Pioneer Trek

Nels and I were asked to be the Ma and Pa for our ward's youth conference. We dressed up like pioneers, had handcarts and went hiking on a difficult trail. I have never sweated so much my whole life! The weather was about 100 degrees for the high and 80 degrees for the low. So even at night we just laid there in the hot, humid weather. The heat was probably the hardest challenge.

The next challenge was going up and down hills with our handcarts.

Another challenge was loading one handcart with 13 people's stuff...including 2 guitars! The first two times we loaded the handcart, after we walked for a minute something would fall out. Very frustrating. But by the third time we loaded it, we had a system that worked pretty well. At least nothing was falling out. :)

Both Nels and I ended up getting ticks. Yuck! I did not like pulling those things out. Gross. I'm now paranoid and whenever I itch, for example my arm, I immediately look to see if there is a tick there. I'm getting less paranoid though.

Nels was sick the whole time with a nasty cold. His throat hurt and he wasn't able to talk for most of the trek. :( But he had an awesome attitude the whole time and that probably encouraged the youth more than anything.

So those were a few of the challenges. Looking back it was really neat to see the youth work together to pull and push those handcarts around. We all grew a stronger appreciation for the pioneers and all they did. I enjoyed sharing my testimony with the youth and hearing their pioneer stories and testimonies. Although the guitars were a pain to pack on the handcart, in the evenings it was great entertainment. The two boys that brought them played and it was nice to have music. My favorite part was when we were coming into "Zion," the youth were singing "Come, Come Ye Saints," and their parents were there cheering them on. It took my breath away. I had a feeling of accomplishment, love and of course being exhausted.
Here's a few pictures:
This picture was taken before we had taken one step on the trail. See how clean we look....that's the cleanest we were. It went downhill from there. Nels and I are on the bottom right.
Gung Ho! Let's go. They were pretty motivated the whole time. Of course, we all had our moments. :)

We were given a baby doll that had to be held from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. I was surprised and impressed when our young man, Shelby took the doll for almost the whole time.

Our backs started hurting so we leaned up against each other. It helped a little.

Another picture of the youth pulling the handcart along.

This is our handcart and it was one of the first times we loaded it...you can see how lumpy it is. It looked a lot better once we figured out how to do it.

Cheese. They had asked the Ma's and Pa's not to help push or pull. Which was nice sometimes, but I felt bad too. I would sometimes jump in. I wasn't doing much here, as you can see. :)

The second day we had the pleasure of trail blazing. Using saws and axes, mostly the young men cleared trail for the handcarts to pass through. It was hard, exhausting work. It was difficult too, because not everyone was able to help. There were only so many saws and axes. But we definitely appreciate those who make the trail for others to follow. This picture is some of the trees that were cut and then moved to the side so the handcarts could pass through.

This is a picture of the terrain...hills we climbed and ran down. This picture doesn't show the steepness very well....but believe me, it was steep. I was very grateful for rope.

Pa and Ma smiling for the camera. I think this was the hardest thing Nels and I have done together. We learned a ton and we have a deeper appreciation for the pioneers and our Savior.