Lodi Stake Youth Pioneer Trek

Nathan and I were asked to be a Ma and Pa on our stake's first Youth Pioneer Trek Reinactment this summer. I was pretty hesitant at first, but when I realized how badly Nathan wanted to go and that he wouldn't be able to if I didn't, I humbled myself and agreed to go. I tried to prepare myself mentally and spiritually, and physically I guess, but it was walking 12 miles overs 3 days, so I wasn't concerned so much about that. But we read up on our own pioneer heritage and some stories they gathered for us, and got some ideas and games ready for our family. We didn't know what kids we would be with until we got up there, so we had to be prepared for whatever. So.... we survived! After talking to Allison and Mom, we apparently had it pretty easy, but I still say it was the most inconvenient thing I've done in my adult life!

We had 8 children in our "family"-4 boys, 4 goofy, odd, but good boys and 4 girls, cute, fun, very helpful and good sports! We were not the "coolest" family, but everyone got along well, there really wasn't much complaining and everyone did their part. They humored me with some games and such and were actually quite obedient when I ordered them around-I like obedient children, mine have not been such since I've been home; they got a good talkin' to today!

The trail was hard enough to get the point and be tired afterward, but not too hard to discourage everyone. It was a beautiful area we were in (up the 88 near Camp Richie) and because we were up so high it only was around 85 degrees. It felt hotter during the middle of the day with no shade or clouds, and wearing what we were, pushing and pulling and such, but it could have been MUCH worse. There was only one uber hard section at the end of the second day that literally required 15-20 people to pull the carts up the hills. We were the very last cart (out of 30) to make it, and by then some of those kids had been up and down that hill 20-25 times helping each one up. It was a really cool moment and one of the highlights for many of the kids-they were proud to say how many times they helped and I was impressed with their stamina and willingness to stick it out to the end!!

Our camping areas each night (3 of them) were very primitive and a lot more rugged than I would have expected. We literally just stopped in the middle of a forest each night and did our best to find a flat enough spot without too many ant hills, sticks, rocks, and logs. No tents, just us and the stars-which were amazing up there by the way! It got a little chilly at night, but again, it could have been much worse! I only got some sleep on the second night, the other 2 were pretty much a joke.

We only had to cook 2 of our meals, the rest was provided for us by a cooking staff, so that was pretty sweet. We had plenty of good food-the stake decided they didn't want the kids focusing on how hungry they were, but focus on the more spiritual aspects of it. I never really heard anyone say they were hungry. They probably could tone it down a little next time.

We had port-a-pottys at every stop, which was better than nothing, but well, I'm sure we all feel the same about those. Changing our clothes was pretty funny. They had makeshift changing boxes: 6 for 300 people. :) I changed behind trees or in my sleeping bag half the time. As a result of that, I think the kids didn't change their underthings nearly enough-not a happy thought. Boys were starting to walk pretty funny by the end of the 4 days-walking long distances in jeans in the heat is not something these boys do very often.

We didn't have any real problems or issues, medical or otherwise in our family, which I was very grateful for. There were a lot of kids that were sick while we were there, but not in our family, so the medical staff was kept pretty busy.

Okay, now on to the DIRT! I have never, and I mean NEVER, been so dirty in my life. We slept, walked, and ate in dirt. It seeped through our shoes, through or socks and glued to our feet. It seeped through 4 layers of clothing and stuck to my legs. I did take some wet wipes, and every night I would wipe my face and neck and it would just be black. Absolutely unbelievable. The first day, we were like "Ew, it's so dirty!". The second and third day, we were like, "Dirt, big deal." The last day we were, "OK, this is pushing human decency, enough is enough, get us out of here!" All you could hear people talking about on that last day was whether they were going to take a shower or a bath when they got home and for how long, etc. etc. Pretty funny. I think I got the last of the dirt out of my nose today, and I'm truly not kidding. We just ate and breathed dust for 4 days. My washing machine is completely full of black water after doing each load of the clothes. Even if you took a chance to kind of give yourself a spit bath at nights and change your underwear, you had to put back on the same dirty, stinky clothes you'd been wearing the whole time-it was just sick and wrong! Thank goodness we were outside the whole time and couldn't smell each other!

BUT, we have really awesome kids in our stake. I was really, really impressed with their attitudes, energy, conviction, talents (we had several share them with us throughout the week) and their ability to make everything fun all along the way. They kept up their energy for the most part. Everyone did their part and it looked like to me they were really trying to catch on to the spirit of the thing and build their testimonies. And there were so many cute boys and darling girls. I couldn't help but think, "I hope Morgan marries a guy like that!" I was really nervous about "fitting in" with the youth, I've never been very good at it (even when I was a teenager), but I genuinely believe my family liked and enjoyed being in our group and we got along quite well.

The committee that put it together did a fabulous job and it was a very positive experience for nearly everyone involved. Man, this sort of thing takes so much work and planning!! But I think they all thought it was worth it. I was happy to be a part of something that big and see our stake interact and work together so well. We're pretty new around here, so we don't know many people outside of Lodi, so it was great to bond with members from all over.