The women & young women in our ward have started a Yahoo/Facebook Group called "Virtuous Living Challenge". We were challenged by our Stake Relief Society to complete the Personal Progress Virtue Value along with the Young Women in our ward - part of this is reading the Book of Mormon - so this is a place where we can share our testimonies of the Book of Mormon and daily "Ah, Ha!" moments as we read the scriptures. Riley posted this today & I thought I'd share:
I have been so blessed this summer to have been able to participate in all the church events and activities, especially the pioneer trek. This is overdue, but I'd like to bear my testimony about my experience on Pioneer Trek 2011. To begin with, the weather was not the best!! The rain definitely made the work more difficult, and the damp sleeping bags and soaking wet clothes weren't any fun either. On the second day of the trek, President Lance brought up an interesting point: When we prayed about trek, we prayed for the RIGHT weather, not for GOOD weather. I believe we were given the rain for a reason, and that reason was to challenge us, and to help the reality of what the pioneers suffered to come into better focus. Despite the difficulties we faced with the weather and with other things, the spirit was always with us, and always provided us with what we needed, and everyone almost always had a positive, happy attitude. Personally, the rain and the challenges with it strengthened my testimony a lot because I was able to understand with more clarity what the pioneers sacrificed and went through for our Church.
Lastly, I'd like to share with you all my experience on the Women's Pull. For those of you that don't know what it is, allow me to explain: it's a time on the trek where all the boys in your family stop pulling the handcart, leaving only the women to push and pull the handcart forward. It's to represent the time in the Martin and Willy company when all the men were too weak to push or pull, and the women and children were left to get their handcarts over Rocky Ridge, the hardest part of the trail west. This portion of the trek was also completely silent. At the time of our women's pull, I was in the front of the cart pulling the rope. Silently, my Pa came around to each of the boys, whispered something in their ears, and then solemnly pulled them off to the side of the trail to watch the women pull the cart alone. My first reaction: thats not fair!!! This load isn't light!! But then I realized that this was the women's pull. I looked back and saw one of my sisters struggling at the bar of the cart, and the look on her face showed that she was tired, and she couldn't push alone in that position much longer. I quickly ran back behind the bar to help her. I looked around at the rest of my sisters, and the struggled look on their faces broke my heart, and turned my thoughts to the actual Pioneer Women: what faith it must have taken them to push forward. Faith that even though their husbands were weak and sick, and that their loved ones were starving and dying, that Heavenly Father would provide, and everything would be ok. I can't imagine having to continue forward after the death of one of my children or my husband, and having to bury them in a small pile of snow on the side of the road. I can't fathom the faith it must have taken to leave behind everything to venture out into the wilderness for your love of the Gospel and for Jesus Christ. I have a new love for these brave, strong, and courageous women, and I can only hope that someday I might be as strong and faithful as they were. These thoughts were incredibly humbling to me, and my testimony of faith was strengthened.
I know that we need to have faith in our Heavenly Father that he will provide us with what we need, and that he will bless us with the strength to carry on. I know that he loves us, and that he is continually watching over us. I know that prayer is a sacred way to directly communicate with our Father, and that asking for answers with a broken heart and contrite spirit will strengthen our testimonies. I'm so grateful for my family and friends, and for all that I've been blessed with in my life. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Lastly, I'd like to share with you all my experience on the Women's Pull. For those of you that don't know what it is, allow me to explain: it's a time on the trek where all the boys in your family stop pulling the handcart, leaving only the women to push and pull the handcart forward. It's to represent the time in the Martin and Willy company when all the men were too weak to push or pull, and the women and children were left to get their handcarts over Rocky Ridge, the hardest part of the trail west. This portion of the trek was also completely silent. At the time of our women's pull, I was in the front of the cart pulling the rope. Silently, my Pa came around to each of the boys, whispered something in their ears, and then solemnly pulled them off to the side of the trail to watch the women pull the cart alone. My first reaction: thats not fair!!! This load isn't light!! But then I realized that this was the women's pull. I looked back and saw one of my sisters struggling at the bar of the cart, and the look on her face showed that she was tired, and she couldn't push alone in that position much longer. I quickly ran back behind the bar to help her. I looked around at the rest of my sisters, and the struggled look on their faces broke my heart, and turned my thoughts to the actual Pioneer Women: what faith it must have taken them to push forward. Faith that even though their husbands were weak and sick, and that their loved ones were starving and dying, that Heavenly Father would provide, and everything would be ok. I can't imagine having to continue forward after the death of one of my children or my husband, and having to bury them in a small pile of snow on the side of the road. I can't fathom the faith it must have taken to leave behind everything to venture out into the wilderness for your love of the Gospel and for Jesus Christ. I have a new love for these brave, strong, and courageous women, and I can only hope that someday I might be as strong and faithful as they were. These thoughts were incredibly humbling to me, and my testimony of faith was strengthened.
I know that we need to have faith in our Heavenly Father that he will provide us with what we need, and that he will bless us with the strength to carry on. I know that he loves us, and that he is continually watching over us. I know that prayer is a sacred way to directly communicate with our Father, and that asking for answers with a broken heart and contrite spirit will strengthen our testimonies. I'm so grateful for my family and friends, and for all that I've been blessed with in my life. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
2 comments:
That was beautiful, Riley. <3 These experiences are the building blocks to a firm faith and knowledge of the gospel. So proud of all that you've learned!
Wow...What a strong testimony! Thank you for taking the time to write about your awesome, inspiring experiences! It's so neat to have these real life experiences that teach us important lessons about the Gospel! Sounds like the trek was awesome! Way to go!!
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