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