Traveling the Heartland of America

You don't have to tell me twice!

Howdy to Family, Friends and ???
   Well, we have been on the road a week with

Patty and Brent on Historical trail - Wyoming

350 Horsepower pulling our "Covered
Wagon" equipped with running water, full
bath, microwave, ac/heating and comfy beds.
Still at the end of every day we are travel weary and can't wait to sleep.  We have a whole new appreciation for our pioneer ancestors who walked the 1,600+ miles from Iowa City to SLC Utah!  Almost every day I have cried at the graves of some of these brave men, women and children.  I have marveled that my Grandmother Kendrick's great grandmother was able to keep going with six children in the first handcart company, after burying her husband on the Iowa plain.  That was after leaving almost everything in her life

Kanesville Tabernacle (Replica)

behind in Birmingham, England (Including some older children) and traveling first by ship and then train to where they joined the Edmund Ellsworth handcart company June 10, 1856 in Iowa City.  I can't wait to meet her on the other side and express my love and appreciation to her for all her sacrifices she made for her family.
     Some of the highlights have been visiting the "Sixth Crossing" where the Willie Company was found.  A senior missionary at the site took us in his truck and showed us parts of the historical trail.  We had a trail guide and stopped at almost every historical marker across Wyoming, Nebraska and Iowa.
Winter Quarters and Mt. Pisgah were sobering
stops, as we contemplated all the suffering of
these faithful saints.                                                 I enjoyed the Kanesville Tabernacle where

Pony Express followed much of the Mormon Trail

 Brigham Young returned, 3 weeks after his first journey to SLC, to be sustained as Prophet and President of the church - 3 years after Joseph Smith died.  It is also the location that Oliver Cowdery came and bore testimony after leaving the church for a time.  We watched a video there on the Mormon Battalion and learned about the great sacrifices made by those men, and also their contributions in helping to establish San Diego and San Francisco, and blazing a trail from Calif across the Sierra Nevadas on their way back to SLC - none of which I knew before.
      About 50,000 - 70,000 Mormons made their way West, along with almost 1/2 million other settlers, fur traders, gold miners headed for the NW.  It was mind boggling to think of young men on the Pony Express riding horses the distance from Missouri to Sacramento to deliver the mail.  So many tales of heroism!

Mt. Pisgah Monument where some Brent's family

 are buried

     



      Because we were following a historical trail for most of the time we were not on Inter-State highways but traveled the back roads through the heartland of this country.  It was interesting to see homemade signs, painted wagons, barns...urging support for President Trump.  You wonder who it was that voted for him?  Take a drive through the heartland of this country.  A few other things I noticed while traveling on the backroads 1) everyone keeps their yards manicured - the house might be falling down, but the lawn is trimmed 2) Wyoming has the bluest sky I have ever seen 3) Christian Radio and Western music dominates the radio waves 4) There is more corn and soybeans growing in Nebraska and Iowa than you can even start to imagine! 5) Main Streets across the country are struggling 6) Every town has a Dollar General Store 7) the busiest place in small towns is the local bar/cafe 8) everybody drives a pick up truck (almost) 9) deer can appear from
no where at a high rate of speed 10) We live in an amazing, beautiful country!  We have seen  flocks of wild turkeys, herds of antelope, thousands of Painted Lady butterflies headed for Mexico, hawks, eagles, geese flying south.  Fall is in the air with trees tinged with gold and some bright reds, and pumpkins everywhere.  With the summer crowds gone, it has been a great time for this  adventure.  
     

Window at Carthage Jail

    Today we attended the Nauvoo 2nd Ward and this afternoon visited the Carthage Jail where Joseph Smith and his brother were martyred. From the moment young Joseph Smith shared that he had seen a vision from God, he was ridiculed and persecuted, yet he stayed true to the end of his life and never denied what he knew had happened.  I personally am indebted to this prophet of God, because the Gospel of Jesus Christ that he restored to the earth has brought me peace and happiness. I know that I have a Heavenly Father and that his Son Jesus Christ is a separate personage.  I know that I am a literally a child of God, and that I lived with Him in a pre-mortal world.  I know that there is a purpose for this life.  I have the Gift of the Holy Ghost and a living prophet to help me navigate my way back to God. I have a family that I am sealed to forever and I know that I will see loved ones again.  The Book of Mormon and other scriptures assure me that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world, and only through Him can we be saved.  It was this same testimony that gave my Grandmother Bowers and other Pioneers the strength and courage to face their trials. Today millions of people around the world today don't worship Joseph Smith, but revere him as a prophet of God, and rejoice in the Gospel that he restored to the earth.

"And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of Him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That He Lives! For we saw Him, even on the right hand of God; and we heard the voice bearing record that he is the Only Begotten of the Father..."  (D&C 76:22-23)

Tomorrow we will be attending a session in the Nauvoo Temple and touring the historical sights here.  Tuesday we will head back West to rendezvous on Thursday evening with our son Shane and wife Channa.  Love and Best Wishes for a week of Happy Trails!  Patty