Third time around "Press Forward with Faith"

We have a missionary choir and we have sung for two Sundays now, and have about 3 more Sacrament meetings scheduled to sing at. We have learned and stretched and grown in so many ways on this mission. The song we sing is a pioneer based song. "To Those Who Came Before Me" by Sally DeFord, Sister Barton is our chorister, and Sister Ekins is our accompanist.


Monday night we had a fun night with all the cowboys and ranch staff and their families. We had wonderful chicken enchiladas and the kids had a wonderful time playing in the bubbles and shooting bow and arrows at buffalo's and doing hatchet throws, flying kites, pioneer paint ball (flour in nylon socks) and just having fun visiting and getting to know those who run the ranch, The home ranch is at the other end of the ranch and there are about 7 homes and about 21 out buildings. Some of the ranch workers live in Woodruff also.

Shooting buffalo with bow and arrows

Cowboy Ranch Dinner

Pioneer paint ball, bubbles and roping all at the same time

They loved the bubbles

Elder Call, Elder Cowan, Elder Higginson and Brother Jones played golf on Monday morning in Evanston at Purple Sage Golf Course. Elder Call loved having other missionaries here that love to golf as much as he does.

Golf course in Evanston that they played at

Tuesday is our day of preparing for the next trek that starts on Wednesday. So what does Sister Brinkerhoff get to do on her 50th wedding anniversary? Yes cleaning the port-a-johns. She was such a great sport and so we got a fun picture of her. Oh the things you get to do on a mission.

Sister Brinkerhoff on her 50th Anniversary

Sister Hutchings had a fun Un-birthday party for all of us. Her birthday is in December, and likes to have a half birthday in June. The weather has been so nice we had another outdoor party. We have a lot of birthdays in the summer. So those who do not have a summer birthday she had special treats for them. We sure have wonderful missionaries to work and play with.

This week we were on trail 23 with Elder and Sister Barton. We were with Murray South Stake. Their theme was "Press Forward with Faith". Each week the ward or stake that comes increases just a little for us. We have had fun with our small groups, and it is amazing how attached you become to them in just 4 days. We had 152 this week and 9 handcarts, with 13 in each family. This stake has been trekking here for years and like clockwork they schedule trek every 4 years.

The one thing we learned the first week here is to be flexible. You have to be flexible with weather, with injuries, with bus schedules, with cows in your campground, with a multitude of situations. We had one the first day with their buses being so late. We didn't get out of staging until 2:00 pm. Being on this trail and having to change the campground because of cows we were able to get to camp by about 6. Some trails are longer the first day and we would not of gotten to camp until 10 or later leaving at 2:00.

The other nice thing was that the first night camp is so close to our trailers. We were able to be one of the first ones home that night instead of the last ones from the weeks before.

Thursday another tender mercies. I was driving the 4 wheeler side by side. I happened to come off the trail right by a service road and waiting for the trekkers to move further down the road, when I got a call on our walkie talkie that a trailer had come off a truck. So I was able to turn around and get two of the support staff to go and find the cotter pin and the hitch pin for the trailer. By being there it saved so much time of them having to walk back about a half mile to find it. They also had a flat tire and had to find a flat spot to change it. So this is what being flexible is all about.

Playing in the meadow of yellow flowers

Quite the art of setting up sleeping arrangements under tarps and handcarts

Water stop and a few minutes for a quick nap in the road

Elder and Sister Barton and Elder and Sister Call

Friday after the women's pull that went very well for them I was in the 4 wheeler again and a beautiful drop down to camp. I was sitting at the top of the hill, and had two young women in with me who were having some health issues. We were there for about 45 minutes waiting for the trekkers to reach the road. It was an amazing experience because I started talking to them and sharing some really special and tender experiences I have had in life and what I wanted them to strive for in their lives. It was like a testimony meeting right there in our 4 wheeler. We have been told to look for miracles everyday and to follow the spirit. It was one of those moments I will not forget, and they won't either.

Once down the hill I was able to pick up the videotographer and take him down a ways to get back to the group. Then I picked up the Stake President who needed a ride and had the best visit with him, these Bishops and Stake Leaders are such phenomenal people and we get to rub shoulders with them every week, and also with the cream of the crop youth. I know the church is going to be in great hands in the future with all these youth that we have seen the last three weeks.

This stake had a lot of fun pioneer games, These are some of them, Tug of war

Stick Pull

Elder Call and Elder Barton on the log sawing contest, they were beaten by two girls with 19 seconds

Bow and Arrow shooting

Elder Call leading back to camp by the Dance Hall of the Dead, this is where some sheep, or cattle got in and fell through the floor and were trapped there and died.

Back to staging after a wonderful 4 days and ready to go home after their shower fast of 4 days.

Waiting for the buses to come on Wednesday Elder Barton saw something in the bushes and walked down the road and it was a baby moose. They are usually at the far west of the ranch in the trees, not down by I-80 in the hot sage brush. It was so fun to see this

Baby Moose at the staging area, You can see semi's on I-80 in the background, that is how close he was.

We have a birds nest under our trailer. The mother bird is patiently sitting on her nest.

Birds nest under our trailer, by the stabilizer

After our trek left on Saturday and we got all our work done, we drove to Riverton to Sister Call's sons Scott's house for dinner. Eric, her other son flew out from Oklahoma to help her daughter Alyson and son-in-law David and their baby Olivia move to Iowa for medical school. It was so much fun to have the whole family there and to celebrate Gaylene's birthday. Family means so much to us and they are being blessed for us serving on this mission. Shamae has just gone through breast cancer surgery and they had all run the American Fork Cancer race in honor of her that morning.

Elder Call and Olivia Tregaskis

Addy, Eric, Clair

Alyson and Olivia

John, Addy, Wylin, Kristen

Blake and Cooper

Claire, Chase, Parker

Elder Call, and Scott Sabin, playing with Coopers golf  clubs. Cooper is 5 and loving golf lessons, he is a natural.

Sister Call's birthday present

Then Sunday June 26th Eric, Alyson, David, and Olivia stopped by on the way to Iowa to see us and to see where we live, we only had a few minutes with them but so much fun. This was another tender mercy since we had Stake Conference and the timing was perfect.

Eric, Alyson, David, Sister Call and baby Olivia

Eric and David and baby Olivia

Alyson and Sister Call, saying goodbye at the gate