Winter Has Arrived 10-10-09

Dear Family:

Well, winter has arrived!! We have gone from summer to winter, we are wondering what happened to fall. This storm started about three days ago and is supposed to go for a few more days. The temperatures are at about 17 degrees with a high in the 20's. Because of the incoming storm, we sent the last of the missionaries home on Wednesday. They weren't supposed to leave until tomorrow but we were afraid they would get snowed in out at missionary village. It was so sad to say goodbye to them. Many of them will be back in the spring but it was still very difficult. We all did a lot of crying on Wednesday. Then in the evening I went out to their mail slots on the porch and had to take all of their names off and I cried a little more.
We are now down to the Polar Bears which is 7 couples who stay the winter. We just nestle down into our warm apartments and try to not eat too much since it is too cold to go outside. It was really quite fun last winter and it will be this winter too. Church is pretty small with just a few of us here so you either give a talk or teach a class. We all bear our testimonys each Fast Sunday.
We are really excited for Christmas this year. We are going to be able to leave a week before Christmas and go to Spokane for annual check-ups with our doctors and then go to Tri-Cities for Christmas. Afterwards we are going to see the kids in Utah and Arizona and then stay in our rv in Yuma until the end of January. A lot of the missionary couples who were here this summer will be there and we will have such a great reunion. Many of the couples are getting pretty old and won't be back. They said that they will see us in heaven and will have such a wonderful reunion there someday. That really made me cry.
We love all of you very much and you are in our prayers daily. We were told in church that we should be bearing our testimonys to our family often and I think that we, as parents, are failing to do that. Therefore, I want all of you to know that I do have a testimony that this is the true gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that God lives and that Christ is the Savior of this world. We have so many experiences here at the Cove that reconfirm to us that the Gospel is true. We can feel the Spirit all around us and the veil is very thin. We are so blessed to be able to serve a mission and to be able to serve here at Martin's Cove. It is a very special place. Please always stay close to the Gospel and make good and righteous choices in your lives. They talked in church of a lady who died and had written on her headstone "Please, NO empty seats". What she meant was, there is a seat in the Celestial Kingdom for each member of her family and she wanted every seat filled. That is the greatest desire of any parent, to have all of their children with them through out the eternities. Heavenly Father is a wonderful loving father but there are rules and conditions that we must follow to reach our eternal goal. How sad it will be if some of us get left out on judgement day.
A few weeks ago uncle Keith and aunt Betty came and spent a couple of days and we had such a good time. Then the following week Dudley and Joyce Watson came and visited us. Next week uncle Gary and Sherry are coming by to see us on their way home from their mission to Nauvoo. We are excited to hear all about their mission.
We love you all and come and see us sometime. Mom and Dad, Glen & Cherie

Family Trek

It has been awhile since I have written on our blog. This summer has been very busy here at Martin's Cove. So many trekkers coming in each week and some very great and spiritual experiences. The summer trek season is winding down and the missionaries will start going home. By the middle of October (2 months) there will just be 5 couples left here including us. Our release date is November of 2010 so we have awhile to go. That is okay because this is such a special place to serve a mission.

The first part of July a lot of our family came here for a visit and we had a wonderful time. Annie and Corey, Travis, Nikki with her 4 children, and Neil and Jo with their two little girls. We hope that the rest of the family can come next summer. We took handcarts and loaded them up and in our pioneer clothes set out for a trek that went about 7 miles. We pulled the carts to handcart parking and then went into the Cove for a spiritual time. This is where the Marting Company took refuge from the horrible early winter snow storm in 1856. We heard stories and saw where about 1000 pioneers camped. Many died and were buried on the other side of the Cove. It gives you a special feeling as you walk past these sacred spots.

After the Cove we went to the footbridge where the Saints crossed the frozen Sweetwater River to get up into the Cove. When they crossed there were chunks of ice floating down the river hitting their legs and cutting them. When we crossed it was a hot day and the cold water felt good. Even with that we could get the feeling that they were watching us. This firt crossing we did quietly and respectfully. The second spot we crossed we were able to splash and swim a little.

From the river we went and did the woman's pull. The men went to the top of a very steep hill and the women and children pulled the carts to the top. Many of the men in the original Marting Co. died and the women had to go on alone. This activity let the men appreciate what the women had to go through and it let the women really appreciate all the men do for us. It was a very special experience.

We had such a wonderful visit with our children and grandchildren and we look forward to them coming again next year along with those who were not able to come this year. The picture of the large white dog is Josie sitting with Oscar. He is sort of the mascott of Martin's Cove. He is owned by a neighboring rancher who lives about 10 miles away. When the trek season starts, Oscar comes over here and walks along with the trekkers. He slept in our backyard pretty much the whole time our family was here. He thinks he is a star now because his picture and story was in the Childrens Friend several months ago.

We have had such a wonderful experience here on our mission and are so blessed to be able to serve here. Until next time, Elder & Sister Warr (Glen & Cherie)

Easter at Martin's Cove

Dear Family and friends:

We were so surprised when Neil, Johanna, Josie, and Bella arrived at our backdoor at 1:30 in the morning on Easter weekend!! It was so exciting to have them with us for the weekend and to show off our beautiful granddaughters. This picture is of Josie and myself dyeing Easter eggs.

The other picture is taken of all of us in front of the Visitor Center.

We were able to get in a rover and give them a guided tour of the cove. It was such fun, then we showed them off at church. All the missionaries were so jealous.

The other two pictures were taken on a trek we took last week. I'm not in the picture but Kaye Freeman is. It was such fun. We are going on another one in a couple of weeks. Tomorrow we are going on a CES bus tour and will be seeing a lot of the landmarks in the area. We will take a lunch and ride on beautiful busses. I love riding on a bus!

Got to go, soooooooooo busy. We love you all and can't wait for this summer when you will come and see us. Our internet is working now so I hope to post more on or blog.

Love, Mom and dad

Hi everyone:

It has been awhile since I have written on our blog site because the internet here at Martins Cove is hard to get. We are 60 miles from any town and are in the middle of Wyoming cattle country. We love it here though and are so happy to be here.

The picture of the deer was taken out our kitchen window. There are about 15 deer who are always roaming around our house and the property. We are getting quite attached to them.

The picture of my gross arm was taken a couple of days ago. I fell three weeks ago on some ice that was tracked into the mall in Casper. I fell on my elbow and broke it. The had to operate on it and wire the elbow back together and put a titanium plate in it and attach that with 6 screws. I am doing well now and started physical therapy yesterday. I am out of the cast and am wearing a splint from my fingers to my shoulder. I hope I don't have to wear it for very long.

Elder Warr is busy doing repairs and maintenance here at the Cove. He remodeled the porch around the office and it looks great. Now he is busy getting the handcarts painted that they built this winter. There are about 320 handcarts here that the trekkers pull around the trails in the summer. We are getting excited for them to get here. By the first of May there will be about 65 missionary couples here. 15 will go 60 miles over to the Willie site and the other 50 couples will be here.

I will try to post more pictures as the weather gets better. It is in the 50's today and three days ago it was -22 degrees. The weather changes so fast here. You never know from day to day how it will be.

Love, Mom & dad, Elder & Sister Warr

P.S. If you haven't read the book "Fire of the Covenent" by Gerald Lund you need to get it. It is an incredible story and really lets you know the struggles of the handcart pioneers.

Hi Family and friends:

We haven't had the internet since the first part of January and it is still pretty weak. They are going to put up a taller pole to try and get better reception. I tried to download some pictures but it is too weak so I will do that next week.

We are doing great here. The Freemans, our new Directors, arrived around the 18th of January and it is fun having them here. There is always lots to do even though there are only 5 couples plus the couple who work on the ranch. We are getting things ready for when the other 59 couples arrive the middle of April. Then the Treks will begin in May along with lots of school classes that come here.

Anyway, we are fine and I will write again when they fix the internet. We have a great picture of a herd of deer who were in our backyard. They let me walk up quite close to them.

Love, Mom and Dad, Glen & Cherie

Dear Family and Friends:

The holidays are over and we are starting a new year. We are so excited for the coming events starting in the spring with the new missionarys arriving and then in the summer when the trekkers arrive. They had about 70,000 visitors and trekkers here last summer and expect that many again this year. We have been learning the scripts and stories we will need to know when they arrive.

In the spring they have trek seminars for the leaders of the groups that will be here in the summer. This is a time when they train them and let them know what they will do with their groups. They also make them familiar with the Cove and other sites here. There is a womans pull that is very important. When the pioneers were coming across here many of the men were gone because they had been called to march in the Mormon Batallion. The United States asked them to help with what was anticipated to be a war with Mexico. The womans pull here is done at a steep hill and the young men in the trek groups stand at the top of the hill and the young women have to pull the handcarts to the top of the hill alone. The men aren't able to help the girls at all. It is a difficult hill and it shows the young women how hard it was without the men to help. It shows the young men how strong and courageous the women were in having to do it by themselves.

There are only five couples here during the winter but we stay busy. I have about three days in the office and we have one or two days a week in the Visitors Center. There aren't many visitors this time of year but we do stay open 7 days a week. Your dad has a lot of work projects for the men and they have done a lot of cleaning and organizing in the shop and painting some of the apartments. They are also working on building more handcarts.

We have moved into the apartment that is attached to the office. We may be here permanently or we may move back to the original one depending on what the Freemans decide when they get here. The pictures at the top are of the view out our back door. We are right on the Sweetwater River which is mostly frozen this time of the year. The next picture is of our little house. It looks pretty big but most of that is the office. It is very comfortable and I love the view of the river.

The next picture is of the Visitor Center. It was the original homestead of the Sun Ranch in 1872. There are 7 door because each time Tom Sun purchased a homesteaders ranch he would bring that little house and add it on to his. The last picture is of one of the handcarts. They have over 200 and they are building about 10 more this winter.

We are so happy to be here and to feel the spirit that is all around us. It is like a dream come true for us. The other missionarys are so special and we are developing such deep friendships with them. We have only had one real snow storm and that was a week ago. It was only about 6" of snow but we loved it. It was so pretty for two days and there was NO WIND! Then the wind started and now we have snow drifts. It doesn't bother the deer or the rabbits, they are all around us here.

We love you all and look forward to seeing you this summer. Mom and Dad

Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas to all of you, we hope you are having a wonderful day. We have had a very nice day even though we miss all of the family. We had a fun party for Christmas Eve . The man wearing the Grinch shorts is our Director Elder Longson. It was his white elephant gift and they dared him to put them on. We all had such a good laugh over this. They will be leaving for their home in Lake McCall, Idaho, the first of next week and Elder and Sister Freeman will be replacing them and will be here the middle of January. The Longsons have been here for almost three years.

This morning we had a big breakfast all together and then we put on our warm clothes and drove up into the Cove in the rovers. This is the Longsons last week here and they really wanted all of us to go up there and remember the pioneers. It is about 30 degrees today and the wind is blowing so hard. We bundled ourselves up in our new hats and gloves and scarfs and socks and headed out into the cold.

I am still having trouble figuring out how to place pictures so I will have to work on that. The pictures from the top down were taken in the cove. The first one was taken in the area where those who died were buried. Sister Longson is reading comments from one of the Apostles. A few feet from where we are all standing was where Pres. Hinkley walked and stood for a long time and then turned and said, "this is very sacred ground, many are buried here." After her reading we all knelt on the ground and a prayer was said. What a special moment that was. We then walked down through the Cove. If you look to the left of where we are walking you can see the area where they camped for four days and nights. The temperature is warmer in the Cove. As we walked out of it you could really tell the difference.

The picture on the right is the view as we were walking out of the Cove. The next picture is of the big buck deer and his lady friends that were watching us. We see so many deer and antelope here.

We love you all and are so excited to have you come this summer so we can share all of this with you. Try and plan ahead and give us a date so we can make arrangements for treks. It is pretty crazy here in July so June might be a better month to come. Guess we had better go, we have another party tonight!!

Love, Mom and Dad