The camp is being fully utilized. On Monday June 3rd the girls arrived. On Friday morning they will leave. Then in the afternoon of Friday the family reunions, youth conferences etc begin. They then leave by 5pm on Saturday. The mountain is quiet until the next Monday AM when the cycle starts all over again.

Traditionally most Missionaries gather above the camp entry and welcome/cheer the arrival of the girls.

Note the trucks that arrive also and bring food, gear etc.

Wards and Stakes are encouraged to use busses since the 2 lane roads would be jammed with traffic if all 2500 campers arrived in cars between 8:30 and 9am. It takes military precision to check everyone in so quickly.

A random photo of Nancy & I in our normal attire with our shovel and saw out on a trail.

The week before the girls arrived a Stake from Roosevelt, UT sent their young men up to camp for a couple of days and one of those days was devoted to service.. There were about 200 YM ages 11 to 17. We had about 30 of them for our project which was moving logs out of an area of forest that had been thinned.

It was amazing to watch these 11-13 yr old boys work together

The older boys tackled even bigger logs. This was one we missed when we were using a chain saw to cut them into smaller lengths

A tired but happy group resting on the logs they hauled after 4 hrs of hard physical work.

Today, May 20th, we woke up to 25 deg. and about an inch of new snow. I had run water slowly all night thru a faucet to keep the water lines from freezing but that wasn’t enough. We had to run the water with the tap fully open for about 5 min before we could get enough volume to run the shower.It hasn’t been like this all the time but I had to share today since it is so novel to us Californians. Even more exciting is what we saw for the first time…

I think everyone in camp except us had already seen a moose… until now. Since our hiatus to Mexico etc the weather turned fairly nice until this past week-end. It has allowed everyone in camp to accomplish much.

Our typical day starts with a devotional. Each couple, there are 5 couples on the Mt Management Team, take turns preparing a spiritual message we share and also conducting the meeting. We discuss our plans for the day and make assignments etc.

To help with our assignment our team has 4 buggies, supplied by the camp. Two are outfitted with spray tanks for spraying weeds. Two have a big box in the back that have all the trail tools we might need… chain saw, sawz all, pick axe, shovels, skill saw, drill, screws, etc. This makes it possible for Nancy and I to leave our buggy at the bottom of the trail. We take the other one to the top and remove the tools we need and hike down to the bottom and then shuttle back up in our buggy to retrieve the one we left at the top. This way we can cover more miles of trail more quickly at any given time.

We miss you all but know we are in the right place at this time. Please forgive my typos, bad grammar etc and we pray that you will have a great day.

Some of you have asked for our mailing address. Here it is:

Elder and Sister Jenkins

• 6402 E 1200 S
• HEBER CITY, UT 84032-8500
• United States
• .

Someone goes down the mountain once a day and retrieves mail, etc and places it in our mail box which I had pictured in a previous post.

A year ago, long before we considered serving at Heber Valley Camp, Nancy and I were both serving weekly on Friday nights at the Los Angeles Temple. In early 2018 while serving I discovered that one of my fellow ordinance workers was also a fellow sailor. In fact we belonged to the same sailing organization. He was out of Marina Del Rey and I was out of Channel Islands. Shortly thereafter, with our wives, we sailed together out to Santa Cruz Island and had a great week-end. Soon after that my 2 sons sailed in the Newport to Ensenada Yacht race, the biggest sailing race on the west coast. Well, one thing led to another and soon my fellow Temple worker and I hatched a plan to race his boat in the 2019 race with our sons. There was much preparation and commitment necessary to make it a reality. The 2019 race was to take place the last week of April 2019. Preparations began and commitments were made. During the summer of 2018 Nancy and I decided to head off to northern British Columbia to visit my Sister and Brother-in-law who were then serving a mission for the church in Terrace, B.C. I had always wanted to drive to Alaska so in order to make that happen we procured an older but sturdy diesel truck and a RV trailer that would make the journey more comfortable. On our return we travelled thru Wyoming and Utah visiting family. As we were passing thru Salt Lake City we decided to call the Heber Valley Camp to see if it was ok to go check it out since it was not far off our intended route. (Previously my old college room mate and his wife had served there and they had inspired us to possibly do the same some time in the distant future.) There was no answer when we called but Nancy left a message. Just before we reached the last possible exit to detour to the camp we received a call back inviting us up to visit. My biggest surprise was that the camp was not in the valley but high up in the Wasatch Mountains. We pulled our trailer up one of the steepest grades of the entire trip. The individual in charge gave us a quick tour of the camp and then invited us into the office and proceeded to quiz us on our back grounds, etc. He obviously saw that we already had a suitable truck and RV and that we were able to live in it together for over a month. They had us fill out a questionnaire, took our picture and then asked if we would be available beginning spring of 2019. We were suprised and not expecting such a quick call to serve. We let them know we would have to think about it. A few weeks after we returned home we got the call asking again if we could serve starting in early April of 2019. Long story made short we said “yes, with one condition”. I already had a commitment the last week of April. The camp president said Ok and that leads to the picture of me in Mexico you saw in the last post.

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While I was sailing Nancy spent the week in Huntsville. She had fun but us boys had more fun. We saw all kinds of weather going to and returning from Mexico. Meals were superb. Whales and dolphins were seen. The last day, rounding the Palos Verdes Peninsula, was a beautiful, perfect sail with a gentle warm California breeze. That evening Brad dropped us at LAX and those from Utah returned to a cold spring snow storm. The next day Nancy and I were back up on the mountain with temperatures in the ‘teens.

Sorry for the “detour”. I know most of you are probably only interested in the missionary experience. There will be lots of that to come. This shows there can be flexibility as we serve the Lord.

First of all please forgive the grammar and typos. For those who read the previous post… NO we are not in charge of “trials”. It should have read Trails. That is our assignment to oversee. I have already gone back and corrected that post. Thanks to those who brought it to my attention. I would not relish being in charge of trials.

I promised more pics in the last post so I will add some now.

The move up to the mountain was orchestrated perfectly. A rig left the valley every five minutes. By evening all 79 trailers and motor homes were in place with tires on leveling boards, power and water hooked up, and perfectly leveled. The next day most of the men gathered at 8am and all the rv’s were hard plumbed for sewer which is necessary to keep the ground squirrels from eating thru the typical rv sewer lines.

An interesting side note… you may notice a drivers side door missing in the pic. Jeremy was towing it on I-84 at 70mph and the door flew off when he hit a bump. Fortunately he noticed it and there was no traffic nearby as it catapulted down the freeway. He was able to exit and circle back to retrieve it. Nothing broke and with a little tweaking it still fits.

Sister Jenkins at the camp post office

I placed this video first so you could decide for yourself if we are having fun.

I have discovered that waiting to write is a bad idea since I am having trouble recalling the moments that would be good to include in this blog.

Since I last posted we have completed our version of an MTC (Missionary Training Center). It was a week of learning, getting to know each other and anxiously awaiting our assignment for the season. This all took place down in Heber Valley at a local chapel.

The main emphasis was how to interact with all who come to stay at this camp. We are not to judge or reprimand but we are admonished to love as the Savior loved.

We were trained in all the facets of running the camp which last year served 23000 young women and leaders and 28000 family members and other groups. When 51000 individuals are spread over approximately 3 months it makes for a very busy camp. (The camp is open year round but as you can see by the pics it is not a winter resort) Most arrive by bus because the local roads leading to camp could not accommodate that many vehicles plus parking at camp would be impossible.

These are the areas we were trained in: (# of husband/ wife couples required for each area)

Public Safety(11), Camp Hosting(20), Grounds Maintenance(5), Lake front(10), Building Maintenance(5), Mountain Management(5), Challenge Courses(21), Camp Administration(4). That should be a total of 79 couples this year. There are also 3 full time Employees of the church who oversee the camp as Physical Facilities Representatives (PFR)

There are enough couples here to form a church unit. It is presided over by a Mission/Branch President with counselors, Clerks etc.

We have the good fortune to be somewhat close to our son Jeremy and his family so that is where we spent Easter. He had recently butchered a pig and he cooked/smoked the biggest ham I have ever seen. It was delicious. No better way to celebrate the real meaning of Easter than to be with Family.

Every couple was waiting on pins and needles all week to see what their assignment would be. We were assigned to the Mountain Management Team to be in charge of trails. Just what we were hoping for. That means we will be all over the mountain getting lots of exercise. Also we will be sharing about nature (All things Bright and Beautiful) to the girls who visit. Well a picture is worth a 1000 words and I am out of time so here goes…

I discovered this blog can handle just a few pics per post so I will do another post with more pics

Most of this past week has been pretty low key. We continue to receive special treats from the missionary couples who have served in previous seasons. I suspect next year we will be welcoming new couples in the same fashion. Maybe a California treat will be in order, such as a strawberry or an avocado. We now have lots of choices for treats when the urge arises. There have been several “get acquainted” activities during the week yet still we manage to meet missionary couples for the first time. There will be 79 couples serving this season.

We have been fortunate to meet some young women around town who will be attending camp with us this summer. It helps remind us of our purpose of being here. The Heber Creeper RR station is just a few steps from our MTC camp. It was fun to see all the old rail cars still in use. They were running an Easter train when we visited. The locomotive said “Boston-Maine.” I was excited for Nancy, but the young women we met made it special for both of us. See picture below.

Saturday we drove 45+ minutes to SLC to see our grandson, Keegan play in a rugby match. He was the lead tackler and his body showed it when he was done. Afterwards we met Tanna, Jeremy and Keegan at a Laotian Buddhist New Year festival. We were the only ones there with Missionary tags. It felt like being in Japan all over again. Also, when you eat something new it supposedly adds a day to your life so Nancy and I should have a couple more days in the bank after consuming Laotian food!

On the way back to Heber we drove thru old town Park City which is only about 15 min from Heber.

We have already had some challenges living in an RV. A few water leaks that thankfully stopped when I tightened some fittings. We use about 7 gallons of propane every 3 or 4 days. Most of it for heat. When we empty a tank we take it in the AM to a utility trailer parked near the entrance and in the afternoon it will be setting there full of gas. One morning our gas furnace quit. I am not 100% sure why, but I think it was due to not switching tanks quickly enough. A full tank did not solve the problem. I fiddled with the furnace for about an hour before it would restart. Not sure what happened to reset it, but I am thankful to have more heat than just our little electric space heater.

Tomortow we begin our MTC experience. No more sleeping in and taking it easy. We miss all of you, and we miss the Camarillo spring weather.

Several food trucks park along Main Street in Heber in the evening adding to the culinary choices.

I have noticed that here in Utah the food establishments like to add a sweetener to dishes that I normally would not eat that way. I have tasted it in a taco and in pizza sauce. That would explain why Utah loves Cafe Rio which is not my favorite.

The weather forecast was for lots of snow. As often happens the hype did not fully materialize. Most of the storm was west of us.

Today we drove up to camp to collect the clothes we ordered and to get more familiar with the surroundings. There was enough snow to make that difficult. Grateful for 4wd. We actually went twice because there was a social gathering in the maintenance shed where the camp leaders cooked 360 scones and provided lots of jam etc. A good way to end the day.

We arrived in Huntsville, Utah on Tuesday Evening. Tanna, Evan and Austin were there to greet us. The house was warm and ready for us. A nice treat since my back was sore from all the sitting in the truck. Wednesday we visited and relaxed and then Tanna and the boys returned to Logan.

The remainder of the week included a day in Logan with Jeremy and the rest of his family. (It was spring break for the kids.)

Sunday morning we were fortunate to have tickets to attend General Conference in Salt Lake City.

Monday was bittersweet. It was almost as difficult to leave Huntsville as it was Camarillo. Thanks to my Sister and her husband for making their place available to us.

It was about a 90 minute drive thru the majestic Wasatch mountains passing by Park City and then arriving in Heber Valley.

We were greeted by very friendly and welcoming fellow missionaries. Most were locals who are helping us prepare for the impending snow storm expected Tue pm. We will need to heat and insulate our water line to keep it from freezing. Weather changes quickly here.

We didn’t leave Camarillo until 9:30am due to issues with the trailer lights. We took a longer route out thru Lancaster in hopes of seeing the once every twenty years California Poppies in bloom but discovered we would need to go another hour out of our way so we settled for a few small patches of desert wild flowers. We stopped for a late lunch in Yermo at the 50’s diner we have seen every time we passed by over the past 30 plus years. It was mobbed and turned out to be quite the happening place for being in the middle of nowhere. We ended our day by parking for the night outside a casino in mesquite. Nancy had a memorable moment today. All 3 lanes of the I-15 came to a complete stop just north of Baker just a few miles before the rest stop that Nancy so desperately needed. She sat in the truck as long as possible (almost an hour) and then she headed into the trailer to use its facilities. Suddenly traffic started to move and I had no choice but to go forward until I could pull over. She had a ride she wasn’t expecting.

It really felt sort of strange trading or should I say leaving our home to live in a small trailer… quite the contrast as you can see…