By Kevin V. Hunt

Blog #5

LEAVING THE MTC

In my previous blog article, I detailed the magnificent experience that we were a part of at the Provo MTC.  Ultimately, all good things must end.  It really was not an ending, however,  but a grand new beginning.  A really big adventure!  And of course, making the miracle trek to Nauvoo.

The MTC experience did not end exactly as I would have pictured it, but it happened.  For the final day at the MTC, I was “sicker than a dog” with a lovely bug – that featured eruptions from every angle.  (Not a good thing!)

I awoke on D-Day (departure day) feeling just as lousy as the day before.  I had received a great amount of rest – so that was good – but still the symptoms remained.

Lou cornered two of the Elders in our MTC group – and who were staying in our same Residence Inn – and who were also going to Nauvoo.  Elders Jones and Pearce came to our hotel room and administered a Priesthood blessing with the “laying on of hands” – just as Jesus did in His day.  And we likewise have that authority today.  Elder Pearce blessed me that I would be completely healed very soon.  They also helped me get our collection of stuff on a hotel cart and out to our car.

We checked out of the hotel.  We had a wonderful stay there for our nine nights.  We then went to the MTC and checked out as requested.   A sister “deactivated” our MTC badges that had heretofore opened almost every door of “the magic kingdom”.  It was a bit sad to make that cut and to realize that our magnificent MTC experience was now history.

GOING FORWARD WITH “FAITH IN EVERY FOOTSTEP”

We then went forward in faith.  I prayed fervently that frequent stops might be averted – and to my great blessing, such was the case.  I rejoiced in this miracle blessing granted me.

We decided to travel via Interstate-80 – thinking that the “lower altitude” (of just 8,500’) might be better than the 11,500’ high elevation that we could experience on I-70.  (I-70 would have been a more direct route to our desired destination stop in St. Louis, Missouri.)  We drove up Provo Canyon to Heber City and then north to Park City.  We there got onto the I-80 freeway.  Sister Hunt marveled when I told her that no turns would be required for 600 or more miles.

Our children (several of them) commented on how we were following the route of our own pioneer ancestors (who traveled from Nauvoo to the Great Salt Lake Valley) but only that we were doing it in reverse.

Our Over-Filled Wagon Compared to the Wagon-load of the Pioneers:

As I thought of those long-ago pioneer ancestors, I thought of their wagon travel over much of the same route upon which we were then travelling.  I looked at our over-packed wagon (our “minivan”).  I then began to think of what the pioneers may have carried in their own wagons as they made their treks.

Our wagon was literally “packed to the gills” with “stuff” that we figured that we needed for our 18-month mission journey.   That poor wagon (minivan) was really overloaded.   As I thought of our over-packed vehicle, my thoughts were drawn to the specific supplies that each pioneer family were counseled to take on their journey west. 

Like us, pioneers traveling by covered wagon had to be very careful of their wagon’s weight. Even a few pounds heavier could mean the trip would be much more difficult for the oxen or horses. This is why the men and women would walk beside the wagon instead of inside it.

The typical pioneer journey by covered wagon was five months long, and those pioneers would need to pack enough supplies and equipment for the entire five months. There were many items deemed “necessary” and of course, everyone had some special “treasures and heirloom pieces” they would also want to take.

Below are the supplies that a typical Pioneer family traveling west across the United States might take on their covered wagon journey.  A typical covered wagon could carry 2,000 pounds before the weight became too much.   Like us, they probably used every available inch and corner in the wagon – just to tuck that one last item in.  Suppose you were a pioneer planning your long journey to the frontier.  You can take only about 2,000 pounds …  You would be literally “taking everything you owned – or would own at the end  of the journey” … You would have not known when or how you might replenish your supplies.  I am sure that the pioneers wanted the required necessities, but each person or family also would have wanted some additional “nicities” with which to make a comfortable home after their journey.  Just acquiring the needed wagon and animals to pull it – would have been an adventure.

When the pioneer Saints were getting ready to leave from Nauvoo, they were given a “Bill of Particulars” – which was a long list of supplies needed for the journey.   This was published in the “Nauvoo Neighbor” newspaper on October 29, 1845.

Our own “List of Necessities” for the journey

It is interesting to compare our own list “of needs”  for our 18-month overland journey to the pioneer list.  Our list of “necessary” equipment is listed below:

1 mini-van – fully loaded and capable of holding extreme weight

Tires – 4 tires that have enough tread/life to make the journey

2 bicycles – for exercise and transport to various sites (if Kevin and Lou were to be assigned to work at different site locations)

Bread maker

Bosch Mixer

Winter coats – for “layers” – as needed for Arizona Desert Rats going to a projected sub-zero winter experience

Boots and shoes for each of us – and probably multiple pairs

Temple clothes (for going to the Nauvoo Temple)

Air fryer

Blender

Small television (for late-night Hallmark movies – if we were not too be too exhausted each night for such frivolity!)

Guitar, violin, harmonica (for new and rehoning of old skills) for wife

Painting and art supplies for hobbies for wife (anticipating a long winter with a lot of extra time on our hands)

Heat pads (including a very large “tube” where total immersion is possible for Sister Hunt)

Computer, scanner, printer and paper – for Elder Hunt

Waffle maker (mini) (for our enjoyment – plus in case we want to stage our annual mini-waffle eating contest – virtually – with kids and grandkids)

School tutoring supplies for Sister Hunt to continue to weekly tutor grandkids (time permitting)

Electric fry pan

Broom and dust pans

Cake pans

Rice cooker

Crock pot

Can opener

Egg cooker

Collection of spices

Yeast

Big cooking pan

Small cooking pan

Large pans for making Momma Lou’s famous cinnamon rolls

Pie pans for Kevin’s annual pie-extravaganza

Cookie sheets

Rolling pin

Blankets, bedding sets for anticipated queen-sized bed (for us – and a few for anticipated visitors)

(Afghan made by Lou’s mother, Verna, blanket made by mother – and which was taken on Kevin’s “Young Mission”, small throw blanket used by Grandma Alura in final weeks of life.  (“Comfort items” – and to bring their memory – and their missions – to our own mission)

2 towels for each  (plus some for anticipated guests who might come)

Laundry supplies

Scriptures and provided mission study materials

Electric blanket (a major survival package for Sister Hunt)

Personal bathroom care hygiene items

Pioneer costume items for Kevin and Lou (a very extensive collection – including hats, bonnets, suspenders, bloomers, vests, boots, shirts – with no collars, … and the list goes on!)

Sister Hunt’s sewing machine

Fabric for Sister Hunt to make costume dresses

Several outfits (dresses, skirts, blouses, and even nice pants) for Sister Hunt

Missionary suits for Elder Hunt (two recommended … I brought 3 but no new ones)

A plethora of white shirts for Elder Hunt

The pioneers of yesteryear only had one chance in having the needed trip supplies and equipment.  They had to acquire the supplies, and make one packing for the trip ahead.  There were no stores, no service stations, no restaurants – along the way.  It was kind of “all or nothing” for them.  They either had it, or they did not!  And of course, they did ultimately have to choose to leave a lot of things that they really wanted to take.  Sad!

On the other hand, Sister Hunt and I knew that there would likely be a well-stocked Walmart at the end of our journey – but with limited resources to equip a new home, we thought it best to take whatever we could – of our own home resources – rather than to buy all new stuff upon arrival.

The Struggle of Maintaining the Wagon along the way

We soon realized that we were facing some of the same challenges that were faced by our ancestor progenitors.  I remembered the story of many pioneers (and likely my own ancestors) who struggled with their wagons in the crossing of the plains.  When a pioneer tire went crazy, it posed a major problem.  Often the repair took multiple hours, and it was not a simple process.  They would have to jack up the entire wagon (likely very heavily loaded) – and they did not have the hydraulic jacks that we have in our day.  A broken wheel could have meant that the iron ring around the wheel might be cracked, broken, or have come off of the wooden wheel.  And sometimes, the hardwood wheel “hub” would get split, or the wagon spokes might crack or break.   Often the wooden wheel components had not been dried sufficiently for such a journey.  Many wheel breakdowns required the services of a wheelright, or a blacksmith – and in large wagon trains, such a skilled person might not be readily available for services required by multiple families along the way.  The blacksmith was likely the most popular person in camp – if you could get him cornered … likely, each family just had to deal with their own problems …  Indeed, a tire break-down could be a very traumatic experience for everyone – and could delay travel for them and others around them for some time.

The Challenges with our wagon:

We prayed hard for the Lord’s protection along our way.  We prayed for the vehicle, the tires, and for us – that we could travel safely.  We were on the I-80 freeway eastbound and traveled at the typical high speeds.  We traveled with three relatively new tires, but the one tire had some issues.  We really “should have” replaced it before the trip, but resources just to get out of town were somewhat strained so we put it off.

Our first day out of the MTC we drove north and east from Provo and then drove much of the day through Wyoming.  And we didn’t see much in the scenery along the way.  The route was pretty much devoid of any vegetation or anything else of interest.  No wonder people want to go 75 MPH!  Even the antelope evaded us.  We arrived safely in Cheyenne, Wyoming, where we had hotel reservations for the evening. 

When I was a year or so old, I actually lived in Cheyenne with my family.  My younger brother, Dean, was born and got pneumonia almost immediately.  He was in the hospital for a month or so.  The doctor told my folks, “He will never survive Wyoming winters …”  And so, following his advice, Dad, Mom, and I – and literally in the moving van – picked Dean up at the hospital and moved to Arizona.  And that’s how I became an Arizona desert rat.  (Thought you might enjoy that bit of Hunt family trivia …!)

HUNT home in Cheyenne, Wyoming 1955-56 – 2239 E. 19th Street – Cheyenne

While in Cheyenne on this trip, I decided that it would be fun to “HUNT” up the home where we lived in Cheyenne.  With the help of modern technology (and a search of the scanned birth certificate for Dean) we found the place and got some photos.  I think that the place had probably aged a quite a bit since the folks and I were there.

We found an old-fashioned country diner where we could eat.  I thought that that some home-made soup might be what the doctor might order – to be easier on my stomach challenges than other choices.  We went in and I got the soup but could only eat about a third of the rest of the meal.  I knew that under the circumstances, that was my limit – though I was super hungry after not eating for the past two days.

We went outside of the diner and Sister Hunt immediately noticed with horror, that our back tire (passenger side) was flat.  (She had been watching all of our tires –  and the heavy load on them – like a hawk – the entire trip.)  This was the tire (referenced above) and we strongly then reminded ourselves that we “couldda – shouldda listened and fixed it”.  But, it was too late then.

By this time, it was about 9 PM.  We checked Google (our trip BFF) and searched for an “after hours tire repair” service.  And with our heavy load, we could not jack up the vehicle ourselves.  A trip to us by the repair company was a necessity.  One company we called proved to be a scam – and they pulled $493 from our checking account – and did nothing for us.  They said that they would be there to replace the tire in an hour.  And then right at the hour, they called and said that the [new] tire that they planned to sell us “was ripped”.   (Are you kidding me?)  It took some later effort with our bank, but we got the fraudulent charge removed and credited to back to our account. 

We found another company that was much more reputable – and considerably cheaper.  They came early the next morning and did a fabulous job.  (Thanks, “Fat Boy Tire and Auto!)  And we also later found that we carry “trip interruption insurance” on the vehicles – so they paid for the new tire and the service trip to put it on.  So, in the end, and after a bit of trauma (real trip interruption …), we got a “free” tire.  Interesting how the Lord’s blessings and miracles come!

Although this situation created much of stress and trauma, we actually felt to rejoice in the whole situation.  The “what if’s” flooded our minds as we thought of possible horrific consequences that might have happened had the tire burst on the freeway when going 75 miles per hour.  So, we were very blessed and grateful.  We knew that we had experienced the Lord’s protecting care.  Thank you!

Completing our Pioneer Journey

Thankfully, the rest of the trip was mostly uneventful.  We continued to feel the blessings of protection afforded by the prayers we sent heaven-ward and supplemented by the combined prayers of our loving family everywhere.

We had a very long trek on Thursday.  We travelled about 750 miles in that one day.  We drove through Nebraska (and wished that Spring had come to that area.  We decided that this country could have been beautiful – if the trees would have had their leaves.  But, such was not the case.)  We drove and drove until nearly midnight (the local time – across yet another time zone).  We had stopped for food about 9 PM and with my already queasy stomach, I soon learned that I was depending on another miracle to get to our desired destination (and somehow, gratefully, that miracle became reality!

A wonderful sister who worked in the MTC Travel Office, helped me plan our route and where we needed to be each night – to get to when and where we wanted to be.  Somehow, we came up with the town of Booneville, Missouri.  (Looking back now, I wonder how we came up with that place.  I will not editorialize upon that place nor the accommodations – not quite up to par with The Residence Inn which we had earlier experienced.)  Anyway, that is where we found ourselves for the night.

And as a side note:  Another miracle.  We had used our phones all through the day to communicate with our concerned children back home – and to navigate our way across the country.  My wife’s phone had run out of juice early in the afternoon.  We then used my phone – this time more sparingly, to navigate our way.  Then when we were about two hours from our destination, my phone was draining fast.  (And our car is quirky with charging phones.  For whatever reason, when we plug in the phone to the car, instead of charging the battery, it literally sucks out he juice from the phone.)  We found ourselves at the dangerously low 5% battery charge – and by some miracle, it remained open at this level for an extended period.  I suggested that Lou hurry and grab the directions for the needed exit and how to get to our reserved hotel before the phone would die permanently.  She did this – just in the nick of time – before it died an ignominious death.

The next day was pretty simple – only about a 3-hour drive into O’Fallon, Illinois, a St. Louis suburb.  We were able to plan our trip to be able to spend a full day with our daughter and family – who will soon have a military transfer to Las Vegas. This would kind of be our last chance to be with them before their move.  Plus, the timing was such that we were able to squeeze in a drama production which featured our granddaughter.

We had a glorious overnight experience with the family.  We packed in all of the memories that we could – including breakfast with our whole group at our favorite Cracker Barrel.  Yum! 

Then came the dreaded departure time – complete with another plethora of those “everything and everyone” photo ops.

We left O’Fallon about 2:00 PM on that Saturday afternoon.  It was with great anticipation that we pointed our wagon north toward Nauvoo.  Our excitement mounted with each passing mile.  (And we were surprised that Google led us across some very unbeaten paths … we really began to wonder when we found ourselves out in the middle of two country pastures … but we did ultimately make it.)

It was so exciting as we turned on Highway 96 (just east of Keokuk, Iowa) as we turned onto the familiar scenic river road river road alongside of the majestic Mississippi River (that we have travelled many times in the past).  This is such a gorgeous piece of God’s earth.  It is just breathtaking in its beauty and wonder!  And since we have made this trip to Nauvoo many times, it was like “coming home” to us.

(Did I ever mention that I spent the last six months of my “youth mission” in Nauvoo?  Quite a transfer up from Florida!) And we have been to Nauvoo many times through the years …  more on some of those treks later.  The drive was calm, peaceful, serene, and exhilarating!

Arrival at our Nauvoo Destination

Our wagon pulled into Nauvoo about 6:30 PM on Saturday (April 13th).  We had been in contact with our missionary “district leader” who had been anticipating our arrival.  And he had put out another of those “all hands on deck” requests for help to unload the wagon.  And come, they did!  I think we had ten people (5 “senior couples”) converge on the scene to help us unload.  It was kind of embarrassing, however.  I had originally packed the car neatly and compacted beautifully, but now, it was far from that.  The effects of living out of the car for two weeks – and some 2,300 miles had taken its toll.  It was not a pretty sight!  (I won’t say where they might have thought that we came from …)  Thankfully, many of the folks brought their own pair of “blinders”.  They were covenant brothers and sisters (in a “Covenant Community”) and they were just willing to help us.  We were so grateful for their able and willing service.

The help team just kind of dumped stuff in our new place – as we had directed them to do.  We then spent the rest of the night putting our stuff away.  And by midnight, we were able to stage a WhatsApp call out to our children and grandchildren (in two time zones away).  They were all jazzed to see where the old folks would hang their hats (or bonnets) for the next 18 months.   They were all impressed – with the place/home provided – as well as the fact that we had everything “almost” put together – though there was still much more to do.  The trek – and the arrival – really was an adventure for us and for all of the family too.

Upon arrival, I thought, “Wow!  That was a really long journey getting here to Nauvoo.  I later calculated the miles as follows:

Maricopa, Arizona to Salt Lake City, Utah – 698 miles

Salt Lake to Provo, Utah– 50 miles

Provo, Utah to Cheyenne, Wyoming – 456 miles

Cheyenne to Booneville, Missouri – 741 miles

Booneville to O’Fallon, Illinois – 163 Miles

O’Fallon, Illinois to Nauvoo, Illinois – 202 miles.

Added up, this came to 2,312 miles (not counting the round-abouts, side trips, etc.)

I then looked at the distance the pioneers would have taken – as the crow flies and if making a direct trek – and it was 1,238 miles.  We beat them (almost doubling their distance), but I think our route was a lot less traumatic.  (And gratefully, it did not take us 5 months to make the journey.  Wow!)

We were very grateful to the Lord for his protecting care over us through our long journey.  He did take care of us and provided many miracles on our behalf.  With His help, we made it!  WE ARE IN NAUVOO (got to keep pinching ourselves to see if it is real …)  Wahoo!

We arrived excited, grateful, and happy to be in Nauvoo.  We were ready to go to work!  Elder and Sister Hunt … Reporting for duty!  Ready for our next adventure on our Nauvoo missionary trail …!