Closing Trek Devotional

Closing Devotional for the Trek - EVERYONE is invited!

August 16, 2009 at 6:00pm at the Stake Center...

We'll have a speaker, a DVD presentation and testimonies...

111 Days to the Cove

So I dug up the items that I buried...

I had to dig in two spots as I forgot where they were buried. Remember we buried them back in April! They were all still there and perfectly fine, nothing was damaged or water logged.

I read the note I had written about what I wanted to get out of going on the trek. What I got and what I wanted to get weren't really that different. It was a great experience!

I hope you all take the time to write down your experiences either in your trek journal or your personal journal. I know that when you read them again you will feel the spirit and remember those feelings you had on the trek.

111 Days to the Cove

Final Week #17...

A little over a year ago, my husband and I visited Nauvoo. As we walked through the Old Pioneer Cemetery searching for the grave of an ancestor, I was touched by the peaceful solitude and spirit I felt. I wept as my heart was turned to our forefathers, many of whom had joined the Church and come to Nauvoo. In my mind I asked many questions: Why did they leave their comfortable homes and families? Why did they suffer persecution, sickness, even death? Why did they sacrifice all that they had to come to this place and build a temple? They hardly had shelter, and yet they were building a temple! Why did they do it? And when the temple was nearly completed, how could they leave it behind? As I sat silently contemplating this scene, the answer came forcefully yet so softly to my mind and heart: “ We did this for you.”
Elaine S. Dalton, “We Did This for You,” Ensign, Nov. 2004,89

1) Drive by the temple. Think about what the pioneers sacrificed for you and for our religion.

2) Snuggle up in a quilt. Record your experiences from the trek. Write down your blessings.

On July 24th dig up your container. Do the things inside mean the same to you? Reread the answers you wrote to why you went on the trek, what you wanted to learn and would the trek change you? Would you answer them differently today? Does the fire burn in you? Jeremiah 20:9 ….”but His word was in mine heart as a burning fire”. Commit yourself to being …”an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity”. (1 Timothy 4:12)

111 Days to the Cove

Week #16

Place a rock in the shoes you are wearing on the trek. Take a walk. Ponder how it must have been for the pioneers as they traveled through so many hardships and so many miles with only the shoes on their feet. Think of what “ Faith in Every Footstep” means to you.


Try on your pioneer clothing. Look at yourself in the mirror and imagine yourself as the person who you are going on the trek for. Read the story of the person you are going on the trek for.


Push somebody around in a wheel barrow for 11.1 minutes.



Go on the trek - July 15,16,17!!!

Trek

Tomorrow is the big day! Remember that tonight you have to have to buckets and belongings to the stake center to be loaded in the trucks. Please be at the stake center tomorrow morning at 5:00am, yep A.M.! we will have a devotional, get you in the families that you belong to and off we go to Martin's Cove. You will want to make sure you pack a sack lunch because we won't eat as a group until dinner tomorrow night. So include some wholesome snacks and a good size lunch. You will need a water bottle and I would suggest something with a clip so you don't have to carry it all the time.

We are about to have a life changing experience! Let us be worthy of it!!!!

See you in the morning!

Love,
Sister Browning

Ma and Pa Information

Dear Ma’s & Pa’s

We are down to the final days before our Trek experience. We wanted to leave you with some reminders as you finalize your preparations.

· Sunday announcements in YM/YW:

o Sack lunches: Everyone will need one for the bus ride.

o Shoes-make sure they are good hiking shoes.

· Devotionals:

o Thursday morning before the Martin’s Cove Experience.

o Friday morning before the Rock Creek Experience.

o Sometime before Thursday night let your family members see and hold one of the bags of flour and help them understand this was how much each person was allotted so they will be familiar with it when they receive their own bag.

o Thursday night they need to have their bandannas with them. They are a part of the devotional.

o · Reminders:

o Arrive at the Stake Center at 5:00 a.m. Wednesday.

o Ma’s & Pa’s are not limited to 17 lbs and do not have to use a bucket.

o Whatever we pack in we have to pack out. Decide as a family how you will control garbage.

o Remind them to use the bathroom just before they leave home Wednesday morning. The bathrooms in the Stake Center are being remodeled.

o Pa’s, consecrated oil would be a good thing to bring.

o Pack a hammer to put in tent stakes.

o Each Ma & Pa needs to bring one chest cooler big enough to store all of your family’s sack lunches prepared by the stake for Thursday.

o Each Ma & Pa needs to bring two water coolers to carry in your family handcart.

o Make sure your family members are drinking lots of water.

o Wednesday morning double check the shoes they are wearing. Make sure they are good hiking shoes.

o Bus Activities will be provided by the youth committee. Bring a few of your own if you so choose.

o Contact your aunts & uncles, visit with them, and let them help you. If you do not know who your aunts and uncles are, please contact Tim Smith.

Tents:

Here is a copy of an email from quartermaster, Troy Karren:

Head Ma's and Pa's,

I have had calls about large tents recently. We need to clarify some details. For example, if we had someone supply a large 8 person tent or bigger this would not be very feasible. We will only have approximately 6 to 8 youth in each family. If someone supplied an 8 person tent we would have alot of wasted space and become tent short. Let me explain. Each family will have approximately 3 or 4 boys or girls depending on the family. Thus we would use (roughly) two 4 person tents for that family to house the boys and the girls. If we had and 8 person tent supplied we would only be able to 1/2 of the tent for this family of girls or boys thus wasting 1/2 the tent space making us short for someone else. The best tent size for this activity is 3 and 4 person tents respectively. (6 person tents would be the maximum size but not preferred.)

We will not be combining families in tent spaces so we really need these sizes of tents please. Adults will not sleep in the same tents as the youth. Adults will sleep in their own. YM will sleep in their own. YW will sleep in their own. These are the things that we talked about in our general meeting on June 6th. We will appreciate your help in being prepared with the guidelines explained above. Please adjust accordingly if you need to and once again thanks for your help.

Quartermaster staff

· Loading Schedules: Here is a copy of the schedule from Tim Smith:

Ward and estimated number going Drop off and check time

Lewiston 1st -- 30 5:30-5:50

Lewiston 2nd -- 32 5:50-6:10

Lewiston 3rd -- 42 6:10-6:30

Lewiston 4th -- 44 6:30-6:50

Cherry Creek -- 52 6:50-7:10

Cove -- 37 7:10-7:30

City Creek -- 31 7:30-7:50

Richmond 1st -- 27 7:50-8:10

Richmond 2nd -- 18 8:10-8:30

Richmond 3rd -- 40 8:30-8:50

Richmond 4th -- 31 8:50-9:10

NC SA -- 13 9:10-9:30

The estimated number of those in each ward will change as we get closer to our youth conference. Don't be alarmed if you know that the number shown does not reflect the accurate number of those going from your ward. These are the numbers we worked from on 5/9/09.

· Independence Rock:

o After the bus turns north at Rawlins, Wyoming you have 45 minutes to an hour before arrival at Independence Rock. Please gather your family together and prepare them for what they are about to experience.

o Consider a family picture below or on top of Independence Rock.

· Most Importantly:

o Have fun with your family

o Follow the Spirit.

Thank you for all you have done and will do for this experience! You will be blessed.

Please feel free to call us if you have any questions. If we don’t know the answer to your question(s) we will find one.

Sincerely,

Brooks & Sally Tarbet (258-5348)

Lyle & Kimberly Allen (258-3601)

111 Days to the Cove

Week #15

Humbly kneel and ask your Heavenly Father for you to have a spiritual experience on the trek.


Think about a family member or friend who has died and write in your journal about how that person influenced you.


Make Hard Tack.
Hardtack was a staple food for the traveling pioneers.
1 Lb. Wheat flour
2 Tbls. Water
Salt- optional
Mix and roll flat. Poke holes in it. Bake for 1 hr. at 300º . Bite carefully, it is very hard

111 Days to the Cove

Week #14

Ask a grandparent how things have changed from when they were your age and record it.


Make a list and put together what you would take if you had to travel across the plains, not exceeding 17 lbs and reflect on those things you would be leaving behind. Now reflect on those things most important to you.


Write your thoughts on what it means to “Bridge the Gap” between you and your ancestors.

111 Days to the Cove

Week #13

June 27, 1844
“A mob marching from nearby Warsaw to Carthage on 27 June 1844 sang: “Where now is the Prophet Joseph? Where now is the Prophet Joseph? Safe in Carthage jail!” From the east bedroom in the second story of the jail, Joseph, Hyrum, and two members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, John Taylor and Willard Richards, watched the mob arrive. Around 5 o’clock in the afternoon, Elder Richards saw a hundred or more men running around the corner of the jail. Elder Taylor described them as “an armed mob - painted black”. They easily overpowered the jailer, rushed up the stairs, and began shooting into the room. Despite their initial attempts to protect themselves, those in the bedroom were no match for the mob.
Hyrum was the first to fall. Bending over the body of his lifeless brother, Joseph cried out, “Oh dear, brother Hyrum!” As the Prophet moved toward the window, two bullets hit him from the doorway and two struck him from outside. As he fell from the window to the ground below, he exclaimed, “O Lord my God!” (Encyclopedia of Latter-day Saint History, Garr, Cannon, Cowan)

Read D&C 135 and write your feelings about the Prophet Joseph Smith

Imagine what it must have been like to live in Nauvoo and hear about the events of Carthage jail. What would have been your reaction? Think of the Prophets that have led the Church in your lifetime. What characteristics do you admire about them? How can you be an example to others as the Prophets have been to you?

Find a quiet secluded place and pray out loud to your Heavenly Father. Ask Him to help you always to be true to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, that same Gospel that our dear Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum and many others have given their lives for.

Trek Activity

June 18th at 6:00pm

Come join us at the Stake Center for an evening of fun and uplifting activities. This will be a great activity that will help you get ready for the trek in 32 days! Please come and join us. You don't need to wear your pioneer clothes, but you should be prepared for some pioneer fun. If you have selected someone to walk with, please be prepared to share that name. There will be an opportunity - activity for you to write this name on a leather wrist band!

Come and let's "trek" together!