Trek Sample...

We were lucky enough to have the opportunity to join my home ward in their family Pioneer Trek. We only joined them for an afternoon (although I have a thousand pictures on this post...I can't help it- everyone looked so adorable in pioneer clothing!) but it was such a great experience.

 

It was hard.

The whole group hiked about 17-18 miles in 3 days. Like I said, we only joined them for about 8 hours. It was an uphill climb the entire way. Pulling handcarts. With families.

Yes- babies and toddlers and grandmas and grandpas. 7 weeks to 75 years old joined the Trek. This made it a really unique trek experience because it was so much more accurate to what the pioneers experienced.

We joined the group after lunch on Friday and got right down to work. Cory started pulling since a few of the men had to leave so that meant the kids and I would have to do our best to keep up. 

It was quite obvious that Ellie was not going to be able to keep up and the sun was blaring down on Jase in his front pack, making both of us quite sweaty.  So the two little kids were tossed in a handcart and Brig and I kept walking- hand in hand. 

Right away Brig started to ask when we would be done because his toes hurt (I forgot to switch his shoes and the ones he was wearing were too small. Oops. Chalk it up for making it a more realistic experience.) He was already hot and we were clipping along at a pretty fast pace because things were running behind schedule. 

I learned a valuable parenting lesson on those few miles we walked. 

I tried to "get after" Brig, letting him know that we had a long ways to go and he had to keep going. In my head I thought-  "we aren't going to make it. I'm already having to nag and pull him. This is just for fun and so far it's not. Maybe this was a bad idea." 

Then I changed my methods...I started telling Brig every pioneer story and fact I could recall. He did not complain again. I was so proud of him. He kept walking and when he would get tired he would ask me to tell him some more stories because they distracted him. 

Isn't that how it really is with parenthood- we can either drag and nag our children as we make our trek through life or we can get creative and make things more enjoyable for everyone. 

I needed that reminder. 

Ellie and Jase were quite the troopers too! Jase usually hates being in his car seat if he isn't sleeping but he just layed there and enjoyed the ride. Ellie was squeezed in between buckets and backpacks and she didn't complain the entire ride either. It was hot and bumpy and they didn't really understand what we were doing or why. But they were so content. 

That made me think about the real pioneer children. They were quite impressive! No toy rooms, no movies, no quiet and cool rooms for nap time. Just walking day after day. Children are ao resilient- it's amazing. 

 

I was so grateful that we could have this little trek sample. In those 8 hours, I gained a much stronger appreciation for the sacrifice and hard work those early Saints displayed. 

At one point the men had to leave and the women pulled the remaining handcarts on our own. With all the children and babies. 

It was such a good reminder to me--men and women are supposed to work as a team. That is how Heavenly Father wants us to make our journey. I'm so grateful that Cory "pulls" so much more than just his weight in our family. 

  

I was also reminded of the strength in sisterhood. As the women rallied together- it made the hard work possible. 

Like I said, we were only with the trek for a few hours. I was super impressed by everyone who did it for all three days and even more impressed by those who did it day after day for months!

Now it wasn't all hard work for us. 

We went up the night before and found a rather handsome "maurader" who harassed the Trekkers and made them find a new place to camp. 

They were pretty scary I guess. 

A few kids were ready to go home...and a few others were ready to throw rocks at them. 

That night, we stayed in a cabin. In nice, soft beds with pillows. We cheated. 

When we woke up the next morning we got dressed in our pioneer clothes and hung out around the cabin while we waited to join everyone. 

Cory was begging me to be real pioneers and even told me if we could homestead a place in the mountains that he would bring clean water in by hand each time I needed to use the bathroom. 

I said I would think about it. 

Friday evening, after we walked with everyone we gave a fireside on unity. It was fun to get to speak with Cory and try to think about ways to be unified as we prepared. 

It was also fun to see my sister Sydney. All day long people were coming up and telling how awesome Syd had been and how she never stopped pulling or pushing. We were proud of that girl. 

We were all super dirty and sweaty by the end of the day. I am still sore. But I was so grateful for the hard experience. Hard is good. And I think we all need to be reminded of that every once in a while. 

As we rode a four wheeler back to our truck that night, feelings of accomplishment and unity definitely trumped the feelings of exhaustion. 

I was so proud of my little family. 

I was so grateful for the legacy of strength and faith that those early pioneers left behind. 

But most of all, I was grateful to belong to our church- and know that all the suffering and sacrifice was because of their faith in the Savior. I was grateful and strengthened as I remembered that we don't have to push a handcart for miles and miles to show that same faith every day in our lives.