Got Mud!

Jeff and I had the amazing experience of being a Ma and Pa for our Stake's pioneer trek last week. (I'm finally caught up!) Anyway, we throughly enjoyed it, and felt very uplifted from the experience. Talk about a testimony builder. As a Ma and Pa we were assigned eight youth to be in our family. The youth came from both our stake and another one from NE. This was neat because our youth got to know more young men and women who shared their same values. As a family, we treked twenty miles to end up in Genoa, NE, a little town that was actually settled by Mormon pioneers. Along the way, we stopped to listen to different pioneer stories acted out by some of the leaders. These were the things that impressed me the most. Hearing about what the real pioneers endured helped me gain a greater appreciation for their faith and strength. I know that the Lord was with them as they traveled, because they would never have survived alone on what they had. Before going, we were warned that the trek might be hard so we exercized and walked to prepare for it. We also figured it was going to be really hot being in June, so we prepared for the heat. Well, it turned out to be rainy and chilly instead. We were actually grateful for the rain and mud because it gave the youth a better experience. The youth also noted that even though we had a lot of rain, whenever we stopped to eat the rain stopped. We never had to set up camp or make meals in the rain. I know that I gained a better appreciation for all that the pioneers went through because of the weather. We had mud, but they experienced snow and ice.

Though the trek was hard, the hardest part for me came before we actually left. Leaving the kids for three days was a challenge to me, especially since the girls were still recoving from their surgery. I knew they were in good hands with our friends the Maginots, but I still worried. Everything went fine, and it helped me appreciate them more. This also gave me an appreciation for what the pioneers went through as they sometimes had to leave family members who died along the path. They truly had great faith. Anyway, Jeff and I are both very grateful for the experience. I know that I was changed by it.