Elder and Sister Heninger: An amazing Place

Well, we have been at Cove Fort for a week now and we have already discovered that this is a very special place. We have had a number of really spiritual experiences that have uplifted us and helped us go forward.

First things first. We arrived here last Tuesday evening after finishing a wonderful experience at the Provo Missionary Training Center (MTC).

We had Wednesday to shop and get unpacked and it took the entire day to get things organized. We drove to Richfield, about 37 miles away for groceries.

Thursday was our first day at the Fort. We had lunch with the site director and his wife, along with six other new couples. They were so busy that we cut the lunch short and had to go out and help with tours. RoLayne and I each shadowed someone for a couple of tours then we were on our own starting Friday. Thursday, there were more than 840 guests through the fort. That is more they we usually get on a summer day and we are not yet fully staffed. It was really crazy all weekend. They have already had more than 5,000 guests through the fort this month and it is only the 11th of the month. The best month in the summer is usually about 12,000. Things are looking like it will be a busy summer.

Thursday is our P-day for April and I can tell you we are looking forward to it as we come home tired every day. Our shifts are 6 hours but everyone has been working extended hours the past few days, some a lot more that us.

We have also had a bit of excitement. Saturday night it snowed about 4-5 inches. Sunday night it looked like it was going to freeze so I left a small stream of water running in the kitchen sink. I thought about opening the holding tank drain, but checked and found it was empty so thought I had plenty of capacity. WRONG! I woke up about 6 am and heard water on water instead of water on the bottom of the sink. I got up and the sinks were full and had run over and soaked the carpet. We spent several hour sopping up the water and then used a rug doctor from the fort to get more water out. We then put a big fan on for the day and night. We are almost back to normal in the trailer.

Sunday they had a pot luck at the fort with all the missionaries to break our fast and last night one of the missionary couples fixed a southern meal for the entire group for FHE. It was really fun and we are getting to know all the great missionaries here.

A couple of interesting experiences:

Saturday, there was a lady who got out of the car and raced to the bathroom. One of the supervisors tried to query her about a tour. The supervisor got the impression she was only interested in the restrooms. Her husband got out of the car and started strolling around waiting for his wife. I said, I will go out and talk with him. The supervisor said, I do not think they are interested. I approached the husband and said, Good Morning, I am Elder Heninger. He shook my hand and said, Hello, I am Elder Pilz, an area seventy from Germany. Needless to say, they were interested in a tour.

Today, I took two grandparents and their three grandchildren on a tour. They live in Richfield and came over to let their grandchilren see the fort. As we talked, I discovered that he had served in the air force at the Air Force Academy and they had lived in Colorado Springs for 30 some years. They moved back to Richfield just a couple of years ago. I told them that we had a daughter who lived in Colorado Springs for a few years. The wife ask what their last names were. I said Schoonmaker, the wife immediately said, Kim and Ben. They lived in our ward. It turns out that Kim also knows the parents of the grandchildren. Coincidence? I don't think so. We have too many of those here.

RoLayne has done really well and is enjoying the experience. She even gave away her first Book of Mormon yesterday to a lady from Ridgefield, WA, about 15 miles from our home.

We have both had some real spiritual experiences here with folks as we share our testimonies. We would love to see you if you have some time. We hope that you are all doing well.