One Blogging Crafter...And life as she see's it: Trek

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I promised you that I would blog about Trek. And it's been a full week since it happened. And since then I've come up with a few photos from it.
We were also in the newspaper!! http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/art_Life/display_features.htm?StoryID=138694

What is Trek?
So if you have no idea what trek is, it is where mormon youth (ages 14-18) get assigned to "families" with 9 other youth. A family usually consisted of 10 children, and 1 "ma" and 1 "pa". You would also be given a handcart, and you would (before trek) sew your own authentic clothing. "Trek" is a journey which occurs over the period of 3 days and is to give one experience and a small taste of what it was like for our ancestors, the Mormon pioneers .
Who were the Pioneers?
70,000 Mormon pioneers traveled to Utah between 1846 and 1869. The trail was over 1,300 miles long, for many longer because they had traveled from England, and other European countries. Families often sacrificed all their belongings, and traveled onward through the harshest conditions. Snow, Rain and often Indian attacks, blistering feet, colds and fevers were some of the hardships faced.

Anyways,
We traveled nearly 20 miles in 2 days, not 1,300 miles. However we were able to sample the trials our noble ancestors may have faced. Rocky terrain, down pouring rain, bee-stings, snakes, and the mud, were a few of our hardships. We carried on with the spirit, and our hearts were filled with joy. We were humbled and brought to love one another. Our "Trek" families, became our real families. Hymns of praise and joy occupied our time. Stories were shard, and only encouraging words rolled off our tongues. It was a joyful experience with many blessings. I loved trek, I learned that I was much stronger than I thought, and that I always have someone who loves me to help me. We did a women's pull, where it was just four of us ladies pulling our handcart up a rocky hill 3/4 of a mile. It was invigorating! We did it! We pulled our handcart to the top where the men were standing, cheering us on. Before trek, I didn't want to go, I was stressed that I couldn't walk that far, or that I wouldn't like my family. But during trek, I never wanted to leave. I was appreciative of simple things, a bed, blankets {I didn't have one on trek, and it was cold} , food, and most importantly my family. It was a wonderful opportunity to grow my testimony and strengthen my faith. :)

-Laura

There were two children on the trail, this little girl is Emma.

And this is baby Jimmer

The trail went through the Appalachian trail

Here are the girls from my ward

Getting ready to go,

This is our stake presidents, "lying down on the job" That ground, doesn't look comfortable.

Here is the first snake we saw.

Here is the second

We also saw a turtle

Here comes the rain, Ponchos are the best thing to bring to trek.

The woman on the left of the picture below, is sister Rasband. The coolest woman ever! She can help you with anything! Blisters, hurt muscles, and sad spirit. I love this woman!

The mud!! AH!

There were lots of big rocks, and mud

Here is where we stopped. We put up tarps to keep dry in the rain "unfortunately, we were already wet."

The women's pull on Friday

It was a total team effort

More Happy Trails,

A log can't ruin our day!

Water can't ruin our day either.

We look for the bright side. This is my Trek family. Andrea is in the green bonnet, she was determined to make a different face for every picture.

On Friday we also had musical guests, it was the Oswald family from my ward. Boy are they great musicians! We also had wonderful photographers, That's Sister Macharsky on the right