Nathan, Alex, and I participated in a youth pioneer trek in July. Alex and I were Pa and Ma to 11 teenagers. Nathan was in a different company than us, so we didn't trek with him, but we saw him in the mornings and evenings. There were 4 companies with 5 families each. Each family had 10 or 11 kids, so it was a pretty big scale production with about 200 teenagers, 20 Ma and Pa's, company captains, medical support, cooks, and other leaders.
I spent quite a bit of time preparing for trek - sewing my own skirt, apron, and satchel, painting our family banner, collecting all the necessary items, preparing spiritual thoughts, and making arrangements for our kids and dog while we were gone. I wasn't sure we would be able to participate, since we didn't have family that was able to come watch our kids. I thought of a good friend who used to live here, that now lives a few hours away. She still has a son that lives here, so I thought it might work out for them to come visit their son and watch our kids. She was willing and able to help out. We're grateful to Vivianne and Brett for coming! Once we knew we were able to participate, I knew I had a lot of things to get ready, not just for trek itself, but getting our home ready for guests to stay, instructions for kids, groceries and pre-made meals. I also made arrangements for our dog to stay with someone else, since I wasn't sure how she would do with "strangers" in our home (she is very protective of our home).
At the introductory meeting about trek for parents and youth earlier this year, I was really touched by the previous trek and thought we should be a part of this amazing event. I wasn't sure if we would be able to participate, but I'm glad we had the opportunity. It was hard to prepare for and a hard thing to do, but I felt the Lord's help through it all. It was a memorable experience for us and for all the teenagers that participated.
Trek was a 3 day experience, trekking on a ranch. The teenagers pushed and pulled real handcarts with all of our things piled in it. It was a pretty heavy load. The mas and pas weren't supposed to help with the handcarts, which was good, because I just needed to focus on keeping up with our group and not overheating. And it wasn't just a flat path that we trekked on. In my mind, I pictured a flat open area, a straight course from point A to point B, but it actually had lots of hills and some tricky areas to navigate through. One girl in our company got her foot run over by the wagon wheel as they tried to push through one of these tricky spots. It also happened to be the hottest weekend we've had all year - it got up to 95°, so we all struggled with the heat. One person in Nathan's company got heat stroke, which was pretty serious. She needed to get some help pretty quickly - her body wasn't cooling off, and obviously we were quite a ways from getting her to a hospital. Her family said a prayer for her, and the medic was inspired to get her to a creek and dip her head in the water (to create a response in her body for her blood vessels to do what they need to do). It worked, she was able to cool off, and she even finished the trek. The youth were able to see in a real way how prayers can be answered.
There weren't too many people that had problems. One of the girls in our family injured her hip a couple months ago and fought through pain the whole way. Another one of our boys was struggling a little bit since he had a concussion the week before. We trekked about 7 miles the first day, 13 on the second day, and 5 on the third day. The five miles actually had some of the more tricky parts to navigate. We had a great group of kids in our family. We had 5 girls and 6 boys - they were each from different wards (congregations), so although a couple of them knew each other, they were coming in to a family of people they didn't know well. That was part of the experience, trying to get to know each other and working together. Our kids got along well and worked hard. We even had some of our guys help a couple other families who had lost some family members along the way.
The biggest challenge for our family was keeping them at a slower pace. They wanted to run at times or got too far ahead of the other families in our company. Running with the cart wasn't allowed, and the company captain had to get on to them a few times to stop running. When we got placed in the middle of our company, another family behind us had a similar problem, where they wanted to go too fast. They also had left their Ma and Pa behind, so they didn't have any adult leaders with them. I had to ask them a few times to stop running because they nearly ran into us. That was a big challenge for me, having to be the mean parent. By the third time they almost rammed into us, I had to tell them more firmly to STOP running and give us more space. I was a little embarrassed to have to confront them, but it was a safety issue and I didn't want anyone getting hurt. I was mocked for getting on to them, as I heard someone say, "Looks like someone's not having any fun."
The most common problem was blisters, but luckily I didn't have any problems with my feet. I did have to keep pulling fox tails and prickly things out of my socks. That was a disadvantage of wearing skirts as opposed to pants (although I think the skirts were cooler than pants). My legs ached a little bit and my bladder was usually pretty full. I was so concerned about dehydration and overheating that I drank a ton of water and gatorade. That was good, but that meant I needed to pee a lot. There were port-a-potties along the trek, but not as often as I would have liked. I never thought I would be so excited at the sight of port-a-potties! We had some devotional stops along the trail, which were nice, but it was hard to focus when we were hot, tired, and sitting on the hard ground with the ants.
I really enjoyed the music, the thoughts and testimonies shared by the leaders along the way, and the testimonies of the youth on the last day. Probably the most spiritual moment of trek for me was the women's pull. At this point, they separated the boys from the girls and sent the boys up the hill without the cart. The girls listened to a speaker talk about those that made the trek west without husbands or at times had to pull the load without the men. Then they had the girls pull the handcarts up a series of hills. That was the only time that I helped with the handcart. It was a challenge pulling the heavy load, but our group handled it well. We said a prayer together before we began, asking for strength. As we were pulling, I got the feeling that others unseen might be there with us. I actually had that thought before trek as well. We each found the name of a pioneer ancestor and learned a little about them. We wrote their name on a leather armband, which we wore the whole trek. I thought how we chose them, but they may have somehow chosen to be present in spirit with us as well. As we struggled up the hill, I was strengthened by the thought of our ancestors cheering us on and the guys that were up at the top of the hill cheering us on.
I was surprised to find the name of one of my ancestors who crossed the plains with the Mormon pioneers. Since my parents are converts to the church, I didn't think I had any ancestors in the church. She wasn't in our direct line, but one branch over down my Dad's line was an ancestor that was a pioneer. Her name was Anna. She came with her family from Ireland in 1830 and settled in Canada. Anna got smallpox on the journey to America - her family had to hide her in a large linen chest for fear that she would be thrown overboard if it was discovered she had the disease. Anna recovered, but they also lost most of their belongings when their ship collided with another during a storm. Once in Canada, Anna's family had a successful maple orchard for 8 years. Then her parents joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and wanted to join the main body of their faith in Kirtland, Ohio. They didn't even attempt to sell their property or tell anyone they were leaving (due to the prejudice against Mormonism). They went almost empty-handed to join others of their faith. They arrived in Ohio at the time of great persecutions and mob violence. One time, a mob came and ordered them to leave their home. They were so sick that they couldn't leave. One of the mob members took pity on them and carried them out of their home when the mob set the house on fire. Their home, crops, and all their possessions were burned. They fled with the people from Ohio and were driven out of Missouri and Illinois as well. They were there in Illinois when the Prophet Joseph Smith was martyred. Anna went west with her family (those that hadn't died already) in 1846. The horse she was riding was killed by the Indians, so Anna rode a cow the rest of the way to Utah. A brother (Charles) and sister (Rebecca) in another family came across the plains with Anna and her family. When they arrived in Utah, Anna married Charles, and Anna's brother married Rebecca. They had a double wedding on the same day. Anna lived in Utah the rest of her life, where she raised 8 children. She died at 91 years of age.
It was so interesting to find out more about some of my ancestors and feel more connection to them and appreciation for their trials and faith.
Nathan also got to find a name and a story, which was a good experience for him. Nathan said his favorite part of trek was the testimony meeting at the end for the youth to share their thoughts and feelings. He said, "I just HAD to get up there - the spirit was so strong." I'm glad it was an uplifting experience for him. Another spiritual experience for me was writing a letter to Nathan before trek. Parents were supposed to write a letter that the youth would get to read at some point during the trek. I got emotional as I thought about all of the qualities that Nathan has, what a good person he is, the example he is for his siblings, cousins, and friends, and my hopes and desires for him. I could feel the Lord's love for him and for me. It also reminded me of the letters that I got from my parents when I was Nathan's age. I still have those letters from a youth conference, and I love reading them.
The food was amazing and we didn't have to prepare any of it. We had beef stew, rolls, salad, pie, chicken, corn on the cob, chili, oatmeal, pancakes, sausage, baked potato with just salt (for lunch), biscuits, apples, oranges, beef jerky, trail mix, and cookies. We had a square dance the first night. The kids enjoyed hanging out in the evenings. We had evening devotionals as a family each night, so Alex and I got to share some of our thoughts during that time. We talked about some of the trials of Joseph Smith and his experience in Liberty Jail - how he was able to find peace and receive revelation even in the midst of those horrible conditions. We can also find peace and guidance despite whatever our conditions or trials. We also talked about how Christians (and other groups of people) have had a history of fleeing persecution. Abraham had to flee Chaldea, Moses led the children of Israel out, the prophet Lehi and his family left Jerusalem, the Jaredites left Babylon when languages were confounded at the tower of Babel, and the early saints in our church had to flee to the west to find safety. What is amazing about our day, is despite persecution at times, we no longer have to flee anymore. We'll stand strong where we are and build up Zion wherever we are and in our hearts. We are part of the great gathering of Israel that is talked about in the scriptures. We gather through missionary work and through family history (not to one location, but in unity of faith and the pure in heart). These thoughts we shared were from a book by Jeffrey Holland called "To My Friends: Messages of Counsel and Comfort." We were also able to share our personal stories of friends and missionaries who shared the gospel with Alex and with my parents. Of course we all have our own personal conversion and it's an ongoing thing - to continually change for the better. As we continue to change and learn, we have a responsibility to help those around us. Half of the battle is just showing up and being in the right place and the right time, to change ourselves and others. That was one thing that was so relevant to these youth choosing to participate in trek. They may not have been spiritually or physically prepared, or even really wanted to be there, but they showed up. They were there, and by being there, they were growing and learning and gaining strength from doing hard things.
Speaking of hard things, I was a little bit worried about sleeping without a tent... It was my first experience sleeping under the stars, with just a sleeping bag covering me. It wasn't too bad, except for the moon was SO bright (couldn't turn that light off!) and little bugs kept buzzing around my face. I think I was pretty good on being physically prepared for trek, although it was hard. I wish I was a little more spiritually and socially prepared. Probably one of the things that was hardest for me was trying to talk to the teenagers. I'm not so good with the social part of things (Alex does much better at that), but it was fun to get to know some of these youth. They are pretty amazing. They are strong and willing to do hard things. I'm glad we were able to be a part of this memorable event.
Our family was assigned Chimney Rock for our banner, one of the prominent landmarks along the pioneer trek west. Chimney Rock is "...perhaps the most significant landmark on the overland trail...Chimney Rock is a finger of Brulé clay jutting nearly 500 feet into the western Nebraska sky. Emigrants were constantly amazed that it appeared so close, while the distance from first sighting to actual arrival seemed to take so long. Not only did emigrants write about it in their journals, but many painted or sketched it, and they often carved their names and dates of passage in its soft flanks. A lightning strike in August 1992 blasted five feet from the top of the famous landmark."
Back at home...the kids had a great time with Vivianne and Brett. They got to go fishing (Jared caught 2 small leopard sharks), play at the beach, went to the park, watched movies, and Savannah made her own princess board game. They had so much fun!
