Four Seasons in One Week

This week has been busy and crazy with the weather.  It began last Monday with a fireside given by Mike Erickson.  He is an author of the book "Destiny's Song".  It is the story of his great great grandmother and her trek with the Martin handcart company.  He also sings with a group called Cedar Breaks.  He played his guitar and told us stories. 

Mike Ericksen

That afternoon we had a crazy hail storm.  You should all experience that in  trailer!

You will just have to imagine the, sound it was loud!

Bob in the water line trench.  It was very muddy!

By Tuesday it had warmed up to where we could paint the trim on the addies doors, and dig trenches for the new water line they are taking into the depot.  They are hooking it into the well we use on the rest of the village.  Have I told you how unbelievably good this water is here?  I wish we could take this water, cold and pure, to our home in Mesa.  I have never had better water!

Debra with paint brush in hand at the addies

Bob and I then took a side by side up to trail 6 and had a fun snow ball fight in one of the unmelted drifts.  They are melting a bit and the water is somewhat soaking in.  We all rode trails to figure out if they were passible yet.  Everyone has "river crossings" where there has been no water before.  We still have 3 weeks before the trekkers come and hopefully by then we will have some more drying out.  The wind blows like crazy so that should help some.

Snow ball fight field.  Our attempt at a selfie?

Several of the Sister missionaries braided new pull ropes for the handcarts.  Ever learning new skills!

Sisters Clark and McDowell braiding ropes.

All the missionary couples drove to Afton Wyoming to attend the Star Valley temple on Wednesday.  It was a beautiful drive.  We went in and out of Utah, Idaho, and Wyoming a couple of times each way.  It was a beautiful drive and I have to eat my words that Wyoming is not beautiful.  It is gorgeous and very diverse.  It has flooded fields all the way up and back.  It is very green and the temple is very small (the smallest one I have visited) but the spirit was very large.  We love the temple!

Beautiful Star Valley Temple with the ever blowing Wyoming wind!

We had our warmest day on Thursday.  It got up to 75 degrees.  That didn't last long as Saturday night it went down to 23 degrees.  With the wind that is VERY cold.  It was not like this last year.  We are expecting more snow next week!
Brother and Sister Frogley did a fireside for us on Thursday night about ministering angles.  It was very good.  It was about doing our family history and how our ancestors have a vested interest in what we do with them.  They are about us to help us and lift us up.  As the scripture says,
D&C 128:15 And now, my dearly beloved brethren and sisters, let me assure you that these are principles in relation to the dead and the living that cannot be lightly passed over, as pertaining to our salvation. For their salvation is necessary and essential to our salvation, as Paul says concerning the fathers—that they without us cannot be made perfect—neither can we without our dead be made perfect.

The Frogley's

We continue to clean, repair, and ready the port a jons for the trekkers.  It is like anything new thing we do, the more you do it the easier it gets and the better we get at it.  We are getting pretty good at "port a jons".
We have two "stray" sheep dogs that keep leaving their flock to visit the missionaries.  They are pups and quite like the prime rib that Elder McDowell fed them the first night.

Elder Barton, don't you know missionaries aren't allowed to bring their dogs!

We had two route reviews this weekend with the Bennion Stake and the Layton Creekside Stake.  These are groups that we will be leading when their youth come up.  We are looking forward to treks starting, and the weather settling down!
Today is Mothers Day and all the Elders fixed our Sunday dinner.  We had pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage, fruit, muffins and all the fixings.  It was delicious.  Happy Mothers Day to all the wonderful Mothers in the world!

An welcomed Sisters visit as the Elders prepared Sunday Dinner.

The Elders busily fixing dinner for Mothers Day.  An unusual site!