Nebo Loop: Fall Leaves

Nebo Loop: Fall Leaves
Darrel L. Hammon

Joanne and I finally completed the entire Nebo Loop on Saturday. We attempted the trip last year between Conference sessions but didn't quite make it, primarily because we--actually mostly me--had stopped so many times to take pictures, we didn’t make it too far. 

 

Joanne had to work at the BYU Health Clinic in the a.m.; so, we didn't get off until the afternoon. After having a delicious lunch from the leftover steak we had BBQ'ed last night, we headed for Nebo Loop Road. So, this year, we decided to take our time and take lots of pictures along the way.

The irony is this: We probably should have done the look much earlier. Many of the leaves had already fallen. Up higher, though, the leaves were still very bright yellow and some green 

There is something about autumn and its turning of colors. We who live in a climate where we have the changing of the seasons--spring to summer, summer to fall, fall to winter, winter to spring--feel blessed. Yes, we sometimes don't like the snow, mostly because of the cold it brings and the treacherous driving conditions, but we like what it does to the landscape. It paints the old and the ugly with a whiteness that creates a purity that goes beyond the imagination. 

Enough of the metaphor...let's continue the ride.

 

Not too far up the road, we stopped to look at the creek that runs down the canyon. For me, water running through and over rocks and then through beautiful Quaken Aspen (a.k.a. "Quakies) creates a sense of calmness. 

We stopped at the Beaver Dam Overlook. How beautiful and vast! 

Joanne and I took a selfie when we stopped at the Beaver Dam Overlook. We aren’t the best  "selfie" takers....but, alas, here it is.

We stopped along the way to see various parts. We loved the overlook that looked out to Utah Lake and beyond.

                

Just before you get to the turn off that leads to Nephi, there are several outcroppings of different rocks. 

Most of them are white. Beautiful! I told Joanne we needed to come back and hike to some of them to see them up close.

 It took us over four hours to drive the Nebo Loop, but it was well worth it! 

I suspect had we stopped along the way even more than we did, we probably would still be up there. Many pullouts were for trail heads. Many cars and trucks were parked, now empty because people were probably were sauntering all over those mountains and hills, enjoying the yellows, golds, reds, greens, and other fall colors. 

We loved the trip and cannot wait until next year to see more colors that God has in His palette. When one looks across the valleys and the overlooks and the incredible vistas, how can one say there is no God? This stuff doesn't just happen! It has to be created, and many thanks to a loving Heaven Father whose creations are incredible!

Service: a noble adventure

Service: a noble adventure
Darrel L. Hammon

the gang at a gift shop with shop employees

Recently, I had the incredible opportunity to accompany a group of students representing Utah Valley University (UVU) and Mobility Mission to the Dominican Republic (DR). What a marvelous activity it was! 

Frederico and his family (with Abbey and Claribel)

The purpose of the trip was humanitarian. The Mobility Mission works with groups to provide prosthetic limbs to those who need them. I visited Julie Bagley, the director of the program, some months ago. She decided to go to the DR. Since we had worked with the Asociación Dominicana de Rehabilitación (ADR) when Joanne and I served there as Welfare Specialists, I called Dr. Carlos Zometa and made the arrangements. He was so good to work with.

One of the patients and his family (with Julie Bagley)

Only July 18, we trundled to the DR with 17 in our group, mostly students and former students at UVU. Unfortunately, Julie and one of the students had to stay behind in Miami because the student lost her passport. I told Julie I would accompany them and get them to the destination. So, off we went. Ultimately, though, Julie and the student who, through a miracle, received a duplicate passport in record time.

Edith, one of the incredible technicians

I believe the students were shocked when they landed but even more shocked with the driving. The first morning we went to the ADR, they gasped more than once at the crazy driving we encountered. Nonetheless, we made it to the ADR and the incredible people there.

Alan, the Director of the Lab, and Karlita, one of the incredible technicians

When we arrived, we met the staff. Alan was the director of the lab. Two of the young women, Edith and Karl, who were technicians were actually fairly new from outside of the DR. All of the technicians took the young people under their wings, and we began to work.

Brett interviewing one of the patients

Fifteen people were waiting for us in the Santo Domingo ADR. The students measured each patient and then began working with technicians to create the new prostheses. The fifteen patients were wonderful, ranging from young men and women to more mature men and women. We instantly bonded with the patients. They were so appreciative of the attention they were receiving. Finally, they were receiving a new leg. Some had been waiting for a long time; others, not so long, a year or two. Nonetheless, having no leg was a challenge for all of them.

Cindy working with one of the technicians

Once all of the patients had been fitted, the students and the technicians began feverishly working to develop each prosthesis from scratch. We had brought with us the hardware for the knees and the joints. It was tedious, hot work. The laboratory didn't have air conditioning; so, we sweat a lot during the week.

Some of the group with Ana Mercedes

One of the surprises for me was meeting Ana Mercedes. Joanne and I had meet her in 2012 when we took the Spencers, wheelchair specialists from the Church, on a tour to meet some of the people who had received wheelchairs from the partnership between the ADR and the Church. Ana had been a 17-year-old young woman who was on the national basketball team with a promising athletic career. One evening, a stray bullet struck her in the spine, paralyzing her from the waist down. At the time we met here, she was working with a non-profit organization. On one of the days we were at the ADR, I went out the wrong door and saw a young woman at the reception desk. She looked vaguely familiar. When I approached here, I discovered it was Ana, our good friend. She remembered me, and we had such a wonderful conversation. We even met her father. She was now working at the ADR.

Sunset at Bayahibe

At the end of the week, we took a break. I had made arrangements with John our good friend from Scuba Fun in Bayahibe to take us to the Isla Catalina for a day of fun and snorkeling. The night before the great event, two of the students became engaged. As the sun was setting in the eastern sky, he proposed on the boardwalk, overlooking the ocean. How romantic is that?

La Isla Catalina

The next day at sea, we went snorkeling and then on to the Isla Catalina. Spectacular! Many of the students couldn't believe the beauty and the color of the water. Some of us were able to see Captain Kidd's cannons buried, just off the coast of La Isla Catalina. What a sight it was!

The Mango Twins with two of the patients

On Monday, we motored to La Vega, a city about 1.5 hours from Santo Domingo to measure an additional ten patients. What a reception we received.

Waiting at the bus stop (with Dr. Carlos Zometa)

 We met some incredible people. One of the people we met was Frederico, a 20-year-old young man.

Frederico with his mother (Darrel and Abbey)

Abbey and I had the opportunity to interview him and his mother. His words were profound and brought tears to our eyes. He said, "My mother told me that God had a leg for me. Today, God has brought you here." I couldn't barely continue the interview. Such faith from both the mother and the son! Just that moment served as one reason why we were there. We soon met his father and his younger sister. They were so happy that Frederico would be receiving a leg.

"Soy Dominicano" (I am Dominican) was all this man would say (with Julie and Kelsey)

We spent then next couple of days, making the prostheses for these patients. Two days later, we returned to La Vega to fit the patients and teach them to walk. Many of them had brought their mothers, fathers, grandparents, brothers, sisters, nieces, and nephews for the entrega or the handover of the prosthetic limb. What a glorious day for all of us to have been there.

Cindy with Karlita (l) and Edith (r), two of the technicians

The most difficult part was saying good bye to all of the technicians. We had gave abrazos (hugs), shed tears, told each other how much we enjoyed working with them. It was both a sad and happy day, sad because we were leaving eternal friends, happy because we had new friends we would never forget. That is what service is all about: You serve others, you make eternal friends, and you experience things you have never experienced before and ones you will never forget.

Helping people learn to walk

Truly UVU's Mobility Mission changes lives--both the patients and the those who participate. In this case, students and former students. They shall never forget the experiences, the friends, the crazy driving, la Isla Catalina, the smiles on the patients' faces, the grand abrazos they received, the lives they have touched, and the new Facebook connections. All in all, the trip was extraordinary!

Patients waiting in La Vega

Fatherhood: The Cornerstone to a Successful Family

Fatherhood: The Cornerstone to a Successful Family

Darrel L. Hammon 

Dean and Barbara Hammon

Fatherhood has long been the cornerstone to a successful family. Some years ago in a pamphlet titled Father Consider Thy Ways, we learn: "'Fatherhood is leadership. It has always been so; it always will be so. Father, with the assistance and counsel and encouragement of your eternal companion, you preside in the home" (1973, pp. 4-5).

As fathers, most of us are husbands as well. I sincerely believe that to be a good father, I must be a good husband. If I treat my wife with disrespect, then my children begin to do the same. Our wives are the queens of our home. She has chosen motherhood, one of the noblest and most sacred callings Heavenly Father has ever bestowed upon mortal beings. Being a good husband means being sensitive to her feelings. President James E. Faust gives us this counsel: "I urge husbands and fathers of this church to be the kind of man your wife would not want to be without" (Ensign, May 1993, p. 36).

The Hammon Family, almost ten years ago. A lot has changed.....

 Joanne and I were reminiscing a few years ago about our fathers. Both of fathers have since departed this life, Joanne's father passing away a mere six months after we were married. What impressed us both about each of our fathers was the fact that they would help anyone with anything. Joanne's father would be the first one out on a snowy day and shovel the walks and driveways down their street. Although he was not a member of the church, Joanne's father always got her up in the mornings on Sundays so she would be ready to go to church. At his funeral, numerous neighbors approached us and told us what a wonderful man he was.

 My father taught me the same thing. I remember getting up early and going with him to shovel the walks of the widows and older people in our ward. On his days off, my father would go and help others with their roofs or yards. It seemed like we spent more than our share at the ward farm. Now that I look back on it, it was Dad's way of helping the Lord. 

 Fathers are patriarchs. Patriarchs are leaders in the home. Being a true father means that you are the patriarch of your family. You are the priesthood leader, one whose love for God and the "stone cut out of the mountain without hands" precedes the love for the hedonistic ways of the common culture. Unlike the unparticipating fathers of society, you seek the Lord's guidance in all matters. While others carouse and belittle godliness in the darkness, you kneel quietly in the darkness of your room and talk confidentially to that supernal being, your Heavenly Father. Your feelings toward your children do not entail indulgence in earthly things; rather, you attend their games, help with homework, dance with them in the kitchen, go on bike rides, coach their sports teams, attend their debates, read and help them with their English essays, learn how to do algebra, read and discuss the great literature, pray with them, lay your hands upon their heads and give them priesthood blessings. Instead of doing your will or the will of your friends, you do your Father in Heaven's will. Instead of jumping into your own things, you climb on the trampoline and jump and do knee jumps until you think your knees are going to rot off. Instead of being in the thick of things with every organization in the city, you coach T-ball, play computers with them, and play catch in the backyard.

Hammon boys with Dean W. Hammon from years ago

 I also want to express deep love for my (our) Heavenly Father. Please, for one moment, think of Heavenly Father, that Holy Being to whom you pray. Can you see Him in your mind's eye?  Are His arms outstretched to you?  Is He beckoning you to draw near?  Our Heavenly Father is a loving Father, one who wants to listen to us. In the scriptures, we finally understand His love for us. Hasn't He said, through his prophets and His only begotten son, Jesus Christ, "My children, my children...when you go to earth...teach your children to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, might, mind, and strength....teach your children to walk uprightly before the Lord...and to love and serve one another (See Mosiah 4:15).

According to President Ezra Taft Benson, "Fathers, yours is an eternal calling from which you are never released....and its importance transcends time. It is a calling for both time and eternity" (Ensign, November 1987, p. 48).

May we understand the power of our sacred calling as fathers, for it is an eternal calling, one from which we will never be released; may we continue teaching our children about their noble birthright.

Happy Father’s Day!