Trek 2021- A roller coaster of emotions.

November 05, 2021

Trek 2021- A roller coaster of emotions.

This is one of my more negative posts. I put off writing it because I wanted to be positive, but that is not how the entirety of trek was. Months of unhelpful prep, our ward's second couple getting ousted from being a ma and pa days before the trek, and really unhelpful coordinators made a lot of the trek really unpleasant. Yes, it rained and we were soaked. Yes, our bodies all ached. However all of those things can be remedied by kindness! And they can also be heightened by mocking and unkindness. So, with that said, welcome to Verity's trek experience, 2021.

TREK PREP

We got called to go on trek earlier this year. It was a big time commitment and since the closest family we have lives in San Tan, I really anticipated it being a difficult thing to start with. This didn't negate any excitement of my own to attend. Since my own trek more than a decade ago I've wanted to go back. I loved my trek. But once the meetings started, my enthusiasm started to wane indefinitely.

The coordinators of the mas and pas were unorganized to say the least. It was clear that this was not a new job to them and that in having done it so many times before, they didn't prepare any new information. They handed us notebooks on the first day of "training" and then for the next hour and a half read straight from the handmade manual. That was my first glimpse into training not being actual training.

We met on a monthly basis and each meeting ended up as a session of ragging on the trek. Again, this was my first one since being a teenager, and I was so excited to be there, but these meetings were quickly teaching me that there was going to be no support come trek from the coordinators. Most of the couples had been on 1, 2, 3, and even 4 treks, and they made it known that they didn't want to be there. They nearly begged to be released from the responsibility, but the coordinators would laugh and dismiss them. One thing our stake struggles with is not letting new people in. Why let a young couple be called to a ma and pa to go on a strenuous trek and have joy doing it when you can ask someone who's done it three times before!? I will never understand this mentality, and it's one of the things I struggle with most as a general observation. The same people get the same callings, over and over and over. I often tell Jake that it would be so beneficial to branch out. To ask people their strengths. Do you have time for this? Do you have a desire to serve in _____? I could talk about this for days. I could go on and on about how many of my own church callings get "okay'd" by my husband before they even ask me.

The monthly meetings continued to go late and be completely non-informational. Jake and I no longer went together because the entire meeting could be relayed in one minute. When Jake stopped coming so he could stay with the girls, I got told that if we couldn't both be there, we may not be able to go. This was a huge slap in the face. I told them we don't have family close by, and it's hard to find a sitter on a Sunday, and after being in meetings all day, my husband wants to stay with the kids. I got snubbed, but they allowed it, and my feeling was that they only moved on because they knew he was in the bishopric. Eye roll emoji inserted here. It was a popularity contest and they deemed HIM cool because his calling???

It was the final meeting/training and a week before trek. Again, no new information. They didn't tell us any pertinent information unless I asked several times. Where will we be? "You'll be safe" When will we get home? "Sometime that day." When I pressed that one they finally told us in the afternoon, and the only reason they did was because I wouldn't stop asking. How long will we go each day? "we can't tell you." It was so micromanaged. They wanted to keep it a secret from us, but I kept saying--We are the facilitators of this experience. It would be nice to know what to expect so we can prepare devotionals, etc. Nope. I came home from that meeting feeling so unprepared. I remembered things from my own trek like having a baby that passes, so I prepared scriptures based on that. I remember the first day being miserable and long so prepared devotionals to help us endure, but I couldn't even tell my babysitter a number to reach out to in case of emergency.

ACTUAL TREK

This is when the experience becomes positive. We woke early the morning of the trek. We accompanied our ward youth to the temple open house in Mesa. We got to talk about what they'd seen. And before we knew it, it was time to drive to Forest Lakes for the event.

Once we got there, it was show time. Jake and I got our stuff moved over to an area so the teens assigned to us would know where to go. We had two teens from our own ward, and then 3 more girls and 3 more boys. Our group was incredible. Our family name was Gardner, and Jake had us all shouting "Gardners, HOE!" whenever we started moving. Our family was strong mentally and physically. They handled each day so well. We had a great experience but we all were sore. When we pulled into camp with our handcart, it was already dark. We wanted to set up our tents, but the coordinators came out of nowhere to tell us we had to eat first. This meant we would be setting up tents in the pitch-black.

We ate a delicious meal, and truly ate like royalty the entire time. The stake presidency wanted the event to be about pioneers and not be focused on our own empty bellies. It was a great choice.

It started raining in the middle of the night that first day. We woke up to rain misting. As the morning progressed, we got our tents put away and the rest of our stuff loaded. We were the last of three groups to leave that morning. It rained the entire day. When the men went off to their devotional about the Mormon Battalion happened, the women did a handcart pull. The rain and mud and hail were pouring down our backs as we slipped up and down this mountain. Our Gardner girls were so determined and strong. They pulled as I pushed the entire time. We had to stop several times because we would get so close to other handcarts and nearly run into them! Finally I just shouted, let's go around them! And we did. haha! A big portion of the women's pull is when the men come back and help us, but by the time they got to us we were already up past the hardest part. I was so proud of our women. They did a really hard physical activity and stayed so positive.

We all got to camp in record time. I blame the rain. We all wanted to hustle! We got to camp and there was a break in the storm. Here is why I am so adamant now about setting up tents when we want. We SHOULD have set up our tents during that storm break. But again, the coordinators appear out of thin air and tell us we have to go down to the pioneer games area first. I say, no, we're going to set up camp while the rain is stopped. They say, "No. Go to the games. You cannot set up yet." And I regret so much that I complied. They said the rain was done for the night but I knew better. But I wanted to follow the rules. Despite me giving this long story from a negative spin, I had been positive up until now. The second I lost all positivity was when the rain started again an hour later and they told us to set up camp. In the pouring rain. The tents were all filled with water. They all were leaking. Everyone was soaked from head to toe. My Gardner kids didn't even know how to move. Jake had no clue what to do. I needed a minute to get dry. I wanted to put on dry socks and went to ask the coordinators if there was a dry place I could do that. They were sitting on rocking chairs, completely dry, underneath pop up shades. The woman started laughing maniacally and told me I could go to the portapotty and change. This is the moment I couldn't handle it anymore. She had nothing kind to say, no affirmation of "this is hard! you can do it!" It was just here laughing. I can still feel the fire I had in my soul when I asked if I could just change in her dry trailer. I hope to never forget it because it is testament to me that not everyone in "higher up" callings is there to help you. That's important for me to know. I put blind faith in people even when they show other colors, and need to learn to not do that.

Fast forward a few minutes. A camp jack came to my rescue. She held a blanket up for me in her tent to change into dry clothing. That simple kind act brought me to tears and then I couldn't stop. I was so frustrated with the coordinators. They touted throughout each meeting that if we needed anything we could ask them. They bragged that they would have diet sodas for everyone and candy. Bless my own heart for thinking that extended to just being a helpful sounding board. Anyway, after getting dry and crying for a good thirty minutes, I was ready to be useful. I went back to our camp, and had Jake assist me in emptying the tents of the inches of water in each one. One night one, we were all up late and having fun despite aches and pains, but this night I went to bed at 8 o'clock. hahahahah. I NEEDED A BREAK!

Morning three began with SUNSHINE. It was a short day back to our main camp and it was wonderful. We had great devotionals. I had the chance to talk with each of our teens and tell them thanks for their help the day prior. We had testimony meetings, and super lunch, and we all went home.

TREK TAKEAWAYS

There are better activities for youth. A few years ago, our area did an activity with double the attendance. I think trek turns off some youth who are not campers or don't feel physically capable. I wish it was more beloved. I truly love it. Though I will actively and loudly campaign for the coordinators we had to NOT be in that job next time, I'd absolutely go again, though I don't know if another one will happen.

The way information was withheld from us adult leaders was completely inappropriate. As facilitators of a YOUTH experience, we could have been given more information. We should have had an opportunity/training about how to pack the carts, how long we'd be going, how to manage different situations, etc.

If I ever go again, I will take responsibility for my own family, like I do for my real family. If my own family were camping and there was a break in the rain, I'd drop everything and set up camp then. Next time I will do that. I was blessed with intuition, and I won't disregard it in a situation like that again.

The food we had made the experience possible. One young woman told me she was bummed the food wasn't more realistic to an actual pioneer trek. She had hear from past treks that we ate broth, and a hard biscuit and wanted that experience herself. I am soooooooo glad we didn't do it that way. We were able to concentrate on the spirit in our lessons because we were properly fed. 10 out of 10.

I need a sibling of mine to move closer. I've never felt more jealous and sad to live far from family than during the months of prep for trek, and now it's something I think about regularly. I want cousin time on a regular basis.