Pioneer Trek - Day 4

      The final day of the Trek.  In continuing with the emotional roller coaster of a journey this one was definitely the topper!  I felt RELIEF for the end; SADNESS that it was over; JOY in all that we accomplished; GRATITUDE for the hard work and positive attitude everyone had; and a sense of PEACE that only the Spirit can bring.  I can't even begin to explain the sense of unity that was present among all 200 participants.  This was our last morning as Trek families and I was so impressed by the closeness I saw when I roamed through camp.  We had our final baby burial that morning and I was so relieved to find the situation, while special and positive, much more light-hearted than the previous one.  The Winkel's did a fantastic job playing out their loss.      

      After camp was taken down we had several activities going on: Stick pull, Tug-a-War and a Survivor-type activity that looked like an absolute blast!  Everyone seemed to have had a great time.  The picture below is of the Rickenbach trek family, the one I assigned myself to for meals and such.  One of the cool things they did as a family was to hold family scripture study at the base of the waterfall.  I am so sad that I missed out on this because I heard from several of them what a neat experience it was. This family was an absolute blast!  

      Then came Testimony Meeting; and our location for the meeting was incredible!  To the right of us was the lake and to the left, or behind us, was that 40' waterfall.  It was beautiful!!  Testimony Meeting for me was the icing on the cake.  Everyone shared such heartfelt stories and talked about the things they knew to be true.  To hear how this experience touched and influenced the lives of the youth was the largest reward I could have ever hoped for.  I heard boys make a commitment at that moment to serve a mission.  I heard promises to make home life easier and I heard lots and lots of gratitude for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  I am not entirely sure how long our meeting lasted, but I know I cried the entire time.  The Spirit was SO strong!  I will forever be influenced by the Spirit of this Trek.  I still have such an overwhelming sense of gratitude for all of the behind-the-scene workers who helped make everything come to fruition.  The last thing I'd like to share is about the rewards we are given in this life if we can stick out the not-so-fun parts.  The saying, "I never said life would be easy, I only said it would be worth it" is true.  That is how I felt about this Trek.  It was definitely not easy, but it was definitely worth it!