I'm not going to lie, our church does some seemingly whacky things.
I mean, we go to church for at least three hours every week, we don't drink or smoke, we work hours and hours each week for callings that we don't get paid for.
But there is a purpose behind it all. And I love it.
One of the most peculiar things we do is go on "Pioneer Treks."
That's where the youth dress up like the pioneers who came across the planes all those years ago to find a place to settle and build the church. They pull handcarts across rough terrain for miles on end for a few days. We camp, and learn, and build themselves up along with their "Trek Families".
And we learn....a lot.
I've always thought going on a trek would be a good experience. I mean, how great first of all to reflect on ancestors and think about how life used to be way back when. And I always like things that are hard cause they make you grow so much.
Justin and I were asked to be a "Ma and Pa" and attend Trek.
It was one of the best experiences I've had.
There was a bunch of prep work to get us there, including several trips to the DI for some fashionable Pioneer wear ;) And we made seats for our buckets....I decided to go the "Cadillac bucket" route...
You will never know the awesomeness of this until you have been on Trek. Trust me.
We meet at the church at 5:30ish (I honestly can't remember...just that it was early). We then all caravaned up to the Mosida Handcart Trek Site
Did you know you can actually schedule your own "trek"? I didn't. Kinda awesome.
http://www.handcarttreks.com/WestLake/WestLakeindex.html
DAY 1:
We had a short devotional and then loaded our handcarts and we were off!
I made that sound easy, but actually, with almost 500 people, it was no small feat
I loved seeing the "families" as we all came through. After only a morning of walking we were already quite bonded.
After about nine miles of lugging those handcarts we arrived at camp, sweaty and dirty and tired as could be, but wow, it was sure beautiful:
As we were getting set up the wind started to blow. And blow. And it kinda felt like this...
And guess what I forgot to double check was in our tent bag? Tent stakes..yup....it was awesome. Even better were the amazing young men out of their tents offering their help and rounding up extra stakes so that we would not fly away. I'm pretty sure we would have too.
After we were all secured down and huddled in our tents waiting out the storm, I had a chance to really think about our ancestors as I griped about the dirt between my teeth and in other unmentionable places (yikes!). It really got me thinking about the hardships they suffered and did with undying faith. I wondered if I would have been strong enough? I'm unbelievably grateful for their devotion and faith.
After the dust storm it rained just long and hard enough to drench me while I waited for the honey bucket. I have impeccable timing I tell you!
Speaking of Honey Buckets...
This picture is awesome, right!?!
After the storm we all got out and celebrated! It was time to dance!
At first our boys were doing what boys do and hiding from anything "dancey"
But then they came to their senses ;)
This was so fun to see. Truly one of those "you had to be there moments"
One of our "Sons" Spencer
DAY 2:
The next morning was beautiful. We had a fun "pioneer carnival" and then we packed up camp and headed out for day 2.
Our youth are amazing. Seriously.
The big deal on day 2 for me was the baby burial.
When we were pulling into camp dirty and tired we could hear a violin off in the distance. The closer we go to camp we noticed off along the trail a Ma and Pa with a baby. The Ma was standing rocking her new little baby and the Pa....(Oh I still tear up!)... the Pa was digging a grave for the baby. I have no words. The feeling of sorrow and loss was almost unbearable. It was SO REAL.
And it made me think... THIS WAS REAL.
Our ancestors-.
They did SO MUCH for us.
They gave up SO MUCH for us.
They GAVE us SO MUCH.
I have to admit, when we pulled into camp and I was really down and my heart hurt for them. I kept thinking WHY did they do this??? Why? But as Justin and I laid down that night in our tent, I started to think of my little loves at home with grandma. I would do anything for them. ANYTHING. Without this sacrifice that my ancestors made for me and my children, I would not have the biggest blessing in my life. I'm blessed to be sealed to my children for time and eternity. That is the only blessing I can think of that would be worth the heartache and unbelievable hardships that were experienced along the trail. My understanding grew along with my love for those that went before us by leaps and bounds.
I am SO grateful.
Also on the second night all the real parents were asked to send letters to their kids so they could read them there. They each got to find a quiet spot to contemplate and write down how they were feeling.
I loved their concentration and their pensiveness.
We followed that up with a wonderful ward testimony meeting.
DAY 3:
The big deal thing on day three was the "Woman's Pull."
That's when the boys leave off on their own little part, and the girls pull the handcarts for a while on their own.
Up really rough deep sandy terrain.
And it was really hard.
I'm slightly annoyed that in the pictures it looks easy
I remember the Sister missionary giving a talk right before we left, as she was speaking I had another talk I had read come to mind about Knots.
It goes something like this (forgive my paraphrasing)
A couple girls come up and hold a rope. They were asked if they could tie them in a knot if they didn't let go of the rope.
They couldn't do it.
Then the girls were told to fold their arms first. They discovered that if they folded their arms holding on to each end of the rope, when they took their arms out of the fold, the rope would be in a knot.
The point: prayer makes everything possible.
With God's help nothing is impossible.
I wish I could describe the feeling sitting on that sandy trail preparing ourselves for the women's pull with all those women. It was the best feeling.
The boys weren't allowed to help. The point was for them to feel how God feels at times when he wants so much to help us but we forget to ask.
I wont lie. It
was hard. The minute we came up around that corner and saw all our men quietly watching and waiting with hats on hearts, my tears just spilt over. Nothing like your face covered in an inch of dirt followed by wet tears rolling down your face. But several things occurred to me.
First- Our pioneer women were strong. They did
hard things.
We (I) can do hard things too.
Second- I imagined having to pull my hand cart
all alone with my 3 little loves either trying to help or riding in the cart, with no Justin =(. I know the reason many of those women were left alone at some point along the trail was because their husbands had
worked themselves to death. Literally. They often gave up their portioned food to their children and then continued to work out of pure love. If anything the women's pull made me love and respect those men in our lives that do these kinds of things daily for their family. Mine does. He works. He works
hard. He is unselfish enough to give up what he wants to do (golf, relax and watch TV, whateves) for what he needs to do (help my kids prepare talks, serves diligently in his calling, teaches them to work) and we are incredibly blessed for it.
Third- We often do hard things
alone. We don't have to do that! It's kinda silly. God
wants to help us, he is eagerly waiting for us to simply
ask. The boys and men weren't allowed to help. The look on their face was penetrating. They felt helpless. The point was for them to feel how God feels at times when he wants so much to help us but we forget to ask. Let's not forget.
Last was the river crossing. I'll admit our river crossing was eagerly welcomed by most of us (it was hot!) I did my best to remember the conditions when some of our ancestors crossed rivers and the fatal and unselfish service so many provided. Those men and boys must have a special spot in heaven. I believe that.
(17 Miracles picture)
My favorite part of the whole deal? Watching these kids who live in the middle of suburbia get out and walk for miles on end with blisters covering their feet and smiles on their faces. I loved watching them help one another so selflessly, even when they were having a really rough time themselves. I loved that they didn't have cell phones or iPods or any technology at all and that they talked and sang together while pulling those handcarts for 20+ miles. I love that it took us out of our regular lives for a couple days and made us appreciate our refrigerators, our air conditioning, our homes, our cars.
And our washing machines...
But most of all it helped us appreciate those ancestors who went before us.
Those wonderful people who made sacrifices we try to duplicate but the depth of which we will never, every be able to fully comprehend. Some of them never made it. Some made it alone after losing family member after family member along the way due to extreme weather and incomprehensible hardships.
They were paving the way for their children and
their children.
I'm so grateful for that.
And for the feeling in the air that it all created. How I hope we can all carry that through to our regular lives and realize that we too, in our own way, are paving the way for
our children and theirs as well.
And that there is a God above who will help us through it no matter how rough it gets.
