THE FOOT PATH TO PEACE by Henry Van Dyke

To be glad of life because it gives you

a chance to love and to work and to play

and to look up at the stars,

To be satisified with your possessions

but not contented with yourself until

you have made the best of them.

To despise nothing in the world

except falsehood

and meaness and to fear nothing

except cowardice,

To be governed by your admirations

rather than by your disgusts.

To covet nothing that is your neighbor's

except his kindness of heart and

gentleness of manners,

To think seldom of your enemies,

often of your friends,

and every day of Christ,

And to spend as much time as you can

with body and with spirit

in God's out of doors--

These are the little guide-posts

on the footpath to peace.

PLANTING TULIPS AND FAITH

I was listening to the Garden Show on the radio in the car one Saturday morning this spring when someone called to inquire about planting the tulip bulbs they just bought. The garden expert tried to be nice. She said, "I can’t imagine where you found those bulbs this time of year because tulips must be bought and planted in the fall. Sorry, it is too late to enjoy the flowers this year. Tulips need to go through the cold winter months before they will bloom."

I know this all too well. Many a fall I have procrastinated tulip planting only to have the bulbs rot in the garage. Once I dug up some tulips after they bloomed planning to replant them in a new spot in the fall but it never happened. When I procrastinate and spring comes I am sorry and sad but there is nothing I can do then.

That is why last October when Mike and my boys were carrying boxes into the new house I was planting tulips in a little garden space in the front yard. I bought 70 or so bulbs at Costco and I knew when spring arrived I would be longing for those blooms.

I worried about the bad soil I was planting them in and the northern exposure with its lack of sun. But I went forward in faith. A large iceberg formed in that planting area staying all winter and part of the spring. When it finally melted there was not even a tiny sign of growth. I felt discouraged—those little shoots usually start up before it gets warm. Finally, well into April there were a few little sharp points poking through the soil. I saw full-grown tulips bursting in color everywhere else. My hope that they would ever bloom was faint. Weeks went by and they struggled along. The landscapers came to install the sprinkling system and tromped on some of the struggling growth.

Alas, by the middle of May my tulips started to bloom. Some of the blooms were small and I figured it was lack of sun. But then the yellow and red blooms got taller and bigger and reached forward for the sun. Some of the blooms were huge. Even the bruised plants had flowers. My neighbors have voiced awestruck enthusiasm for my tulips. Oh, ye of little faith. Doubt not fear not. Plant and God will take care of the rest but plant before the snow flies.

I can't just get up any day and expect faith to be there blooming. So, tulips are a metaphor for faith—believe, go to work early and then wait patiently. Endure the cold winters of adversity to get strength. "You have no witness until after the trial of your faith." Then show gratitude for the sweet blooms that reach for the "Son". The blooms [fruit] of the spirit are love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith. (Galations 5:22)

Next year it won’t be so hard to believe the tulips will grow. That is how faith is. Once you have experienced the fruit it is easier to be patient the next time you need to exercise it. And I won’t need to replant the tulip bulbs for a few years. They are in the ground rooted as I hope my faith is rooted in my soul ready for when I need it.

THE SECOND RESCUE

During our fireside at the Riverton Stake in Wyoming last week President Anderson told us a story about the Bronze sculpture pictured here. It is a table sized piece made by Phil Nebeker who was preparing to go on a mission in 1993. He had been a part of the Stake's Second Rescue mission-- doing the temple work of the Willie and Martin handcart companies. . Phil decided to sculpt this piece to help finance his mission as his family was already supporting his brother. This is only Phil's second attempt at sculpture. He wanted the piece to honor Bodil Mortensen and James Kirkwood who died at Rock Creek. When the first sculpture was finished Phil and his sister went to pick it up at the foundery where they had it cast in Orem. While they were there a message came that President Hinckley wanted to see them in 45 minutes. It turns out that Phil's sister had called the Secretary to the First Presidency and asked if President Hinckley would be interested in seeing the statue. After a 2 hour visit President Hinckley was pushing to buy the sculpture from Phil. He hesitated because he had already promised the first one to his bishop. But President Hinckley prevailed and wrote a check for the statue. Years later someone, while in President Hinckley's office, noticed a shiny spot on the bronze caused by someone touching a particular spot over and over and removing the patina. Jolene Allphin said she thought the spot was Bodil Mortensen's bonnett. This little ten year old girl in the Willie Company, traveling with another family, was found dead slumped against a wagon wheel clutching a piece of sage brush. Eleven year old James Kirkwood carried his four year old brother on his back the day the Willie Company arrived at Rock Creek. James collapsed and died that evening. These two were among the thirteen buried in a mass grave at Rock Creek.

Edith Goble Grave Marker

This is the Grave marker of an infant who died in the Hunt Wagon Train traveling with the Martin and Willie companies. Joanne Baird, shown here, is a sister to Marge Hinckley. They are descentants of Mary Goble who gave birth to this baby just before arriving at Devils Gate. This is how the daughter Mary describes the scene: "We traveled on till we got to the Platte River. That was the last walk I ever had with my mother. We caught up with handcart companies that day. [Martin Company] We watched them cross the river. There were great lumps of ice floating down the river. It was bitter cold. The next morning there were fourteen dead in camp through the cold. We went back to camp and went to prayers. They sang, 'Come, Come, Ye Saints, No Toil Nor Labor Fear.' I wondered what made my mother cry. That night my mother took sick, and the next morning my little sister was born. It was the 23rd of September. We named her Edith, and she lived six weeks and died for want of nourishment...My mother had never got well; she lingered until the 11th of December, the day we arrived in Salt Lake City, 1856...She was forty-three years old...My sister was buried at the last crossing of the Sweetwater River." (Tell My Story Too, Jolene S. Allphin p. 350)

No one knew about the grave marker until recently. It had been in the garden of a family in Idaho for years when they discovered that this baby was related to Sister Hinckley and arranged for the family to get the marker. No one knows how it arrived in Idaho from the gravesite.

HANDCART TRIP JOURNAL MAY 2008

A DISASTER GONE SPIRITUAL
May 2008

Is it possible that something on the face is a complete disaster but can turn out to be a great spiritual experience? It happened to us this week.

We were honored to be invited to go to Wyoming with Jolene Allphin and a group of 30 guests to visit the Handcart sites. Jolene and Sherryl Fowers have been doing this for 15 years and look on this gathering as somewhat of a mission. When it was over I understood why. They tell heart filled stories on the sites as they happened during the fateful disaster in October and November 1856 at Martin’s Cove, Rock Creek and other meaningful sites in the area.

Storms were brewing as we left our home early Wednesday morning. The group met at 8:30 AM in Evanston, Wyoming. We were introduced to our trail boss, Larry Walker, who had served a mission at the Sixth Crossing of the Sweetwater handcart site. He was instrumental in designing the trails for the handcart groups doing treks in the area. The trail boss and storytellers used walkie-talkies for direction to the 8 cars during the three days of traveling around. They worked pretty well.

The first day we tried to get out of the car at Ft. Bridger and other sites but the drizzly rain and wind made it difficult. We ended up spending a lot of time in the missionary humanitarian compound telling stories at the Willie Sweetwater Sixth Crossing. There is a big warehouse on this site with a workshop on one end and a sewing center on the other where the missionaries produce humanitarian supplies to donate. There is a large meeting hall in the middle. The ladies there said they make as many as 3 quilts a day. They all have a camper close by where they sleep and spend non-working time. This is a 6 month mission and I never thought I wanted to do it but it looked like they were having a lot of fun and doing good. They help the stake treks during the summer; they man the visitor center and besides their humanitarian efforts, they square dance, have devotionals and eat together often. They have had as many as 70 couples at both sites.

We had an interesting group with 6 small to medium, well-behaved children, 3 teens, two young married women without their husbands, 4 empty nester couples, 2 men without their wives, a lady from Brazil, an older widow (Sister Hinckley’s sister Joann Baird), A young married couple with the girl’s mother and two women without their husbands. One of the empty nesters was Michael Moody who spent many years as the director of music for the church. He wrote the music to "This Is The Christ" among other things. It was a joy to have him play and accompany our singing on several occasions.

The first evening we met at the Riverton Wyoming Stake Center for a fireside with President Anderson who helped compile the "Remember" book http://www.amazon.com/Remember-Handcart-Companies-Rescuers-Present/dp/B000CD96SW (must be out of print--it is pricy) which is about the past and present rescue of the Martin and Willie Handcart companies. The "Second Rescue" was the effort of the Riverton Stake to do the temple work for all the members of these companies plus the rescuers. This was an amazing experience for the members there. President Anderson related many wonderful stories about how the Second Rescue came about. Our spirits were filled. The current Stake President’s wife, Amy Phister, joined us for the rest of the week. She spent years organizing the treks before the missionaries took over and is still involved. She was the model for some of Julie Rogers paintings on the http://www.tellmystorytoo.com site--namely "Give Thy Angels Charge" and "The Vault of Heaven." Jolene's book on this site is a treasure trove of handcart stories.

The second day it rained in torrents all day keeping us out of most of the places we wanted to go but Jolene kept us inspired with stories and songs. We had a nice program inside the Muddy Gap Cabin where many of us told our stories dressed in pioneer clothing. We visited the Martin visitors center that afternoon and many of our group walked out to Martin’s Cove in pouring rain with 6 inches of water on the path. They came back soaked, cold, but uplifted. Some of us stayed in the log kitchen and made a stew, headed up by James Oliphant. We had a nice dinner together and then another program with more stories and singing.

On the third day we had another great program with a group of missionaries at the Sweetwater Sixth Crossing, Willie Site including a re-enactment of the burial at Rock Creek where 13 were buried in a circle, feet in, covered by white linen sheets and snow. The ground was too frozen to dig a grave. One of the pioneers had these sheets in their handcart saving them for a home in Zion. It was a very touching scene. The original plan was to do it on the very spot at the site but the road to Rock Creek was impassable because of the rain. It cleared a bit in the afternoon and we were able to get out and walk along the Sweetwater together and pull a few handcarts around.

That night we ate meatloaf together at the Grubstake in Atlantic City, which is the last town before the road to Rock Creek. Since we were the only people in the restaurant the owner let us stay to tell more stories and sing together. Some of the group braved the snow and mud that night and went to Rock Creek to sleep...and I mean "brave"! We slept at our nice bed and breakfast with the mystic hippies who owned it. The next morning we would wake to 3 inches of snow. I could look across the plains and imagine how it must have looked to those pioneers those many years ago. How daunting that must have been.

We left that morning and my spirit was filled with the sweet songs and stories told with such emotion and love these last few days. I have been to these places before but telling the stories while we were there made a difference in my understanding of the sacrifice and suffering...and our bad weather made me more empathetic to theirs.

Our group was awesome beyond words. They would be my pick of mates if we ever did this for real. Thanks to Jolene Allphin for her passion and knowledge of the stories. She is a true inspiration. This may be her last year...she says but I don’t know if she will be able to stay away, unless it is raining and snowing again.

HANDCART TRIP!

BLOG CHURCH?

OUR HANDCART TRIP

We are going to Wyoming to all the handcart sights for the next 4 days with a group that does their own treck...not handcarts. We just drive to all the sights and tell the stories that happened there. A woman moving into my new Ward is part of this organization- Jolene Allphin. She has written a book called "Tell My Story Too". She works with an amazing oil pastel artist named Julie Rogers who will also be part of the group. Julie paints pictures of the stories that Jolene writes. I have seen Julie's work at the Mission Gallery in St. George (It's on St. George Blvd. near the downtown area. It is worth a look see if you are ever there). Julie's oils are the most powerful art I have every seen. http://www.tellmystorytoo.com/ If you go to the sight be sure to click on the pictures to enlarge and to see the marvelous colors that Julie uses in her paintings. I have a character, Elizabeth Horrocks Jackson of the painting "Vault of Heaven." I will portray her in a program on the sight where her husband died. I also have a new pioneer outfit. I will return with pictures and details next week.

STUNNING PHOTOS

Here are 50 feel good photos to brighten your day. The one with the cat and the deer was taken locally and appeared in the Desseret News a few weeks back.

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/04/28/really-stunning-pictures-and-photos/

SALMON MOUSSE

This is a great way to use up a little leftover fish and it is a cool refreshing summer dish or meal starter with crackers. Maybe it is "chick" food but I love it.
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1 C. cold water
1 pkg. Gelatin
1 C. mayonnaise (you can use light if you’re counting calories)
2 C. broiled Salmon flaked or other flaky fish
1 C. minced celery
1 C. chopped peeled English cucumber
2 T. fresh dill or 2 tsp. Dried
1 T. fresh lemon juice
½ tsp. Sea salt
¼ tsp. Pepper


Sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water. Heat in microwave until hot. Stir until gelatin is dissolved. Cool until it barely starts to thicken. Add the mayonnaise and then the remaining ingredients and stir well. (Add the Salmon last and let it be in chunks not shreds) Pour into oiled mold or spray with Pam. Chill for about 3 hours. Unmold by submerging the mold in very hot water for 30 seconds or so. Serve with crackers or on a lettuce leaf as a salad.