semi-truck parked out by the north fence so I thought I
would be nice and go put an invitation to breakfast on his window. Just as I
was taping it on the driver emerged from his sleeping compartment. Anyway, it was fun to tell him a little
about the fort and why it was built here.
I was surprised when he said that he was a little scared to park here
last night because it was so isolated.
I always picture these truck drivers as the big, burly type who aren’t
afraid of anything. Plus the fact,
that I love where we are at because it is so peaceful and isolated. I guess it is all about perspective and
expectations. I did such a good
job with the driver that he actually came over and had some breakfast before he
got back on the road.
My
best tour of the week came on the day after the 4th. Kathy and Bill and their granddaughter
Molly were passing through on their way to Colorado. They had plenty of time and wanted to do the entire tour including
film and outbuildings. They seemed
to have some good background about Mormonism and some of the history of the
period. I was thrilled when I
asked if they would like a copy of the Book of Mormon and they said YES. Now I need to follow-up with them on
the internet, answer their questions, and see if we can get them to accept
having the missionaries stop by for a visit.
Stephen
and I had a chance yesterday to go to the movies in Richfield after our
shift. We raced over there only to
find that the showing had been sold out.
We decided to wait for the 6:00 showing and I’m glad that we did. We watched Disney’s The Lone Ranger which turned out to be a really fun show. Speaking of entertainment, I finished
reading the book Welcome to the World, Baby Girl by Fannie Flagg. I loaned the book to another sister and it has been fun
talking about it with her – it almost makes me think that I’m back at Book
Club.
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| Stephen in middle of horseshoe throw |
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