Page2 Ted & Lisa

The following quote caught my attention this week. “There are many ways to find happiness in life. The first way is to find joy and appreciation in the little things.” This week I’d like to share some of “little” things which have brought Lisa and I “joy and appreciation” while serving at Bluff Fort.

Little Things of the Week:

Commuting to the Fort. I used to dread my commute into Phoenix when I was working, but our commute to the Fort is quite enjoyable. We start out by opening the door and looking at the clear, blue sky of Bluff. We look over and see the home of Jens and Kirsten Nielson. Jens was a key figure in the Hole-in-the-Rock expedition and served as Bishop of Bluff for 26 years.

It’s then across the street where we catch our first view of the Fort. No matter how many times I’ve seen the Fort, it continues to “spark joy” in my life.

There is simply a feeling that comes over you when you enter the Fort that makes you happy—which is probably a good thing since we spend many hours each day at the Fort.

You turn the corner and get a full view of the Fort. You hear the chickens clucking (ok, it is a recorded soundtrack but it sounds very real), the water cascading down from the water wheel, and a Navajo flute playing traditional music. The lawns are always meticulously cared for by our good friend Ron Bateman.

Lisa often heads towards the sewing center where she meets even more smiling missionaries! They may look as if they are all fun, but these women can sew!

The commute only takes about four minutes, but by the end you can’t help but smile!

Lisa planted several sunflower seeds earlier this spring and look at them now! Water, sun, and little Bluff magic (which consists of soil not native to Bluff) makes for some healthy plants! And check out our garden cared for our master gardener Don Johnson.

We also had another p-day adventure which was full of canyons, pine-tree covered mesas, and even bears ears!

Spending time with good people: I’ve written many times before how much we enjoy visiting with our guests. Last week seemed to be Germany week and Lisa and I had many memorable visits. There is a whole world of amazing people out there, we are so blessed to be able to meet some of them every day!

Insights from the Week:

I’m realizing more fully that we really do need to enjoy the little things in life. I’m pretty sure that one day we’ll look back and realize that the small things really were the big things!

Life is so very good!

The last several weeks have been full of the sounds of singing, ringing, and (as usual) exploring. We’ve experienced so much the past three weeks it will be difficult to condense it into a brief email, but I’ll give it a shot.

We talk to people from all over the world and with very few exceptions they are bright, engaging, and simply delightful people.

Highlights of the Week:

Several times this summer we’ve had Friday Night at the Fort which features musical talent from around the area. For our last concert of the 2023 season, Dallyn Bayles was our guest performer. Dallyn is a professional singer who has ancestors who settled in Bluff. It was so fun to be at the Fort listening to Broadway-caliber music. Bluff may be a small town, but for one night we had some very big talent “singing” in our visitor’s center.

We had a wonderful experience together and their daughter was happy I could speak German. I was surprised when I saw them the next day. When I asked them why they came back, they said their daughter loved the Fort and wanted to talk to the German-speaking American cowboy one more time before they headed home!

Lisa and I continue to enjoy serving in the visitor’s center several times each week. We’ve had nearly 33,674 visitors so far this year and we’ve made many good memories. Typically there is only one missionary who talks with a group of visitors, but sometimes both Lisa and I get to be a team as we talk to our guests.

We had an especially memorable experience last week. We talked to a couple from Germany and told them about the Hole-in-the-Rock pioneers and then showed them the documentary film. They walked around the Fort and looked at the pioneer cabins which tell the story of the families who settled in Bluff. As we said good-bye to them they told us how much they had enjoyed the Fort.

Ten minutes later, I was surprised so see them come back. The husband said, “Do you know the meaning of ‘der Glaube versetzt Berge‘?“ I said, “Yes, it means ‘faith moves mountains‘.“ He then said, “As I drove away from Bluff Fort those words kept coming to my mind. I realized these pioneers had faith that could move mountains and I wanted to tell you how thankful I am that you shared this story with us.“ Simple experiences like this make serving at Bluff Fort a great blessing.

This week I heard the sound of “ringing” as I completed the conversion of our PC-based Point of Sale (POS) system to a new “cloud-based” POS system. The preparation took several weeks and I had to dust off my technical skills to complete the task. We just finished our first week on the new platform with no significant issues. I’ve smiled as I’ve heard several of our missionaries say, “This new system is so simple…so much better than the old!” I didn’t plan on doing computer work as a Bluff Fort missionary, but I’m glad my skills could help out the Fort.

As the temperatures heated up, we headed north to the Blue mountains for our P-Day adventures. We loved “exploring” the cool highlands, and felt like we were back home in Washington!

We also explored Recapture Wash where we found the inscription of one of the original Hole in the Rock Pioneers! Afterwards we headed down a seven mile section of the pioneer trail where we saw trees that were cut by the pioneers as they forged the original pioneer trail.

To top it off, my brother Jeff and his son Jeff and his family visited us last week. We love having family and friends visit!

Insights from the Week:

It’s hard to believe Lisa and I are coming up on six months. We’ve decided to extend an extra four months to make our length of service a year. I feel many days that I’m working harder than I did while a full-time employee at IBM. Yet missionary service is so rewarding that those long days are worth it.

I’m glad I had a career which allowed me to retire a bit early so I could finally find the meaningful “job” I always dreamed of. I can’t imagine any other place I’d rather be!

Bluff Mission Update 2-28-24

Final Episode

Wed, Feb 28, 2024 at 3:19 PM

Dear family and friends,

We knew our mission would come to an end, but we never thought the time would pass this quickly. After our apartment and pioneer cabins were cleaned, Lisa had passed on her flower and sewing insights, and the computers were running smoothly we headed back home yesterday morning.

Before we left we wanted to take back a bottle of red Bluff dirt. We drove up Calf Canyon road and filled our bottle with the beautiful earth we have come to love .

As we turned around to head towards Mesa, I inadvertently backed into a culvert and high-centered our Odyssey. We were firmly stuck in the red dirt we had grown to love. The vortex of Bluff just didn't want to let us go!

I've learned at Bluff Fort we have the resources to accomplish just about any task so I ran back to the Fort and asked Montey, who is an avid outdoorsman and has pulled many vehicles out of ditches, to come to the rescue. One of our Bluff neighbors, who is an archeologist, saw our dilemma and also offered to help. Within five minutes we were on the road and headed back home. It was great to have our mission end with a wonderful act of kindness.

When we arrived home, I looked at the tail hitch of our Odyssey and saw that it was still filled with red dirt. Bluff will always be in our hearts….and our trailer hitch!

Highlights of the Week:

Although we don't proselyte as Bluff Fort Missionaries, we do visit families (primarily native American) that the young missionaries are teaching. Three of these individuals joined the Church and were baptized this month. It was exciting to see the changes that Norman, Aloryssa, and Honor made in their lives and how these changes have brought them increased happiness.

On our last day in the Co-op Lisa and I had a wonderful visit with a couple from Minnesota. They were Evangelical Christians and had many questions about the Hole in the Rock pioneers and also our faith. Within a few minutes we were great friends and our lives were enriched through our conversation about our common belief in Jesus Christ. They were the very last visitors we interacted with on our mission and it was a perfect ending to a memorable mission!

We also had a fun Valentine's Day dinner party with our fellow missionaries. We laughed, performed songs and had a delicious meal together. When you bring 23 talented missionaries together you have an entertaining and "filling" time!

We also took one final picture with our missionary friends. They are more family now than friends. We've laughed with them, cried with them, explored with them, learned with them and worked & played with them. We've developed life-long friendships we will always cherish.

We also said goodbye to my cousins Donna, Betty, and George. I've learned more about my Jones family history than I ever thought possible. Although I didn’t grow up in Southeastern Utah, I feel as if I've always been a part of this red-rock country!

And of course we explored. Our final hikes were to the 17-room ruins, the Procession Panel and the Cottonwood Wash Petroglyphs. We will never grow tired of hiking through the canyons of San Juan County. They are some of the most beautiful places we've ever seen. From the first to the last hike they were better than we could have ever imagined.

Insights from the Week:

One of my final work projects was installing a new informative sign which tells about the life of Kumen Jones, my great grandfather. I was grateful for one more opportunity to work in the unusual red dirt which is found throughout this area.

If it were not for Kumen's leadership and his good relationships with the native Americans, Bluff would have had a difficult time getting established during the early years.

This year we've told the story of Kumen and his wife Lydia to people from throughout the world. We hope through our efforts their story and the stories of all the Hole in the Rock Pioneers have inspired people to do hard things and have greater faith. Kumen and Lydia's story has changed our lives for the better.

So long from Bluff…..

Love you all…..

Elder & Sister Hill

Ted & Lisa Hill Page 2

Bluff Fort - Page 2

Fort Bluff Update 7/29/23

Bears Ears

Insights from the Week:

Fort Bluff Update 8/24/23

Coming Home

Bluff Mission Update 2-28-24