Kevin – Sunday. Today’s entry will start with one of my favorite Battalion detachment stories:
On July 3, 1847, John Steele recorded the camp had moved from Independence Rock (campsite of 2 July) about 10 miles further west and encamped on the banks of the Sweetwater River. That’s just about where we are encamped ourselves. The detachments stayed there until July 6 when they continued their journey. While there, a wedding was held, reportedly on 4 July. Abner Blackburn recorded it this way:
“There was a couple of young folks in the company spooning and licking each others ears ever since we started on the road. The whole company whare tired of it and they were persuaded to marry now and have done with it and not wait until their journeys end. The next evening we had a wedding and a reglar minister to unite them and after come the supper with the best the plains could furnish. Then came the dance or howe down. The banjo and the violin made us forget the hardships of the plains.”
“…licking each others ears…” Don’t you just love that imagery? Only Abner could pull such off a uniquely humorous description and get away with it.
And just who were the young couple? None other than Martha Jane Sargent Sharp, recent widow of Pvt Norman Sharp who accidentally shot himself back on the Arkansas River in September. She was a new mother and guardian for her little sister who was traveling along with the group. The groom was Pvt Harley Mowery and the couple remained married the rest of their lives.
Due to scheduling considerations, the Sunday meetings here don’t start until 10:30 AM, so we got another morning to sleep in. Except that the birds singing, the wind and sun wake me at 4:30. Pshaw.
The pot-luck? We opt for a multi-pronged attack. Denny and I make a sausage, potato, cabbage soup. We also contribute the 12-sleeve box of milk’s favorite chocolate cookie with a cream filling. Don’t tell me I shill for Mondelez-Nabisco™. I’ve resisted the daily temptation to tear into that big box of choco-cream cookies that add 130+ calories for every three cookies. And that’s not including calories contributed by the necessary glass of milk. I’ve been a GOOD boy, I have!
Mark and Becky contribute a platter of cream-filled soft sponge-cake treats wrapped in clear cellophane. You’d recognize their manufacturer too, but we don’t shill for Hostess™ either. https://youtu.be/cfpDzIG3inM
With our pot-luck offerings in hand – well actually a bag, it’s off to church at the Cove. We’re warmly greeted, and a few folks recognize us already. The meetings are standard fare but it’s clear the missionaries here are really enjoying their work and each other. There’s a comradery that comes from similar work and values. But these senior missionaries have a very different vibe than the young missionaries do. The maturity, confidence and experience shows in every way.
After meetings, it’s off to the ‘barn’ gathering place for the pot-luck. Plenty of food. Plenty of choices all of which that we sampled were very good. Some fresh breads. Some salads and, of course, a fair selection of desserts. Nearly half the sandwich cookies were claimed, but the individually wrapped sponge-cakes with vanilla filling were largely ignored. Too bad for Mark and Beck. I guess they’ll have to eat them.
The other fun aspect is that so many of these senior missionaries are keen to tell us how to be assigned here when we apply for a mission. As previously mentioned, Denny is keen to let the Brethren in Salt Lake get the inspiration for where we should serve as missionaries next year. She doesn’t want to steer the assignment in any way. That from a woman hot on helping people create life story video recordings. And she’s excellent working with youth on genealogical projects.
After all is eaten and the clean-up completed, the missionaries are off to their assignments for the day and we head back to the RV for a siesta. It’s another fairly hot day, so we’re wilted and need a nappy. When we arise, we sit outside in the stiff breeze and chew the fat for awhile. A doe antelope/pronghorn with two new calves wanders by within 50 yards. They’re shy and spook easily, but they sure are pretty up close.
It’s also Father’s Day so we field calls and texts from the next generation who wish us well and whom we feel honored to be the parents of. They are all incredible in so many ways.
My final contribution for the day is to speak with Christa Prows who is developing a complete bike trail following the Mormon Trail from Nauvoo to Salt Lake as closely as possible. There are some collaborative opportunities here, so we talk and I share a couple of my planning maps with her. She and her sister will be taking a break when they reach Casper. I’ve steered her to get a copy of Greg Franzwa’s ‘The Mormon Trail Revisited” which is an excellent source for trail following. My 1847 tie-in for this entry should be pretty evident; that anyone having traveled the trail was expected and usually willing to share what they knew about the trail ahead for those following.