Kerry and I have had the
privilege of participating in 2 previous pioneer treks with our church's youth group. I have had some sacred experiences and always prayed to be able to go again. They only go every 4 years and in the previous treks we went as "Ma's and Pa's" to a group of teenagers. This time we went as support staff for the medical and special activities committees.
One might wonder why I would pray to go on such an adventure. Only if you have been, would you understand. While I can't claim to have any Mormon pioneer ancestors who traveled by handcart across the plains, I am so grateful to all of my ancestors who came before me from so far away. I can't even begin to imagine the hardships that they endured to get to this country. Even for those born here, life was hard. As I witness the political/economical trials that we are currently facing, I pray to God with all of my might that we who have been so richly blessed to grow up in the United States of America, can remember why our ancestors sacrificed so much to get here.
Kerry tells me that I would have been a great pioneer. Maybe in spirit, but I would have frozen the first night out. On this trip we slept in a tent, with sleeping bags rated for zero degrees, on an air mattress, in 30 degree temperatures, and I still froze. I borrowed a quilt from a friend the last night and stayed somewhat comfortable. Does that tell you how wimpy I am. However, I did endure the blistered lips and feet and walked the entire 28 miles. It's a good thing our group didn't go earlier in the year, as was originally planned, as those who did truly had a pioneer experience with snow. We were so grateful that the temperatures and overall weather were ideal for our trek. I bear testimony that my prayers were answered!
There were approximately 450 people involved in this trek which was held at
Deseret Land and Livestock which is owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints on the Utah/Wyoming boarder. The land serves the dual purpose of providing trekking opportunities for thousands of youth every year, and is home to several thousand heads of cattle being raised on the property. The above picture might look like it was pretty
chaotic, but actually it was one of the most organized events one could ever participate in. The handcarts used are built to represent the actual handcarts that the Mormon pioneers used.
Kerry and I wore traditional pioneer clothing, although I took some razing about my cute aprons, which by the way I made myself. Kerry's red arm band denoted that he was a medical person although I packed his big red "fanny pack" the entire trip. It kept pulling on his pants so I traded him my back pack. Because we were not in a family, we did not have a handcart to pack our personal belonging in. Most of things were in a truck but anything we were going to need along the trail had to be carried by us personally.
We stopped every couple of miles or so to make a potty stop. Pick ups with trailers on the back pulled porta potty's for us. Our support people who had that job were fantastic. They were the cleanest porta pottly's I have ever use! Kerry got so dark from being in the sun, that one night I started laughing as he looked like he had changed nationalities.
Here I was checking with one of the families to make sure they were doing okay. This was actually a family from our own Thatcher ward. Brother and Sister Mortimer were the Ma and Pa.
These ladies were all support people like myself. Since we weren't grouped in with the families, we walked along the trail together. How blessed I felt to be surrounded by such wonderful, strong and courageous women.
Some of the great support brethren. Dr. Chad on the left is one of the doctors that I work for at the clinic and of course was our doctor on the trek. Kirt Rees and Mike Harris had porta potty duty. Brother Dennis Christensen was the chairman of the special activities committee that I was on.
During each trek they have what is referred to as the "women's pull". The men are all taken off of the handcarts and the women are required to pull the handcarts alone up a very steep hill. Those of us who didn't have handcarts stepped in to help, representing angels that God sends into our lives to help us though trials. This is always a very sacred time. The purpose is not to teach young women that they don't need men, but to teach them that they can do hard things. On this particular trek, after helping several handcarts up the hill, I literally felt like my heart was going to fly out of my chest and I thought I was going to throw up. I have never felt that way from exertion before. For a few moments I thought I might actually die on the trail.
Each family had a baby that they carried with them. On the second day we had what is called the "black arm band" experience. Black arm bands are tied around specific people's arm which signifies that they have now died. It is an emotional experience as the families have to deal with the death of their loved one. I adopted a baby from a family who had lost their mother and carried her with me.
This picture was taken probably about an hour before we arrived back at the base camp. What you can't see is that my hands were so swollen they looked like they were going to pop, my lips were blistered and so swollen it hurt to smile, and my toes were duct tape to help keep my blisters from getting worse. As I run into others who went on trek, there are many whose lips are still healing. Fortunately I found some good salve that I have which I think helped a lot. I have a couple of toes that are purple under the nail, and one toe that feels a little numb whenever I step on it.
I am so grateful to my Heavenly Father for allowing me to have this experience. I pray that I will never go to bed without offering a prayer of thanksgiving for all that we have been blessed with. My heart is filled with gratitude for the early saints who with unwavering faith were strong and of good courage.
