AND IT CAME TO PASS

         AND IT CAME TO PASS

   And now I Wally, proceed to give an account of those inhabitants of the Valley of the Salt Lake who were called and were known as the cruisers of the M/V Horizon in the month of April in the year of 1992.
   They had been called upon to travel southward to the islands of the seas. When finished with their travels they would return to the city of New York in the most eastern part of the country.

   And I take this account from the many hundreds of images and pages of paper that were kept by these people during their journey and are now recorder by myself.

   And it came to pass in March of the year 1992 we were called by one experienced in travel. One who was known as Ashley, to meet with him is his abode northward of the city. He raised his hands, almost in a chant, up in the air and made it known to us the benefits of traveling at this time to the islands southward in the sea of the Caribbean.

   At first there was interest in the journey, only by myself, Wally, and my wife Donnie and my sister and her husband Merlin. We did get together and did discuss the possibility of making this journey. It came to pass, after much discussion we did decide that this was the time to make the journey, before we became old and aged.

   And it came to pass that one Sabbath, while worshipping and meeting with friends we did discuss our journey with them. They also thought they would like to venture forth with us, as some were becoming aged and some were looking for adventure.

   And we discussed the journey exceedingly and upon making our decision we called upon the one called Ashley and did make arrangements to proceed. It would take much preparation to get ready for such an extensive journey.

   Now it became time to produce funds for paying for our needs on the journey. We did count numerous coppers and silver pieces and put them in paper rolls and took them to the money changers and we did also take numerous aluminum drink containers to the traders and finally we did provide the means needed for our journey.

   And because we would be among strangers and would be wearing different apparel, we did worry about our bodies and we started eating sparingly and we did exercise mightily trying to reshape our bodies. We thought perhaps we could change, in six weeks what we had done to them over many years. 

   And our women did visit the markets and bought clothing and ointments and medications they thought would be needed during our journey.

   And it came to pass, after much preparation the day came and we were taken to our gathering place by friends and relatives. And it was exceeding dark because it was night.

   And the ones called Geri and Merlin went in haste and was at the gathering place exceedingly early, for this was a trait of theirs. They were known never to be late.

   And there was much excitement and trepidation about getting into a cylinder of metal and flying off, like an arrow in the sky, to a far country.

   And lo and behold we landed in the far city called Atlanta in the country of Georgia. The people there spoke a strange language, never the less if we were attentive we could understand it.

   And we waited in another gathering place in the city of Atlanta, to proceed on our journey to the islands. After a short time we did leave Atlanta for the city of San Juan on the island of Porto Rico. And we did hire a chariot that would hold eight people and also all of our worldly travel possessions, and we did proceed to the Inn called the Sands. It was built on the shore of the Sea on the island of Puerto Rico and we did tarry there for one night.

   The lodgings there were exceedingly fine, and the Inn had pools of water for refreshing the body. And lo while there we did search diligently for a place to partake of food. But alas there was no room at the local eateries so we returned to the Inn and proceeded to a place called Burger King where we did partake of familiar food.

   And it came to pass one afternoon as we visited by the pools we were visited by lizards that were abundant in the land.

   And the one called Chuck did find a place to purchase cards with pictures on them. He bought many and sent them home to his friends. He even sent some to himself at his address in the City of Salt. The one called Chuck looked for card sellers and the money changers in every town we visited for he collected them and he had many.

   Now before boarding the great ship we did visit many shops and the bazaars in the town and we did eat at a place called McDonald’s, for we liked familiar food.

   And lo and behold the time did come for us to show many papers and procure help to load our baggage onto the exceeding large ship. And the one called Chuck did follow one who did not know the way and he was led into the bowels of the very large ship and became lost. He was found wandering and sent to the part of the ship where he should have been.

   And quickly the time came for us to leave our port. And it was dark and the stars did shine and the waters parted as our ship did leave the city of San Juan.

   And it came to pass that while crossing the waters many things did happen that were implanted into our memories, and lo at this time I mention only a few.

   The trip was uneventful for many but for the one called Gayle, many times she did unintentionally feed the fishes as she did groan and lean over the rail of the great ship. And it did come to pass that she was ill for many days. She did lie on her bed, and stand by the rail and wish that she could be swallowed up by the sea.

  And the one called Chuck did dress in his “one of a kind hat” and his shorts and seek out the money changers and cards for posting, in all the cities we visited.

   And behold the one called Merlin thought he was a magician and could lay and worship in the sun as long as he wanted with no affects. However the first full day did turn him bright red, but it was hard to tell it because of his hairy body. He found also even people with the name of a magician had to wear a patch behind his ear.

   Now this same storm which turned the one called Gayle a greenish color also effected the sisters Carol, Eunice and Rose and at times they preferred laying in the bed, to the tossing and rolling of the ship at meal times.

   Now the two warriors (not stripling but aged), Que & Chuck went to the fantail of this great ship to shoot skeet. And the one called Que had much expertise with the shotgun. And he deftly disposed of all his skeet. But lo, no one could determine the purpose of shooting the skeet because the dead sheet could not be found because they were swallowed up by the sea. And in addition we had an abundance of food of every kind.

   Now as I said there was an abundance of food and there was no shortage of any kind. We did eat of fruits and grains, and fish and meats of all kinds and of all manner of pastries. The one called Merlin even tried eating snails, and tried to convince us all that they were a delicacy.  Because of the many kinds of food, available any time of day all of the exercise and eating sparingly when we were preparing for the trip came to naught, and we did increase in size. And there were no wine bibbers among us and the maid did bring the one called Merlin milk to drink with every meal.

   And behold on the Island of St. Martin, the one called Joy, did visit one of the famous beaches. And she kept her head down and she did not look into the faces of any of the inhabitant’s on the beach. And she did behold some unusual sights, and she did not hesitate but did leave exceedingly fast and did return to the great ship.

   And behold the master of the ship did require all to be instructed how to put on jackets so that if the sea did swallow up the large ship, the people would float on the water and not perish.

   And there were many people on the ship that did take care of our every need. Our food was brought to our table by the one called Rodo and every small need was taken care of by George. Both of these men were from Czechoslovakia.

   And there were no wine bibbers among us and the maid did visit with us and bring milk for the one called Merlin every meal. And she did have many questions about the Moormons---- and we did laugh and have an enjoyable time with her.

   And many people (especially Rodo & George) were amazed that eight people could get together and none would partake of the brown fluid called coffee. And lo the one called George was chastised by his manager for not putting the cups for the brown liquid, on our table after we had asked him not to.

   The construction of the large ship was made as to have many mirrors in the halls, and much shiny brass and chrome. And lo it became depressing to look into the many mirrors and see a body that you knew could not be yours.

   It came to pass that when we stopped on the Island called St. Croix one of the local inhabitants acted strange and started following the one called Ann. He yelled at her in a loud voice. We soon determined he was perhaps possessed by a devil, or he was a wine bibber, or he had taken defiling drugs into his body. And the one called Ann did become sore afraid and did quickly run away.

   When we arrived at St. Thomas there was much conversation by the one called Donnie and the one called Wally. And lo it was finally decided they would go down under the sea and look at all manner of fishes and other creatures of the deep. And the place was called Coral World, and the one called Donnie was sore afraid that the sea would close in upon her and swallow her up. Also at the place of Coral we did see many varieties of fowls of the air. There were parrots of all colors, flamingos and the peacocks did strut their stuff for us to see.
   And it came to pass that after many days of traveling on the sea, going from island to island and getting on and off of the great ship, we did sail for our last destination of Bermuda. 

   We had seen many strange sights and had enjoyable times together and now for two days we would stay on the ship traveling to our last port call of Bermuda. And lo to get to Bermuda we had to pass through an area of the sea that was said to be inhabited by devils. When we arrived at that point the sea did churn, the wind blew and the waves did leap up at the ship and the mighty ship did rock to and fro. And behold the water in the refreshing pools on the ship did splash out onto the deck as the mighty ship rolled about. And behold the one called Gayle did turn green and return to her room and did lie upon her bed and moan. And this area of the sea that is said to be inhabited by devils is called the Bermuda Triangle.

   Now we did find the island of Bermuda to be exceptionally clean. They even seem to wash the streets every night and there was no matter of filth anywhere. And the shops in Bermuda took much silver and gold from the cruisers in return for goods they purchased to take back with them to the city of Salt.

   Now after leaving Bermuda they did prepare to return to the country of the U.S.A. and land in the city of New York. And there was much weeping and wailing and downcast heads for none wanted the journey to end.

   And it happened that the one called Merlin did misplace the box he had used for making images during the trip. He looked high and low but it could not be found. He was extremely sad because it contained part of the history of his journey. And the images were lost forever.

   And lo the one called Donnie, because that was her name, did say in a loud voice that she did not want to return to the real world. She did not want to return to the City of Salt where she would have to return to her occupation of confining people to jail for many reasons.

   But lo it came to pass after many sad good byes to those we met on our journey, those who took care of our every need, those who were strangers before were now friends and we did converse with them mightily.

   After much sadness about departing the great ship we did prepare our papers and showed them to the officials so we could return to our own country. And we did see the famous statue in the harbor of New York. And it was a statue of a lady standing for liberty. And we saw the skyline of the might buildings which represent the city of New York. And lo we did wait patiently to depart our ship and go to the place of gathering where we once again would enter a large metal cylinder and fly through the air like a silver arrow to our homes in the desert by the lake of salt.

   And it came to pass on the return to our homes; we did discuss the possibility of another journey in the future that would be in many ways like the one we just completed.

   And I make an end to this epistle.