Whittier Stake Trek 2013

As the song says, "... Some Must Push and Some Must Pull!"

What would you sacrifice for something you believe in?

Would you give it your all?  Would you die for a cause or a belief?

Have you ever wondered if you have the 'right stuff' to be a pioneer?

Latter-day Saint (Mormon) youth in the Whittier, California Stake found out this past weekend how they compared to their Mormon pioneer ancestors as they attempted to recreate a handcart pioneer company in the wilds of California!

As the sign says, all youth ages 12 through 18 were invited to participate, along with adult leaders from all over the Whittier area.

Here is the group that gathered at the Stake Center prior to leaving on their journey.

First stop was Riley's Farm in Oak Glen, California.

I tried to find photos of kids and adults from my congregation that I knew, but in their pioneer clothing and hats, I recognized only a handful.  I decided to just post a few different scenes to give you an idea of what it was like.

The kids were divided into family groups with an adult "Ma" and "Pa" to watch out for them.  The handcarts are authentic to what many impoverished Latter-day Saints used to cross the plains.

The blue line on the map below shows the Mormon trail. Brigham Young had Saints forge their own trail north of the heavily traveled Oregon Trail to avoid conflicts with other pioneer groups.  With thousands of Mormon converts arriving from Scandinavia and the British Isles, they needed some space.

I can't imagine the difficulty in pushing and pulling all my family's supplies a few thousand miles.  But, to quote a song from the Mormon Musical, "Promised Valley": Brother Brigham says you're sure to travel hungry if you only bring a wagon and a prayer!

Our Trek was well provided for, so no one had to go without.  As one participant so aptly put it, "the pioneers probably ate broth and bread, we had hot dogs and Mexican food!"

Of course, pioneer trails weren't paved either, as this one (below) is!

They were more like the dirt tracks below.

The people that participated in this Trek mentioned that hills were very difficult.  On the way up you were pulling and pushing to control the handcart, and on the way down you had to be careful too.  A miscalculation and the cart and all your belongings could end up going down the hill into a ravine - forever lost.

The chuckwagon had a horse team pulling it.

It didn't help that temperatures soared into the 100s the weekend of the Trek.

Part of the re-enactment included sending all the menfolk off to fight in the Mormon Battalion, leaving the women alone.  For Trek purposes, this was only a couple of hours of separation, however, in real life, many pioneer women were faced with the hardships of the trail to Utah alone.

The men going off to march in the Mormon Battalion

Sister Terranova, a registered nurse in her real life, said she cried when this happened on the Trek.  "Not that I would miss my husband all that much for 2 hours," she later said, getting a laugh from the congregation, "but the reality of what these women endured alone suddenly hit me quite forcefully."

The women toiling up the hill alone

Preaching to the crowd

It wasn't all pushing and pulling.  The Trek featured lots of fun surprises along the way, including actors taking the parts of real-life Mormon pioneers who would tell their stories to the group -  and stops with fun things to do, like throwing tomahawks and splitting logs.

A re-enactor telling his story to the crowd

Learning to split logs

Warren at home getting prepared for the Trek
- all the kids who participated came back profoundly changed in their attitudes

A painting showing a Pioneer Family from the early 1850s

Although most handcart pioneers made the long journey across America on foot without serious injury, some did not.  One of the most poignant stories of handcart pioneers are the ones from the ill-fated Wille and Martin handcart companies.

Chief among these stories is what has come to be known as the "Sweetwater Rescue".

There is a beautiful video about this historic event at BYU-TV.org.  If you're interested in this story of true heroes, check out this link.

Sweetwater-rescue-the-willie-and-martin-handcart-story

This is the monument erected to the heroes of this rescue

The Whittier Trek featured a river to cross as well. Here some teamwork had to be demonstrated, as all the contents of the handcarts were transferred hand to hand down a long human chain, and people were carried or waded through the water on their own.

I'm sure, given the 100+ degree F heat over the weekend, people really didn't mind getting wet!  However, under other circumstances, such as in the cold of winter, this could have been a harrowing ordeal.

Fording the river

Some very wet good Samaritans included my good friend Glenn, shown here

 Temperatures were really HOT, so I'm thinking the water felt good.

Hauling wagons up a steep grade is perilous!

Everyone who participated in this event said positive things about the experience.  They all came away saying they had really had a good time and learned a great deal.

They also mentioned it was HARD.

Getting settled for the evening with the Peery Family

With Faith in Every Footstep, the sign reads

Heather mugging for the camera
 - despite physical challenges, spirits were high

Hoedown!

There was a dance held the last night.  I know it's just a trick of the light, but it almost looks like ghosts of the pioneers past on the bottom right.

This was one occasion were NOBODY knew the steps, so everyone participated and learned something new!  I'll bet it was fun!  It sure looks fun!

The Hoedown at the end of the journey

That last night, everyone learned to dance at the big hoedown!

I'm surprised anyone of them had the energy for it!

This was a ukelele toting group!

On Sunday, following the Trek, people in my congregation who had participated in it spoke of their experiences in a very moving worship service.

As part of generations of well-fed and pretty spoiled Americans - I include myself here - I think moments that force us out of our comfort zone and help us to learn and grow are rare.  This appears to have been one of them.  It was challenging, but fun, all seemed to agree.  And the lessons taken home were plentiful.

Interestingly, most spoke of what a spiritual experience it turned out to be.

Everyone made it home safely.  In pioneer parlance, "All is well!  All is well!"

Torleif  S. Knaphus' famous statue of a family of handcart pioneers
 has a place of honor on Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah

Photos graciously supplied by Forest Ferkin and others - thank you!