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Show 2 TIMPANOGOS TIMES July 14,2010 nnpamh II by Marcella Walker When we were missionaries at Cove Fort, we told the visitors about the people who went by wagons or stage coach to new locations where they were going to settle, back in the 1800's. Many stopped at Cove Fort as they traveled, whether going east or west, north or south. People today stop at Cove Fort, too. Although they are not trav-eling by stage coach, horse and buggy or walking, people still stop there. Most see the signs telling about Cove Fort and they decide to stop and take a look. Like people of days gone by, travelers today, even though they are traveling in vehicles such as cars, trucks and motorcycles, still need to stop and rest and stand up for a while to get the "crinks" out. At Cove Fort you can find clean restrooms, water, shade, good films, and a tour of the old fort, log cabin, barn, bunkhouse, gardens, forge, ice house, corral, carriage shed, and more. There is lots of shade, picnic tables, and fresh, clear water. Children are given a toy which they can play with as they leave the fort. Cattle nibble the grass on both sides of the road south of the fort and other wild creatures are heard at night and sometimes seen if you walk quietly. There are the sounds of coyotes in the nearby hills, there are foxes, rabbits, deer, and many other wild critters. Just south of the fort is the junction of and It so happens that begins in Bal-timore, Maryland on the east coast of the United States. It ter-minates at We had pictures from people showing the big sign in Baltimore that noted that would end at its junction with in Utah. While we were at Cove Fort ev-eryone felt that the State of Utah should erect a sign at the junction of the two highways at with a similar sig i saying that would end in Baltimore, Maryland, but we were told it was too expensive for the Utai Highway budget right now. Recently we attended the annual Cove Fort reunion for all of those who have served there as mission-aries in the past. It was so good to visit the fort and tour the rooms, the grounds, and just enjoy the quiet and the scenery, and, mainly, visit with old friends. As usual, the Utah State Dept. of Highways, which has a service of-fice there, had men working on the roads north and south. I suppose it is there because of the proximity to the two major freeways and there is always a lot of work to be done on them. Because they were so close to the fort, they would lower their snow plow equipment on their trucks as soon as they left their property on snowy days, and so we would get the snow plowed in front of the fort very quickly during a storm and they kept it clear all the time. This was a great blessing to the senior citizens who usually are the workers at the fort, and who worry about slipping and falling and breaking the old bones. We re-ally couldn't thank them enough for what they do. If you are looking for some-thing fun, educational, and enter-taining this summer, why not try a trip down to Cove Fort. Traveling from Pleasant Grove it takes ap-proximately two hours and fifteen minutes to drive down. It is really worth the trip. The scenery is great along the way. Also, if you have time, stop in Fillmore to see Utah's first capital building. It is open to the public and very worthwhile to see. 'IK- - v V'. Mi id by Marissa Walker Passion drives people. Pas-sion drives me. Moments filled with passion are most remem-bered. I've found that when I'm involved with something I'm passionate about I'm hap-pier than I've ever been. Find those things, because they'll honestly bring about such great opportunities and joy. Don't be afraid to try new things, for you may find a passion that's been hidden! One of my passions is writ-ing. I've been doing it since I was a little girl playing with barbies. I'd make up a story to act out with them and from there I began to write them on paper. Ever since I've just loved to do it. I've worked hard to im-prove and do my best. And it has brought about blessings al-ready. But it's something I love to do, I'm passionate about, so it's not a task at all. If someone asked me to write something, I would gladly, whole-hearted- ly doit. It'dbeajoy. Something I'd treasure. It's something that brings happiness. There's noth-ing like writing something and and it giving you chills, because it's your best yet or having it touch someone's life! That is a dream come true for me! Another one of my passions is hair. I've always loved to do my own. To twist it and knot it into a masterpiece. There's noth-ing like beginning your hair not knowing how it's gonna turn out, and then to find that it turned out beautiful! Coming up to college I've found myself enjoying to do others hair as well. To see their smile and faces light up at what I've done. It's something I love to create. I love to come up with new ideas and to hear people's comments. It's something I'm passionate about. I am passionate about his-tory. I've learned much about this country and the foundation of it all. I love to get in discus-sions over it. It brings me new information, but it is something I talk about with passion. I be-lieve firmly in things about this country and it's fun to express them. It's fun to be able to learn something you love. Some classes can drag on, but history classes catch my eye always! I am passionate about love. Love is something in this uni verse that one cannot take for granted. Given, it is all around us. There are many people who love you and me. There are many great experiences that accompany love, but it always amazes me how it works, how one person can love someone with all they have, their goods and their bads. I love being able to love people. To let them see it and know it. There's nothing like helping another person out, and in letting them truly know you do love them, that you ly love them, you love them with all you possess. Music, reading, working out, speaking, crocheting, crafts, are just some other things that I am passionate about. I've learned new things and I've known things that I'm passionate about. They have blessed my life. They make life worth liv-ing. They make it interesting in learning who you are. It gives a sense of identification, indi-vidualism. It makes you feel of worth to know you have these things you are passionate about and can offer the world. I'm excited to learn more about who I am and what I love. I don't think I wiO ever stop learning about what I love. There are so many things out there, so much to learn, and it will never stop. We will continually be learning about ourselves and life. I'm ecstatic for this. Don't be afraid to share your passions. In fact, share them often! Let others feel of your passion, your love for what you're doing or saying. It brings a spirit that can't be duplicated. It touches people and can help even if you don't see it or know it. So go out there, try new things, and do what you love. For, it will bring you joy and happiness in life! Thoughts From The Garden... by Tonya LeMone "Thank you note writing is one of the loveliest traditions to have been utterly compromised by the information age" Leslie Harpold When my father died a few years ago, I found a small box that was overflowing with notes from various people. There were notes from family members, neighbors, and many of these people I had never met or knew nothing about. All of these handwritten notes had one common thread, they were thanking my father for kind things he had done for them in years long past. For me this was a peek into a part of my father's life I had never known. My father worked very hard to provide for our family. He was an artist in his own right. He built homes from top to bottom alone. He didn't have subs or hired help. He was a one man show. He built beautiful Cape Cod style homes in Southern California which was very unusual in the palm tree lined streets of San Clemente. We lived in every house he built. He would work on a house for a year then we would move into it and live in it until the next one was ready and the one we were living in sold. Each house was more of a work of art than the one before until he built his dream house across from the golf course, but as luck would have it, our family faced the crisis of divorce and he had to leave that dream house. My father became my soul guardian and my mother had soul guardianship over my brother, strange, indeed, but we made it work. As a single parent in the 60's and 70's, my father sacrificed much to raise me and it wasn't as socially accepted as it is today to single parent. He never did remarry before his death but made sure my aunties and grandmother taught me the things a young girl needed to learn, cooking, cleaning, canning, sewing, and, of course, gardening. My fc.cher was also very strict and never wavered on a decision, especially when I was "grounded". So, when I discovered this box of thank-yo- u notes from people who benefited from his good works, I was caught entirely off guard. To me and many around him, he was an angry man who found happiness only in his blueberry patch, and later, a small spark was seen in his eyes when he was around his grandchildren. Because of the sweet experience I had sitting for hours reading the accolades given to a man I thought I knew, I have tried to remember to send thank-yo- u notes for special things done or acts of kindness given to me or others. In so doing, I hope that some family member will read these notes when T t" their loved one is no longer around and realize they may have either judged or not fully recognized the goodness in someone they thought they knew. I also have saved the thank-yo- u notes I have received, so my children will get a glimpse into something they may not know about their mother; that their mother did more than gardening. See you in the garden "Pioneers" y V s . : - fire would burn in their souls as they set sail for America and for their Zion. Little did they realize what the future really held for them. The first Pilgrims fled the old world for a new world so they would worship God according to the dictates of their conscience but had little tolerance for other views. The message of a restoration did not sit well with many who protested the old world religion, for a new world and a new view of God's word. The ultimate act of barbarism toward the Mormon people was the issuance of the "Extermination Order" signed by the Governor of Illinois. Plea after plea to government officials had fallen on deaf ears. Promises of protection left the Mormon prophet Joseph Smith Jr. and his brother Ilyrum Smith dead. The mantle of leadership eventually fell on Brigham Young. It would be his task to lead the Mormon people westward, outside the boundaries of the United States into Mexican territory. Brigham Young was a man with vision. Following the Mexican War, Brigham Young asked the United States Congress to give the Mormon people one sixth of the land mass of the United States for a new territory. Congress was not about to grant Brigham Young his request for there were two twin evils. Slavery was one and polygamy was the second. Brigham Young, the modern Moses, wasted no time colonizing the area Congress did grant him. Early explorers had declared the area as basically uninhabitable by Europeans. One even offered a huge sum for the first bushel of corn that could be grown in the Great Basin. Relatively small bands (tribes) of Indians (Native Americans) inhabited various parts of the region. Earlier Native American populations had ceased to exist. The visionary Brigham Young had dreams that far exceeded any optimist. He was determined to make the desert blossom as a rose. Today the Salt Lake Temple and Salt Lake Tabernacle are just two tributes to his vision. Few people realize that in our community lives the man who knows more about the Salt Lake Tabernacle than any living human being. He might even know more than the people who built the original structure. He knows every square inch of this historic structure erected by early pioneers. Mormon leaders realized that this magnificent structure was in need of repair and retrofit to meet modern codes. John Emery, from here in Pleasant Grove, was selected to oversee this historic effort. President Gordon B. Hinckley told the men in charge of work on the Tabernacle that they would be spending a lot of money to make it look like they didn't do anything. When I visited with John about the Tabernacle he said something very interesting. He told me that there was something very special about the Mormon Tabernacle. This comes from a man who recently oversaw the redoing ofthe historic capitol building in Idaho. This comes from a man who has helped build the finest of modern buildings. This July a small group of people from Pleasant Grove will have the rare opportunity to hear John speak about this very special pioneer structure. Those who hear John's message will come away with a greater appreciation for those first Mormon pioneers that showed those explorers they could not only raise a bushel of corn but structures that would still amaze modern builders. years ago the first company of Mormon pioneers entered what we now call the Salt Lake Valley. After a long arduous journey, the end was in sight. These saints had seen the best and worst of the land from Nauvoo, Illinois to their destination in the Great Basin. They had crossed miles and miles of sage brush, prairie and mountain ranges. They had traveled in the freezing snow and scorching sun. They had known human hardships and suffering of every kind. Hunger and death were their constant companions. Many pioneers were immigrants from foreign lands who sought a better life in America. The message they heard on foreign soil struck a responsive cord deep in their hearts and from that day, the by Mark Bezzant Thousands of people in our community have had what many would consider a life changing experience by walking a portion of the trail Mormon pioneers blazed over 150 years ago. 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