Lindsey's Serving Along the Sweetwater: Trekking and Other Fun

Dear Family and Friends,

This has been another busy week and as far as the weather goes we've had a mix of sunshine and rain.
Monday was our preparation day and after spending the morning doing laundry and chores around the house we headed into Casper where we met four other couples for lunch at our favorite Mexican restaurant. After lunch we headed to the movies with the Stimpson and saw San Andreas. It was entertaining and the special effects were amazing. After the movie we did some grocery shopping then headed for home arriving just in time for FHE and s'mores over the campfire. It was a great day.

Tuesday we finished chinking the barn in the morning then we did some cleanup work before stopping for lunch. In the afternoon we mowed lawns (an almost constant job here).

Sister Widdison and I shared the mower and I used the garden rover to take the grass out to the dump area. It was a satisfying days work.

Wednesday I had school group in the morning while Elder Lindsey helped build a fence. In the afternoon we trekked with a group from the Taylorsville 38th Ward. Elder Lindsey was actually a follower (trainer) for a first year missionary couple but when his wife got sick and couldn't trek I took her place. We love trekking and it has been hard to not have the opportunity to do so while the first year missionaries are going on the treks to be trained. While it is nice to be with them as followers we hope to someday soon get the opportunity to do our own trek.

Wednesday when the trek arrived they were trekking to the campground. As missionaries we don't usually trek with them to the campground but they had requested to do the men's call out/women's pull on their way to camp so we accompanied them to that point.

Thursday morning dawned rainy and cool but with excitement we (along with Elder Pottinger) headed out early to meet our trek. It was a good day and the rain didn't seem to dampen anyone's spirits. Our trek was the only one of the three out early who chose to do the river crossing in the rain. They were brave souls who wanted the true pioneer experience.

The water is still pretty high and swift. Because of the rain no one dried out!

Selfie!

Because of the rain the Bishop gave his message to the youth under the cover at Handcart Parking before we headed into Martin's Cove.

Elder Lindsey talking about Sacred and Hallowed ground.

The thing that makes trekking so wonderful to us is the people we come in contact with. The youth who are so full of life and enthusiasm and their leaders who have such love and hope for them. We connected with this particular group in an extra special way because many of them knew and loved our good friend Darrell Bawden who passed away recently.

Friday while Elder Lindsey programed radios for President Bushman I went with everyone else out to groom the front trail. The hard rains have wrecked havoc on all of our trails and we spent the morning pulling the gravel back into the middle of the trail.

Many hands make quick work!

President Bushman gave us a break every 30 minutes or so quizzing the first year missionaries on their stories.

I'm showing this picture as proof that we've had A LOT of rain. These fungi are growing all over this high desert landscape...right beside the sage brush!

Saturday we were assigned to Handcart Parking in the morning. We spent the time watching the treks return from the campground to the homestead to catch their busses and head for home. As I watched them on the trail I thought about the hearts that might have been touched and the lives that could have been changed by the time they spent here walking on hallowed ground.

In the afternoon we went to Alcova for lunch with Elder and Sister Moser and Elder and Sister Stimpson. We had a great view overlooking Alcova Reservoir. The food was good and the company was fun!

Sunday was long but good. We left home early so we could do a few things in the barn to get ready for potluck before church started. After our meetings and potluck we had a fireside with Julie Rodgers, the artist who does so many wonderful paintings of the handcart pioneers. She does a beautiful job of telling their stories through her art. She does have a website that shows her art so look her up. We only got to attend the fireside for a short while as we had a Visitors Center assignment from 3:00pm to 9:00pm. We were kept pretty busy with many great people stopping by but the highlight of the afternoon had to be the tour bus of Asian Tourists. They arrive every Sunday around 5:00pm on their way to Mt Rushmore. They love to take pictures and they especially love to take pictures of us in our western dress.