Pioneer Trek

This time every year our church celebrates "Pioneer Day" commemorating the trek made west by the early members of our church. There were men, woman, and children who sacrificed so much. For a very summarized history, click here. This year the youth went on a mini-trek, for a few days where they pushed hand carts, wore the clothes of the time, etc. It was a very spiritual experience for them. Our Primary also did a mini-trek on Tuesday. Primary is ages 3-11, and nursery was also invited. I thought a lot about doing this, especially since I have Reese, but then I thought about the Pioneer women and how their struggles were so much greater than mine. How I was debating hiking a couple of miles with my two little ones, when they in turn hiked hundreds of miles for months and months with theirs. I thought it would be a great experience for Abram as well. So we loaded up and away we went. Like I said before, it wasn't very long at all in comparison, but I do have a greater appreciation for what they did. With Reese in the baby bjorn in front, my backpack on my back, and Abram insisting he was going to walk the entire way rather than riding in a wagon, we did it. Can I brag about my oldest for a second? He was the youngest one that walked the entire way. Don't get me wrong, we were indeed THE SLOWEST because we had to look at every bug and listen to every sound very intently (that's Abram's hiking style). At first I kept trying to rush him, but then I relaxed and thought about what this experience was supposed to teach us. We heard stories about the families who traveled west. Some of the women who went with us were actual descendants of the early pioneers that came from different countries to join the trip west and told their family stories that came from old journals. Both of the boys were troopers and did AWESOME. I was so proud of them. We got to our destination and the older kids went a bit further, had lunch and then hiked back down. It was a beautiful day, and again, I just need to say that I am so grateful for all of the people who traveled west through persecution and hardships, particularly the women and children. Unfortunately, the only pics I got were when we stopped for lunch, my hands were a little full.