Thursday morning, we woke to wet sleeping bags and a huge white dog digging near us in a hole. I wasn't sure if it was a dog or a wolf at first. Apparently he is called the "angel dog." No one knows who he belongs to but he just shows up time to time and picks a company to follow and keep them safe. He barked the coyotes away during the night and we didn't see any snakes the whole time we were there. We hiked back around to Martins cove that day. It was beautiful. There was a slight breeze to keep us cool, and we were having a good time together. We had lunch at the bottom of the cove and then hiked part of the way in to some shade. We sat in the shade as Pres. Ellis shared the story of Martin's Cove with us. On Nov 2, 1856, the Martin company came through Devil's Gate and hiked back into this cove to find some shelter from raging winter storms. They reached it on Nov.4 and stayed through the 9th. Many pioneers died on this part of their journey. They were starving and freezing and were dying because of it. When the story was done, we silently walked up into the cove. By this time, it was very hot and I just kept picturing the cove covered in snow and tents and people trying to keep warm. At the top of the cove there is a little spot with wooden logs to sit and ponder. There was also a plaque there that told the story and had some journal excerpts from some of the pioneers. One of our boys, Devon Cluff, had an ancestor who's journal entry was engraved there. He was a Cluff as well. I watched Devon and his brother read something their own ancestor had wrote and was touched as I felt the spirit and felt them connect to this sacred spot. As we walked back down, I was so grateful for the sacrifices made by these faithful people. I was also grateful for the gospel and the blessings in my life. I thought of things I needed to change in my life to make my own sacrifices for the things that I believe. It was an amazing experience. We hiked back down to the center to turn our handcarts in and got on the busses to go to our next campsite. It was nice to get a nap on the bus. We all did. The bus was pretty quiet for most of the ride.
Our next campsite was not so pretty. Just sagebrush and much more rugged. I was worried that my allergies would kick in, but I did ok. We laid the tarp on weeds that were about a foot high and sagebrush and I didn't know how I would do sleeping with it all around me. We had dinner which was so yummy. Dutch oven BBQ chicken and baked beans. Loved it!!! We had a hoedown which was so fun, except for the mosquitos. We got eaten alive out there in the weeds and cowpies. We finally stopped so we could put on more repellant. We had a great devotional that night with our family and the other family we were sharing our campfire with. We had each youth tell something about what they thought or were feeling that day as we hiked through Martin's Cove. It was touching to hear their responses. Scott told a story about his 4th great aunt who was in the Willie Handcart company and we talked about how we all our making our own "trek" in our individual lives. By this time, we had been together for two days and we just loved these kids so much already. We couldn't go to sleep that night and laid in our sleeping bags and just talked for quite a while. We found the big and little dipper and what we thought was Mars. It was a full moon that night and the sky was so pretty. I laid next to my "daughters" and just listened to them talk to each other. It was so special for me to be able to connect with these girls. I only got them for 4 days, but I loved them and really enjoyed this special time to bond with these beautiful young teenage girls. I thought, this is what it will be like when my sons get married. What a treat for me. I love my 4 boys, but it was fun to have some "girl-time."
No comments:
Post a Comment