{a pioneer trek...part 2}

I really appreciate Chris being the voice of reason sometimes and helping me not do something that is beyond my capabilities, but this time I just was not going to budge.  Chris really thought I should not go on this trek because of my health.  He was worried because many times the heat and any kind of arduous labor really flare up my asthma.  I wanted to go so bad and really thought that Heavenly Father would make it possible for me to do this with my children.  I brought my nebulizer and was on a higher dosage of medicine and was going foward with faith.  We were also concerned for Eliza.  She is very sensitive to the sun and burns really easily.  I never saw anyone else putting sunscreen on their kids during the trek, but I was dosing Eliza every 20 to thirty minutes.  It was really hard to tell because she was beet red all up and down her arms and on her face the whole time. 

I cannot say that this trek was necessarily spiritual.

  It was so hard that all I could think about was putting one foot in front of the other and pushing and pulling and carrying Eliza and giving both kids lots of water and sunscreen and holding Henry's hand and holding other kids and.....etc.

I did get a very good sense of how difficult it was for the pioneers and their children.  We walked for about 4 1/2 hours and they walked for months.  

All of the kids did very well the first part of the trek.  It was very rocky and there was difficult terrain so it was mostly tiring for the adults.  As we continued walking in the blazing sun (100 degrees and 96% humidity) the kids started to wilt.  I heard no complaining and they just kept walking.  Eliza needed to be held most of the time.  I honestly thought my back was not going to make it.  There were two young men with my handcart and sometimes they would take turns carrying her without me asking.  She also rode in the handcart for little stretches.  My asthma was great!  I had to stop and get my breath sometimes but no major attack.  Henry was amazing but he was actually the one that ended up getting over heated.  He told me he had to go to the bathroom so I took him to the side of the forest.  It ended up not being number one.  His body was just getting rid of everything.  All I had with me was my apron so I just did the best I could. 
We ended up being left behind.

Henry could barely walk at this point.  I tried carrying him for little stretches, but I could barely stay on my feet.  As we walked over the hill and I saw our group sitting together at the end of the trail my heart lept.

There was something very poignant about being the last one to arrive... holding my sick child's hand as we walked the last steps to "zion".  This is when the spirit hit me hard.  A young man that was with our handcart had already started out to get us.  He picked up Henry like a little baby and Henry laid his head on his strong shoulder.  We were met with cheers from everyone else.

I am not sure I would do this again with small children...I am just not sure, BUT...
it really was incredible to see so many people help others.  Older children helped little children.  Mothers with older children helped mothers with younger children.  Women were sometimes carrying their own children, but often were seen carrying someone else's child and sometimes both.  The few men that were there were everywhere helping everyone.  It was really amazing.  Henry really did have a great experience.  He even got to hold a pretend rifle to hunt for buffalo and scare off wild animals.  He told me that he had fun and had lots of energy at the beginning of the trek but he was very tired at the end.:)

 Eliza was...Eliza.  When we got back to camp she was everywhere.  While I tried to get our tent set up she kept walking down to another part of camp (far away) to be with some other little girls.  She would not sit still to eat and almost fell off a cliff, got into poison ivy, and succeeded to burn her fingers on the dutch oven.  Thank heavens we had a nurse.  She was exhausted but it took hours for her to fall asleep and once she did she would wake up and want to play.  It was not fun.  I do not think we will go camping again this year because I am not sure I can keep her alive.  I did not even get to eat my dinner because I could not sit down and just let her wander.

All in all I learned so much about myself and my children and the pioneers.  We have really NO idea how hard it was for them and how much faith and courage and strength they had to dig down deep and find.  The hardest thing had to be watching their children suffer and not be able to ease them from it fully.  Eliza got to a point where she was just miserable and kind of whimpering and it was heartbreaking...The mothers who walked across the plains inspire me.  I want to have that much faith and determination in my own life and want to help my children have it.  Sometimes I think it is okay and maybe even great to have our children experience something really difficult.

The gospel is true!
 It was the gospel of Jesus Christ burning bright inside of them that got them through and it will be that same fire that will get us and our children through this life with our faith strong and our eyes on heaven.

to be continued...