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IGNITE THE FIRE WITHIN

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The Gilbert Highland West Stake quadrennial handcart reenactment trek took place May 25th through May 27th, 2016 on the Mogollon rim north of Forest Lakes. Though the event lasted three days, the preparations began nearly a year prior with the calling of Brett and Tiffany Quackenbush, Jason and Traci Barney, and Paul and Kara Kelly as the Trek Presidency. Under the leadership of our Stake Presidency, additional callings were extended to committee chairpersons over everything needed to successfully carry out such a challenging task. Monthly meetings at the Quackenbush home of all fourteen committee chairpersons and many committee members, as well as members of the Stake High Council, and Stake Young Men’s and Young Women’s presidencies began in January. From those planning sessions, training was planned and carried out for the many trek “Ma” and “Pas” called by the Bishops in each ward.

A trek “kick off fireside” was held on April 10th for all the stake youth aged 14 and older. At the fireside the youth were introduced to our trek song composed by Jason Barney. Additionally trek youth training took place on May 4th, and included square dance instruction. Even after having been involved in similar large scale efforts, the scope of the planning and preparation for a project like this never quite ceases to amaze.

On the morning of the 25th, the youth met early at the Stake Center to board the buses. Though departing on time, we soon learned that US 87, the Beeline Highway, was closed south of Sunflower, which required the rerouting of all buses save one, through Globe, past Roosevelt Lake, back onto the 87, on to Payson, and then Forest Lakes.

In spite of the delayed arrival youth and their leaders responded well, quickly organizing and packing their handcarts and were in good spirits after instructions from the trek leadership. The long caravan was soon on underway, with each ward in turn having the opportunity to lead the train under the direction of our excellent trail boss, Dave Dickson and his two assistants, Rick Durfee, and Garrett Blackwell. Excitement and enthusiasm were high though there was some trepidation as well as for nearly all of the youth this was a new experience..

After walking 6.8 miles we stopped at our base camp and proceeded to play games and activities. The base camp was set up like a small village with booths erected and decorated as various storefronts. There was a candy store and produce store with watermelon, popcorn, even an adoption center with infant baby dolls to be carried by the trek families to “Zion” over the next two days. Many played games such as stick pull.

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This continued for over an hour with near universal youth participation. A delicious dinner was promptly served, prepared by the food committee headed by Mike and Cheri Toolson. (The efforts of the food committee really were extraordinary: 600 meals served within 30 minutes, always beginning within 5 minutes of the scheduled time. The meals were prepared on site, fresh and delicious.)

After the games and dinner the youth enjoyed square dancing with a live square dancing band atop a trailer stage in a large meadow. A large number of youth participated in this form of dance with which most were not familiar other than the earlier training and occasional youth activity. Thereafter our Stake

Presidency delivered short talks regarding the continual existence of adversity in our lives as well as in the lives of the pioneers, as well as the necessity of meeting that adversity with faith and devotion. At the conclusion of Second Counselor in the Stake Presidency Mark Turley’s brief remarks, a twelve member “mob” on horseback carrying artificially lit torches entered the meadow and demanded the Mormons’ departure. This was performed with just the right amount of pretended malice so the youth responded appropriately and without resistance. There was excitement and the beginnings of an increased understanding of what it must have been like to be an early Latter-day Saint and driven from camp or perhaps a home in Nauvoo.

The handcarts had not yet been unpacked from the day’s journey so the youth were able to respond promptly and begin their journey to the day’s ultimate destination two miles away. The last quarter mile was a shortcut through the woods and the route was lit by glow sticks hung from the trees and adult leaders assisting by speaking words of encouragement and direction. As they arrived at the new camp, a recording of a bagpipe playing hymns could be heard from some distance and was comforting. The youth were exemplary in attitude and were efficient in setting up their tents in the dark.

Back at basecamp, the food crew arose at 3:30am the following morning and prepared 750 breakfast burritos and delivered them to the youth two miles away within three hours. Upon arising the youth rolled up their tents and packed their handcarts once again and began the journey north on a level forest road for four miles until they turned east onto a rougher and steeper road. After a thirty minute break the youth began their descent into Joe’s Canyon. Upon reaching the bottom they stopped and heard inspirational remarks from President Turley who spoke of adversity in his life, primarily the challenge for he and his mother upon his father’s passing when he was 12 years old. One stake trek leader expressed later that President Turley’s remarks were turning point in the entire activity, when it changed in the hearts and minds of the youth from being primarily the excitement of camping and the joy and challenges of being outdoors to a spiritual activity with deeper meaning.

Thereafter the young men and young women split up with the young women staying at the bottom of the hill the end men going up to the top for separate spiritual messages. The Stake Young Women’s Presidency spoke of challenges and the spiritual tools the young women have to meet them. Sister Ashley Whiting spoke of her grandmother who passed on while Sister Whiting was still quite young. Additionally, Sister Whiting was one of forty grandchildren had had sometimes felt that she had not had the opportunity to come to know

her beloved grandmother as well as her older siblings and cousins, and certainly not as well as she desired. However, not long ago as she as a young mother was dealing with the struggles of daily life, she distinctly heard her grandmother say, “I am so proud of you!” To Sister Whiting’s grateful surprise and amazement this experience was repeated several days later. This was a source of great joy and satisfaction to realize that her grandmother still lives, is aware of her circumstances, loves her dearly, and was watching over her, even though she had died many years earlier. This experience was especially important because a few days after the second incident she was faced with a major challenge in her life. The experience of just a few days before was a source of strength to her. She has addressed this challenge and has had many occasions to reflect on the strength given by her grandmother’s love and concern even beyond the veil. Sister Deb Kempton then spoke on how each of us had spiritual gifts and character traits that help us meet the challenges of our life. Sister Kempton said hers was “determination.” Strips of white cloth and felt markers were distributed to each of the young women and their leaders and they were each requested to write on the cloth their spiritual gift or character trait that helps him respond to adversity and is a source of strength for them. The young women then wrote things like “faithful”, “determined”, “caring”, or “optimist” on the cloth and tied it around waist or arm, and wore it the remainder of the day. Separately, the young men were taught by Stake Young Men President Derrick Dickerson discussed the importance of looking to others that are making good decisions, recognized the 4-5 young men who had received their mission calls. They then discussed the importance of supporting, honoring, and respecting womanhood, the special abilities of young women, as well as the need for these future husbands and fathers to lead and not be a spiritual drag or anchor in their marriages and families.

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Then came one of the highlights of the trek experience--the women’s pull. This portion of the trek experience represents the efforts of our pioneer sisters to come west in 1846-47 when their husbands responded to the call of the U.S. government to join the army in the fight against Mexico. The sisters gathered in their family without the assistance of their brothers to push and pull the carts up the rough road of Joe’s Canyon for approximately 1/3 of a mile. The nature of the challenge was evident on the faces the young women as they began the effort with a running start and some apprehension. The young men lined the uphill road with hats off in silence as they witnessed their struggles and recognized their strengths, and when signaled, joined back on the carts to help finish the uphill climb.

The true impact of this experience was only evident in the testimonies shared by the youth that evening. The testifying young women consistently spoke of the challenge of the pull and their appreciation for the previous and anticipated future efforts of their priesthood brothers. They felt the concern of their brothers as they watched silently encouraging them forward. They knew that their brothers would help them if they could, and expressed gratitude with the speed, energy and purpose to which the young men responded when they were given the signal but they could join again. Sisters reported that they felt respected and appreciated, and that they in turn felt respect, appreciation and admiration for their brothers. One comment was made that experience made it “...apparent that women need men and men need women, and only together can we go forward.” During the same testimony meeting several of the young men responded and testified how hard it was to watch the women struggling and not be able to help and how they gained a new appreciation for their determination and effort and how anxious they were to promptly respond and jump to their assistance when they were again permitted to do so.

We continued up the canyon until we arrived for lunch which the youth had brought and packed that morning. Afterward, we continued until we returned at the base camp. After more games and another delicious dinner, we gathered in the meadow for a meeting highlighted by remarks by First Counselor in the Stake Presidency Brandon Ogden and Stake President Daniel Barker speaking of the existence of adversity in our lives. President Barker used the example of the severe challenges in the lives of Elders Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball when they left their ill family members to begin their first mission to England.

Prior to their remarks there was a touching program where various stake members played the parts of individuals and families from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and gave brief accounts of their lives, their spouses and children, and their hopes for the completion of their temple work. Previous to this the names of these deceased individuals and their families had been passed out at random to members of the audience. At the conclusion of each story the speaker would ask whether anybody in the audience had found their name. In most instances a member of the audience would stand and state they had found them and had their name. As a youth in the audience would speak up and acknowledge they had it, the speaker would express gratitude for having been located so their temple work could now be completed. A couple names had perhaps not been distributed or at least the youth we’re not aware that they had the name.

In these instances those playing the part left the stage sadly, knowing they had to continue to await their redemption. This portion of the program was touching and one could sense that the names the youth find and take to the temple are real people with real stories of triumph and hardship and are indeed eternally grateful for our efforts on their behalf.

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Thereafter each ward had a testimony meeting around a campfire. This of course was a highlight as the youth recounted the challenges and joys, lesson learned, and spiritual impressions felt. As mentioned above, the experience of the women’s pull played an important part in the minds of the youth as they bore their testimonies of the Gospel. The youth then went to bed and the camp was quiet

The following morning after breakfast, we gathered for ward and stake pictures of all persons present and then began our journey’s final leg, four miles back to our starting point. As the hand carts arrived, they were accompanied by a Mormon Tabernacle recording of the hymn “The Spirit of God”. Also there to meet them was a replica of the Gilbert Temple built by Brother Eric Cassinat. The youth had been driven from the temple, then representing the Nauvoo Temple, the first night, only to arrive at the Gilbert Temple at their journey’s end. Thereafter we had brief remarks by President Barker on how their experience of the past three days was a small taste of the pioneer experience, relating the distances involved to something they might be familiar with: the distance from Gilbert to San Diego.

The weather was perfect and unseasonably cool with daytime highs in the mid-sixties and overnight lows in the mid-thirties. There were breezes and intermittent clouds that provided just the right mixture of sun and shade. At night we enjoyed the canopy of the Milky Way and in morning the song of an Oriole. We had very little interference or interaction with other campers even though we were approaching the Memorial Day weekend. In many ways it was a remarkable experience both for the simulation of the efforts and faith of our handcart forbearers, as well as by the sights, sounds and sensations that were much the same: from the creaking wood of the handcart boxes, the chatter of youth, the scraping sound of metal wheels on rocks, and the small puffs of dust created by the fine tendrils of dirt overlapping the tops of the wheels only to roll off continuously. Of course, adding authenticity were the

sights and sounds of the whinnying horses being ridden by the trail bosses and the braying of the mules pulling the medic wagon. Especially inspiring was when we would come to a long dip in the trail and from the back one could see the entire length of the long procession of 500 working hard in a common endeavor, and enjoying it.

Several Bishops reported satisfaction and gratitude for the tender mercies of the Lord in the assignment of certain youth to that special Ma and Pa that could best relate to them. They then knew that their prayers had been answered and inspiration received. There also reports of youth who wished to depart early but of course could not and were, by journey’s end grateful they had persevered. At least once a recently ordained Elder, soon to leave on his mission, was voice for a blessing, thus receiving vital training in the Priesthood. Several non-member youth also participated, were warmly welcomed, and fit right in as if they had been part of the ward family for years.

On Sunday May 29th the Wards each had a follow up meeting overview of the handcart experience in the third hour of their meeting block. Some wards also had their Sacrament meeting devoted to a report on the trek experience.

Of course the experience was successful in large measure because of the sacrifice and contribution of approximately 200 adults who assisted in so many ways from transportation, photography and video, food, activities, equipment, sanitation, sound and lighting, music, medical needs, livestock, social media, website, communications, clothing and of course each “Ma and Pa”. From these and many others there were thousands of acts of service and kindness that invited the Spirit of the Lord that was felt by so many. Though they and their contributions cannot all be named, all are appreciated, from the obvious and highly visible to the inspired encouraging word expressed to an anxious youth that only the two of them and the Lord know about.

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OUR STAKE PRESIDENT, DANIEL A. BARKER CONCLUDES THIS ACCOUNT:

I loved the Trek! Where else can you see the hand of the Lord so clearly in shaping the lives of both youth

and adult alike? The temple comes to mind, and this was and is an experience that was akin to that for me.

We walked and pushed/pulled handcarts for about three days and covered about 20 miles. We left shortly

after school ended and were back in our beds three days later. If we were doing a trek that was similar in

length to the Pioneers, we would have left when we did, and gotten back about three weeks after school

started, walking all through the summer.

And yet even though we got just a taste of it, we did get a taste. There were 316 youth that signed up for the

trek, and I had the privilege of talking with everyone who came. I would typically ask, “So what does this

make you think about the Pioneers?” The responses give you a feel for what they learned: “This is hard!

They were tough?” A single mom doing what I have been doing, while bringing her kids along? That would

be so hard.” They had faith” “Imagine doing this in the snow!” “They had physically hard challenges.

We have challenges that are equally hard, but they aren’t physical ones.” The most common response

was some combination of amazement at the faith and capacity of the pioneers and a realization that

our Heavenly Father wants us to have those same attributes in our lives.

I am so grateful for each adult that worked so hard to make this possible and for each youth that

participated and made it worth doing. I know that lives were blessed, testimonies grew, and faith was

strengthened. We became, and will keep becoming, Pioneer Strong, because of this marvelous experience.

My thanks to the Lord, each adult and each youth!

President Daniel A. Barker

Gilbert Arizona Highland West Stake

July 31, 2016