Trek

Olivia and Dave have just returned from the Franklin Stake Trek that the young men and young women ages 14+. From the momen Olivia heard about it she was insistant that she was NOT going to participate. I am finding one thing out about Olivia, and that is that the unknown makes her very nervous. If it is out of her comfort zone she is headstrong enough to refuse to do it. In many ways this is a great qulity, however it also can be an inhibitor to experiences that she might enjoy. We tried convince her that she would be fine going because Dave also had been asked to go. He was going to be serving as part of the equipment staff with the rest of the Stake Young Men's Presidency. Even up to the moment Olivia was dropped off at the church she was dragging her heels. It was pretty tough for me to insist on her going when I could see in her eyes how truly bad she did not want to participate. As soon as she left I started praying that the experience she had would soften her heart and help her feel the spirit as she had a small taste of the sacrifices our ancestors endured.

Many times during the four days that they were gone I would find myself wondering what they were experiencing at that moment. I will always remember the moment Olivia walked in the back door the day she returned home. It was not the returning moment I envisioned where she ran into the house and proclaimed she had had the most spiritual, uplifting, fun time of her life at all. Instead she walked in the house and with tears in her eyes told me how tired she was and I could tell the experience was close to what she had expected. When she had had time to shower and rest we sat down and talked about what had happened. She told me about how uncomfortable she had been in her family, but how they had had fun times together. She talked of the moments when she felt the spirit throughout the four days. However, even with the positive that took place she firmly stated she would never participate again in the trek. The same evening we had a cookout at the farm with friends and family. Olivia was sitting at the table with a cousin that had also been on the trek. As I watched and listened to them talk of their experiences I realized that even though the story of not-good times had been shared with me hours before, Olivia had had fun and grown from what she experienced. As her and Dylan sat across from each other and laughed about different things that happened and shared their feelings about the women's pull, I was thankful that my daughter had participated.

Dave shared his feelings with me as well and said that he kind of felt like as equipment help that he missed out on a lot of the spiritual times. He said he found himself thinking often of the sacrifices that had been made so the gospel could grow. He also was greatful he was there to share the moments with Olivia. 

Kind of like Olivia, I haven't ever had a desire to go on the trek. In fact, each time they are starting to talk about going I start hoping I don't get asked. However, as I watched Olivia interact and share stories with Dylan, and listened to others talk of the experiences they had a small part of me wondered what it would be like to have that experience.