A bit of Ogden, Jonah's baptism and Liam's ordination

This summer we headed out West by plane then traveled 2000 miles in 14 days in a rented minivan. The main reason we were heading out this summer was for the Harris family reunion in Martin's Cove, Wyoming. The plan was to walk the path that the pioneers did all those years ago and hear stories, many of which come from the diaries of Jared's great-great grandmother's sister, Patience Loader. Sarah was that great, great grandmother and crossed the plains when she was 12 years old. Amazingly, Jared's dad remembers going to Sarah's funeral in the Salt Lake Tabernacle when he was about 14 years old. The stories we heard along the way were both heart wrenching and inspiring as we listened to the trials they faced and the faith the developed. In preparation, we watched both the movies: "17 Miracles" and "Ephram's Rescue" which use the journals of Patience's among others, to tell these remarkable and true stories.

We flew in a two days before the reunion and stayed with my parents in Ogden. I'm always struck with the giant scale of the Wasatch Mountains. They are gigantic and every year I go back, I somehow forget how they tower over the whole stretch from Provo to Ogden and beyond. I miss them, but am grateful for the beautiful and graceful Blue Ridge Mountains that I get to see everyday.

In Ogden, we had a great time at the water park in Roy and hanging out with my brother and sister and their families in the evenings. Granny was even there one night in all her 93 years of glory. Her mind is slipping just a bit, but frankly, I'm amazed at how she seems in many ways youthful. I could easily see her making it to the century mark!

My parents made the trip to Wyoming with us because Jonah was getting baptized and Liam was receiving the Aaronic Priesthood as the first part of the reunion. Jonah has always wanted to be baptized in a river and when we told him there was an opportunity to get baptized in the Sweet Water River with cousins there to be a part of it, he was thrilled with the plan. He wanted cousin Spencer to baptize him, cousin Sol to give a talk on baptism, the Wyoming Harris girls to sing a song, me to talk on the Holy Ghost and Jared to confirm him. The evening was absolutely beautiful and the couple missionaries, the Moench's, who were there with us were perfect! Apparently there are about 52 baptisms each year and so they have a space set up with built-in benches right on the shore of the river. Jonah was beaming the entire night and said that the water was definitely colder than the Crozet pool, but that receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost was peaceful and warm. Loved that description. Sister Moench showed a large framed print of the image below and told Jonah that when he saw this picture of John the Baptist baptizing Jesus in the Jordan River it would remind him of this day because it looks exactly like the spot on the Sweet Water River where he became a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. And she was right....everything from the tree in the background to the bluffs, to the grasses on the foreground bank of the river, even to the way the sky looked were identical to what we saw ourselves.

This photos was taken by a member of the Primary Presidency and was used on the cover of the program.

Arriving at Martin's Cove Wyoming 

At each of the boys baptism when I have given a little talk on the Gift of the Holy Ghost, I have for them a pocket compass as a Liahona of sorts...a way to remind them that throughout their lives if they rely of the Holy Ghost as their compass they will find peace, joy and direction in this life. I think Jonah was just about as excited about finally having his compass as going into the water with Spencer. The scripture engraved along with his initials is my favorite scripture: Doctrine and Covenants 64:32 which says "Wherefore be not weary in well doing for ye are laying the foundations of a great work and out of small things proceedeth that which is great". 

After the baptism it was time for Liam's ordination. He wanted Uncle James to talk about the Priesthood and Grandpa Harris to ordain him. It was an intimate circle there on the banks of the river with just Jared and both grandpas involved. Half of the boys are now passing the sacrament each Sunday and Liam's first experience with this ended up being later on during the trip at the Island Park, Idaho ward. It was a  great summer for these two.

After all was said and done, we said good-bye to G & G Hill and headed to Casper for the night with the huge Harris crew (57 people in total) before returning to Martin's Cove the next morning.