Cove Fort Days

I know. It has been a while since I have posted on this site. My only excuse is that we have been very busy preparing for Cove Fort Days. I was asked to write the schedule and execute it for Cove Fort Days. It turned into a much bigger project than I ever imagined.

What is Cove Fort Days you ask?

Once a year we invite all sorts of artisans and musicians to join us to put on a big celebration. We had stagecoach and wagon rides, hot dogs and ice cream, entertainment, a pioneer village as well as artisans such as blacksmith, soap maker, pottery aritists, bread makers, and a number of other artists. These folks were joined by more that a hundred volunteers from the local communities to help us celebrate. There were more than 5,000 guests that showed up during the two day celebration.

During the Cove Fort Days celebration, we had an opening ceremony that included a wonderful flag ceremony by the Utah National Guard, including canon blasts. There was also a play which featured Sister Heninger as Adelaide Hinckley. It was so good that you will find a photo of her in last week's
Church News.

Left to right, Ira (Elder Barton), Adelaide (RoLayne) Elder Crosby, and Brigham (Elder Petersen)

Outside of working at the fort, this has pretty much taken up my full interest and time for the past month. Fortunately, it was a huge success. We had more than double the number of guests they had last year.

Now on to the news of the past few weeks.

Our daughter Kim and her family are in the process of moving from Orem to Cedar City where Ben will be  teaching at the university. They  have sold their home in Orem and have an offer on a home in Cedar City. Lisa, Eric and Jensen moved from St George to Missouri where he is attending dental school.

We had a wonderful family reunion where all families were represented except Lisa, Brian, and Paul. It was nice to see everyone. We did also miss Jacob who stayed home to paint houses.

We have had a number of great visitors during the past month. I will include photos of some of them. They include my sister Linda and her husband Dave. During their short visit, Linda's daughter and family stopped by so we had a mini reunion. Dave and Mary, RoLayne's brother visited us and we had the opportunity to meet them in Manti. My brother Steve and his wife brought Jane down for a short visit. It was wonderful to see them.

My sister and her daughter and family

Steve, Karen, and grandma Jane during their visit

The family visited Cove Fort during the reunion

Work here at the fort continues to be busy but I suspect it will start to slow now that kids will be going to back to school.

Thursday, we went to St George and had the opportunity to visit with some friends that used to live in our ward in Vancouver. It was fun to see the Mowrers.

We continue to make memories and have spiritual experiences. We love the work but miss all of you. This great experience will be over way too soon.

No Coincidences at Cove Fort

We often joke that there are no coincidences at Cove Fort. Let me share just a few that have happened recently:

Two days ago, I went out to meet a family that came to the fort. As a supervisor, I usually send one of the missionaries out to great and take folks on a tour. I was talking with this family who were from St. David, Arizona. I told them that we had served a mission in the Tucson, Arizona mission and that we often went to the temple near St. David.   The grandmother in the group then asked where we were from. I told her Vancouver, Washington and she said, "I have a sister in Vancouver." I asked her what her sisters name was, she said, "Elaine Marshall". We know the Marshall family very well as they used to live in our ward and continue to attend often. Below is a picture.

Yesterday, I walked out to great a couple who came to the fort. As I approached them, I recognized one of my best friends growing up, Paul Michaelson. He and his wife Ann were traveling home to Las Vegas from Logan. We had a wonderful, but short visit as we were very busy. RoLayne did take Ann on a tour while Paul and I talked for a few minutes.

A month or so ago, I was sent out to great a couple with two adult sons. About half way through the tour, the wife said, "You don't remember us do you?" I apologized and said that I did not. They said that they were at the fort a month before and I had taken them on a tour and they enjoyed it so much that they brought there two sons back. They were pleased that I was able to take them around, even though I had not remembered them. As we talked, I did remember them coming previously.

A young couple drove by the fort and for some reason decided to turn around and come back to visit the fort. About half way through the tour, the wife saw another lady who was on a tour with another missionary. Both ladies broke into tears and hugged. I learned later that the lady with the other missionary was from Arizona and had decided, on a whim, to stop. The couple I was giving a tour to were newly weds from Herriman, Utah. It seems that the older lady used to live next to the young lady and was like a second mom to her when she was growing up. She moved to Arizona several years ago and they had lost touch.

These are but a few of the incredible "non coincidences" that occur to missionaries here on a regular basis. They are a daily occurrence with missionaries at Cove Fort. We just kind of smile and say, well there is another one. The Lord is aware and concerned with seemingly the most insignificant details. He is in charge!

Elaine Marshall's sister Elizabeth

One  of my best friends growing up, Paul Michaelson and his sweet wife Ann

Today, I had another incredible teaching opportunity. I was the supervisor and we were totally slammed. We had people coming faster than I could greet them and all my missionaries were on tours. At this moment, a young man who was with a group, that I had briefly talked with earlier, came up to me and said, "can I ask you a couple of questions about religion?"

At this moment, I felt the strong urge to sit down and talk with this young man. Despite the fact, we were overwhelmed at that moment with visitors, I had no missionaries available to meet them, and I was the one responsible to meet, greet and direct them where to go, I was prompted to talk to this young man.  We had a short, but powerful discussion for about 10 minutes during which time I shared the story of Joseph Smith's first vision, bore my testimony of the reality of God, and sent him off with a Joseph Smith Pamphlet, a Book of Mormon with a commitment to read and pray about it, and a referral card which I encouraged him to complete and send in. It was a short but powerful moment. It is such a blessing to have these moments. He was 16 years old and reminded me very much of the inquisitive young Joseph Smith, I told him that. I wish I could have spent more time with him as I know he felt something but was not sure what he was feeling.

I feel blessed to have these experiences almost every day. Every day is at least a spiritual snack if  not a spiritual feast.

A modern day miracle

Some of you may be aware that in 2007 there was a serious wildfire in the area of Cove Fort. What you may not be aware of is that the fort and our RV park were threatened and abandoned for a period of time. There were many brave firefighters who worked to save structures in the area. The fire came within just a few yards of the RV park, in fact the park owners home at the park was destroyed. What is truly amazing is that the RV park, all the missionary trailers there, and Cove Fort were not burned. Below are some photos that show trees that burned less than 50 yards from our bathroom and shower facility and less that 100 yards from the trailers. It is my understanding that as the fire approached the RV park, the wind suddenly changed  directions and all were saved. In my book, that is a modern day miracle.

A good view of trees that burned in close proximity to the restroom/shower facility and trailers

Another view of a burned tree near shower. Note  our trailer is the last one on the left

Looking from the restroom at trees that were burned in the 2007 fire.

Things are not always as they seem

A week or so ago I was doing a tour with a couple and their son. The man looked like mountain man Grizzly Adams. They live in Southern California and are pretty much off the grid. As they progressed through the tour, they really enjoyed all the pioneer items like the wood burning stove in the kitchen. As we concluded the tour, I took the opportunity to offer them a copy of the Book of Mormon. I fully expected them to not be interested..........Bad on me. The wife said, I would love a copy. I said, will you read it? She said, yes, I had a Book of Mormon when I was young, but my stepmother took it away from me and threw it away.

Every day we have experiences with folks and we never know how much if any impact we have on their lives. I do know this, we try to touch everyone in a positive manner.

Last week we had a great visit from some dear friends. A family from our ward stopped by for a tour with Sister Heninger. It was fun to have someone from home visit. We miss all our friends and family, however, we are having a great experience here at Historic Cove Fort.

It was fun to see the Says

Remember the quilt

This post is especially for my children and grandchildren.

In one of the bedrooms at Cove Fort is an interesting quilt. I like to tell a story about this quilt that I think applies to each one of us in our lives.

It seems  that a family decided to make a beautiful red and white quilt for their bed. As winter was approaching, they knew that they would need the quilt to stay warm during the harsh winter weather. They started with a plan. They would make it red and white with some beautiful squares that they cut out. As they proceeded, everything was going very well until they were about 2/3 finished with the quilt and they discovered that they had run out of red material. There were no stores near by where they could buy more red material. They had a dilemma. Do they finish the quilt with different material or do they just give up? There was really no question as to what they would do. They needed a quilt, so they used the material available and finished the quilt.

The quilt was unique and looked different from what they originally planned, but it was warm and cozy and really did the job of keeping them warm.

This is much like our lives. We plan to do certain things, to study certain subjects in college, or to pursue a certain career. Sometimes life throws us a curve ball and things do not work out as we planned. Does this mean that we have failed. Of course not.

When I was in college, I planned to be a successful businessman. I wanted to eventually own my own business. At that time, there was a war going on and I had to choose to join the military or be drafted into the military. I chose to join the Air Force ROTC, become an officer and pilot. It changed my whole career path. I never envisioned flying as a career, but that is what happened. Do I regret it?  Never, it was not my original plan, but it worked out well and I am grateful for my life.

Alma, the prophet while talking to one of his sons said, "I do know that whosoever shall put their trust in God shall be supported in their trials, and their troubles, and their afflictions, and shall be lifted up a the last day." What he did not say is that if you trust in God, you will not have any trials, or troubles, or afflictions. We all have our fair share of those. If we trust in God and press forward with steadfastness, things will work out. Do not give up. Do not ever give up.

Please children and grandchildren, you cannot fail if you do not give up.

Remember the quilt!

Remember the Quilt

Prairie Diamonds

One of the things we do as we take folks through the fort is to try to share a spiritual message, an object lesson, or something else of value. We are not here to be tour guides. That is why we do not have a script and if you take a tour with 10 different missionaries, you will get ten different stories. Seldom are two of my tours even close to the same. It is really interesting to feel the promptings about what to share with each different person as they come through the fort. Some listen and participate intently while others could really care less. They are simply tolerating the rest of the family or group. It is surprising how often someone who initially tells us they only have a few moments ends up staying for more than an hour. This place simply grabs some people. It is really amazing. They often do not know what they are feeling as we progress through the fort. I  had a group the other day that was a great example. It was two couples, the wives were sisters. One couple was from Iowa and the other was from Ohio. They were a good group but as we progressed through the fort they really became interested. I shared some special experiences and they really soaked it in. By the time we finished, we had spent two hours together and they accepted two Books of Mormon with commitments to read them.

Another fun thing that we do when we find out a couple are newlyweds is we have a little ceremony. It involves a horseshoe nail bent like a ring. We refer to it as a prairie diamond. When we discover that a couple are newlyweds, we make the man get on one knee, read a statement about the pioneers, the meaning of the prairie diamond, and give the ring to his wife. It is often a very emotional experience following the tour and discussion about the hardships of the pioneers. I have had three such couples in the past couple of weeks. It has been really fun to share this moment with them.

A couple of weeks ago, a couple came to the fort for a tour. I was not sure in the beginning if they were a couple, friends, or whatever. As time went on and they started to warm up, I decided that they were probably a couple who were members of the church but were not active. As we were about half way through the rooms on the tour, another couple approached with another missionary. The two women looked at each other and then burst into tears and embraced. As it turned out, the couple I was with were newlyweds of about one month and the women that she had embraced had been like a "2nd mother" to her as she grew up. Apparently, she was a very dear friend or neighbor of the girl when she was young and had long since moved away to Arizona and they had lost touch. Both had ended up at Cove Fort on the same day at the same time.  One thing that I learned later was that the young couple I was escorting had driven past the Fort and had turned around for reasons they were not sure of to come to Cove Fort. As we sat together in the Ira Hinckley cabin, I explained to them, "It was no coincidence that you came to Cove Fort today." It was a very special experience for the young women as she introduced her new husband and shared that they had just gotten married the previous month.

These "coincidences" are not unique for us at Cove Fort. They happen frequently.

Newlyweds mentioned above

The Prairie diamond

The groom reads this to his wife

Family Visitors and More Family Visitors

We have had another good week. We had a busy day yesterday with a number of special visitors. It started in the morning with a visit from RoLayne's sister Jacque and Carl with son Steven. They were on their way from Parker, Co to Provo 's for grandchildren graduations.We took them on a tour of the fort and had a nice visit. Later in the afternoon Diane and Brent Glenn, Jacque's daughter, and their family stopped by on their way from St. George home. We had a great visit and another family tour. Finally, about 5:00PM RoLayne's brother Dave and his wife Mary stopped by on their home from their mission in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. It was a wonderful day. We look forward to many of you stopping by as well.

The Lawsons  with Sister Heninger

Diane and Brent's cute family

4 missionaries during a blizzard at the Fort