8/31/2012

When Your Sister Is Your Best Friend


Happy Birthday Katie!

Here is a poem I wrote just for you on your second birthday.

Never forget how much your Grandma Baadsgaard loves you. You're my piece of gold.

 

Katie and Her Best Friend

by

Granny B

 

My name is Kate.

I have a dog

and a Mom and a Dad.

I also have a sister named Emma.

So I won’t be sad.

 

Emma is my best friend.

She lives in my house with me.

She lets me jump on her bed

and keeps me company.

 

Sometimes we feel dancy

So we hold hands and twirl

I like my fancy shoes

They squeak whenever I swirl

 

 Sometimes we watch movies

Cuddle under blankets and talk.

Sometimes we read books

or go for a little walk.

 




Whenever I feel scared.

Emma sits right next to me.

Whenever I feel sleepy

She takes good care of me.

 

And when the day is over

And the skies become a sea

Emma brings her blanket

And snuggles up with me.

 

Soon when we grow up

And pretty soon grow old

I know my sister Emma

Is my piece of gold

 

For when you love your sister

You always have a friend

It doesn’t matter what goes wrong

She’s your treasure to the end.
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8/22/2012

The Sacred Grove is Still Sacred

My family had the opportunity to visit the Sacred Grove, in Palmyra New York, this summer. This is the place where members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believe Joseph Smith prayed and had a vision where God the Father and Jesus Christ appeared, called Joseph by name and spoke to him.

Joseph Smith was a simple country boy of fourteen who was praying aloud for the first time because of a verse he had just read in the Bible. That verse told him that if any one lacks wisdom, to ask God. So he prayed and asked.

Because of that humble prayer, the world will never be the same - my life will never be the same. Joseph's yearning to have his questions answered ushered in the restoration of the original gospel of Jesus Christ.

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8/14/2012

Memories of Trek at Martin's Cove Wyoming 2012


My husband and I and our son John participated in a four day trek at Martin's Cove in Wyoming a few days ago. It was a holy experience I'll never forget. Every single person there, both leader and youth, cheerfully did more than their share of work. Everyone pulled and pushed and served each other with a smile. When you are in the middle of nowhere, you depend on each other to stay alive. We were able to leave the frantic pace of our usual lives and experience a piece of heaven right here on earth - as if we created our own Zion. Dressing in period clothing, pulling handcarts and camping in the actual place where our ancestors struggled and died and where brave men came to their rescue was a tender and spiritual experience I'll never forget.
Stopping for a rest

We were divided into "families" with a ma and pa and 8-10 children.
All the women participated in a "woman pull" where we pushed and pulled the handcarts up Rocky Ridge alone. The men stood at attention with their hats over their heart to honor our strength and courage.
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We set up and took down tents each morning and night and and cooked our meals on the vast prairies.
This is the first handcart on the woman's pull. I'm on the right. Angels came to help us. 
River crossing.

There was hill after hill of sage, blaring sun and no trees.



One of my favorite moments was at sunset during testimony meeting.

8/09/2012

Daniel W. Jones - My Hero

A few days ago, I went on a trek to re-enact the Mormon handcart pioneer experience. There were 240 of us from the LDS Spanish Fork Maple Mountain Stake who dressed in pioneer clothes and pulled handcarts. We all thought about the stranded pioneers that tragic winter of 1856 and the 210 people who died. We also thought about those who risked their lives to rescue them. One of the rescuers was my great, great, grandfather Daniel W. Jones.
There is a cove of trees with benches named after him at Martin's Cove in Wyoming. Our group of 240 youth and leaders assembled there.

I was asked to speak about you Daniel.
As I spoke I saw tears in the eyes of those who listened.
Thank you for your life of courage.
You are my hero.  


Daniel Webster Jones (August 26, 1830 - April 20, 1915) was an American and Mormon pioneer. He was the leader of the group that colonized what eventually became Mesa, Arizona, made the first translation of selections of The Book of Mormon into Spanish, led the first Mormon missionary expedition into Mexico, dealt frequently with the American Indians, and was the leader of the group that heroically wintered at Devil's Gate during the rescue of the stranded handcart companies in 1856.
Jones was born 26 August 1830 in Booneslick, Howard County, Missouri. Orphaned at the age of 12, he joined a group of volunteers to fight in the Mexican-American War in 1847. Following the war, he remained in Mexico for a number of years, learning Spanish, and while taking "part in many ways in the wild, reckless life that was common in that land," still he longed for something. When a sheepherding expedition bound for California departed in 1850, he left with them.
While camped along the Green River in 1850, his pistol went off in his holster, piercing through fourteen inches of his groin and thigh. His companions left him, lame, but alive, with a Mormon settlement in Provo. There, he studied Mormon doctrine and was baptized by Isaac Morley in 1851. The next year, he married Harriet Emily Colton, daughter of Philander and Polly Colton.
In the October 1856 General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Church President Brigham Young informed those gathered that a group of Latter-day Saint immigrants were then stranded on the plains of Wyoming. These were the Martin and Willie handcart companies, as well as the Hunt and Hodgett wagon companies. The next day, about 25 men departed from the Salt Lake Valley to find the immigrants.
The company found the Willie Handcart Company near South Pass. After reaching Devil's Gate, they still hadn't found the other groups, and Jones, Joseph A. Young, and Abe Garr were sent ahead to find the missing parties and help them in to the Devil's Gate area. After assisting them to a spot now known as Martin's Cove, it was determined that Jones, Thomas Alexander, and Ben Hampton would remain behind with the goods cached at Fort Seminoe, together with 17 teamsters detailed from the Hunt and Hodgett wagon companies. During that winter, they endured terrific privations which Jones later detailed in his autobiography.
In 1874, Jones was commissioned by Brigham Young to translate selections from The Book of Mormon into Spanish, in preparation for a missionary expedition into Mexico. This he did, with the assistance of Henry Brizzee and Mileton Trejo, a recent Spanish convert from the Philippines. Following the translation, the company, including James Z. Stewart, Helaman Pratt (son of Parley P. Pratt and father of Rey L. Pratt), Wiley C. Jones (Jones's son), R. H. Smith, Ammon M. Tenney and Anthony W. Ivins (who would later become an Apostle and First Counselor in the First Presidency, departed for Mexico. The mission lasted from 1875 to 1876.
Upon returning, he was commissioned by Brigham Young to start a settlement in the Salt River Valley of Arizona. Originally called Jonesville, the settlement was later renamed Lehi, and was eventually incorporated into Mesa, Arizona.
After some conflict with the other settlers, Jones moved to the Tonto Basin area, where his wife and 14th and youngest child were killed when a shed fell on them during a storm in 1882. In 1890, he published his autobiography, Forty Years Among the Indians. He died on 20 April 1915, of gangrene after an accident, and was buried in the Mesa City Cemetery.[1] He was 84 years old.
Jones was the grandfather of Fay Wray (King Kong (1933)), his last surviving grandchild. He is the great-great-great grandfather of Jeffrey Jones, the first Mormon senator in Mexico.
Martin's Cove
The Mormon Trail.
Youth groups and their leaders re-enact the heroic struggles of their pioneer ancestors.


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