Welcome to Richfield!

Well, here we are, living out of a hotel room in Richfield, Utah. For those of you that aren't familiar with the town (like me), it's a tiny little town just two and a half hours south of Utah Valley, off the I-70. A tiny town. There is a main street, maybe a half-mile long. Along this street you can find The Ideal Dairy, Walmart, Reel Theaters (playing one movie: Surrogates), The Dollar Tree, Lotsa Motsa Pizza, Bella Moon antiques and curiosities, and other quaint shops one finds in a one-street town. The rest is desert: mesas, sagebrush and tons of sky. We're here for a week--Chad is covering for the manager down here; then it's back to Draper.

While Chad's at the plant in the mornings, I take Coren on walks and... Holy smokes! Does it take me back! I am suddenly walking down one-lane roads in Warden, with Sister O walking next to me, nearly unrecognizable as my companion because of the layers and layers of clothing to keep us warm in the biting wind. Two sisters plodding along, thinking of all the songs we can come up with that have the word rain in them. Two sisters in Warden, population 2,500 (really?! that many?!), where the typical conversation between us during our walks went something like this:

Sister O: Did we pass these cows already?

Me: No, I think those were Holsteins.

(Silent trudging)

Me: hey, there's still some onions left in this field. Should we grab some?

Sister O: Nah. We still have half a box left at home.

Me: Right.

(more silent trudging)

Sister O: I'm hungry.

(Sister O trips and falls on her face)

So great! And then all the other memories come back... Warm Hispanic faces welcoming us in and feeding us till we need to throw up. Tiny Spanish branches where everyone wants to help in the work... and they do! Where they sing the hymns with gusto, whether or not they can sing at all. Quiet platicas and companions bearing powerful testimonies of Christ in broken Spanish. Teaching children and playing in the snow and wide empty skies with indescribable sunsets. A year and a half in the middle of nowhere, and it meant everything to me.

So I love this tiny town. Truly, the beauty is breathtaking. And Coren and I get to spend the week with Chad, which makes it even sweeter. So could I live here? No, no, no, no, no. Not this city girl. But it's a beautiful place to be this week--just as the middle of the Washington desert was the most beautiful place to be for a mission! Funny how when the situation is right--serving the Lord, spending the week with your hubby--anywhere can be heaven!