Trek 2018

last week jevan and i got to participate in trek.

its a 40km walk that spans over 3 and a half days,

dressing up as pioneers, living out of a bucket, pushing a handcart,

making your own food and putting up and putting down a tarp each night to make a tent.

it sounds CRAZY when you write it all down

but it was one of the best experiences i have ever been able to participate in.

still almost a week later i get teary thinking about it

and i'm not an emotional person.

we were in charge of 9 kids who become our "trek children"

and we became their trek "ma and pa."

i love each of them some what ridiculously.

in the lead up jevan and i participated in "ma and pa" trainings.

and i thought this would be easy.

it's basically like taking care of church kids for 3 days.

but it was super tough, tougher than i had ever anticipated.

my first lesson i learnt was that

trek is a bit like labour

- noone can prepare you for it.

to write about the whole trek would take up pages and pages

and as i look back on this experience,

i don't think i could put my feelings down in words.

i know that everyone who was there felt what i feel

but if you weren't i couldn't describe it to you.

i understood what the whole gospel is about.

support, hard work and love.

the women's pull would have to be my all time favourite moment of trek.

i loved it,

it was empowering

and too see women go up and then come back down to help the others

was just the act of pure love and support.

we were the McArthur Family.

that name will always hold a special place in my heart from now until forever.

we walked with our kids, we pushed with our kids,

we played games with our kids, we got frustrated at our kids,

we laughed with our kids, we walked down a canyon with our kids,

we stood in freezing water with our kids, we cried with our kids

but most of all we loved our kids.

they were amazing and i think they don't see how amazing they truly are.

i never realised how many distractions we have in life,

until i did trek.

i don't actually need a phone, or a computer, or a big house, or lots of clothes to truely be happy.

i just need a bucket, a handcart, two tarps, a dutch oven (with people bringing me food supples), 3 changed of clothes and my family to be happy.

trek broke me a couple of times,

balling hysterically in jevans shoulder and a couple of reassuring comments 

was all i needed to wipe my face and keep on going.

jevan was amazing on trek.

i don't think i have ever been more grateful for him in our whole entire married years

than i was for him on trek.

he was my rock

and i always knew he was there.

seeing him try his best made me want to try my best.

not many people know this but i struggle in the church sometimes

and trek was exactly what i needed.

i know it was for the youth but i think Heavenly Father knew that i needed it just as much.

i've never felt the confidence that i feel to this day

and i owe it to trek.

putting yourself out their in situations that make you sick

are sometimes the moments in your life that you need the most.

i know heavenly father loves me, i know he is there,

i know jesus christ died for me and you.

i know the book of mormon is true.

i know that joseph smith restored the gospel.

francis webster sums up my thoughts the best,

"The price we paid to become acquainted with God was a privilege to pay and I am thankful that I was privileged to come in the Baulkham Hills Stake Handcart Company."