Amish Buggy Connects Utah Missionary With Grandfather, Families Taught In Ohio

VERNAL, Utah — It’s not every day that you see an authentic Amish buggy on the roads in Utah, but if you’re lucky, you just might catch a glimpse of one in Vernal. Occasionally, Gavin Bullock can be seen harnessing up his beloved horse to his cherished buggy and taking his family for a ride around town.

Bullock served a mission in Amish Country in Ohio for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was there that he gained an appreciation of and love for buggy rides.

“I’d always ridden horseback, on the saddle, but I’d never really done anything with the buggy or carriage or wagon,” he said. “But I’d always thought it was cool.”

Bullock doesn’t consider himself a cowboy, but horses have always been a part of his life. While on his mission, he wasn’t allowed to ride them.

So when he was given a chance to ride in a buggy with some Amish families he was teaching, he was thrilled. It was then that he decided he wanted to own his own buggy one day.

Bullock served many months among the Amish. He and his companion were the first missionaries to teach the children of three Amish families who were wanting to learn more about the doctrine of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

“When I got there, we started teaching the kids,” he said. “It was the first time they had heard about it.”

Teaching the children had a profound impact on Bullock’s life. He said he learned more from the families than he could have ever taught them.

“It was really exciting and scary kind of at the same time,” Bullock said. “I didn’t want to let them down. Being there to watch them get baptized, and seeing their fathers being able to be the ones to baptize them was amazing.”

Once he returned home from his mission, Bullock told his horse-loving grandfather about his desire to own an Amish buggy. His grandfather encouraged him to pursue his dream and Bullock realized then that owning a buggy would be a perfect chance to also ride with his grandfather again.

“We used to go ride a lot together,” he said. “I decided where he can’t ride much anymore with his health I wanted to get something we could still go and do together.”

Bullock contacted one of the Amish families and asked if they knew of a buggy that was for sale. Coincidentally this family had decided to sale theirs and Bullock was able to purchase the very buggy he had ridden in while on his mission. Bullock considered owning the buggy an honor.

“It’s awesome,” he said. “It brings back memories from when I was on my mission. It’s just something that was there that I have here now.”

Today, the Amish Buggy has a home in Vernal helping Bullock remember his time in Ohio while providing opportunities to create new memories in Utah with his family here.

To see more about the faith journey of these Amish families and the impact they had on Bullock’s life, watch Amish Latter-day Saints: Blending Two Worlds into One on KSL 5 TV at noon on Saturday, Oct. 5 and on the KSL TV app.