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23
mile 3-day pioneer trek.
23 mile 3-day pioneer trek
For me, the fun parts and ideas for youth activities
always come easily. I have to work and think harder to make sure the
experience feeds the spirit as well :)
Three things stand out spiritually for me:
1. Tell actual pioneer stories - there are amazing
ones! I forget the names, but these are all true: for example, the petite
5' tall woman whose 6'2" husband couldn't go any further. He sat down
in exhaustion in the freezing weather at the bottom of Rocky Ridge and
asked her to go on without him. She basically said, "Get in the cart!
We're going to Zion." And she pulled him up that long hill. These
stories of strength and faith are our legacy as members of the church. The
kids haven't heard these tales!! We shared a new story or two each night
for devotional and the kids were riveted.
Note: some trek families didn't have devotionals at
night, but I felt it was critically important. The kids were frankly
exhausted, so it would have been easy to skip, especially as it was late
at night by the time we arrived at camp, and we still had to cook, etc.
In our family, we gathered in a circle each night, shared a message, got
feedback from our kids, and closed with family prayer. We usually had a
small fire too (it was freezing cold), which
attracted other youth, which was fine with me.
2. After our first day, we went around our circle at
night, as part of devotional, and my husband asked each youth to choose a
word that described their experience. The responses were: hard, painful,
rough, long, terrible, etc. My husband, who was last, said simply:
"Successful". These youth stopped short, lifted their tired
heads, and said, with a dawning sense of purpose and accomplishment:
"You're right - we made it!"
3. Each group was given a little hardtack candy (3
pieces each) to use as they wished on the trek. We doled ours out over the
three days. One group ate all their candy the first day, and was looking
with obvious envy at the family group ahead of them as they started
a big hill. That group took an energy candy boost,
and then pulled up the hill. The family following pulled up the first
difficult stretch and around the corner. There, sitting on a boulder by
the side of the trail, was a stack of candy, left as a gift by the
previous group. That unselfish act was so tender and kind, there were
tears of gratitude. I felt this small sacrifice (wish I'd thought of it!)
represented the larger one we were re-living.
4. Our "solo" time, as we arrived at the
valley, was 15 minutes of silence with scriptures and journals. It was
nice, but too short - it took 5 minutes to find a place without cactus to
sit down. We didn't have time to spread out to get a little privacy. I
think this could be very effective if you took an hour - let the youth
have time to find a quiet private spot, meditate, read and write, and
pray.
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![[FromTheEast.jpg]](../../_borders/FromTheEast.jpg)
