Jason and I were required to go to a trek training seminar for our ward's pioneer trek next summer. We traveled 10 hours to get to Martin's Cove in Wyoming. This training is mandatory for anyone who wants to have a trek there, and there were about 150 people in our group. It was an incredible weekend! There are 55 senior missionaries serving at the pioneer sites (including the willie site). First of all, they are soo stinkin cute! And second of all, they really know how to bring the spirit. Jason and I were there for a little over 24 hours (we slept in a tent) and it was such a spiritual experience... I felt like I was practically crying the whole time :)
The "Father" spoken of on this plaque is my great-great-great grandfather who was part of the Martin Handcart Company.
Notice how baren the land looks behind us! Leaves nothing to break the wind... except for your own body! The wind was so strong that it broke our tent pole! CRAZY!
Our first day we trekked 6 miles. We went to Dan Jone's Cove, Martin's Cove, Crossed the Sweetwater River (it was freezing!), and did a Women's Pull. All along the way there were missionaries stationed at a "post" waiting for us. They would tell a story or two or tell us different things we could do with our group at that particular spot. The possibilities are endless, and the thing I loved the most- is that Jason and I agreed that whatever we choose to do would be fantastic. Meaning that there are no bad choices! All we feel like we have to do is get everybody there and the rest is taken care of because the spirit that is along the trail will do the rest. It was nice to be able to bounce ideas off of everyone and see what different things they came up with. Needless to say- some of the stress of this calling was relieved! :)
This video is of one of the missionaries who sang for us in Dan Jones cove. She wrote this song, and although I only got a piece of it, you can see how incredible it was! I wish I knew how to play the guitar.....
The missionaries at Martin's Cove were fantastic. They even taught us how to square dance! And if any of you know Jason, you know that that is not an easy task! (love you babe!) They had speaker after speaker teaching us about pioneers and their trek to Salt Lake. I bought a book while I was there called "Tell My Story Too". It is an incredible compilation of stories about the pioneers in the martin and willie handcart companies. It's a BIG book and will take me a while to get through it, but so far so good!
SO GET EXCITED 34th WARD! GET EXCITED!!
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