Hollis and I were asked to be Ma and Pa for a youth handcart trek. It was from July 13-16.
On the first day, it was so dusty that I couldn't see. I covered my face with my bandana, and so did Hollis.
The second day we had a small reenactment of the last crossing of the Sweetwater River. Hollis carried me across.
Most of the time, though, Hollis and I just walked hand-in-hand behind the handcart while our children pulled it.
This inspired two of the Pas in the group to write verses to the tune of the Handcart Song.
The Pas are strong, the Mas are too,
We know what you are going through.
Though you may ask with pleading heart
We cannot push or pull your cart.
As handcarts moved towards Zion's land
The Mas and Pas walked hand in hand.
Their children worked just as they're told
For Mas and Pas neither pushed nor pulled.
For YOU must push and YOU must pull
As we mosey up the hill.
For merrily on our way we go
Until we reach the valley-o.
However, there was one time that I had to push the handcart. I helped during the women's pull. Sometimes while crossing the plains, the men would get injured, sick, or die, and the women had to pull their handcarts alone. We did not have to pull our handcarts very far alone, just up a tall hill. There were five of us on our handcart to pull it up the hill.
After three days on the trail, we pulled into Zion. There was green grass and shade, and there was no more walking to be done! There were several stations with fun pioneer activities (candle dipping, axe throwing, log sawing, etc.) and one glorious hair-washing station. It felt so good to get water on my scalp. Then we had family pictures. This is my favorite one of our family:
This is the candle I made:
My brother and sister also came on trek, so we took a picture with them too.
That evening there was a big hoe-down. This is the only picture I could find of me dancing.
I wished there were pictures of Hollis and I dancing because we were awesome! And it was a ton of fun. After dancing we had a fireside.
It was a good experience being in the adult leadership for a youth activity. It is completely different because the activity is for the youth, and the experiences are not for me. I am there to help the youth feel the spirit and learn from our common pioneer heritage. During the trek, I asked myself and God what I could do to help the youth learn the things they needed to learn instead of directly seeking to learn things for myself. I did learn, and I did feel the spirit, but it was the result of trying to help others.
