The Trek

What a great time it was!!! From May 27 to the 30 the youth and stake leaders participated in the trek. We left Wednesday morning at 6:15 and traveled to Luna, New Mexico--a 5 hour drive. We had lunch at the ward building there and relaxed for an hour and then it began. We had a little devotional followed by the picking of families. All of the ma's and pa's lined up. The girls were on one side, boys on the other. The parents were told to rely on the spirit to pick their kids. An awesome experience. While the families were getting together and making their handcarts, us medical people were getting all of the medical releases and meds together to give to each family. Around 4 pm we started our trek. The trek was a long one, into the night and we did not arive until 1am at our point of destination. The kids were exhausted--which brought on headaches, nausea, stomach aches--it was a busy urgent care. Got to bed at 3am and got up at 6am. The stake leaders all stayed in a separated area from the families. We had great food. I slept in the back seat of a truck--it was cool. We checked in with all of the families to see how the kids were. We told the parents to tell the kids that if they were not feeling well, to rely on the Lord for help, go to the parents second and go to the nurses third. It worked out pretty well. We started another day of walking and it went well. It was when we had a devotional (a tear jerker) and we started off to do the womens' pull. A great spirtual excperience. Of course, I did not shed a tear!!! We reached the beautiful meadow in the afternoon. The families set up their camp sites which was to be their home for the next couple of days. That night we had a nice devotional and everyone went to bed. On Friday it was game day. The weather was warm during the day and in the afternoon it would cloud up--this particular afternoon, it decided that it would rain and rain it did. We were all sopping wet and cold. Because of the rain, the games had to end. Until the rain, the games were going good--roping, stick pull, black powder shooting, hatchet throwing, tug of war, hair washing, button game, butter making, buscuit making, fire starting--it was so fun. If you can believe it, I did the butter making. I know now how to make butter. Just call me "susy pioneer". The rain ended in a couple of hours. We ate dinner and then had a fireside. While waiting for it to start, a beautiful rainbow appeared in the sky. The Lords' tender mercy was shown to all of us there. The fireside was magnificent--another sprirtual event. The next morning the families packed up and off we started for our last little trek. We had an nice breakfast of pancakes and sausage and gatorade. When we all reached our final destination, the families had watermelon to eat and took apart the handcarts. We then waited for the buses to arrive, which they finally did, and we headed back to the ward building in Luna. We had lunch and a poddy break and then we all header out for home. We got home at 6:30. I do believe that all were relieved to be back home safe and sound and to see their real familes. When Ryan and I got home, we had dinner waiting for us, courtesy of Melchor. Ryan and I then discovered how stinky we both were (maybe that is why Melchor did not kiss and hug me when I walked in the door?) so we took a good warm shower--did that feel good!!! Sunday night the stake held a fireside for all the youth that participated in the trek and their parents. It was very nice. The families were able to meet with each other one last time. A slide presentation was done with great pics--hopefully I will be able to get some pictures and upload them. I did bring my camera, but I forgot to charge the battery--it figures!!! I made it. I trekked with all of the youth. I am so grateful to have been a part of such a wonderful experience. I would do it again!!! A big thank you to the Loves for taking me home, along with the Sue Sues. It was a fun ride back to civilization. To sum it all up--"I CAN DO HARD THINGS".