Trek, Day 5

Sunday dawned breezy and cool, weather was threatening.


After breakfast we sent off one of our girls to help prepare ash cakes for our sacrament bread.



If you are not LDS just fyi, active members partake of bread and water to renew their baptismal covenants and remember Jesus Christ and his sacrifice for us. They made these little cakes that tasted a lot like soft saltine crackers.


Six of us were playing prelude hymns and we felt blessed that the weather held off so our instruments did not get rained on. We had a little trouble tuning with the fluctuating temperatures and humidity but it went off okay I think. I hadn't played in front of anyone except my daughter in probably 20 years. (thus my look of uber-concentration!)



It was a beautiful church service, the spirit was very strong and as I mentioned before, the veil is very thin there and one can only acknowledge the fact that you could feel unseen others upon that holy ground. When I feel spiritually moved I generally react emotionally, so I pretty much cried all morning, but in a good way if that makes sense.


Marker near the amphitheater where we had our services noting those who died all in one night in the Willie handcart company after they arrived at this location in Rock Creek, crossing Rocky Ridge in a blizzard.




The graveyard where they are all buried together.

We had a separate adult/youth Sunday School classes which were both very good by all accounts, and then we had lunch and spent some time together as a family. This was a special time talking with our kids about the pioneers and some of the miracles that occurred in preserving the lives of many of those we had been learning about during the week. This was a nice wrap up and we got to give our kids letters from their parents and they could write back if they wanted to.

The Ashtons on Sunday afternoon.


During that family time it was sunny and I was kind of silently praying for a little cloud cover because my sunburned hand was feeling it! Apparently too many of us were working too hard at that because while we were doing early dinner prep (getting coals going etc) here comes a big storm! Leadership sent out the Out and Backers to call us in, and everyone went dashing over to the cars for safety during a 20 minute thunderstorm! Surprisingly our coals survived the deluge and were hot and ready to get going on dinner.


A beautiful cloud formation with the setting sun casting color on it which was our view as we had our Sunday night meeting.

During this meeting the kids were allowed to express their feelings if they so desired. It was a sweet and uplifting meeting to hear how these young men and women had learned and grown during the various trials of the week and their feelings towards the pioneers.

That night at our family gathering I was able to tell the kids in my family of the love I have for them; it is hard to explain to anyone who wasn't there or may not understand but it is a special love to go through something like this with someone. We'll always be bound by it.

The day had been edifying and it is also hard to describe the tender feelings I had there. It is truly a special place, dedicated by the sacrifices made and the miracles that have taken place there. One feels the influence of those gone before. If you're not spiritual, or religious I don't know how to explain it but you can feel it. I suppose that is why religion is often called 'faith', it is something known but not seen, felt but not physically touched.

The night came softly, the stars were out in their glory and I could not help but feel grateful for such a blessed life.