Martin's Cove Site

Jul 21A very busy schedule was had for the last four days. While we were stationed at the "Foot Bridge" a small family group came with their covered hand cart. They had already covered about five miles and were now going to cross the river in commemoration of the crossing on November 4th, 1856. That done, we thought that they would now return to the "homestead" by way of the sand trail. Grandmother had two bad knees and the grand children were abt. : girl 11 and 6, boy 8 or 9, and their decision was to do the steep women's pull. As Priesthood we could not help them, but we could stand on the sides at the top and watch, take pictures, no cheering, just pray that the women are up to it. So many women had lost their husbands, had sick husbands and children. Yet, there faith and inward strength brought them to the Valley. This women's pull is to honor all pioneer women and their dedication to the Gospel and foremost the New and Everlasting Covenant which was available to them in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City. This little family accomplished so much amid shed tears by those of us who prayed them up the hill. Two little girls and a sore kneed grandmother. Angels were helping them.
Also we had two trek groups come and cross the Sweetwater. One group had the Aaronic Priesthood carry the women across. The young man who carried the Bishops wife fell and dropped her into the swift flowing current. I am sure that it was unintentional, but that also happened when four young men carried many across in minus ten degree weather and blowing snow, November fourth 1856.
Today I was working on a water truck centrifugal pump which we better not tear down until all the trek-ers have left for the season. It will take several days to rebuilt this pump after we get the right spare parts. We use this truck to spray the gravel roads and camp sites so that the dust is manageable. After the middle of August the trek-ers will slow down since school starts for many.
Time goes by so fast that we lose track of "what day is this?" The rain clouds still go around Martin's Cove and the heat is oppressive, just wears a body out.
We will do our level best to represent our Stake here. Have a great day,
Your Martin's Cove Missionaries
Jul 22Wonders of all wonders; the internet is accessable tonight. After a great potluck dinner today, and my poppyseed cakes receiving accolades, we had an evening of Broadway show tunes sung by Dean Larimor, accompanied by his wife. It was a great evening, the kind of music that is kind to the ears and mind. At one time, to give Dean a break, the audience sang Do Re Me from "Sound of Music". I will be singing "If I were a Rich Man" most of the night.
Lightening has struck and the prairie south east of us is on fire. The strong winds do not help at all to control the blaze. The highlands of Wyoming get very little moisture, the clouds come over us, but will not let lose of precious sprinkles.
Bernice and I were Ephraim Hanks and Thisbe for the Declo 1st ward Friday evening. While the ward was sitting around the propane fireplace they asked their bishop if he would perform the Shoshone raindance. He did and within a few minutes some sprinkles fell, not enough to make any difference. While we were performing our skit he did the raindance again and this time we got wet enough to cool us off.
On the way home tonight from the homestead we stopped to watch a rattlesnake by the side of our road. It had seven nice buttons and it wwent off through the sagebrush to find supper. I did not have my snake stick in the car and didn't want to just pick it up by the middle. Good choice.
Jul 26We received some rain in the last few days. The mornings would start out sunny and hot while in the afternoon clouds would build up and leave a few minutes of rain behind. The air would cool and it would be a pleasant afternoon. The rain would decend with a few sprinkles while missionaries were at their post, but come down hard when most of us were under shelter.
Interesting visitors came this week; one couple from Germany who live just a few blocks from where I, Joachim, grew up. It was a good visit and the Gospel was mentioned, but not well received at that time. That is OK, maybe a seed will sprout when nurished by others.
The other couple was from Baja, CA or Mexico, the Ed Christensen's. They now live in Mexico, a little town, and are friends of the Simpsons living in Bigfork, MT. Soooo, we have developed new friends while here at Martin's Cove. Maybe Mexico is a good place to be during the cold winter months.
We had lots of Trek-ers from various stakes and wards with another 1200 coming today. It is a joy to address them at the various post locations, tell them pioneer stories, and just mingle. The Church will be in good hands when these young people take over the reign.
The 24th celebration was great here at the Missionary Village, but it was a "bust" at the local park and was moved to the stake center in Casper. While it rained here for a few minutes, it was a deluge there in Casper and all the revelers got soaked. Refuge was found in the cultural hall at the stake center where the program continued.
For the first time we had a cougar (Mountain Lion) chase an Antelope through the visitor center area on Monday. As we saw it, the Antelope was just a little faster. It is unusual for a cougar to come this close to the ranch area during the day. Either he was hungry or just not feeling well.
The Restored Gospel is still true. We have a living Prophet at the head, Thomas S. Monson, who the Lord will inspire in leading His people. It is a great day in Wyoming.
July 31We have been overwhelmed with trek-ers this last week. Sometime we don't know if we are coming or going. However, it is great to see the various stakes or wards come with their youth and have great experiences. Some units bless us (the missionaries) with their leftover parishables which we enjoy for lunch.
We had a good day when we went to Casper for our P-Day. We found a business to sell us various pump parts. Pumps that are used here on the ranch and parts are hard to come by. But we found a distributor who would go to the trouble of finding parts for us. Now we have to wait until they get here and then we can repair some pumps and piping before going home in October.
Wildfires are burning close to the ranch. We thought that they had been extinguished, but the high winds and dry air started them up again. At night we see the glow of the fires against the night sky.
We can't believe that July is coming to an end. It seems just yesterday that we celebrated the fourth and Canada Day.
The missionaries are watching each other when we work at our assigned duties. It is so easy to get dehydrated when the body does not get enough water. We provide 5 gallon coolers at strategic places for the trek-ers to fill their water bottles. There is a good well at HandCart Parking, but some trek-er youngsters try to outdo each other when pumping and that causes sand to be brought up with the water. Not much sand, but enough to see it at the bottom of their coolers. A steady, rythmic pumping action will alleviate the sand problem.