Letter #24

The Mormon Curse:

Once upon a time Nevada was Utah. Territorial Governor Brigham Young presided over the Utah Territory which stretched across Utah through the Great Basin to Carson Valley.

More than 100 families settled in Franktown in the summer of 1856. They built homes and planted.  Elder Orson Hyde built a sawmill.

When President Young called the settlers home to Utah in 1858 they left behind properties that Washoe settlers “adopted” without compensating the Mormons.

In 1862, Orson Hyde wrote a letter “To the people of Carson and Washoe Valleys” demanding $20,000.00 in compensation for his sawmill.  Here is some of what he wrote:

“… and this demand of ours, remaining uncanceled, shall be to the people of Carson and Washoe Valleys as was the ark of God among the Philistines. You shall be visited of the Lord of Hosts with thunder and with earthquakes and with floods, with pestilence and with famine until your names are not known amongst men, for you have neglected the authority of God… and given yourselves up to serve the god of this world; to rioting in debauchery, in abominations, drunkenness and corruption.  You have chuckled and gloried in taking the property of the Mormons, and withholding from them the benefits thereof. “

In 1881 a flood rushed through Franktown. The newly built dam overflowed and more than $20,000.00 in property washed away with it. In 1983, a flood devastated much of Ophir, Franktown’s neighbor to the north.

The Curse has taken on legendary proportion, every time something happens people say that it’s Orson Hyde’s curse.

I heard about the curse and decided to look it up, sure enough Elder Hyde cursed this place. He was never paid for his property so I assume the curse is still in effect! So far we have only had one day of rain since we arrived 6 months ago but we have seen a lot of fires, I am hoping the curse holds off for the remainder of our time here.

In the meantime, we do what we do. We continue to try to find ways to support the ward members. We take an Elephant blanket thing to those with a new baby.  We took one to Cynthia this week. Hers continues to be a sad story. We have taken bread to several people this week.  Elder Hardman is getting to be good with his bread making skills. We went to a lesson with the Elders this week and I was accused (by Elder Hardman) of flirting with the 2 year old.  I didn’t have to flirt, he wanted to hold my hand and wanted me to hug and tickle him. He is an adorable little guy with a HUGE afro! He wants to be a distraction but he also wanted to snuggle up to me, I didn’t mind. I don’t know if we will get to go back but I will go prepared next time.  I made a Quiet Book at the Super Saturday that is Jesus pictures, I will take it next time.  We drove a man home from church today and dropped him off at his truck, the truck is his home. The truck doesn’t run and has flat tires, it is parked next to a city park. He is a nice man, we met him at the Super Saturday because the Bishop had asked him to help with the cleanup, as part of him receiving assistance. I guess what we are learning is that all of these people are just that, nice people. Their lives are a mess, but they are nice people.  We knocked a door this afternoon and ended up giving the woman a blessing.  She was so grateful to have us stop by because she is having a hard time. When Elder Hardman offered to give her a blessing of comfort, she cried. There are so many lonely and sad people.

I was sad and lonely on Saturday night when I realized I would be going to Women’s Conference alone.  It’s funny how homesick little things can make you.  I missed all of my girls!  Next week we will be sad when Elder Hardman has to go get ice cream by himself and we miss all of our boys! We love you all!

The moral of the story is, Don’t cheat an Apostle, and listen to Conference!

The Gospel’s true and we love you!

Love,

Elder and Sister Hardman