Trek

I am so grateful Mark and I were asked to be a part of our stake's youth trek. We were asked to be a pa and ma and we had the best time! It was one of the hardest things we have ever done, but also one of the most rewarding. Where do I begin when recording a few of our experiences?! Well, I will start with...

The heat...

During the week leading up to trek, all we could think about was the weather. The weather was forecasted to be between 100 and 105 degrees during our entire three day trek. Factor in the humidity and we were looking at well over 110 degrees each day. There was a lot of concern from all sides, which led to a lot of talk, (including the talk of plan changes and possible cancellation,) but eventually, with help from our stake president, we put our faith in Heavenly Father and pressed forward with all original plans, heat, humidity and all. Heavenly Father didn't change the forecast, (as we prayed for,) and the forecast ended up being right on, but He did watch out for us those three days we were in the heat. We were all extremely hot, (some of us a little more than others, but more on that later,) but everyone was well cared for and stayed safe.

I hope they call me on a mission...

On the first day of our trek, we had stopped and were resting when we spotted far down the trail a pair of missionaries heading toward us. As soon as they were spotted, everyone cheered, and the youth broke out singing, with all their might, "I Hope They Call Me on a Mission." The joy with which they sang was incredible. It was a wonderful moment. One in which the spirit was so strong. One that I will never forget.

My talk...

On the second day of our trek, I presented a talk. I had been asked to speak to the young women about enduring hardships. My talk came just after the young men had been "called off to serve with the Mormon Battalion." (Mark also spoke at this time, to the young men though. He spoke to them about honoring women.) The setting was beautiful and, again, the spirit was so strong. Here is what I said...

"I have been asked to take a moment to talk about enduring hardships. (A very fitting topic considering our men have just left with the Mormon Battalion and we have been given the task to carry on!)

Before I get to that topic though, I would like go back in history and tell you a little about the Mormon Battalion and about a few of those who served in it.

At the request of the prophet, President Brigham Young, after the Saints had been driven out of their homes by brutal mobs, members signed up with the Mormon Battalion, a battalion that was to be sent to fight a war against Mexico for the U.S. government. The same U.S. government that had just turned its back on them. Why did they join? They joined because the prophet had asked them to do so, and he asked them to do so in order to give financial support to the Saints traveling west. About 500 men enlisted, along with about 80 women and children. They began their journey in the sweltering heat of Council Bluffs, Iowa, on July 20th, 1846, leaving their loved ones behind. Their destitute families bravely waved good-bye, (as we just did,) knowing they’d have to make their way west alone without their husbands or fathers to protect them.

The battalion completed one of the longest infantry marches in American history-about 2,000 miles through what are now seven states and into Mexico. They had inadequate supplies, their feet burned on hot sand because their shoes had worn out, they were frequently thirsty and at times they resorted to drinking from mud holes.
After that long journey, the battalion worked on construction projects in San Diego and a fort near Los Angeles, California. They gave the money they earned, including their clothing allowance, to the Church to support the Saints on their trek to Utah. After being discharged, battalion members were present when gold was discovered at Sutter’s Mill. Turning their backs on a possible fortune, they turned eastward to rejoin the Saints and were some of the first to reach the Salt Lake Valley.

Now, a little about a few of those who served in the Mormon Battalion…
In preparing for today, I came upon a sister named Arianne B. Cope. This sister took a trip to Old Town, San Diego, California, in search of more information concerning the Mormon Battalion. She wrote, “Before I stepped on a plane bound for California, I thought the Mormon Battalion was just a bunch of guys who walked for a really long time while their pioneer families had it tough crossing the plains. What I learned was surprising. I found out they were more than a ragged bunch of soldiers. They were noble, faithful, heroic men and women—and some of them were my ancestors.”
Sister Cope learned that three of her great-grandfathers had served in the Mormon Battalion. I’d like tell you a little about each man.

First, there was Philander Colten…When he marched off with the battalion from Council Bluffs, he didn’t realize he was being followed. His nine-year-old son, Charles, secretly ran away to join the battalion. He couldn’t bear having his father leave him behind. The night Charles sneaked into the battalion’s camp, he sang to the men around the campfire. His song softened the soldiers’ hearts and they decided to let him stay with his father. Sister Cope wrote, “Philander was a brick maker. Making bricks isn’t easy. They are put under intense heat. I learned from Philander that people are like bricks. His life was a fierce furnace of trials, but he emerged rock solid, with a testimony strong enough for others to build on. Philander and Charles marched for me and all who would come after them, to show us that if we endure trials well, we don’t have to crack.”

Next, there was Arnold Stevens…Sister Cope wrote, “Because there were no deaths in battle, people often assume no one died in the Mormon Battalion. Actually, 22 men from the battalion died from disease, exposure, and accident. One of these men was another of my great-grandfathers, Arnold Stevens.” Arnold was described as a large, gentle man. He went with the battalion’s first detachment of sick soldiers to Pueblo, Colorado, where he stayed through the difficult winter of 1846. Huddled in the frigid December air, Arnold wrote a letter to his wife, Lois, on Christmas Day, describing his concern for his family’s safety and their lack of money. He longed to be with them again. He wrote, “My dear Lois, you know my family was always my delight, yet I never knew how to prize or appreciate their society. There is scarcely a night passes, but I dream about you…I will send Ransome Abram a Christmas gift. Yours I will keep until I see you; if I can get anything for the girls I will. Give them my love, and may the Lord bless you all. Farewell. Pray for me.” Arnold never gave Lois her Christmas gift. In March, he was dragged over several logs by a wild mule. He died a few days later. Sister Cope wrote, “Arnold didn’t have to enlist in the battalion, but he heeded the Prophet Brigham Young’s call. He died before he could return to his family. His conviction and unselfishness allowed him to pass away peacefully in the face of tragedy. He taught me that dedicating my life to God means trusting Him no matter what happens.”

Finally, there was Thomas Woolsey…Thomas was a courier. He went with the women and children and the sick battalion members to Pueblo in the first and second detachment groups. After reaching Pueblo the second time, he was asked, along with another man named John Trippets, to carry messages and money from the battalion to Winter Quarters, Nebraska. They left Pueblo in December and traveled alone, making their own trail as they went. On their 600-mile, 52-day journey, Thomas and John nearly froze and starved to death while being lost most of the time. At one point they were captured and almost killed and scalped by a group of Pawnee Indians, but thanks to the timely mercy of Chief Setchmalin, they were released unharmed. They finally arrived at Winter Quarters exhausted on the night of February 15, 1847. Sister Cope wrote, “Thomas remained devoted to the gospel for the rest of his life. He showed me that commitment takes courage, but when we give our all to God, He’ll protect us and use us to help others on their way.”

Sister Cope, in concluding her thoughts, wrote, “After this trip to San Diego, my thoughts about the Mormon Battalion changed. When I think of the battalion now, I see a small boy who loved his father so much he marched across the country rather than say good-bye, a lonely woman whose tears smeared the last letter her husband would ever write her, a lost soldier willing to do his duty in the face of death, and hundreds of others who remained faithful through that difficult time.”

President Brigham Young declared: “The Mormon Battalion will be held in honorable remembrance to the latest generation; and I will prophesy that the children of those who have been in the army, in defense of their country, will grow up and bless their fathers for what they did at that time.”

Learning of these men has better prepared me for our trek. Their stories have given me the desire and strength to endure my own hardships. This is why I have shared these stories with you today, in hope of giving you the desire and strength you need to overcome your personal hardships.

President Gordon B. Hinckley said, “With so great an inheritance, we can do no less than our very best. Those who have gone before expect this of us. We have a mandate from the Lord.”

So, how do we live up to this mandate? How do we endure hardships and carry on? Hearing of the courage and strength of others helps, but what else is there to aid us through hardships and to carry us forth? I believe help lies with angels.
In the Book of Mormon, Mormon said to his son Moroni, who would one day be an angel: “Has the day of miracles ceased? Or have angels ceased to appear unto the children of men? Or has he withheld the power of the Holy Ghost from them? Or will he, so long as time shall last, or the earth shall stand, or there shall be one man upon the face thereof to be saved? Behold I say unto you, Nay; for…it is by faith that angels appear and minister unto men. … For behold, they are subject unto [Christ], to minister according to the word of his command, showing themselves unto them of strong faith and a firm mind in every form of godliness.”

Sisters, if we have faith and a firm mind, the Lord will send us his angels. That is not a small promise.

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, one of my favorite apostles, spoke of the angels Mormon teaches us about. He said, “Usually such beings are not seen. Sometimes they are. But seen or unseen they are always near. Most often [their purpose] is to comfort, to provide some form of merciful attention, guidance in difficult times. When in Lehi’s dream he found himself in a frightening place, “a dark and dreary waste,” as he described it, he was met by an angel, “a man … dressed in a white robe; … he spake unto me,” Lehi said, “and bade me follow him.” Lehi did follow him to safety and ultimately to the path of salvation.”

Elder Holland spoke of another type of angel as well. He said, “Not all angels are from the other side of the veil. Some of them we walk with and talk with—here, now, every day. Some of them reside in our own neighborhoods. Some of them gave birth to us, and in my case, one of them consented to marry me. Indeed heaven never seems closer than when we see the love of God manifested in the kindness and devotion of people so good and so pure that angelic is the only word that comes to mind.”

Sisters, we can be angels to one another. What a wonderful way to serve the Lord.
Elder Holland concluded his thoughts on angels by saying, “God never leaves us alone, never leaves us unaided in the challenges we face. On occasions … we may feel we are distanced from God, shut out from heaven, lost, alone in dark and dreary places. Often enough that distress can be our own making, but even then the Father of us all is watching and assisting. And always there are those angels who come and go all around us, seen and unseen, known and unknown, mortal and immortal.”

Doctrine and Covenants 84:88 says, “I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left … my Spirit shall be in your [heart,] and mine angels round about you, to bear you up.”

Sisters, in enduring hardships and carrying on, (in facing this road alone, pulling our handcarts,) I challenge all of us to remember those who have gone before. I challenge us to remember that we are not alone here on earth. And finally, I challenge us to remember the ultimate pioneer—Our Savior, Jesus Christ. Our prophet, President Thomas S. Monson said of the Savior, “His birth was foretold by the prophets of old. His entry upon the stage of life was announced by an angel. His life and ministry have transformed the world. One sentence from the book of Acts speaks volumes: Jesus ‘went about doing good … for God was with him’. (Acts 10:38) His mission, His ministry among men, His teachings of truth, His acts of mercy, His unwavering love for us prompts our gratitude and warms our hearts. Jesus Christ, Savior of the world—even the Son of God—was and is the ultimate pioneer, for He has gone before, showing all others the way to follow. May we ever follow Him.”"

Getting sick...

Later that second day, I had begun to feel rather exhausted. I must have looked it, because, before I really understood what was going on, a kind brother had whisked me into an air conditioned van to rest. After just a few minutes, of what I had thought was to be just rest, our nurse, Sister Quada, and the van owner himself, President Evans, a member of our stake presidency, had hopped into the van, and we were suddenly off to the "hospital." (The "hospital" was President Evans home.) I ended up staying at the "hospital" for five hours. My blood pressure had apparently dropped, (no wonder my fingers had felt so tingly,) and it didn't want to go back up. After a very cold shower, a lot of rest and some home made bread, my blood pressure returned to normal and I got to rejoin trek. It was quite the experience. One that still feels a little funny to me, because I really had thought I was fine when I was whisked into that van, just exhausted like everyone else was. I am grateful for those that noticed something was wrong when I didn't.

The storm...

The night of that second day ended up being a miraculous night. I don't use the word miraculous lightly here. Everyone had just gone to bed for the night, when the winds suddenly began to pick up. Soon after, we heard thunder in the distance. Mark and I had thought it would be best to get out of our tent and under our handcart, so we did so, along with the rest of our "family." (The winds were pretty strong and we were surrounded on all sides by thousands and thousands of trees.) About ten minutes later, President Evens walked through the grounds and directed everyone to return to their tents. Heavy rain was headed our way. We all were obedient and did so. In our tents we waited for the rain, but the it never came. The wind suddenly died down and the thunder stayed far in the distance. We laid down gratefully and went to sleep. We learned the next day that one the biggest storms in Virginia's history, outside of its hurricanes, had gone across the entire state as we peacefully slept, killing six people in its path. Our stake president, President Scott, testified of this miracle over the pulpit that day, telling us how he had sat nervously watching the weather radar the night before as the storm went over Virginia. (He himself had a daughter on trek.) He told us of his own personal prayer for our safety that night and then how he had watched the storm on his radar part right when it came to us and then reform after it had passed us. It truly was a miraculous night.

My new hope for Taylor and Spencer...

I've always held a small concern in the back of my mind for Taylor and Spencer. The world they live in is so evil. However, after spending a weekend with the incredibly diligent youth we have in our stake, after hearing their strong, unwavering testimonies, I no longer hold any concern. I have new hope for them. I know they will be fine. In fact, they will amazing.

As I've recorded just a few of our experiences, tears have rolled down my face. I can't help it. I am so overwhelmed by the love our Heavenly Father has for us. He took care of us in the heat. He testified to us through song. His angels were definitely among us. (One of those angels put me into an air conditioned van.) He showed us that miracles do still happen. I really am grateful Mark and I were asked to be a part of trek. It is an experience we will never forget.