Pioneer Children Sang as they Walked

Yesterday our Stake participated in a pioneer trek. As a leader I was able to go. Cole did just about everything he could to get out of going. Actually neither of my kids or I were super excited to attend. First of all meeting at 5:30 a.m. on my day off was not exciting at all and I knew the kids felt the same way. I was so surprised how easy my kids were to wake up they were both so bright eyed. We dressed in our pioneer costumes, met as stake center and headed up to "This is the Place Heritage Park". We got into our families (I was not part of a family I was the photographer) each family consisted of a Ma and Pa, children and a grandma and grandpa. Cole got to be a "Pa" of a family. They married him off without my consent. :) Cole and his "Ma" (not the best picture of Cole, his ma said he looked like he was about to throw up) The weather was so cold and very windy. None of the group were really dressed with enough layers for the cold we were experiencing, all part of the experience right? We then started to head up the hill to an area where they had Hyrum Smith and the Prophet Joseph talk with us. They were interrupted by a mob that came and kidnapped Hyrum and Joseph. Shortly after they were taken away a messenger came and informed us that the prophet had been killed and Brother Brigham wanted us to head west to Salt Lake. We then got into our families, said prayer and headed out on our journey. While the girls got bathroom breaks the boys in the family prepared the provisions for our trek west. I learned Cole has OCD. He kept rearranging the stuff in his cart so it was just perfect. Then his family would place things in the cart and he would get mad because they had messed it up. Hum. . .

wonder who he got that trait from?

As we started up the families were taking turns pushing and pulling. It is not as easy as it looks. With all the rain we have had over the last few weeks we had many ruts to encounter which were not easy on wheels. We stopped at a spot for a short rest, we had "Mary Goble Pay" tell her story about crossing the plains and the frost bite she encountered. The doctors wanted to amputate her feet to her ankles, she consulted with the prophet Brigham and he told her to only let them remove her toes and she would lose no more. She was still in pain for many years but with the faith she endured. Through the guidance of the Lord, a women stopped at her house with herbs, placed them on her feet for a time and was healed. The faith these saints have is incredible! Then we set off on the hardest part of the trek. The hill we pushed and pulled up was not easy by any means. The wagon wheels were getting stuck in the ruts, there were rocks to hinder us as well. I was amazed as I watched these families struggle. Our girls were constantly tripping on their skirts so we tucked them in alittle, our trail boss would tell us that modesty was most important and had to put them back down. These poor women how did they do it. When the family in front of us got stuck we stopped (which was not easy, fear of it going backwards was so real) our big men would go up and help them out. The grandma's and grandpa's of the families were a young women leader and a young men leader. Our youth commented on how the YM leader in their group were like the oxen. Thank goodness we had them. I was afraid they were going to have heart attacks. I don't think any of us were prepared for how hard this was going to be on us. Our youth was incredible as well. This was such a humbling experience to see. Teamwork is a must. the youth really had to bond together to get to the top. When we got close to the top other handcarts that had already reached it came back down and help us up the rest of the way even though they were tired and worn out they still found the energy to help. I had so many emotions watching this take place. I am so proud of our youth and our leaders the examples they are to us.

Once we reached the top we were finally able to eat. Our choices were: granola bar, trail mix, an apple, beef jerky, bread and jam. I have never had such a good apple. There was a family that did not receive lunch and had to go from family to family in search of food for their family. After a short rest the trail guides talked with us about different things the pioneers did. Then they took the boys over to a different area and kept the ladies together. They told us about "Mary Fielding Smith" and how she came across the plains alone with 7 children. The handcart captain did not want to be bothered with a widow and wanted her to stay behind but she refused. She did not have an easy adventure but made it into the valley before the captain and the rest of the company. They then told us we were going to pull the carts up the next hill by ourselves.
The men were told they were off to fight for the Mormon battalion and they could not help us at all. They lined the hill as we pushed and pulled. They were completely silent but the looks on the faces of many said it all. I could not look up after that I did not think I could hold my emotions in check. It was obvious they wanted to help us and could not. When we got to a certain spot they were able to give words of encouragement and then at another stage they were able to help get us up the rest of the way. Cole went to take the wheel from one of the girls in our ward and she did not want to let him have it. Cole insisted and she finally let him help. I was more than willing to give up my spot when they finally came to help.
We then walked up another hill to a spot we could see the whole Salt Lake valley. What a view! The Pony Express had delivered letters to the youth and leaders and we were asked to be completely silent while we read. Being there when my kids read their own letters was a neat experience. I would look at their faces and knew where they were in the letter. We did a top 10 reasons why we are glad they are in our family. Being on that mountain, looking out over the valley was an incredible feeling. Would I have left everything behind and traveled in uncertain conditions and been happy when I arrived? I hope I would have had the faith to endure but I can not say I could have. We headed back down the mountain, picked up our handcarts and started down the same path we came up. Going down was not any easier, they had to be careful not to let gravity take over. Now off and on all day we were getting sprinkled on which was not terribly horrible but we were praying it wouldn't get worse. It wasn't to be though, they started hurrying us off the mountain due to the lightning striking all around us and the thunder was incredible. Then the heavens opened and the rain came down. We could not have had a more real experience as to what they may have experienced. We were drenched, not soaked through drenched! They had us go into a social hall where Brother Brigham talked with us for a short time and welcomed us into the valley. We had some real experiences just like the pioneers but only for a day not sure how they did it day after day.

Today in church was such a range of emotions. One of the girls that gave a talk spoke of Cole and how he was the best trek dad ever. We then had a special combined lesson and the youth were able to bear testimony of the experiences they had. 3 girls mentioned Cole and how much they thought of him. These are girls he has grown up with but they see him in a whole new way now. As a mother/leader I was overwhelmed with emotion, they said how highly they thought of him, how hard he worked and never took a break. I really needed to hear these things. He was kinda of forced to attend. I am not sure how he feels about it, but I am sure he felt good about the things that were said about him. Madison had a great experience as well and loved the family she was in. We will all take away something different from the experience but we will all look back at the fond memories of the day.