Baby Blessing
Practice for "The Music Man"
For better and more pictures see:
Fortie Family Flyer
June 29 – July 5, 2009
Dear Family and Friends,
4th of July week, should be lots to write about. Don’t recall the first half of the week, at least anything out of the normal daily activities. Worked on a night shot of the Oquirrh Mountain Temple someone in the ward says they want to buy from me. I also finished up the sepia shot of the Oquirrh Mountain temple so I can get it to the two people who won it in the Relief Society Auction. Sold some work but got poorer than I have ever been, how does that work? Must win the lottery or something.
Brian has been moving all week. Jonathan asked him to move in with him until he gets married to help him out. He lives at about 8500 So. and 150 East. He has no money, no job and no vehicle. Guess we both need to get a job (the two artists).
Jennifer and I were in the Riverton Parade Friday night, it was fun but the people didn’t stay on the curbs like they did in the Herriman parade so it was harder to ride the scooter along the sidelines as they were right up to the floats in some places. I didn’t have a clown and a fireman to have fun with so I didn’t get the laughs this time or enjoy it as much. I saw a few neighbors on the sidelines and they waved and yelled when they saw us.
Saturday morning we went to the usual breakfast at grandpa and grandma’s neighborhood. I saw a few people I haven’t seen for ages. One of them, Lyle Wilkinson I don’t think I have seen since 7th grade. I went over to his house a few times when I was in elementary school and in 7th grade, before we moved back east, he asked me if I wanted a cigarette on our way home from school. I told him I could live without it and that was the end of it. That is the only time I think anyone has offered me something like that. I would not have recognized him so it was good we had name tags on. You change a lot from 12 to 53 years old. I talked to another girl I haven’t seen for almost that long, Carolyn Banks, and she now has 8 grandkids. Crazy thing this time thing; where does it go?
After breakfast the kids took me home, got swimming suits and they headed for Mike and Linda’s while I went to play practice. After practice I helped build the catwalk until it was time to go to grandpa and grandma’s for a BBQ. We had a BBQ at the play practice for lunch so I ate way too much for a guy trying to drop a few pounds for the play next week. I am still going blank on some of my lines, must practice more.
The BBQ at grandpa and grandma’s was great, lots of way good food. I couldn’t even take half of what I would have liked to eat. We then played games and went through about half of the fireworks Chad got from his work (a fireworks distributor), about $150.00 worth he got for free. We have never had that much so we saved half for the 24th. Some of those larger fireworks had some amazing colors in them. We then ate dessert until it was late and we had to get home. I went out on the scooter so at 11:30 I headed home on Wasatch Blvd. It was a fun ride at night winding along the base of the mountain down to Draper then going across the valley. I got home just after midnight and sent a few emails and before I knew it the clock was telling me it was 1:30. We got up at 7:00 and I was really struggling.
Sunday morning we headed for Steven and Evelyn’s for their baby blessing. I spent much of Sacrament meeting entertaining Spencer then we headed for their house and had a nice meal and visit. After pictures and talking we headed home and we were all so tired that we took a 3 hour nap before we could all do anything. After eating we played games, talked to Nathan and Paige and I am finishing this up at 1:30 a.m. again. Will I never learn? It was a nice week.
Happy 4th of July!!!
Ken and clan
From Elder Jason Fortie:
Dear family and friends, This has been one of the most up and down weeks of my mission, filled both with blessings and tragedy. As always, time does not seem to permit that I have time to give a full account, perhaps some day when I am home you will hear the full story, but for now a brief summery will have to suffice, and actually, a brief summary is probably better for you, because the details of this story are horrific and graphic, and I would not have your mind filled with the images that mine are filled with, nor your dreams the repetitious nightmares which have been mine most of this week.My story begins last Monday, a few hours after sending you my last e-mail, I was sitting on the beautiful beach, enjoying the sun and the sound of the waves as I caught up on a few letters to friends that I have been meaning to write. The 2 Elders that were with me for the day (I jump around a lot as District Leader here) were both napping in the sand about 20-30 feet away, when suddenly I saw a crowd of about 20 people running down the beach screaming pointing at the water, I glanced into the ocean in the direction they were pointing, and saw something floating in the ocean, I assumed it was someone’s towel or beach chair or something, and was not about to go into the water, thus breaking mission rules for someone’s towel, so I sat there for a second watching them run down the beach towards us. As they drew closer I could hear what they were saying "she's right there save her save her!" In shock I realized what was floating in the water about 20-30 feet out was a woman’s body... At this moment I abandoned my concern for mission rules and threw my notebook into the sand sprinting into the ocean with 2 other men, all of us fighting our way to get out to her... This beach is known for it's powerful waves, that break right on the shore, a strong powerful current that carries you out around the bay, and a destructive rip-tide, that sucks you down off a steep drop off just off shore, going in any higher then your knees is dangerous without some sort of flotation device, and as we battled to reach her I could see why it was known for all these things. Finally one of the other 2 men got a hold of her, and the three of us helped bring her in to shore, as we got nearer the shore a group of people grabbed her and helped us, I ran and awoke my companions, and we ran back as we began C.P.R on the woman, here I will skip a part of the story, due to it's graphic nature, the details are unnecessary for you to have to hear. Then a 9 year old girl was clinging to the woman’s leg screaming "my mommy is dead, she's dead, and so is my little sister" pointing out to sea. It had been a good 3-5 minutes since we pulled the woman from the waves and emergency personnel were just finally running onto the beach and were continuing to try and revive the woman, without success. In horror I turned to the little girl and asked if her sister was still out there, she nodded yes, I asked how old she was and the girl told me 5. My stomach knotted and twisted and my heart dropped into my gut as I ran back to the shore line scanning the waves, then I saw her, her little body floating some 50 feet out in the waves, I threw myself back into the ocean trying to keep my eye on her little body. The further I got out the more amazed I was at the power of the ocean here, each wave rose 6-10 feet above me before drilling in the chest pounding me into the ocean floor, the current was more powerful then any I'd ever felt in my life and the whole ocean seemed to be bent on sucking me under. I was swallowing a lot of ocean water and fighting to stay alive while still battling the waves trying to get to her little body... but the ocean was to strong... the waves to overwhelming, I could not get to her, she slipped from my sight, lost into the ocean. Again I will skip a large portion of the story due to it's unnecessary tragic detail, but basically the coast guard picked her up about a half hour later 1/4 mile from the shore. Mother and child were rushed to the hospital, but neither survived, the child never had a chance and the mother was just to far gone, they couldn't get her back. Apparently they had only been shin deep further up the beach, when the current grabbed them and it was so strong it took them. A boogie border tried to save them but lost them when a wave hit them, they then lost both of them to the sea for a few minutes, until the spotted the body of the mother floating in the water further down the beach by me, and that's where I came into the story... I spent about an hour with the family members that were there once I got back to shore, calming them, praying with them and dealing with all the emergency personnel for them so they would not have to have that stress and chaos. We then left as the news crews arrived, as we did not want to draw negative attention to ourselves as missionaries, the following is the news story that was given, my role in all of it is barely mentioned in the last 2 paragraphs. SAN MATEO CO., Calif. -- Grief-stricken and still in shock, the husband and father of the two victims from Monday's Montara Beach drowning spoke to KTVU about his loss Tuesday afternoon with the aim of preventing a similar tragedy."My sole purpose in doing this interview is in hopes that one parent will hold their child a little more closely, will grab their hand a little more firmly … while they're on the beaches here in Northern California," said Walnut Creek resident Scott Higgins. "For all the parents who are taking their kids out to the beach this summer: Don't take too many kids and keep them close, because tragedy can strike in an instant, which is what happened yesterday."Higgins' wife Higgins, 41, and 5-year-old daughter Indali arrived at the beach around 3:30 p.m. along with their 9-year-old daughter Jaya and his wife's nieces ranging in age from 9 to 19, according to the bereaved Higgins.Higgins, Indali -- called Indo by her family -- and another family member were wading about ankle- or shin-deep in the water when they were suddenly pulled under the water and into the sea, Lunny said.A witness heard them yelling for help and swam toward them with her boogie board to assist. She used the boogie board to keep Higgins and Indali afloat, but the three were hit by a large wave that knocked them off and pushed the mother and daughter farther out to sea.After the wave subsided, the boogie boarder found herself close to shore and was pulled from the water by a bystander, according to Lunny. She had thought Indali was still with her as she reached the shore and had no idea how the child was jerked back out into the sea, Lunny said.Emergency personnel received word of the incident around 4:20 p.m. and searched the beach and ocean area for the mother and child.Higgins said he didn't know his wife was at Montara State Beach Monday with their children until he got a call at about 5 p.m. from someone on the beach who put his older daughter on the phone."She was just screaming, my oldest. and I couldn't understand [her]," said Higgins. "Eventually she got to 'Mom was on the beach, they're doing CPR; Indo's still in the water.' I didn't know what 'in the water' meant."Higgins was located first and a Life Flight helicopter transported her to Stanford Hospital, according to Lunny.The girl was found a quarter mile south of Montara State Beach, unconscious and not breathing. She was also taken to Stanford Hospital.Both Higgins and her daughter were pronounced dead at the hospital, Lunny said.Higgins drove from Walnut Creek to Montara Beach, but it was too late."I had some hope my little one would survive it, because they're so resilient. But the water was cold. She'd just been in the water for too long," said Higgins. "She did not have a pulse and Angie had an erratic pulse that was present periodically but she just drifted away."Higgins said he's grateful to all the people who tried so hard to save his wife and daughter who would have started kindergarten in the fall. "Some people -- bless their heart -- they tried so hard to rescue them," said Higgins. "[They tried] as best they could, and they couldn't. The waves were too powerful and Angie -- who was an exceptional athlete -- wasn't able to survive it." “We had a total of seven victims on the shore,” said Ari Delay of the Half Moon Bay Fire Department. “Five of them were not transported. Two were taken by helicopter to Stanford Medical Center, both with CPR in progress in route to the hospital.” ...END NEWS STORY
June 29 – July 5, 2009
Dear Family and Friends,
4th of July week, should be lots to write about. Don’t recall the first half of the week, at least anything out of the normal daily activities. Worked on a night shot of the Oquirrh Mountain Temple someone in the ward says they want to buy from me. I also finished up the sepia shot of the Oquirrh Mountain temple so I can get it to the two people who won it in the Relief Society Auction. Sold some work but got poorer than I have ever been, how does that work? Must win the lottery or something.
Brian has been moving all week. Jonathan asked him to move in with him until he gets married to help him out. He lives at about 8500 So. and 150 East. He has no money, no job and no vehicle. Guess we both need to get a job (the two artists).
Jennifer and I were in the Riverton Parade Friday night, it was fun but the people didn’t stay on the curbs like they did in the Herriman parade so it was harder to ride the scooter along the sidelines as they were right up to the floats in some places. I didn’t have a clown and a fireman to have fun with so I didn’t get the laughs this time or enjoy it as much. I saw a few neighbors on the sidelines and they waved and yelled when they saw us.
Saturday morning we went to the usual breakfast at grandpa and grandma’s neighborhood. I saw a few people I haven’t seen for ages. One of them, Lyle Wilkinson I don’t think I have seen since 7th grade. I went over to his house a few times when I was in elementary school and in 7th grade, before we moved back east, he asked me if I wanted a cigarette on our way home from school. I told him I could live without it and that was the end of it. That is the only time I think anyone has offered me something like that. I would not have recognized him so it was good we had name tags on. You change a lot from 12 to 53 years old. I talked to another girl I haven’t seen for almost that long, Carolyn Banks, and she now has 8 grandkids. Crazy thing this time thing; where does it go?
After breakfast the kids took me home, got swimming suits and they headed for Mike and Linda’s while I went to play practice. After practice I helped build the catwalk until it was time to go to grandpa and grandma’s for a BBQ. We had a BBQ at the play practice for lunch so I ate way too much for a guy trying to drop a few pounds for the play next week. I am still going blank on some of my lines, must practice more.
The BBQ at grandpa and grandma’s was great, lots of way good food. I couldn’t even take half of what I would have liked to eat. We then played games and went through about half of the fireworks Chad got from his work (a fireworks distributor), about $150.00 worth he got for free. We have never had that much so we saved half for the 24th. Some of those larger fireworks had some amazing colors in them. We then ate dessert until it was late and we had to get home. I went out on the scooter so at 11:30 I headed home on Wasatch Blvd. It was a fun ride at night winding along the base of the mountain down to Draper then going across the valley. I got home just after midnight and sent a few emails and before I knew it the clock was telling me it was 1:30. We got up at 7:00 and I was really struggling.
Sunday morning we headed for Steven and Evelyn’s for their baby blessing. I spent much of Sacrament meeting entertaining Spencer then we headed for their house and had a nice meal and visit. After pictures and talking we headed home and we were all so tired that we took a 3 hour nap before we could all do anything. After eating we played games, talked to Nathan and Paige and I am finishing this up at 1:30 a.m. again. Will I never learn? It was a nice week.
Happy 4th of July!!!
Ken and clan
From Elder Jason Fortie:
Dear family and friends, This has been one of the most up and down weeks of my mission, filled both with blessings and tragedy. As always, time does not seem to permit that I have time to give a full account, perhaps some day when I am home you will hear the full story, but for now a brief summery will have to suffice, and actually, a brief summary is probably better for you, because the details of this story are horrific and graphic, and I would not have your mind filled with the images that mine are filled with, nor your dreams the repetitious nightmares which have been mine most of this week.My story begins last Monday, a few hours after sending you my last e-mail, I was sitting on the beautiful beach, enjoying the sun and the sound of the waves as I caught up on a few letters to friends that I have been meaning to write. The 2 Elders that were with me for the day (I jump around a lot as District Leader here) were both napping in the sand about 20-30 feet away, when suddenly I saw a crowd of about 20 people running down the beach screaming pointing at the water, I glanced into the ocean in the direction they were pointing, and saw something floating in the ocean, I assumed it was someone’s towel or beach chair or something, and was not about to go into the water, thus breaking mission rules for someone’s towel, so I sat there for a second watching them run down the beach towards us. As they drew closer I could hear what they were saying "she's right there save her save her!" In shock I realized what was floating in the water about 20-30 feet out was a woman’s body... At this moment I abandoned my concern for mission rules and threw my notebook into the sand sprinting into the ocean with 2 other men, all of us fighting our way to get out to her... This beach is known for it's powerful waves, that break right on the shore, a strong powerful current that carries you out around the bay, and a destructive rip-tide, that sucks you down off a steep drop off just off shore, going in any higher then your knees is dangerous without some sort of flotation device, and as we battled to reach her I could see why it was known for all these things. Finally one of the other 2 men got a hold of her, and the three of us helped bring her in to shore, as we got nearer the shore a group of people grabbed her and helped us, I ran and awoke my companions, and we ran back as we began C.P.R on the woman, here I will skip a part of the story, due to it's graphic nature, the details are unnecessary for you to have to hear. Then a 9 year old girl was clinging to the woman’s leg screaming "my mommy is dead, she's dead, and so is my little sister" pointing out to sea. It had been a good 3-5 minutes since we pulled the woman from the waves and emergency personnel were just finally running onto the beach and were continuing to try and revive the woman, without success. In horror I turned to the little girl and asked if her sister was still out there, she nodded yes, I asked how old she was and the girl told me 5. My stomach knotted and twisted and my heart dropped into my gut as I ran back to the shore line scanning the waves, then I saw her, her little body floating some 50 feet out in the waves, I threw myself back into the ocean trying to keep my eye on her little body. The further I got out the more amazed I was at the power of the ocean here, each wave rose 6-10 feet above me before drilling in the chest pounding me into the ocean floor, the current was more powerful then any I'd ever felt in my life and the whole ocean seemed to be bent on sucking me under. I was swallowing a lot of ocean water and fighting to stay alive while still battling the waves trying to get to her little body... but the ocean was to strong... the waves to overwhelming, I could not get to her, she slipped from my sight, lost into the ocean. Again I will skip a large portion of the story due to it's unnecessary tragic detail, but basically the coast guard picked her up about a half hour later 1/4 mile from the shore. Mother and child were rushed to the hospital, but neither survived, the child never had a chance and the mother was just to far gone, they couldn't get her back. Apparently they had only been shin deep further up the beach, when the current grabbed them and it was so strong it took them. A boogie border tried to save them but lost them when a wave hit them, they then lost both of them to the sea for a few minutes, until the spotted the body of the mother floating in the water further down the beach by me, and that's where I came into the story... I spent about an hour with the family members that were there once I got back to shore, calming them, praying with them and dealing with all the emergency personnel for them so they would not have to have that stress and chaos. We then left as the news crews arrived, as we did not want to draw negative attention to ourselves as missionaries, the following is the news story that was given, my role in all of it is barely mentioned in the last 2 paragraphs. SAN MATEO CO., Calif. -- Grief-stricken and still in shock, the husband and father of the two victims from Monday's Montara Beach drowning spoke to KTVU about his loss Tuesday afternoon with the aim of preventing a similar tragedy."My sole purpose in doing this interview is in hopes that one parent will hold their child a little more closely, will grab their hand a little more firmly … while they're on the beaches here in Northern California," said Walnut Creek resident Scott Higgins. "For all the parents who are taking their kids out to the beach this summer: Don't take too many kids and keep them close, because tragedy can strike in an instant, which is what happened yesterday."Higgins' wife Higgins, 41, and 5-year-old daughter Indali arrived at the beach around 3:30 p.m. along with their 9-year-old daughter Jaya and his wife's nieces ranging in age from 9 to 19, according to the bereaved Higgins.Higgins, Indali -- called Indo by her family -- and another family member were wading about ankle- or shin-deep in the water when they were suddenly pulled under the water and into the sea, Lunny said.A witness heard them yelling for help and swam toward them with her boogie board to assist. She used the boogie board to keep Higgins and Indali afloat, but the three were hit by a large wave that knocked them off and pushed the mother and daughter farther out to sea.After the wave subsided, the boogie boarder found herself close to shore and was pulled from the water by a bystander, according to Lunny. She had thought Indali was still with her as she reached the shore and had no idea how the child was jerked back out into the sea, Lunny said.Emergency personnel received word of the incident around 4:20 p.m. and searched the beach and ocean area for the mother and child.Higgins said he didn't know his wife was at Montara State Beach Monday with their children until he got a call at about 5 p.m. from someone on the beach who put his older daughter on the phone."She was just screaming, my oldest. and I couldn't understand [her]," said Higgins. "Eventually she got to 'Mom was on the beach, they're doing CPR; Indo's still in the water.' I didn't know what 'in the water' meant."Higgins was located first and a Life Flight helicopter transported her to Stanford Hospital, according to Lunny.The girl was found a quarter mile south of Montara State Beach, unconscious and not breathing. She was also taken to Stanford Hospital.Both Higgins and her daughter were pronounced dead at the hospital, Lunny said.Higgins drove from Walnut Creek to Montara Beach, but it was too late."I had some hope my little one would survive it, because they're so resilient. But the water was cold. She'd just been in the water for too long," said Higgins. "She did not have a pulse and Angie had an erratic pulse that was present periodically but she just drifted away."Higgins said he's grateful to all the people who tried so hard to save his wife and daughter who would have started kindergarten in the fall. "Some people -- bless their heart -- they tried so hard to rescue them," said Higgins. "[They tried] as best they could, and they couldn't. The waves were too powerful and Angie -- who was an exceptional athlete -- wasn't able to survive it." “We had a total of seven victims on the shore,” said Ari Delay of the Half Moon Bay Fire Department. “Five of them were not transported. Two were taken by helicopter to Stanford Medical Center, both with CPR in progress in route to the hospital.” ...END NEWS STORY
As for me, well by the time they picked me up I was in the first stages of hypothermia, and I had taken in a lot of ocean water, and after a tiring battle with the ocean, and a sleepless night due to the images of the events in my mind, I got very sick, I couldn't keep any food down, I had a high fever, could barely walk, sometimes had to crawl to and from the bathroom and my bed, I had a migraine and I was as weak as a child, but after about 3 days it passed and I am doing fine now. Of course it was a terrible experience, but the truths of this gospel give me a great sense of relief and hope for those two victims of this tragedy, we have been working to get in contact with the family to continue helping them in any way we can. I am doing well enough, there is no need for concern on my behalf, I already gave a full report of all this to my new mission president and he is aware of all the factors and out comes and was not at all upset by my actions but proud of my efforts, please do not call the office, they cannot tell you any more then I have, actually the office staff themselves may not even know, and I am fine, prayers are welcome of course because it was not an easy thing to go through, but I am prefectly fine. I had night mares for a few days, mostly just while I was sick, but they have passed as well, I'm doing just fine.
Something I have observed of the mission however, is whenever bad things happen, you can bet there will be good things to come. This was the most tragic, and one of the most difficult weeks of my mission, and yet by the end of it, blessings were poured out upon me to the extent where I could not keep track of them all. It was like trying to catch Niagra falls in a bucket. 2 of my investigators ASKED ME to be baptized! Usually we have to do the asking, but one with tears in her eyes, as she watched another baptism we had on Friday said "I want that, I've never felt such a spirit in my life, I want that" we are preparing to baptize her when she returns from her family trip to New York in 2 weeks, and the next day one of our other investigators, who has been being very difficult and we were not sure what to do with because we had asked him several times about baptism and he had always just gotten upset saying I'm not ready yet, looked at me with the biggest smile on his face after we got done watching "reflections of Christ" (great 5 minute movie, I suggest watching it, I think you can find it at reflectionsofchrist.com, or .org or some .something) and said "I want to be baptized, and the person I want to baptize me is you. This is so weird, I feel so happy!" This was such a miracle, and a very unexpected one at that! Then we found 3 new investigators, one of which who also has expressed a consideration of being baptized once he has "become stronger" as he puts it. He thinks he is too weak right now to be baptized. That and a wonderful 4th of July weekend (sadly with no fireworks, were not allowed to play with fire works as missionaries, and we couldn't see any from our house) with some wonderful BBQ's, a baptism, and many other blessings made quite the drastic change from the end of my week from the beginning of it. I suppose the Lord sometimes has to break us before he can build us, because I sure got re-modeled this week!
I am out of time, again, don't worry about me, I am doing well enough, of course your prayers are welcome because it was not an easy week, but the wonderful out pouring of blessings for the end of the week has truly lifted my spirits and I am still going strong! This gospel is true, stick to it, and live it to the letter, you never know when you will be called home. I love you all, take care.I finally got what I needed from up North, so I will try and get that package off soon. Sorry dad for the confusion, the last 2-3 weeks I haven't got your e-mail till after I e-mailed so I missed your responses to questions I re-asked haha, but I got them all now. Did you grandpa and Chad get your cards ever?
From Michelle:
Hi hi hi!
This week, I left early Monday morning for a Pioneer Trek with our stake. We got placed in our families at the stake center, and luckily, I knew about half of the people in my family. One of them, McKay Wells, was even a good friend of mine! He was big brother, and I was big sister. We drove to Wyoming, packed up our family handcart, and started out. The first day we were full of energy, so we weren’t too worn out. We walked 14 miles, and although it was tough walking that far while pulling a handcart, we made it without dying! We made it to our camp spot, and after eating a good meal, we all crashed on the ground, ready to conk out for the night. Unfortunately, I couldn’t sleep for some reason. I sat and watched the constellations move around above me for a few hours before finally dozing off. Tuesday, we woke early, ate our breakfast, got packed up, and started out bright and early. My family just talked, laughed, and got to know each other more. We have a lot of fun together. After hiking about 6 miles, we were stopped in our path. The men from all of our groups were taken away to “join the Mormon Battalion”. They left us women and began a hike up a large hill. Together as women, we prayed for strength through the trials that would soon face us. Then we got back in our families and us girls began to pull our handcarts alone. We had to pull the handcarts without the men for one mile, up a steep hill, which was full of ruts from rain that our wheels got stuck in as we pushed and pulled along the trail. Our stake president had told us that it would be one of the hardest things we ever did, but none of us really expected the challenge that lay ahead. My ma had gotten sick earlier that day, so it was just me and three of my little sisters taking our handcart. All three were 14 years old, and very tiny, petite little girls. I was in the front with a rope around my waist, pulling like a mule. My three girls were in the back pushing with all their strength. We cheered each other on, sang together, and just kept encouraging each other. The boys were waiting for us at the top of that hill, singing hymns and cheering us on as well. They weren’t allowed to help us until we reached a certain point in the road. As we got up to them, I looked up and saw a group of my closest guy friends, standing together, looking at me, screaming my name, and cheering me on. Every single one of them was crying. McKay was amidst them, and since he was my brother, he was allowed to come right alongside me and encourage me until I made it the final 15 or so feet. As he stepped up to me, I could see the tears flowing from his eyes, and I couldn’t fight back my tears any longer. He gave me a hug and cheered me forward. The second he was allowed to, he grabbed the rope from me, gave me a quick hug, and told me to go sit down and drink. But at that time, I couldn’t. I was exhausted, but I knew there were still women on that hill, working to pull their handcarts up. I knew what they were going through, and couldn’t bear to leave them alone. The guys weren’t allowed to help them, but us girls could do as we wished. I grabbed one of my sisters, and she and I ran down and started helping other families. We pushed alongside them and my sister and I helped 6 other handcarts to the top. Finally, we went to the place where all of the handcarts and people were resting, and we were attacked. One by one, each of my guy friends came to me crying, wrapped me in their arms, and told me how proud they were, and how much they underestimated me. I may not look like the strongest thing, but I don’t give up. That women’s pull was seriously the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but I’ve never had such a satisfying feeling in my life. When it was all done, a sense of pride rushed over you. It was such a great feeling. I also gained a new appreciation for our men. We took their strength for granted while we had it, and we knew now how much they did for us. I gained a close relationship with my guy friends that day that I know I could have gained no better way. I also learned how strong the pioneer women must have been to do that without their men for months, instead of just an hour. They truly had the lord with them, as did we.
As we continued on to camp, the family behind us decided to take a big dip too fast, and at a bad angle, and their wheel snapped. We were quite far ahead of the other groups, so we had to load all of their stuff on our cart, and they walked ahead to camp as we pulled our stuff, as well as theirs, and the way to camp. That night, when we got to camp, we set up our shelters, and played games. Even though we were all worn out, we somehow managed to be crazy and have a lot of fun! At dinner time, we got our family together, and McKay and I initiated the truth game to get to know everyone even more. We had a blast and were laughing so hard. McKay is hilarious and is really good at quick, witty conversation. He and I were going at it for a long time, and we had all of our siblings cracking up. I love making people laugh, and cheering our worn out family was the perfect way to end such an exhausting day.
Wednesday was supposed to be an easier day with less hiking than the previous days, but it seemed to be our hardest. We were all so worn out from the past two days, that our handcart seemed to weigh 200 pounds heavier than the day before. Yet somehow, we made it. We set up a quick shelter, and immediately, all of us fell asleep in the piece of shade that we had created. When we woke up, we made dinner, and stuck it in the crock pots to cook. Then we all headed into the big field in the middle of camp for a hoedown! We learned to dance the Cotton Eyed Joe and a bunch of other dances that they did way back when! The pioneers must have been crazy fit, I’ll tell you that! Some of those dances are quite the workout! We danced the night away, played games, and laughed together until the rain started coming down to let us know that it was time to go back to our shelters and hit the sack. We headed back to our hideout and just talked and laughed as a family. Slowly, everyone but McKay and I fell asleep. He and I stayed up for a long time talking about life, and how much fun we’d been having on trek. It was our last night, and we were all a little sad to see it go. We both decided that we’ll have to have family reunions. Finally, we both fell asleep.
Thursday morning, we woke up and got together in the field again. We had a testimony meeting that lasted 2 hours with constant testimonies being born. There were no awkward silences because everyone had something to say. Finally, during a slight break in the string of testimonies, President Ollis jumped up, and told us that he had to cut things short because we needed to leave. It really was the most amazing testimony meeting that I’ve ever been a part of! We packed up our handcarts for the last time, and headed on our way. Our family had a renewed energy as we hiked that last day, and the last two miles, we ran towards the end of the hike, pulling the handcart as fast as we could! I guess it was the thought that we might get to shower and sleep in our own beds soon that had us so excited. We said our goodbyes, swapped phone numbers, jumped on the bus, and headed for home.
I can’t explain how great it feels to lay on something that’s comfy. After rocks, weeds, and cow pies all week, my bed felt like a little piece of heaven on earth. A cold glass of milk was a gourmet meal. Not having to fight for the last piece of shade was a huge relief. I can’t believe how much I took the life that I have for granted. I really am so blessed and I was never really grateful enough. I’m looking at things with a new light and I can’t believe I didn’t see how much I had before. For the pioneers, it was pulling day in and day out for months with no fancy walking shoes, no warn sleeping bags, and no water trucks, or trailers full of food. And once they got to the valley, they had no cozy home waiting for them there. They had to get right back to work and start building their houses, and planting their food if they wanted to survive. I can’t imagine just how strong those pioneers must have been. As for me, I’ve been worn out since Thursday night. Part of it is because of my injuries which weren’t too happy that I pushed them so hard, but the other part is just the fact that I guess I’m just a lazy American. I don’t really understand the true meaning of hard work. It’s sad that only 4 days living like the pioneers could wear me down so much, and I envy them for their vigor and tenacity. They really were amazing people.
Saturday was the Fourth of July, so we went out to the traditional breakfast at Grandma and Grandpa’s house. Chad, Alicia, and Spencer were there too, and we spent a lot of the morning playing with Spencer and laughing at all the crazy stuff he loves to do. We went over to Mounteers after and Jennifer swam while Brian and I relaxed in the hammocks and read our books. Then we went for a BBQ at Grandma and Grandpa’s house. We had lots of food and stuffed ourselves silly! Food there is always delicious! Chad had gotten some fireworks from work, and we had fun lighting those in the street and lust laughing with cousins and playing with sparklers! I love times when we can get the whole family together!
Well, it’s super late, and even though it’s summer, I think I need to get a little sleep… especially since I’m so worn out. I gotta get back on my toes! So I hope you all have an amazing week! I love you all and wish the best!
Love,
Michelle Fortie
Something I have observed of the mission however, is whenever bad things happen, you can bet there will be good things to come. This was the most tragic, and one of the most difficult weeks of my mission, and yet by the end of it, blessings were poured out upon me to the extent where I could not keep track of them all. It was like trying to catch Niagra falls in a bucket. 2 of my investigators ASKED ME to be baptized! Usually we have to do the asking, but one with tears in her eyes, as she watched another baptism we had on Friday said "I want that, I've never felt such a spirit in my life, I want that" we are preparing to baptize her when she returns from her family trip to New York in 2 weeks, and the next day one of our other investigators, who has been being very difficult and we were not sure what to do with because we had asked him several times about baptism and he had always just gotten upset saying I'm not ready yet, looked at me with the biggest smile on his face after we got done watching "reflections of Christ" (great 5 minute movie, I suggest watching it, I think you can find it at reflectionsofchrist.com, or .org or some .something) and said "I want to be baptized, and the person I want to baptize me is you. This is so weird, I feel so happy!" This was such a miracle, and a very unexpected one at that! Then we found 3 new investigators, one of which who also has expressed a consideration of being baptized once he has "become stronger" as he puts it. He thinks he is too weak right now to be baptized. That and a wonderful 4th of July weekend (sadly with no fireworks, were not allowed to play with fire works as missionaries, and we couldn't see any from our house) with some wonderful BBQ's, a baptism, and many other blessings made quite the drastic change from the end of my week from the beginning of it. I suppose the Lord sometimes has to break us before he can build us, because I sure got re-modeled this week!
I am out of time, again, don't worry about me, I am doing well enough, of course your prayers are welcome because it was not an easy week, but the wonderful out pouring of blessings for the end of the week has truly lifted my spirits and I am still going strong! This gospel is true, stick to it, and live it to the letter, you never know when you will be called home. I love you all, take care.I finally got what I needed from up North, so I will try and get that package off soon. Sorry dad for the confusion, the last 2-3 weeks I haven't got your e-mail till after I e-mailed so I missed your responses to questions I re-asked haha, but I got them all now. Did you grandpa and Chad get your cards ever?
From Michelle:
Hi hi hi!
This week, I left early Monday morning for a Pioneer Trek with our stake. We got placed in our families at the stake center, and luckily, I knew about half of the people in my family. One of them, McKay Wells, was even a good friend of mine! He was big brother, and I was big sister. We drove to Wyoming, packed up our family handcart, and started out. The first day we were full of energy, so we weren’t too worn out. We walked 14 miles, and although it was tough walking that far while pulling a handcart, we made it without dying! We made it to our camp spot, and after eating a good meal, we all crashed on the ground, ready to conk out for the night. Unfortunately, I couldn’t sleep for some reason. I sat and watched the constellations move around above me for a few hours before finally dozing off. Tuesday, we woke early, ate our breakfast, got packed up, and started out bright and early. My family just talked, laughed, and got to know each other more. We have a lot of fun together. After hiking about 6 miles, we were stopped in our path. The men from all of our groups were taken away to “join the Mormon Battalion”. They left us women and began a hike up a large hill. Together as women, we prayed for strength through the trials that would soon face us. Then we got back in our families and us girls began to pull our handcarts alone. We had to pull the handcarts without the men for one mile, up a steep hill, which was full of ruts from rain that our wheels got stuck in as we pushed and pulled along the trail. Our stake president had told us that it would be one of the hardest things we ever did, but none of us really expected the challenge that lay ahead. My ma had gotten sick earlier that day, so it was just me and three of my little sisters taking our handcart. All three were 14 years old, and very tiny, petite little girls. I was in the front with a rope around my waist, pulling like a mule. My three girls were in the back pushing with all their strength. We cheered each other on, sang together, and just kept encouraging each other. The boys were waiting for us at the top of that hill, singing hymns and cheering us on as well. They weren’t allowed to help us until we reached a certain point in the road. As we got up to them, I looked up and saw a group of my closest guy friends, standing together, looking at me, screaming my name, and cheering me on. Every single one of them was crying. McKay was amidst them, and since he was my brother, he was allowed to come right alongside me and encourage me until I made it the final 15 or so feet. As he stepped up to me, I could see the tears flowing from his eyes, and I couldn’t fight back my tears any longer. He gave me a hug and cheered me forward. The second he was allowed to, he grabbed the rope from me, gave me a quick hug, and told me to go sit down and drink. But at that time, I couldn’t. I was exhausted, but I knew there were still women on that hill, working to pull their handcarts up. I knew what they were going through, and couldn’t bear to leave them alone. The guys weren’t allowed to help them, but us girls could do as we wished. I grabbed one of my sisters, and she and I ran down and started helping other families. We pushed alongside them and my sister and I helped 6 other handcarts to the top. Finally, we went to the place where all of the handcarts and people were resting, and we were attacked. One by one, each of my guy friends came to me crying, wrapped me in their arms, and told me how proud they were, and how much they underestimated me. I may not look like the strongest thing, but I don’t give up. That women’s pull was seriously the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but I’ve never had such a satisfying feeling in my life. When it was all done, a sense of pride rushed over you. It was such a great feeling. I also gained a new appreciation for our men. We took their strength for granted while we had it, and we knew now how much they did for us. I gained a close relationship with my guy friends that day that I know I could have gained no better way. I also learned how strong the pioneer women must have been to do that without their men for months, instead of just an hour. They truly had the lord with them, as did we.
As we continued on to camp, the family behind us decided to take a big dip too fast, and at a bad angle, and their wheel snapped. We were quite far ahead of the other groups, so we had to load all of their stuff on our cart, and they walked ahead to camp as we pulled our stuff, as well as theirs, and the way to camp. That night, when we got to camp, we set up our shelters, and played games. Even though we were all worn out, we somehow managed to be crazy and have a lot of fun! At dinner time, we got our family together, and McKay and I initiated the truth game to get to know everyone even more. We had a blast and were laughing so hard. McKay is hilarious and is really good at quick, witty conversation. He and I were going at it for a long time, and we had all of our siblings cracking up. I love making people laugh, and cheering our worn out family was the perfect way to end such an exhausting day.
Wednesday was supposed to be an easier day with less hiking than the previous days, but it seemed to be our hardest. We were all so worn out from the past two days, that our handcart seemed to weigh 200 pounds heavier than the day before. Yet somehow, we made it. We set up a quick shelter, and immediately, all of us fell asleep in the piece of shade that we had created. When we woke up, we made dinner, and stuck it in the crock pots to cook. Then we all headed into the big field in the middle of camp for a hoedown! We learned to dance the Cotton Eyed Joe and a bunch of other dances that they did way back when! The pioneers must have been crazy fit, I’ll tell you that! Some of those dances are quite the workout! We danced the night away, played games, and laughed together until the rain started coming down to let us know that it was time to go back to our shelters and hit the sack. We headed back to our hideout and just talked and laughed as a family. Slowly, everyone but McKay and I fell asleep. He and I stayed up for a long time talking about life, and how much fun we’d been having on trek. It was our last night, and we were all a little sad to see it go. We both decided that we’ll have to have family reunions. Finally, we both fell asleep.
Thursday morning, we woke up and got together in the field again. We had a testimony meeting that lasted 2 hours with constant testimonies being born. There were no awkward silences because everyone had something to say. Finally, during a slight break in the string of testimonies, President Ollis jumped up, and told us that he had to cut things short because we needed to leave. It really was the most amazing testimony meeting that I’ve ever been a part of! We packed up our handcarts for the last time, and headed on our way. Our family had a renewed energy as we hiked that last day, and the last two miles, we ran towards the end of the hike, pulling the handcart as fast as we could! I guess it was the thought that we might get to shower and sleep in our own beds soon that had us so excited. We said our goodbyes, swapped phone numbers, jumped on the bus, and headed for home.
I can’t explain how great it feels to lay on something that’s comfy. After rocks, weeds, and cow pies all week, my bed felt like a little piece of heaven on earth. A cold glass of milk was a gourmet meal. Not having to fight for the last piece of shade was a huge relief. I can’t believe how much I took the life that I have for granted. I really am so blessed and I was never really grateful enough. I’m looking at things with a new light and I can’t believe I didn’t see how much I had before. For the pioneers, it was pulling day in and day out for months with no fancy walking shoes, no warn sleeping bags, and no water trucks, or trailers full of food. And once they got to the valley, they had no cozy home waiting for them there. They had to get right back to work and start building their houses, and planting their food if they wanted to survive. I can’t imagine just how strong those pioneers must have been. As for me, I’ve been worn out since Thursday night. Part of it is because of my injuries which weren’t too happy that I pushed them so hard, but the other part is just the fact that I guess I’m just a lazy American. I don’t really understand the true meaning of hard work. It’s sad that only 4 days living like the pioneers could wear me down so much, and I envy them for their vigor and tenacity. They really were amazing people.
Saturday was the Fourth of July, so we went out to the traditional breakfast at Grandma and Grandpa’s house. Chad, Alicia, and Spencer were there too, and we spent a lot of the morning playing with Spencer and laughing at all the crazy stuff he loves to do. We went over to Mounteers after and Jennifer swam while Brian and I relaxed in the hammocks and read our books. Then we went for a BBQ at Grandma and Grandpa’s house. We had lots of food and stuffed ourselves silly! Food there is always delicious! Chad had gotten some fireworks from work, and we had fun lighting those in the street and lust laughing with cousins and playing with sparklers! I love times when we can get the whole family together!
Well, it’s super late, and even though it’s summer, I think I need to get a little sleep… especially since I’m so worn out. I gotta get back on my toes! So I hope you all have an amazing week! I love you all and wish the best!
Love,
Michelle Fortie
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