"Taumafai": Trek -- Day 2 (My favorite day)

SO . . . SORE.

I love nothing more than massages, so, like any good Ma looking out for her chillin's, I offered much-needed back rubs. (Dan promptly vetoed the boys who misunderstood that my offer was to the girls only!) I did slightly have a personal agenda, knowing that the Woman's Pull would be first thing. I needed my girls' muscles warmed up and limber!

Trent and Dan's relationship cracked me up the whole trip. Think "Ogre and Donkey" from Shrek.

The call for men to join the Mormon Battalion!

Good-bye- boys! Everyone except Bishops were asked to leave all of us women behind.

A passionate farewell! (Staged. Totally staged. This "go-getter" husband of mine quickly walked away when they asked for the men, not even looking over his shoulder to say bye to me! "Grandma" insisted that he come back and kiss me good-bye. . . so I showed him and gave him a big ol' public smooch. But we do look so in love, don't we?

The rocky climb itself was just off of our campsite so we ran into it pretty quickly. I don't remember saying or talking much . . . just digging into the ground and shoving against the back of that handcart as hard as I could, wanting to contribute all my strength to help my girls. I also did not hear one complaint. Not a single one. Love my girls!

It was blazing hot and quite steep. We took breaks often, watching some ladies from the top of the pack scurry back down to help other handcarts that were struggling. Compared to the trek I went on when I was 14, this hill wasn't too bad, despite major red-faced huffing and puffing. Don't get me wrong, it was tough. But it was less than half-a-mile and I felt like we could have pushed further if we had to.

Fortunately, we didn't. As we reached one of the steepest inclines, we saw the men lined up along the trail in front of us, hats off and hands over their hearts as we passed them by. I saw a glimpse of Dan and the boys up the way, but I was staring at the ground as I huffed and pushed. I didn't realize they'd be joining us so soon, so when one of my boys appeared almost out of nowhere beside me, I felt the instantaneous relief but was too tired and out of breath to say anything. When I glanced at the front of the cart, I smiled to see Dan and James leading the way as usual.

When the boys/men were taken from us, one of the stake leaders spoke to them about priesthood duty and how they need to live their lives in a manner that prepares them to hold the priesthood in their families. The stake leader told the boys to watch our demeanor when they joined us and to notice the change in our countenance, and to see how their presence significantly bolsters us.

It was true. Not only was there a physical difference, but emotionally I was so relieved to have us all together again and it was quite touching. There was also added motivation that we could do anything now that our efforts were combined and we were together again. I believe that's true in a healthy family setting.

Love this picture of the couple helping one another.

We took a break soon after the boys joined us in preparation for the next 2 miles that would simulate "Rocky Ridge", where the blood of pioneers literally left trails from their broken feet. As all of us sat together, resting under the shade, adults took turns sharing Pioneer history about family members and friends sacrificing their lives to help one another. Incredible. Absoluately incredble, and quite impactful for all who listened.

We didn't realize just how close we were to the Grand Canyon until we were asked to take a short detour to the edge of the mountain. I haven't seen the Grand Canyon since I was a young girl -- and only understood now as an adult that it was formed from the Colorado river carving through it for millions of years. It's times like this where I wish I could rewind time and watch it flash forward, seeing the most amazing creations come to be.

Here, the stake president spoke to us about sacrifice and what the Pioneers sacrificed to bring the gospel to Utah -- for us, and how the way we live our lives is indebted to them. He also asked us to think about what we are willing to sacrifice now in our time.

Today's trek was a total of 8 miles, 5 miles less than scheduled because of the increased miles the day before. Again, we seemed to be mislead on "just how far" we had left to go and the ease of the trail, (and there were times where we really felt "done" and pushing the handcarts was becoming drudgery) but we just tried to joke about it, accept it, and keep singing and telling stories! Unlike the Pioneers, we knew we had warm bedding and an abundance of warm food cooking for us each meal.

As day 2 came to an end, following more vignettes and teaching moments, we entered camp with plenty of time to spare before dark. We set up camp ("we" as in the boys and Dan), relaxed a bit, and then Dan and I lead a fireside -- which, from the sounds of it, became one of the favorite parts of trek.

I lead off by involving the kids in one of my RT tasks called the "helium stick". It was a bit impromptu, given I didn't have my specific equipment, but we made use of the broomstick from one of the flags. I had the kids stand across from each other, holding out their index finger and middle fingers on each hand. Like so:

I told them two rules: #1: they must keep their fingers on the stick, and #2: They simply needed to lower the stick to the ground.

As you might be able to tell from their expressions and body position, this turned out more difficult than anticpated. As I let go of the stick, it seemed to rise up in the air, despite all the kids trying their best to bring it to the ground.

After multiple failed attempts, they asked me what I did to the stick! I took the stick and threw it to the ground where gravity promptly did its work and it fell flat. I said, "I didn't do anything to the stick. You guys did everything to that stick."

The trick to the "helium stick" is that everyone's collect efforts to hold the stick up created more upwards pressure than the weight of the broomstick -- giving it the appearance of "floating". We talked about how, even when we try not to do anything, we can make an impact on people. What they do -- what we all do -- effects other people, through behavior, attitude, the things we say or participate in . . .

We then asked the kids to go around the circle and mention what is hard about being a teenager now, particularly in Las Vegas. Drugs, LDS friends falling away, language . . . it doesn't sound too far off from when I was in high school, yet I'm sure the intensity and severity of it all continues to increase. I shared from my personal experience of how, as a sophomore and "new kid" at ISB in Thailand, I wanted so badly to fit in, to have friends. So I went dancing at clubs, hung around the alcohol and smoking, the innappropriate language and conversation topics . . . While I never felt tempted to participate in breaking the word of wisdom in the slightest, I didn't realize until a year later how low my spirituality was sinking and how self-absorbed I was becoming with centering my life on friends, my boyfriend, and becoming crankier to my family.

Junior year I made a decision with two other LDS friends that I would not go out on weekends and be around that kind of atmosphere where the Holy Ghost could not be present. That year felt different for me as I grew spiritually in my youth. Senior year, due to varying circumstances, I ended up alone on the "pact" I'd made, sacrificing the type of celebration I might have imagined for my prom, graduation, senior trip, etc. However, despite these short-lived sacrifices that made me feel a bit alone socially, I told my pioneer youth that I at the end of high school, I was prepared to attend BYU and be where I needed to be and know what I wanted, so that when I found the right man, I recognized him and was worthy of him. Small sacrifices (though seemingly huge at the time) lead me in the right direction.

Dan lead the remainder of the fireside, talking about how Satan is attacking us at all angles, particularly the youth, and how, more than ever, perserverance is required to defeat the adversary. Dan then told them the meaning of "Taumafai" (which had been our "word of the day" from that morning), which is "to keep trying, to perservere" and ultimately, bring God into your trials and rely on Him and Jesus Christ. He talked about his mission and the Samoan's singing each hymn like a prayer, and how Dan memorized them so he could sing with the heart of a Samoan.

I stepped in to talk about why Taumafai was so significant in our lives, and how we started singing Taumafai while holding Ty's body in the hospital room, bringing the Spirit we needed to carry us through such devastation.

There at the fireside, Dan then sang all three verses of Taumafai, while I joined in on the chorus. The Spirit was strong, and there were tears from many of us and the youth. The evening was special to be together and share in love and testimony like that.

*Whew! Ok, onto the rest of the evenings activities!