And we're off!
This morning, from our home at the terminus of the Mormon Pioneer Trail, we pointed our wagons along the Oregon Trail, following it as far as La Grande, Oregon, a city of 13,000 in the Blue Mountains that was settled in 1861 as a pioneer waypoint.
Stopping for lunch in Twin Falls, Idaho, we considered some of this heritage as Mr. Swenson reminded us of the words of President Thomas S. Monson: "The doors of history swing on small hinges." On this tour, he said, it will be the small things that matter most: courtesy, respect, and gratitude.
Breaking with the tradition of years past, we completed the day's travel without a single event: no flat tires, no engine trouble, not so much as a misplaced suitcase. The day was so uneventful, in fact, that many of us slept it off.
We arrived at the La Grande stake center at 5:00 p.m., completing in a matter of hours a journey that took the Oregon pioneers many months.
We are grateful to have arrived safely and grateful to be hosted by families from the La Grande stake, and we are greatly looking forward to singing for them tomorrow night!
Photo credits: Staci Wray, Jackson Graham, and Anna Griffith
