(July 7-9th)

Back in January, we got a call from the stake. (If you’re confused by stake and ward and other LDS terms, you can learn more here.) Basically, a member of our church leadership called us, and asked if we would be a “Ma and Pa” on trek. Before I could tell him anything, I needed to find out if we could find someone to watch our kids. That was step one. Once my Dad agreed to fly up here to watch our kids, the next step was to make sure Kevin could take work off. So I called back, and let them know we would be able go. We went to a few meetings to figure out what was needed, and expected of us. July got closer and we began to get a little nervous wondering what we agreed to.

My dad flew in Wednesday night, and we got packed and ready to go. We headed out Thursday morning, and arrived at the location just outside of Thorp, WA. We were given a run down, and then the kids started arriving. We were placed in Company C. For those totally confused with what this was all about, every 4 years, the youth of our stake meet together with leaders and do a “Mock Pioneer Trek.” The load handcarts, and pull them over a predesignated trail, and camp similar to what the pioneers of our church went through.

When the members of our church headed out west, after being driven out of their homes, most went by wagon teams. Some could not afford to travel that way. The President of the Church at the time, Brigham Young, and others decided to help all who wanted come by handcart. There were 10 handcart companies in all that walked from Iowa City (the end of the rail line) to Salt Lake City, roughly 1,300 miles. In all, 2,962 people set out, and 250 died along the trail. Of those that died, 220 were in the 4th and 5th company. Most companies had less than a 4% death rae. They were successful and faster than wagon teams, which is why so many chose to travel this way.

Our kids started arriving, and we learned names. Since we were in Company C, we were to leave last, an hour after the first group left. We ate our lunch, packed our wagon, and waited. Because we were treking up hill all day, some of our stuff (such as kitchen bowls and a dutch oven) were taken by car up to our campsite to help lighten the load on our first day. It was finally our time to leave.

We were each assigned a family who had arrived in Salt Lake by handcart. We were assigned the Stoddart Family, and as each child arrived, they picked a name of a family member. We created a family flag, and tied it on the cart.

Our family was from Whales, I believe. Stoddart is one of the oldest names of Europe. It is believed that it originated from the men who held the flag on the battle front, those who took care of ox or stod, or those who bread horses. So our flag depicts each of these along with a few other things the kids thought would be fun to have on there. The kids got going, and Kevin helped them get organized on the cart. We were told to let the kids do most the pushing and pulling. Fine by me.

It was pretty warm, so we made sure the kids drank their water. This first day we hiked about 2 miles uphill, and then came to a resting point. They gave us a snack bag with trail mix, licorice, and lemon heads. We rested a while, then continued on. When we were about .5 mile away from the camp, they stopped us again, and we were given cold, fresh oranges. Even the kids who didn’t like oranges usually thought they tasted delicious. Ahead of us was the last steep hill. The kids were tired, I was dying, and this hill looked like no fun. As we started up it, the kids from the previous company started pouring down the hill. They scattered between the wagons, and together, with our kids, they practically ran the handcart up the hill. I kept at my normal pace, pretty slow. I will say, I had had a cold, and couldn’t breathe completely yet. One of the girls from our ward, helped push our wagon for a time, and then came to walk with me. She didn’t say anything as we stopped and took breaks, and I tried my best not to die. 🙂 She was in Company B and had already hiked this hill once, but was willing to walk it again with me.

As we arrived into camp, they handed us a watermelon and told us where to set up camp. The boys got busy figuring out the best tent for the night, made from tarps and rope, while the girls got busy with dinner. One of our boys used dutch ovens a lot, so he was put in charge of cooking the food. Because there was a burn ban, we could only cook food, then had to wait for someone to pick up our coals.

They had rotation of activities for us to do that night, but by the time we got there we didn’t have much time. The kids got to throw axes, which Kevin beat them at, and shoot black powder guns, along with other pioneerish activities.

It started to get dark, so we gathered up our 8 kids and headed back to camp for a devotional. Brother Montague spoke to the kids about angels. He described how we consistently have angels in our lives in our times of need. He talked about how angles have visited prophets, but have also visited many others. Angels don’t always come in white, and give us direction. He spoke of how they make come in street clothes, or church clothes, or even in pioneer clothes down a hill. We need to be aware of the angels, and be living our lives, that we may be an angel to someone else in their time of need.

It was a wonderful devotional, and after headed back to camp to go to bed. Kevin and I slept in the middle of our tent, with boys on one side and girls on the other. I have to say that night was up there on the “Worst nights ever” list. I was up all night with a runny nose, and since I was up, I knew how cold it was. I couldn’t get warm, and the girls and rolled all away from me, so I had no body heat on one side. At some point, I fell asleep, which was a blessing, because I was out of tissues.