Pioneer children sang as they Trekked and Trekked and Trekked and Trekked…

My husband is going on *Treck. Alone. Without me.

Yee-haw!

I’ll be honest, the thought of tromping around the prairie for three days and three nights without the convenience of lipstick or a bath, all the while chaperoning a few hundred horny teenagers without any manufactured entertainment to ocupy their little addled minds, kind of makes me woozy.

And the thing is, I know people who would kill to go on Trek. Apparently getting picked as a ward Ma and Pa is considered a high-currency calling around here. My girlfriend will spend this next week in mourning due to her husband’s newly booted broken leg. (They were supposed to be a Ma and Pa, then he fractured his leg. He wanted to wait until after Trek to get the boot. His doc said that would be fine, as long as he was okay with having a “real” pioneer experience. Tricia offered to just put him down if it got too bad, but he decided to stay home in the end.)

So my good, sweet, overworked husband has been slaving away collecting tin cans and suspenders for his journey into the unknown. To be honest, Trek is kind of like EFY in pioneer garb, minus the ra-ra cheers and plus 50 miles of walking. Again, have I mentioned that I don’t have to go?

Personally, I can feel the Spirit just fine from my living room, without the mosquitos and the rain ponchos. Hey, I wasn’t saved for the latter days for nothing.

*Trek is a three day excursion where the Mormon youth head into the wilderness, dressed in pioneer clothes, and pull handcarts over a really long distance. It’s designed to help them appreciate how good they’ve got it, while creating lasting friendships and gaining a better understanding of the Gospel and the sacrifices so many have made to make it available for us. Also for torture.


Comments

  1. I too have carefully avoided going on these lovely Trek’s.

  2. AMEN sista’. I bet the our ancestors are looking down on us perplexed, because I certainly don’t get it.

  3. I never went on one of those—I think my ward and stake did a couple…and somehow I magically missed out:)

  4. I agree with you on the torture idea. I don’t think that I could possibly imagine anything worse!

  5. I only have gone once in my life. Really, why would I want to try to live like the pioneers? I am perfectly content with my cell phone.

  6. zstitches says:

    My friend went on the re-enactment they did for — what was it, the sesquecentennial? I haven’t heard all the details of her trip but I did hear a story where some unknown thing bit her in the night and her face swelled up to twice its size. Also, she met her husband on the trip. Which would make you feel pretty confident that your husband loved you for your true self.

  7. Okay…our stake tried a shortened version (how far can a big group get from “tree hugging” Califorians?) The reinactment did not turn out well. While everyone as trying to be sad burying their babies (dolls) and try and feel the emotional and deep sorrow of real grief, a group of mountain bikers slowly inched by. The puzzled looks of the bike-riders thinking like
    “strange ritualistic Mormons” sent my daughter into laughing hyterically…she alone wrecked the trek. My middle daughter and her husband were her “parents” and the more reprimanding they were, my daughter laughed harder…she takes after her mother. The whole trek went “south” from there. She regrets what happened…(whew) but, then says, “Mom, you should’ve seen those biker’s faces!” Sorry Bree.

    Great post…yeee…aah, I’m through camping, but if I have to walk to Zion, I just hope I’m visiting my daughter in Arkansas. lymi

  8. Michelle says:

    Aren’t you glad we did the stay-in-dormitories style EFY? I mean, if I’m only getting 2 hours of sleep, it’s going to be in a real bed.

    But it kinda sounds fun. Like Running a marathon, or natural childbirth- just to say you did it would be fun…

  9. I think I have to agree with you. We were born for these times, I wouldn’t handle it well either.
    I just spent a week at girl’s camp, but at Heber Valley Camp even our past prophet Pres. Hinckley knew how much girls need a toilet, shower and sink, not to mention beds. That was a very tolerable week.

  10. I never had to do it, probably as a teenager I would have thought it was AMAZING. But as an adult, I’ve moved past those silly feelings…ha ha haha?…hmmm

  11. One of my favorite sayings is: A smart man learnes from his mistakes and a wise man learns from the mistakes of others. My point is that I don’t have to experience the pain and suffering that our forefathers endured to appreciate what they sacrificed for us. Yeah! If I’m going to suffer like that I’ll get on “Survivor” and least try to get some cash out of it.

    BTW, I am one of the fortunate ones that gets to be a “Priesthood Holder,” for 24 hours at YW camp next week. Yippee!!!!

  12. I’d do it if I had to. Really, really had to.

  13. annie valentine says:

    Okay, I dropped Jason off this morning (I wrote this post yesterday) and I have to admit, it was hard to leave him. It made me want to come home and watch Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.

  14. Torture….pure torture. Our pioneer predecessors were awesome!!! I am a wimp! ( I worked over time so I wouldn’t have to go to girl’s camp. ) I’m going to hell. True story.

  15. Ahhhh, Annie…I’ve missed you and your beautiful entries. You always..ALWAYS..put a smile on my face whenever I read your blog. I’ve been caught up in “Chloe’s Clips Caos”! I’m thankful for my business pick up, but I’ve totally neglected my regulars: cleaning house, doing laundry, reading Annie, playing with kids, spending time with hubby, reading Annie at 2 am. Good times, good times.

  16. We think that roughing it means the cable goes out at the Holiday Inn.

    I’ve been on Trek before and I always come home looking like Shrek!

  17. I’ve often wonderedwhat my pioneer ancestors think of us going through what they did voluntarily and for fun. It seems a little disrespectful to me.

  18. Doesn’t anyone learn from merely singing the Pioneer Children song in Primary? I was always tired and depressed after I finished the last, “…and walked.” Good luck to him and great job getting out of it.

  19. That “saved for the latter days” thing really just made me smile and smile! Ah…indoor plumbing, my fridge, central-air…