The Work Goes On

This has been a great week.  The weather has been good despite short hail storms on Tuesday and Wednesday.  It is so amazing, you put on coats and hats and in an hour you are throwing them off because it warms up.  The storms and wind moves in and out faster than anyplace I have ever seen.
We had the "Pay sisters" Doreen Lloyd and JoAnn Baird.  They are Marjorie Hinckley sisters and are just a constant laugh.  Their Grandmother, Mary Goble and Grandfather Richard Pay were members of the Hunt wagon company that stayed with the Martin handcart company. They shared many great family stories and even had a grave marker for their 6 week old Great Aunt that died on the trail.  It was an amazing story about how it came into their possession.

Bob, JoAnn Pay Baird, Doreen Pay Lloyd

Grave marker for Edith Goble. Burried just before Devils Gate in Wyoming

They did a great fireside on Wednesday night and then we spent the day with them as we visited many sites of the actual trail and campgrounds.  We also saw "Brighams arrow" that was placed there by the vangard company to show them where to turn.  We saw many unmarked grave sites which were just stones embeded in the ground.  We had lunch at "The Muddy" where every Mormon pioneer who came across the plains would have camped.

Debra on the actual Mormon and California trail.

Bob and Debra at the Muddy campground

It was very moving and inspirational to be in those sacred places where so many of our ancesters sacrificed so much for their beliefs.
Bob and I finished covering the vent work upstairs in the trek center, and Bob repaired the two toilets after I kind of broke one as I was cleaning.  He got quite a shower as the water line broke off of the valve.

Bob, the toilet fix it king

We rode some of the trails with paint in hand to paint the poles so as to help keep us on the trails.  I must say, I am quite liking buzzing around the Ranch in the four by fours!

Debra, painting poles on the trail

We spent yesterday knocking down the mud the swallows keep bringing in to build their nests.  They love the Depot and it seems to be a favorite spot for nest building.  I have come to believe they are "pesky" birds!
All in all it has been a great week.  

A warm spirit despite the snow

Our week started with a fireside on Sunday night with cowboy and gospel artist Clark Kelly Price.  He was amazing and has painted many beautiful pictures and told us some of the background stories to some of his paintings.

Clark Kelly Price and Debra  His artwork is amazing

One of our favorites

We were in charge of Family Home Evening this week and we all watched Once I Was A Beehive.  We all had some good laughs.
We then made a trip to the Payson Temple on Tuesday.  A much needed break from the hard labor we have been doing.  It was also a great spiritual refresher for us. We ate in Santaquin, and each entree included a scone, they were 15 inches long with a 1000 calorie cup of honey butter each.  Didn't need the entree after trying to eat the scone.

May 17, 2016 at the Payson Utah temple

Wednesday was a big work day.  Debra and the sisters went to the freeway exit to the DL&L property and picked up trash.  Debra spent the remainder of the day trying to forget the sights and smells of the stuff they picked up.  Two full pickup truck loads full of everything from a discarded mattress to dirty diapers and any other gross thing you can imagine.  Bob got lucky and spent the morning trimming and mowing the lawns around the Depot.  The afternoon wasn't quite so lucky however, re riveting porta johns back together.  We no doubt will have a phobia regarding porta johns for the rest of our lives.  We then had a hotdog roast in our coats and played some rally fun trek games, Chicken Taco Boom, and Big Booty.  Can't wait to play them with family and friends.

Thursday we had a visit from our just released and our newly sustained Area 70 leaders.  Elder Summerhays (who called us on this mission) and Elder Durham.  It was a very enjoyable meeting with lots of spiritual insights and promises.  At 10:30 am my cell phone rang and we went and met our 3rd trek review.  It went very smoothly (we must be getting the hang of this, a little bit any way), lasted about 3 hours driving around the 26 mile trek their youth will be taking with us.  At about 3pm we loaded up in 3 trucks and drove one of the 3 escape routes off of the property in case of a fire.  29 miles of some of the most beautiful country you have ever seen, but it was so bumpy and twisty it felt like it was 129 miles!!!  Hope we never have to use it. We came out of Croyden Canyon onto I-84 and then went to dinner at Taggart, very good food!! Thankfully we drove back on the freeways.

Friday we went back to work on the upstairs of the Trek center covering the ductwork so that if we have to bring any group in during a lightning storm they won't crush the heat ducts.  We are also preparing to build a furnace room.  We are attaching to cement block on the backside and building 2x4 walls on the front and top.  It has been fun working together.  We then learned another hoedown dance and how to call it when we need to do that on the treks. It rained all night and blew something fierce.

Saturday we started the day with our 4th and final trek review.  Unfortunately for the group we could only drive about 2/3's of the route because of mud.  It started to snow really hard on the way up the women's pull which ends on top of a hill with a building called the Rat Shack.  We finished the review in a blizzard and hope the group got home safely.

Rat Shack in the blizzard May 19, 2016

 We then did a carbon copy of Friday upstairs in the trek center.  As we promised last week a picture of our completed handcart, wheels and all!

Our completed handcart

Today, Sunday, we went into Evanston for church, had our group dinner and wrote this blog. Oh snowy DL&L.  You can experience all four seasons in one day!

Today May 22, 2016  Our snowy home

We are keeping warm with a borrowed space heater as we were told our propane will run out today.  Oh the joys of trailer living.  We actually have it very nice.

A week on the Trails dodging sheep (Baaaaaaaaaaad)

Each missionary gets to build a handcart and so Bob and I took our turn.  The wheels aren't on yet.  We will send that picture next week.

We finished fixing the walkway into the depot and it looks so much better.  We sprayed weeds in the depot lawn that was beautifully yellow from the numerous dandelions and thistle.  Hopefully we got them because Bob just cannot put up with a weedy lawn, and I am not about to pull all of them.  We have peen sprucing up the place as we have Elder Summerhayes, and Elder Durham of the 70 coming to visit on Thursday.  Deseret Land and Livestock Trek mission is under their authority.
Trek Reviews have started this week and we did three of them.  This is where the leaders of those who are coming on trek this year come out with the missionary who will be leading their trek (us) and reviewing the route and support roads their group will be on.  Each review takes 3-4 hours to complete and we are learning more than they are.  We are looking forward to meeting all our groups.  We have two more trek reviews scheduled this week.  This is a map of one of the six routes we are learning for our treks.

This is a 27.8 mile trek

We also drove a couple of the trails in the 4 wheeler's  and came back covered with so much dust, I think we clogged the septic with mud after our 5 gallon showers.  We look like bandits with our neckerchiefs over our noses.  I don't know how the dust gets in, but it does.  We did have beautiful weather this week for all of the things we needed to do, but the rain has returned today and it is cold again.  It continues to freeze just about every night.  But we are grateful we can come in out of the weather to sleep.

An elk shed we found on one of our trails

 The sheep have moved in in force.  They have two big white dogs and three black and white dogs along with the sheepherders that keep track of the sheep.  The big ones will sit right in the middle of the road to stop you and protect their sheep.  It reminds me of the Good Shepherd that does all He can to protect us if we allow Him into our lives.

Two big white sheep dogs bigger than the sheep

They really let us know they are here.  The little lambs are so cute and there seems to be 2-3 with each mother.

 

 This week we learned the Virginia Reel and the Heel Toe Polka.  We learned to call them so we can teach them on the trails. 

We had a great morningside with Jolene Allphin.  She has researched the stories of the people in the Willie and Martin Handcart companies and the Hodgett and Hunt wagon companies that were with the handcart companies. She has written the book, Tell My Story, Too.  It also has the stories of those who were in the rescue parties.  It is an amazing book and the stories are so touching.  We use a different story each morning in our preparation meetings, and will be using  many of them on our treks.

Jolene Allphin with Elder and Sister Barton

We are well and loving the work!  We do sleep really well at night and are getting used to the low oxygen levels at this 7,000 foot elevation!    

Cinco de P U

I don't know if we have ever worked this hard in one week, but it has been great!  It has continued to be rainy off and on but we were able to take the 4X4s out and drive a couple of the trails.  It is quite important for us to know the trails so we don't get lost and lead our treks astray.  Debra is having lots of fun buzzing around in the 4 wheelers.  It can get very bumpy at times especially if you happened to hit a badger hole!

.

Debra's first drive

Bob's first drive of the side by sides

  Debra also learned to drive a riding lawnmower and mowed the lawns, and we both helped to disassemble a 4 foot satellite dish and haul it off.  Getting the port-a-jons in order has been another.big job as we had to turn the toilet paper holders over and make 44 plugs for the jons.  The plugs keep the "stuff" from sloshing out as they are moved from site to site. There are about 80 total jons.

a small sampling of the port-a-jons

We were given the assignment to help organize the "Skunk Shed".  It got its name due to the fact that skunks live under the shed and from time to time let us know who is boss. 

Painting the skunk shed

For Cinco de Mayo all the missionaries went into town and ate at Don Pedros (the only Mexican food in town).  They need a Mangos or Tia Rosa's to really know what Mexican food is about. We then attended the high school production of Oklahoma.  By the time we got home we were double exhausted.  We both have been sleeping really well since we got the leaks fixed and the noisy plastic off the trailer.  For mothers day the Elders did the dishes after our Sunday pot luck dinner. 

Mothers Day dinner Howrd, Peart, Cowan, Ekins, Higginson, Barton, Call, Walker

Elders at dish duty Walker, Howard, Higginson, Cowan, Ekins, Peart, and Bob

 It was great facetimeing with all our kids and then going into Evanston to stay at the Best Western and soaking in the tub (Debra) twice for 45 minutes (twice) and taking a 20 minute shower (Bob) and not running out of hot water.  We really have learned to take a 5 gallon shower quite well, but it was fun to not even think about how much hot water we were using.  We are loving our mission and grateful we get to keep the same companion the whole time.

Some of the beautiful country on the Ranch.

Freezing On The Ranch

Burr!!!!   This has been a very cold week with snow everyday that blows horizontal and chills you to the bone.  It does not pile up, it just blows away! Did I say the wind blows?  Amen.

 We discovered a leak in the trailer at the first of last week, and immediately 4 other Elders were out to help us cover that end of the trailer with a tarp.  It acts like a sail in this wind and really keeps this "Home" a rocking.  Last night I thought we might be in OZ when we woke up.  We are hoping to have a dry and semi windless day to really get up on top to fix it.

our trailers roof was leaking.  Covered for about 1 week till we had time to fix it

  Bob and I have been given the duty of building a room upstairs in the trek center to enclose the furnace room and also the duct work.  We are loving it as that is right down our ally.  Elder and Sister Ekins from Hinckley UT are helping and we are having a ball.  At least we are out of the weather!  They were quite surprised when Debra grabbed the chop saw and proceeded to cut 2x4s.  We also called the leaders of the treks that we will be in charge of to set up trail reviews.  They came last Fall and this will be their last look at the trails they will be taking their youth on before they arrive here.  We are learning the trails and hopefully will not get them lost as we take them around.  Each trail is 27-30 miles long and there are 6 trails we have to learn.  This place is huge!  Because of all the rain and snow the roads are still very muddy and slippery. There are several gates we have to open and close as we travel the roads and trails on the ranch.  As we came up to this gate Elder Cowen said he wished all of the gates were as easy as this one.  He jumped out and worked for awhile, then signaled for the other two Elders to come and help.  So with shovel, trailer hitch for pounding, and three Elders, they finally beat it into submission.  How many Elders does it take to open a gate?

This was one of the easier gates to open.  It only took 2 Elders and a shovel

 Debra went out with some of the other missionaries and Ben who works with the Ranch monitoring wildlife.  He took us out to see the Sage Grouse mating rituals.  It was amazing!  We went out at 6 AM and believe it or not, it was the warmest part of the day!  We picked up two elk "sheds" ( that is what they call the antlers that have fallen off ) 

Ben the wildlife intern from Utah State with two sheds we found when out looking at grouse

We fed Navaho Tacos to the cowboys from the ranch this week with muddy boots chaps and spurs.  They are real cowboys that are herding the cows and doing the branding and such.  Bob has a sore shoulder from hammering, drilling and carrying construction materials.  He is not quite used to this daily routine yet but is getting better. We attended church this morning and the Bishop stood up and said, "Sister Barton this is unusual weather we are having right now.....it is usually 20 degrees colder!"  They all laughed as my mouth feel to the floor. (No picture needed)!!!