My Pioneers

One of the first things we learned about the Hillsboro Stake was that they were having their first ever pioneer trek this summer, and that they were taking all of the YW/YM, not just those 14 and older.  And that they were taking the 11 year olds that would be 12 by the end of the summer. 

I was stunned at the thought that my babies could go on a pioneer trek.  Stunned.

When I came out to look at houses in February we happened to go to church with the man who was in charge of the whole trek and we talked to him for a while about these young kids going on the trek.  We were still not convinced that we were comfortable with the kids going, but after praying about it we decided that we would let the kids choose.

Much to our surprise (why was I surprised??) the kids immediately jumped at the chance to go on the trek.  They were enthusiastic from the first minute they heard about it.  We bought good tennis shoes and started taking long walks so that they would be ready to walk 18-20 miles over 4 days.

(I was also surprised at how much of my anxiety about my little kids going on the trek disappeared when we went to the information fireside and learned that the kids were allowed to take healthy snacks.  Apparently my biggest worry was that they would be hungry!)

Josh immediately told us that he would not go on the trek.  We told him that he didn’t have to; it was entirely up to him.  But that we were going to go ahead and register him so that he could go if he changed his mind.  Sometime in the first week or two he after he arrived in Oregon he decided to go and we were thrilled, but of course (because we are smart parents) we said nothing. 

We took several trips to local Goodwill stores to buy dresses to re-make as pioneer dresses, white scrubs to wear as pantaloons, a old sheet to make into bonnets and aprons, and pants & shirts for the boys. 

When we were buying the dresses a woman who was also looking at dresses turned to us and asked, “Are you guys going on a pioneer trek?”  When we said that we were, she said that she was too.  And when I told her that we were in the Hillsboro stake, she said that she was too.  It turned out that she lives in the ward next to us.  The girls were so excited when they saw “Sister Robyn” (it took us a while to track down her last name) at the pre-trek square dancing activity the next week, and Rachel saw her quite often on the trek. 

The day before the trek departure we had to bring everything to the church.  It was crazy to see the piles of bedding & buckets there.

After we dropped off all of their stuff we came back here and tried to get them into bed as fast as possible—they were supposed to be back at the church at 4:45 the next morning.

    So Russ & I started our 4th of July at 3:50 am—waking up each of our pioneers so that they could have one last shower before leaving. 

And then they were off.  I didn’t have the camera with me (which was a shame, because the sunrise was actually very pretty, as well as very early) to take a picture of the 6 school busses that came and picked up the 250 trekkers and all of the adults that were going with them. 

It was a strange experience, having all of my kids go away from me like that.  I realized that I’ve gone away from them before, but there’s only been one weekend that they’ve ever all gone away from me at the same time, and that was many years ago.  It was a really different feeling, and while I enjoyed my free time, I was so glad that I have many more years before these kids grow up and go off on their own.

It was also interesting to realize how uncomfortable I was not knowing anything about what was going on with my kids.  Even when Josh is at EFY, I usually get a few texts throughout the week complaining about something.  But the total lack of communication was disconcerting.

(A picture of Rachel & Jenna that someone sent me from the trek.)

We weren’t really sure what time we were supposed to pick them up on Saturday evening, but it ended up taking most of the evening.  One of the busses had broken down on the 4 hour drive back and so everyone was delayed almost 2 hours.  (I later heard someone say that the other reason that it took so long was because after they had dealt with the breakdown they had to stop at a rest stop for the kids to use the bathroom, and 250 kids just take a while at a rest stop!  Someone else said that at the rest area they were mistaken for an Amish group!)

The truck with the stuff arrived a lot earlier than the kids did and was laid out according to which company the kids had been in.  I was really surprised that in just a few minutes we were able to find all of their buckets and sleeping bags—even Josh’s, which wasn’t marked with lots of duct tape like the others.

Just before the buses got to the church one of the women went around and gave everyone a (clean) white tissue so that we could wave them as the busses drove into the parking lot, just like the settlers in Utah waved handkerchiefs to welcome the handcart pioneers as they entered the valley.  I was surprised at how emotional I felt, and happy that my sunglasses hid those emotions from the rest of the world.  I was emotional about my kids coming back, but also emotional as I thought about the incredible sacrifices that so many pioneers made to go to Utah, and how that has blessed my life.

Once the busses rolled into the parking lot and everyone got out it was a mass of dusty, suntanned, pioneer garbed people.  When we finally found Rachel she was much more intent on saying goodbye to the members of her “family” than she was interested in seeing us. 

The little kids were so excited to tell us what a great time they had had.  We got a detailed description of every meal, every pull, the square dance, the naps—all of it. 

Josh just told us about the stuff that annoyed him.  But he also said that he thought he was starting to be happy about living in Oregon.  So I’m assuming there was some not-annoying stuff in there as well.

  I had each of the kids write a letter to Jason on Monday describing their trek experiences, and then for family night instead of having the lesson we (mostly I) asked them questions about their trek experience.  All three little kids are so excited that if they have another trek in 6 years (which is apparently the plan) they’ll be able to go again.  And Rachel is already planning that when she’s grown she’ll go as a Ma. 

The best part was when I asked them if they had learned anything spiritually on the trek.  They all talked about how much more they appreciate the sacrifices that the pioneers made in order to be able to come to Utah and be able to worship the way they wanted.  Jared said, “Mom, that was fun for 4 days but I don’t know if I could have done it for 3 months.”  They all agreed that it would have been unbearable if they hadn’t had plenty of food and cold water whenever they wanted. 

 

I told the kids that I grew up without any real feeling about the Mormon pioneers.  I don’t have walking-across-the-plains pioneer ancestors, so I always felt like it didn’t have much to do with me.  I told them about when I read the The Work & The Glory.  (First they were exited because one of their favorite books is by Gerald Lund.  Second they were excited because the man who had the idea for TW&TG books was from western NC.)  Then I told them about how much my feelings about the pioneers had changed as I read the books and really thought about the sacrifices these people had made because they really believed in the gospel of Jesus Christ.  I could see that the kids understood what I was saying, because now they too understand and respect the pioneers in a new way. 

Don’t you just love it when something you’ve really worried about and prayed about works out so well???