An Apostle's Words

“Oh, it is wonderful to know that our Heavenly Father loves us—even with all our flaws! His love is such that even should we give up on ourselves, He never will.

“We [might] see ourselves in terms of yesterday and today. Our Heavenly Father sees us in terms of forever."

- Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin

Church Talent Show

Holden and I participated in our ward talent show tonight, I taught some girls the one and only hula I know, Holden did a synchronized swimming presentation as well as display some of his awesome photos. Neither Holden nor I were able to capture the full video of the other's presentation, but here's what we did get... I'll post some of his photography in another post when I get access to it.

Winter Quarters

We took a tour of the Winter Quarters LDS Visitor's Center in Omaha Nebraska. Winter Quarters is where many LDS pioneers lived and prepared for the trek West. The missionary giving the tour talked about how just like oxen are yoked together and need to pull in the same direction, so do married couples in order to have success. This is a good image to remember.

We also pulled a handcart together.

And Holden is standing next to a wagon wheel where we learned how the pioneers counted each turn of the wheel so that those following them would know how long it would take between stopping posts where they would be able to replenish their supplies.

The temple at Winter Quarters is very beautiful. The flowers on the grounds seem to grow effortlessly and overflow their flower beds and there are several beautiful blue and green stained glass windows.

Martin's Cove

We happened upon the LDS visitor's center at Martin's Cove on our way towards South Dakota. It slowed us down a bit, but it was worth it. It is the place where Latter-day Saint (aka "Mormon") pioneers pulling handcarts were caught in an early winter storm. The 2nd picture is a monument to the 3 young men who helped rescue the handcart company. Many youth come here each year to have a handcart-pulling experience of their own and are also required to cross the river with their handcarts. Families and other visitors can have a similar experience. This is also the route where the pony express used to come through; the landmark is Devil's Gate shown in the first picture. We found out that the LDS Church purchased the land from the Sun Family who owns a lot of Wyoming. The land the Church owns also has a working ranch on it which employs 3 cowboys.