George's Birthday

George is 72 today. We went on shift at 3:00. The Baileys had prepared a birthday gift for George. They gave him a left handed golf club in a big tube with a golf ball like thing one end and a shoe to couch the club head on the other. Each missionary had written comments on the outside of the tube. They sang to him just as we were coming on shift. I was able to take a couple of pictures and had to leave in the middle of the presentation because I had a tour. He was supposed to go with me but he had to stay to finish reading the instructions for the uses of the tube.

We were waiting for our next tour when Elder Despain came in and said someone wanted to see us who had been to Disneyland. We both remembered the family who had been here about two weeks ago. The family came out of the main video room and we recognized them immediately. Sister Despain had mentioned it was Elder Ross’s birthday when they told her who their tour guides had been when they stopped on their way to Disneyland. We had tried to show them the cabin and/or the video but the sites were all busy after we had toured the Fort. They promised they would return for the rest of the tour. They sang to George. Elder Despain took a picture of us with them. 

We came home and had a piece of birthday cake. There was a plastic flower on the car that played the birthday song over and over. We couldn't get it to stop playing. I broke it trying. 

Solo

We went to Richfield to the Verizon store. My cell phone was not working at all. The store was pretty busy with only one employee to handle the customers. She did her best to work on my cell phone/computer issues and take care of incoming customers.  It was almost 10:30 when a lady came into the store and immediately asked me questions about the couple coming to Cove Fort in October and about the Atwoods. I realized I must have met her when I was in the Manti temple. We started chatting after George left to go sit in the car. He was getting frustrated that the store employee kept waiting on each person who came in instead of focusing on our problem. At 10:50 the clerk said she was making progress but it would be several more minutes. Sherleen Jaussi (my new friend) jumped up and said she would deliver it to me at Cove Fort as soon as it was finished. Surprised, I agreed and we headed to Wendy’s for lunch to eat it on the way to prayer meeting which starts at 11:40. We were a couple of minutes late. Sherleen brought everything to us about 1:00. My phone is working!

Later I found out that Sherleen is the main character written about in the book Solo. I later read the book, by Patricia O’Brian King. It is about Sherleen Jaussi’s adventure when her plane went down outside of Grand Junction.  She was from Price where her husband was a doctor. They both decided to learn to fly to be able to make trips to visit Sherleen’s mother in Idaho. She was taking a three legged flight including Blanding, Price and Grand Junction. This was a requirement for her to have a three stop solo flight to get her license. Her plane lost power and crashed. We learn how she survived until she was rescued.

She now lives in Richfield and she serves in the Manti Temple.

Brazil Visitors

The tours today were sporadic like they have been lately. No one for an hour or two then six cars show up. We had one awesome tour with three women, two were from Brazil. The mother spoke only Portuguese but understood some English. Her daughter spoke fairly good English and she had served a mission in Brazil. The third woman was from St George and she had served her mission in Brazil and had been befriended by the older woman as a young missionary. Her Portuguese was excellent and she translated all the way through the tour. The older lady was touched by the video before we even entered the Fort. She was taking pictures in the stage coach room and the others went ahead, she spoke to me in really good English. We seemed to have a bond. We received hugs and kisses several times before they left. They took a card to fill out for a referral since they were missing all the information they needed.

Elder and Sister Luke

Tonight we said farewell to five couples who are headed home because their time of service at Cove Fort will come to a close on Monday. I wanted to pay tribute to the Lukes.

Elder and Sister Luke best represent service of all the couples in the mission. I noticed that about them the first month we were here. She was always making treats for the sharing table. She is the one who always cleaned the fridge on Fridays. Both were willing to be of service in any way needed and they went about it quietly. Sister Luke fell down when she tripped over an orange cone in the road a couple of months ago. Elder Luke would drive her to the handicapped parking space, carry in her treats then help her into the MPR. She would cover for others on the chair to keep busy while she was there even though she couldn’t go on a tour. They were both sensitive to my needs when I was feeling dizzy during their time on the chair supervising the goings and comings of the missionaries. Elder Luke was our favorite supervisor. Elder Luke assisted me when I was touring a child who started bleeding from a recent tonsillectomy. He shared with me that he had been an EMT after he had cared for the child. As a scout he learned to sign each letter of the alphabet. He has taken a few deaf people through the Fort and has been able to communicate with them by spelling out each word. They are both short in stature but they are giants in humility and service. We are sad to see them head home to Tooele.

Birthday Wishes

Sister Brown makes a cupcake for each person who has a birthday. You get to blow out the candle while everyone sings to you. 

I received a ton of birthday wishes on FB and some texts, plus a few phone calls. All were appreciated and enjoyed.

A Special Family

Today thoughts about 9-11 are prevalent. We have our flag at half-mast that flies over the Fort.

It has been a dreary day so the traffic at the Fort was almost nonexistent. To pass our time, we watched a series of three church videos. The first was about Moroni and the Book of Mormon, the second about Parley P Pratt and the third about the Italian pastor who found a Book of Mormon without the cover. He read it and knew it was true. He refused to burn it as instructed. He was cast out of the priesthood of his church. He eventually was able to be baptized.

About 11:30 a van full of people arrived. We were greeted by a man ( he lives in Sun City in Phoenix) and his nephew who had been to the Fort yesterday. He loved it so much he brought back another niece and her husband (lives in Missouri) with their 6 children who are home schooled. All eight of them live in a 42 foot 5^th wheel. They travel a lot. They love the feel in Utah and the value that is placed on families.

They loved the tour and soaked up the gospel messages. They asked several gospel questions. They didn’t fill out a card but they were eager to get the literature. One of the older girls sought me out on the way back up toward the parking lot and asked me about Jesus and his relationship to God and about baptism by emersion. I gave her a card with Mormon.org and my gmail so that she could ask me questions if she chooses or go online for her answers.

Jan and Michelle

Jan and Michelle arrived right at 1pm as scheduled. Earlier in the day I got involved in helping Sister Parry upload all the pictures for our Memory Book for our mission. I was at Sister Parry's apartment with Brad on the line trying to help us work through our problems, so I left my cell phone with her so Brad could continue helping her. As a result, I didn't get to take all the pictures I had intended while we were at the Fort. I was bummed we didn't get some better shots with Elder Ross's phone.

After our tour went to the Freemont Indian State Park and saw the sites. The "blanket" shown above was awesome to see. We did some hiking around the area and then went to dinner at Big Rock Candy Mountain. We came back to the 5th wheel and chatted until 9:00pm.

Jack & Lynette

A surprise visit from the Youngs was enjoyed by us. They are friends from the Cottages. We received an update on the events that we have missed in the past four months.

Brian and Elizabeth

Elder and Sister Evans stopped by for a quick visit on their way to Wasco, California to serve the second half of their mission. We spent some time catching up and enjoying each others company.
 Our friendship goes a long way back. Elizabeth was instrumental in my becoming active after my baptism at age 13. We became good friends all through high school  and we attended BYU together.  She was instrumental in George and I meeting each other after graduation from BYU. Brian's parents befriended us when we lived in Prescott, consequently, we feel part of the Evans family. We have remained friends and Brian and Elizabeth continue to set a good example for us. We are grateful for their friendship.

Busy Day!

A text message alerted us that Lori and her mom, Emmy, were planning to stop at the Fort on their way home from St George. Their target time was about the same and Kim and her family. Lori came about 20 minutes before the Hannays. I had fun taking Lori and Emmy quickly through the Fort. We had two rooms left to explore when the Hannay family arrived. Luckily, Elder Ross had just finished his tour when they arrived. 

Lauren & Devin Cantwell, Kim, Ty, Eric, Steve, Nate Hannay, Elder Ross

Eric, our grandson, reports to the MTC on Oct 3 to learn Portuguese so that he can serve in Angola, Africa. This is the last time we will see him for two years. We will not be able to go to his farewell because we aren't released until October 29. We are delighted we were able to see him for a few hours and share the Fort with him and his family. We are proud of his choice to serve the Lord.