This is the setting for the experience that our church provides our 14-18 year old youth every 4 years. It is a great opportunity to remember and experience in some small way the sacrifices of our pioneer ancestors and learn to be grateful to them and more grateful for all we have because of them.
Cynthia and I were asked back in January to lead a talented committee of leaders for this amazing adventure for the 103 youth in our area. It has been a great experience preparing and was a wonderful thing to watch and experience as well. The 4 day experience started Wednesday, August 4th and we returned Saturday, August 7th. We are excited to share the pictures taken by us and other leaders along the way. We hope that somehow you can feel what Mackenzie and Brooklyn and the other youth and leaders felt.
All the youth were asked to dress in pioneer type dress - long sleeves, skirts and bonnets for the young women and long sleeves and Docker style non-Levis type trousers for the young men. You think that Brooklyn looks "hot" here? Wait until she gets to the 100 degree heat in Eastern Washington. We all met at the church at 8:00 a.m. Wednesday morning, where we had set up the check-in area to try to give the kids the feel of checking in at the docks of Liverpool, England, prior to the saints' 42 day journey by sea to America.
Steve had added chicken wire to two of the crates that he made and a friend of ours allowed us to borrow their chickens. It made it more realistic - a few of the kids wondered if they were looking at dinner when they checked in at the table.
Here's the check-in table. The theme for the trek was "...He shall prepare a way." to remind the kids that in their own lives if they go forward with faith, Heavenly Father will prepare a way for them to accomplish what they need to. Steve had created the logo you see here using pictures from our girls and other youth in our area. Mackenzie is the one behind the hand cart and Brooklyn is one of the youth pushing the handcart.
Here's Steve, Mackenzie and a few of Mackenzie's good friends, Logan and Nate. You can see that they have their water bottles - this may have been something that early saints did not have, but definitely something the kids and leaders would need to survive the heat we would experience.
The chickens were a hit!
Check out this cute pioneer family.
The four and a half hour drive to Eastern Washington was much more comfortable than the journey the saints had on the ship :-) It was here that the 103 youth learned who their Ma and Pa would be as they were organized into 14 families. Here's Mackenzie with Ma and Pa Saunders and their family. Mackenzie was excited to be in the Saunders family as she has known and grown to love Ma Saunders from girls camp.
Each family was given a baby (a doll). Mackenzie took her turn carrying their baby by placing it in her sling pack where she kept her water bottle.
Here's Brooklyn with her family. Pa Sorenson has the crate on his shoulder and Ma Sorenson is in the red dress. Brooklyn loved her Ma and Pa and family too.
Here they are heading out on the trail Wednesday afternoon around 5:00 p.m. for the first leg of the trek.
Towards the end of the first day they came to a large steep hill where they ran a 400 foot rope to the bottom and 20 or so youth at the top pulled one hand cart at a time up the hill while a few kids guided it to keep it heading straight up the hill. This and other rigorous experienced helped each person to ponder what it may have been like for the real pioneers.
Here's Mackenzie and other members of her family sitting down for some dinner. The families cooked together as a family over a camp stove. Cynthia and I did not get to go along the trail, but got to meet up with everyone at meal times as we were in the background dropping off food and other supplies at the stop points. Steve had fun four-wheel driving to get to the various points.
The hand carts were quite authentic and yet most added a second bar connected via rope to allow more youth to carry the load. Brooklyn is on the far left in the green bonnet.
Steve and Cynthia as well as the other leaders that were not a Ma or Pa were assigned to eat with one of the 14 families at meal times. It was a lot of fun to get to know so many of these wonderful people better.
Pausing for a photo - Brooklyn's family.
Taking a rest. Each of the hand carts carried their gear and two 5-gallon water coolers. As the heat was intense and there was almost no trees for shade, keeping the kids hydrated was a main concern. As leaders we were grateful that none of the kids became dehydrated and required medical care. You have to remember - these are kids that live in Western Washington where it's "hot" when it reaches 75 degrees :-)
The trek location had people that placed the portable restrooms and fresh water at specific rest and sleeping spots. At the lunch site on Thursday we (Steve and Cynthia) put up a large - 64 x 20 foot - shade - so that everyone would have some relief from the sun while they enjoyed lunch.
Here's everyone including Brooklyn enjoying lunch and some shade and rest.
We were proud of both Mackenzie and Brooklyn - they both pitched in and helped their families carry the load to Zion. Great job girls!
The terrain was much like it would have been on the open plains as the real pioneers crossed - hot, dusty and with yet another hill ahead...
We would make a run into town about 25 minutes away once or twice a day for blocks of ice for the coolers - each family would get one block of ice in the morning and one in the evening. We found the kids drank more when the water was cool and the more water we could get them to drink the better.
Our pioneer bonnet babe, Brooklyn.
A few of the groups of hand cart pioneers ran into trouble and had to ration their flour down to 4 ounces per person a day. On Thursday night when the families showed up to pick up their dinner supplies they found a paper sack with 4 ounces of flour for each person. Our Brooklyn, who loves to eat and was hungry after a long day of pulling the hand cart was not a happy pioneer, but she and her family worked together to make the best of it. They mixed the flour with water and salt and made tortillas that they cooked on the griddle. Supplies for a hearty dinner did show up later and yet this was another experience that helped them be more grateful for what they have.
They seemed to be in great spirits no matter how tough the journey....
Only months after the early saints had left Nauvoo, Illinois in 1846 in wagon trains to flee from persecution the U.S. Government approached the wagon trains in Iowa and asked for volunteers to go and fight a pending war with Mexico. With the encouragement of the prophet Brigham Young some 600 men volunteered leaving their wives and families to finish the journey. To help both the youth appreciate the pain that both the men that left and the women that remained behind felt, at a certain point in the trek the young men were pulled away and the young women and women leaders had to pull the hand carts up a long hill on their own. It was a great experience for both as the young women felt of their own strength and great for the young men as they could do nothing except pray for their sisters.
Steve had a great time 4-wheeling to the various points where we dropped off food and supplies. At times there were easier roads to take and yet he always took the roughest road just so he could have fun.
Friday afternoon the kids arrived in Zion - to simulate the arrival of the saints in the Salt Lake valley - unlike the rest of the trek, this location had lots of trees, soft grass and cool places to rest from the heat.
The kids took their shoes off and just had a great time sitting around and talking.
A member of the church in our area is a Blackfoot Indian and performed a few dances for the kids. He and his kids had dressed up and visited the youth as they were going along the hand cart trail on Thursday - adding a touch of realism as many of the saints were befriended by the Indians as they journeyed west.
Cynthia with one of her friends, Heidi, who was a Ma in one of the families.
Friday night we had a dance from about 9:00 - 11:30 p.m. - it was a blast - the kids and adults really had a great time.
Even this ole pioneer couple got out and cut a rug during a slow song or two.
Brooklyn is in the middle of one of the line dance songs - it was great to see the kids having so much fun together.
Saturday morning we got up and had a testimony meeting together - the kids really experienced some growing and wonderful experiences. We felt grateful to a loving Heavenly Father and great leaders for their help in making it a great experience for the youth. It was also great to get home, have a long shower and sleep in our nice bed - little things are appreciated much more when they are missed.
Steve had added chicken wire to two of the crates that he made and a friend of ours allowed us to borrow their chickens. It made it more realistic - a few of the kids wondered if they were looking at dinner when they checked in at the table.
Here's the check-in table. The theme for the trek was "...He shall prepare a way." to remind the kids that in their own lives if they go forward with faith, Heavenly Father will prepare a way for them to accomplish what they need to. Steve had created the logo you see here using pictures from our girls and other youth in our area. Mackenzie is the one behind the hand cart and Brooklyn is one of the youth pushing the handcart.
Here's Steve, Mackenzie and a few of Mackenzie's good friends, Logan and Nate. You can see that they have their water bottles - this may have been something that early saints did not have, but definitely something the kids and leaders would need to survive the heat we would experience.
The chickens were a hit!
Check out this cute pioneer family.
The four and a half hour drive to Eastern Washington was much more comfortable than the journey the saints had on the ship :-) It was here that the 103 youth learned who their Ma and Pa would be as they were organized into 14 families. Here's Mackenzie with Ma and Pa Saunders and their family. Mackenzie was excited to be in the Saunders family as she has known and grown to love Ma Saunders from girls camp.
Each family was given a baby (a doll). Mackenzie took her turn carrying their baby by placing it in her sling pack where she kept her water bottle.
Here's Brooklyn with her family. Pa Sorenson has the crate on his shoulder and Ma Sorenson is in the red dress. Brooklyn loved her Ma and Pa and family too.
Here they are heading out on the trail Wednesday afternoon around 5:00 p.m. for the first leg of the trek.
Towards the end of the first day they came to a large steep hill where they ran a 400 foot rope to the bottom and 20 or so youth at the top pulled one hand cart at a time up the hill while a few kids guided it to keep it heading straight up the hill. This and other rigorous experienced helped each person to ponder what it may have been like for the real pioneers.
Here's Mackenzie and other members of her family sitting down for some dinner. The families cooked together as a family over a camp stove. Cynthia and I did not get to go along the trail, but got to meet up with everyone at meal times as we were in the background dropping off food and other supplies at the stop points. Steve had fun four-wheel driving to get to the various points.
The hand carts were quite authentic and yet most added a second bar connected via rope to allow more youth to carry the load. Brooklyn is on the far left in the green bonnet.
Steve and Cynthia as well as the other leaders that were not a Ma or Pa were assigned to eat with one of the 14 families at meal times. It was a lot of fun to get to know so many of these wonderful people better.
Pausing for a photo - Brooklyn's family.
Taking a rest. Each of the hand carts carried their gear and two 5-gallon water coolers. As the heat was intense and there was almost no trees for shade, keeping the kids hydrated was a main concern. As leaders we were grateful that none of the kids became dehydrated and required medical care. You have to remember - these are kids that live in Western Washington where it's "hot" when it reaches 75 degrees :-)
The trek location had people that placed the portable restrooms and fresh water at specific rest and sleeping spots. At the lunch site on Thursday we (Steve and Cynthia) put up a large - 64 x 20 foot - shade - so that everyone would have some relief from the sun while they enjoyed lunch.
Here's everyone including Brooklyn enjoying lunch and some shade and rest.
We were proud of both Mackenzie and Brooklyn - they both pitched in and helped their families carry the load to Zion. Great job girls!
The terrain was much like it would have been on the open plains as the real pioneers crossed - hot, dusty and with yet another hill ahead...
We would make a run into town about 25 minutes away once or twice a day for blocks of ice for the coolers - each family would get one block of ice in the morning and one in the evening. We found the kids drank more when the water was cool and the more water we could get them to drink the better.
Our pioneer bonnet babe, Brooklyn.
A few of the groups of hand cart pioneers ran into trouble and had to ration their flour down to 4 ounces per person a day. On Thursday night when the families showed up to pick up their dinner supplies they found a paper sack with 4 ounces of flour for each person. Our Brooklyn, who loves to eat and was hungry after a long day of pulling the hand cart was not a happy pioneer, but she and her family worked together to make the best of it. They mixed the flour with water and salt and made tortillas that they cooked on the griddle. Supplies for a hearty dinner did show up later and yet this was another experience that helped them be more grateful for what they have.
They seemed to be in great spirits no matter how tough the journey....
Only months after the early saints had left Nauvoo, Illinois in 1846 in wagon trains to flee from persecution the U.S. Government approached the wagon trains in Iowa and asked for volunteers to go and fight a pending war with Mexico. With the encouragement of the prophet Brigham Young some 600 men volunteered leaving their wives and families to finish the journey. To help both the youth appreciate the pain that both the men that left and the women that remained behind felt, at a certain point in the trek the young men were pulled away and the young women and women leaders had to pull the hand carts up a long hill on their own. It was a great experience for both as the young women felt of their own strength and great for the young men as they could do nothing except pray for their sisters.
Steve had a great time 4-wheeling to the various points where we dropped off food and supplies. At times there were easier roads to take and yet he always took the roughest road just so he could have fun.
Friday afternoon the kids arrived in Zion - to simulate the arrival of the saints in the Salt Lake valley - unlike the rest of the trek, this location had lots of trees, soft grass and cool places to rest from the heat.
The kids took their shoes off and just had a great time sitting around and talking.
A member of the church in our area is a Blackfoot Indian and performed a few dances for the kids. He and his kids had dressed up and visited the youth as they were going along the hand cart trail on Thursday - adding a touch of realism as many of the saints were befriended by the Indians as they journeyed west.
Cynthia with one of her friends, Heidi, who was a Ma in one of the families.
Friday night we had a dance from about 9:00 - 11:30 p.m. - it was a blast - the kids and adults really had a great time.
Even this ole pioneer couple got out and cut a rug during a slow song or two.
Brooklyn is in the middle of one of the line dance songs - it was great to see the kids having so much fun together.
Saturday morning we got up and had a testimony meeting together - the kids really experienced some growing and wonderful experiences. We felt grateful to a loving Heavenly Father and great leaders for their help in making it a great experience for the youth. It was also great to get home, have a long shower and sleep in our nice bed - little things are appreciated much more when they are missed.
2 comments:
Cynthia where was your bonnet? It looks like you stopped to shower along the way!
It was too hot to wear a bonnet. And I didn't have a shower for 4 days! It was not fun but so worth it!
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