Handcarts

In the first picture of the handcarts are rickshaws so that the youth can pull disabled friends on the trek that may not be able to hike. The second picture is me moving picnic tables around the campground with the skip loader. The third picture is our 140 handcarts that we are getting ready to re-oil with linseed oil. I also got my spray machine out this week and painted the 24 new picnic tables that we built for a new campground.

This online album has 3 photos and will be available on SkyDrive until 08/15/2011.

http://www.dump.com/2011/05/13/she-takes-a-photo-everyday-for-4-5-years-video/

Dad

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Women of the Church

Dear Family,
 
The two pictures are of Mom [third one in] on one of our women's pulls. This is part of all the treks to have the men and boys leave the sisters to pull the carts alone. You will notice that these carts did not have several hundred pounds of luggage in them. We then tell stories of how in former times and now the women of the church are called on to pull the load alone.
 
Having said that I would like to devote some time to Ashley's graduation with honors from collage. I had to remember back to our stake trek and the women's pull that Ashley was part of. None of the several women's pull sites here are as difficult as the one Ashley was on. It was a heartbreaker that our North Stake sisters thought they were going to die on. The men watching from the trees thought we were going to die just watching as the sister would block the wheels with rocks when they could go no farther. When they got to the top most just dropped to the ground and cried.
After they had rested, as leader of one of the groups, I instructed the girls to step away from the handcarts and told the boys to pull up the final non challenging hill. After going a short distance I looked back and all of the girls had disregarded my instructions and were back helping with the carts. We as men are lucky to have such women in our lives.
 
Ashley, Mom and I will celebrate with you when we get home. Rest assured that this accomplishment did not go unnoticed. Love Dad  We are very proud of your accomplishment. I know the end was hard to get through as your interests were in other things, but you stuck it out, and as the years go by, you will be glad you did. we love and miss you all  mom

Another Day on the Trail

Today was another day on the trails with handcarts and telling the stories that we will tell the trekker youth. We were just telling them to the other missionaries. We are having some surprisingly sunny days even though we have to unhook our water hose each night so it does not freeze. Elaine is changing from four layers of cloths to three layers. Dad

Happy Mothers Day

Happy Mothers Day to all the mothers in our family. We are so proud of you and miss you. Sunday we did our 120 mi R/T to the Cove for church. This was our second trip this week to the Cove. We have been hiking their trails and some of ours, over 10 miles this week. This is the "weeper" mission. There are so many stories that we have to learn and tell. John has told some of the stories dozens of time and still can't get thought them without emotion. Elaine and I have been called to be the" handcart wranglers" this summer. We will be in charge of getting the handcarts to the proper locations for the trekers. There are four locations within twenty miles. We use 3/4 ton trucks with long trailers. Sometimes we will have a trailer behind another trailer. After church we had a potluck dinner. So far there has not been a shortage of good food as these displaced mothers show off their cooking skills. E&E