Trek 2013!!

This past Summer, I walked 20 miles in 3 days through mud, pouring rain, blisters, hunger, exhaustion, and while all of this went on, I pushed a handcart filled with all of our belongings. I fit 3 sets of clothes, hygienic necessaties, and other necessaties all in a single bucket. Through these days, although it may have been hard and at one point we all hit a struggling point, these 3 days might've been one of the best 3 days of my life! It all began at the Boston temple. We met our families all dressed up in our homemade trek clothing. I met my family named the Hogans. In my family I had the greatest people you could ever ask for! Mysisters were Afton Pearson, bekah Pierce, and Devon Christenson. My brothers were Brandom Chim, James Whatcott, Zan Austin, Nathan Cole, and a boy named Curtis. My ma and pa were the cutest things! They were Curtis and hhhhhhh Hogan. It was so wonderful to start at such a beautiful and sacred place! From there, we traveled to our starting point of trek and began to trek to Zion! Brother Gustafson, he was the leader of my group, the pink group. He prayed for us to have the weather we needed. On the first day of trek, we walked, talked about our lives, read the scriptures, prayed, and the spirit was with us the whole time! At one point we hit a resting point and played games from the time that trek occurred. We raced with hoops and sticks, we jumped in potato sacks across a finish line, we tossed wood, and we just had a great time with all of our friends and our family. After our fun and games, we set off to our first camping site. As we started to trek it poured rain. Only some were able to get our their ponchos to resist from the rain. I was drenched. My thick dress and my blouse were soaked! Every step, my tennis shoes would fill with water and result in damp, itchy steps. Although this rainfall may have seeped into our buckets and wet our belongings, it was a miracle. We were sweating and hot from the travel that this rainfall created a cooling off sensation along with puddles to splash in and mud to run through when your brothers are pulling the cart in the direction of the mud in order to mess with you. This rain truly created a bonding moment to remember. Once we arrived at our dirt campsite, we immediately set up our tents by family. There was a tent for ma and pa, a tent for the girls, and a tent for the boys. The tents were set up so close together that when we were resting at night, you could hear all the conversations around the tent. We could hear our brothers talk so we figured we should lower our voices during deep conversation. Lets just say that was impossible haha you could also hear the conversations of other families all around you. It was wonderful to feel this sensation of comfort knowing everyone is all in this together. Before we went to bed, we ate delicious chili from the cooks and had a decotional. We were also given an item to trade in order to receive a freeze pop. The food was absolutely delicious and we were well fed throughout this trip.

On the second day, we woke up bright and early and our brothers and our fathers were called to serve a mission. We sang, "God Be With You Till We Meet Again". During this song, I almost cried because I truly felt the pain of the women on trek when their children and husbands were left in order to serve The Lord. After we sang to the men, we gathered up our tents and bundled the supplies in the handcart, and then set off town the trail. This had to have been one of my favorite experiences on trek. This experience was known as the Women's Pull. Realizing that this is what the women went through gave me a form of courage to know that I can trek this for my family for I know I will see my family again. We trekked for about 3 miles pulling the handcarts. It pained me to see other families who had fewer women to pull their handcart. We sang as we walked and when we hit hills, other women from other families would help those traveling up the hills. We counted down, then sprinted up the hill then to await the next one. It was a realization of strength that we women had through this Pull. I was tearing up when we reached this beautiful valley where all of the men were lined up, applauding and cheering our arrival and our accomplishment. My pa and my brothers we welcoming us with hugs and immediately took the carts from our grasp and told us to rest. That moment of seeing my family waiting for me at this finish glimpsed to me of the reunion that I will have when I return back to my father in Heaven and see my family again. We then all ate lunch again, heard another devotional, then continued our travels to our next destination. We arrived in the most beautiful property known as Shang Rala. There were waterfalls, lakes, acres and acres of greenery, it was absolutely gorgeous! We were sent to our camping sites and we set up our tents. We then all dressed into our swimwear and jumped off this huge rock into the cool lake. It was so fun! After we had a stake-wide swim, we all got dressed and had dinner. After dinner, we prepared for a hoedown. There were people playing the guitars and banjos while we danced the swing dance and square danced. It was a moment of relaxation and the perfect time to meet new people! After this night of fun, we had dessert and then slept in our tents. Before we went to bed, we had family scripture study and prayers. 

On the final day, we woke and spent some time on this beautiful property. We had a testimony meeting and we wrote letters to ourselves to read in the future. When I wrote my letter, I was referring to "you" a lot referring to myself. While I was writing this, although I was writing to myself, I realized that I wasn't the only one writing this letter. This letter was from myself and my Heavenly Father. He was comforting me through this letter and when I read it in the future, I will feel that comfort and support in order to make it through school and any trials. After this testimony meeting, we did the salt water crossing. We traveled over to a body of water and all of the guys carried the girls across the river. My brother James Whatcott carried me across the river. He said "I want to carry my sister across the river" and he scooped me up and carried me. Then the guys pushed the carts across the river. It was so wonderful and I could imagine what this must've been like in freezing water during the time of the Saints. After this beautiful experience in Shang Rala, we got all of our things together and headed for Zion! We walked, we sang, we laughed, and we cherished these moments we had as a family. I remember that moment seeing all of these people cheering for us at Zion saying "you did it!" My most memorable moment was when everyone that experienced trek lept into each others' arms cheering "we did it" this moment brought pure happiness and just hugging and congratulating everyone was such a touching experience. We ate at this Zion, talked with Brigham Young, and had music played for square dancing. 

Throughout this trek experience, I carried a spoon in my apron. Before I went on trek, I researched one of my ancestors and her name was Emilia Staaleson Williams. I carried her name with me with a reminder of what she went through. What is so incredible about Emilia was at 19 months, her and her mother traveled across the sea from Norway to America. Then from New York, her and her family travelers from St. Louis all the way to Uath just like the Saints did. She experienced many trials through these experiences an it didn't stop there! When she was older, her husband Nephi left on a 2 year mission while she cared for her many children by herself. She had a job in telegraphy, was a treasurer in The town Emery, was the president of primary association, and was secretary if relief society. I read a lot about Emilia and she felt that throughout her life, family is the most important. She would always have family prayers every night aroundthe  kitchen table. She gave a recommendation to always have family prayers in our homes so that way, we can be close to our families and The Lord. 

Trek was the most amazing experience ever! If you're hesitating on doing this experience, you may regret not going on trek but you won't regret once you've gone! Take this wonderful experience, forget the length of the journey,the  hardships, the mud, and the rain because honestly, this is an experience you will never forget! In trek, I learned the importance of family. This family that I had on trek, the Hogan family, truly shared their love for me and this love brought us together and kept us going through this journey. I absolutely love this incredible experience of trek and most importantly, my family. This was an experience I will never forget! 

Us getting ready to drive up to the temple!

My sisters and I at the temple!

My ma and pa and I at the temple!

Merrimack crew!

My ma, my sister Bekah, and I.

We are truly models. 

This is how we act as pioneers!

My friend Zoe and I!

Makenna and I. 

My sister Bekah and I. 

Getting ready to go on the Women's Pull! Nicole, Haven, Alexia, Brooke, Rachel, and I. 

My friends Claudia, Megan, and Nicole.

Annie, Jessica, and I. 

Brooke and I at trek!

My hairdo for the hoedown!

Charles and I. 

Trekking to zion!

My family and I. 

The Hogan girls. 

The guys carrying us across the Sweet Water Crossing. 

My brothers!

The handcarts. 

Relaxing at the field!

My family!

Eating lunch together!

I love my family!