Monday, Monday, Monday

June 10, 2013: We met up at the trail center at 9am. I talked to the Sister Missionaries – 17 new sisters were added to the mission last transfer! We left on followed Bob in his van– the master grave finder. We got to Potter’s Camp. It was my job to record the coordinates: 41 degrees 15 minutes 6 seconds N 95 degrees 51 minutes 16 seconds W. OKAY. We met Richard, his brother Dennis and their friend Duncan. They said, "We're not Mormon but we're SUPER interested in genealogy and figuring out the history behind where we live." 

He drove us out to where a road used to be that the pioneers used. 

You could see how the ground had been walked and wheeled upon. It was cool to know that I was walking where pioneers had walked and had trekked in their wagons and handcarts. I thought we were going to tip over in his truck because it was so muddy and slippery everywhere. 

This is Dennis, he is really cool. 

Then we went to where we believed we’d find graves, right along the Mormon trail. We got out the copper rods and Bob started walking along and the rods moved! Anytime they moved it meant there was a disturbance in the electro-magnetic fields (of the earth?). It proves that the ground had been dug up for one reason or another. I think I got the video to work! This technique is called dousing. 

Bob is holding 2 copper rods straight out . 

This is me, and as you can see, the rods are crossed. All of the little flags show spots where there were disturbances.

So we all tried it, and sure enough there were quite a few spots that were arranged just like a cemetery is usually arranged. I learned that people are usually buried in the right direction so that when they all resurrectthey will be facing the East, like Angel Moroni on the temples – cool huh? So we are hoping that next year we can get the ground penetrating radar out to Potter’s camp because that can actually tell whether or not there’s a grave or a just a hole from a fence or animal. And the GPR costs like $3,000 each time we use it so it’s not so easy to just pull it on out to a place. 

It was so neat to watch Richard the whole time – he was so excited!! He kept saying, “WOW!” and “Well, is that right!” and things like that. It’s clear to us that the Lord has prepared him for this. If he hadn’t come to the tabernacle himself, explaining his interest for family history, then we wouldn’t have been able to go to Potter’s camp and learn all of this information. And HE wouldn’t have been able to learn more about HIS history and how his family got to where they were, and where he is today. He will hopefully be coming to the conference on Saturday at the Visitor’s Center :) So then he told us all this other info about Cutler’s Camp so now we have another place to search out! He also showed us this cool website that has maps and stuff. 

Then we ate! I’m learning a lot about getting along with “people older than me.” Like, there isn’t a young person in sight unless I want to go hang out with the sister missionaries haaa. I’m learning how to understand “old people jokes” a little bit better. So then we got back home and I got the dirt and bugs off of me and headed to the trail center/visitor’s center. This Sister Missionary took me on the tour. It’s so interesting to see how different my mission was compared to hers, yet we both had/have the same goal. She was very nice and I learned lots and went back through to take pictures. That’s when I found William Clayton! Thanks to him Drew and Mandy are alive today. The Spirit was really strong there, it was neat. Then I walked to the Temple grounds and just looked at it, then went to the Winter Quarters cemetery right behind it. I really am walking where pioneers walked—where it all started (after Nauvoo of course). 

Then we went to dinner and the Schoffs came and also 2 of Dr. A.Y.’s friends. One was her mentor through grad school in Washington or something, and the other was the friend of the mentor. But they’ve all become great friends through the years. We stayed there for two…..hours….. How do people do that? Well I guess you can when you’re on vacation! It was nice, and I was able to engage in yet some more adult conversation. They all keep calling me smart because I know Russian and I know how to research stuff and write about stuff. Maybe it’s good that I’m doing all these things—it can surely lead me to a career of some sort. They’re all very lovely and sweet. Then after stuffing my face at this pizza/pasta buffet, I went for a run (Brittani would be proud!). I was planning on running til I died, which was going to be like 5 minutes max, but I just kept going, and going, and going. I think it really helps to be at such a low altitude and to be in a humid climate. It was so easy to breathe and the weather was just perfect. But once I stopped, humidity became my enemy and I was just dripping in sweat, or maybe just water because the air was so full of it. Then I went and did crossfit in the backyard and all the ladies wanted to watch me because they were amazed, and probably thought I was cray cray. It was sometime during this Monday that I decided to make a blog. So here it begins...