This week has been crazy. So we decided that we needed to go up to one of the towns that we cover in one of our wards (Nutrioso) and got hopelessly lost before finaly calling our ward mission leader to come lead us to his home. Fun stuff. The area up there is incredibly beautiful and all of the seasonal residents are heading up there for the summer because they can't stand the 120 degree weather in the Valley. Right now I'm feeling a bit jet-lagged because we just finished trek and completed the 4 hour drive down to Scottsdale to drop off Sister Goodwin. Yep, she's going to Brazil! We had about an hour and a half from the time that we got back from trek to shower (we were disgustingly dirty and stinky) and then we were on our way to the Valley! But as for the trek itself, it was one of the most physically challenging things I think I've ever done! We started trekking on Friday and we didn't receive any food the entire day. We got water breaks every so often, but the trail was constantly going straight up and down and we covered around 12 miles. We pulled those handcarts from noon until 10pm with limited water and we didn't receive any food until after 10pm and it was a cup of broth and a roll. Yep, we did the true pioneer diet... ish.
We then set up camp and slept under the stars. The next morning we had blue corn mush (nasty stuff without sugar) for breakfast, but we did only about 3 miles and they gave us a roll and an orange for lunch. Yes, I have been told that I have an odd relationship with food, but that's how I remember things, so deal with it. On saturday, we made it to base camp and then we washed our hair in the creek, made molasses taffy and perafin wax candles, shot black powder rifles at targets (no worries, I just watched because I'm an obedient missionary) and THEN we had the opportunity.... NO. the PRIVELEGE of killing a chicken for our supper. It's actually not as bad as I thought it would be. I kind of want to do it again, except maybe let it's blood drain a bit longer before de-feathering it just so I don't get blood on my clothes... Anyway, we made chicken stew with it and sopapillas so it was a pretty good dinner. On Sunday we had preisthood/relief society and sunday school in the morning and then we were given our lunch (2 bags of beef jerky and an apple) and told to go have our "solo" time for 3 hours until the cannon "rang" for dinner. I realized during this time that I didn't have an incredibly strong testimony of God's will for us. I honestly have had a massive struggle with that for quite some time now and I had been letting that effect me negatively. It's always good to have some quiet time, away from the distractions of the world, to deeply ponder the questions in your heart. The most important lesson that I learned on trek is that God's will trumps ours EVERY TIME. I've been very prideful when it comes to figuring things out on my own without any help from anybody. This trek humbled me. It stripped me of my pride in my physical and spiritual strength. It brought me to the lowest spot I could be physically and mentally and then I was able to see that my pride was my fall. I didn't realize that my pride was hurting me until it was taken away. The hardest thing that I've ever had to do was watch my family struggle up those hills while I had to walk behind because I had been made physically unable to push that cart. God had to show me that pride causes us to fall. Pride in ourselves can cause us to overlook the spiritual needs of others or to ignore the promptings of the Holy Ghost. We are nothing. God has given us our talents, our likes and dislikes. He allows us to cultivate those talents, but they are ultimately his. I had to be compelled to be humble. Thank goodness I was able to recognnize that and to make the necessary changes to begin my spiritual progress again. This trek has changed my perspective and, therefore, has changed my life. Besides the fact that there were countless opportunities to share the Gospel and my testimony, this trek helped me truly love and respect others for how God sees them rather than how I see them. So, like I said, it was life-changing.
Today we finished the trek with ice cold water, watermelon and an air-conditioned drive home. Oh how we get to appreciate the simple things in life after not having them. On a positive note, I believe that my stomach has officially shrunk even more and I've grown a taste and a liking for fresh fruit and fry bread. Yep, they're pretty delicious. Oh! And one of our investigators that was on trek with us bore her testimony in front of the whole camp and wants to be baptized within the next month! And one of our investigators has moved back into town with her 5 kids, 3 of which want to be baptized, and we may still have a waptism coming up! The Lord blesses us when we put our lives in his hands. It may be the absolute scariest thing that we've ever done, but it is definitely worth it.
Love,
Steph
sorry there aren't any pics. I forgot my camera cord :)
We then set up camp and slept under the stars. The next morning we had blue corn mush (nasty stuff without sugar) for breakfast, but we did only about 3 miles and they gave us a roll and an orange for lunch. Yes, I have been told that I have an odd relationship with food, but that's how I remember things, so deal with it. On saturday, we made it to base camp and then we washed our hair in the creek, made molasses taffy and perafin wax candles, shot black powder rifles at targets (no worries, I just watched because I'm an obedient missionary) and THEN we had the opportunity.... NO. the PRIVELEGE of killing a chicken for our supper. It's actually not as bad as I thought it would be. I kind of want to do it again, except maybe let it's blood drain a bit longer before de-feathering it just so I don't get blood on my clothes... Anyway, we made chicken stew with it and sopapillas so it was a pretty good dinner. On Sunday we had preisthood/relief society and sunday school in the morning and then we were given our lunch (2 bags of beef jerky and an apple) and told to go have our "solo" time for 3 hours until the cannon "rang" for dinner. I realized during this time that I didn't have an incredibly strong testimony of God's will for us. I honestly have had a massive struggle with that for quite some time now and I had been letting that effect me negatively. It's always good to have some quiet time, away from the distractions of the world, to deeply ponder the questions in your heart. The most important lesson that I learned on trek is that God's will trumps ours EVERY TIME. I've been very prideful when it comes to figuring things out on my own without any help from anybody. This trek humbled me. It stripped me of my pride in my physical and spiritual strength. It brought me to the lowest spot I could be physically and mentally and then I was able to see that my pride was my fall. I didn't realize that my pride was hurting me until it was taken away. The hardest thing that I've ever had to do was watch my family struggle up those hills while I had to walk behind because I had been made physically unable to push that cart. God had to show me that pride causes us to fall. Pride in ourselves can cause us to overlook the spiritual needs of others or to ignore the promptings of the Holy Ghost. We are nothing. God has given us our talents, our likes and dislikes. He allows us to cultivate those talents, but they are ultimately his. I had to be compelled to be humble. Thank goodness I was able to recognnize that and to make the necessary changes to begin my spiritual progress again. This trek has changed my perspective and, therefore, has changed my life. Besides the fact that there were countless opportunities to share the Gospel and my testimony, this trek helped me truly love and respect others for how God sees them rather than how I see them. So, like I said, it was life-changing.
Today we finished the trek with ice cold water, watermelon and an air-conditioned drive home. Oh how we get to appreciate the simple things in life after not having them. On a positive note, I believe that my stomach has officially shrunk even more and I've grown a taste and a liking for fresh fruit and fry bread. Yep, they're pretty delicious. Oh! And one of our investigators that was on trek with us bore her testimony in front of the whole camp and wants to be baptized within the next month! And one of our investigators has moved back into town with her 5 kids, 3 of which want to be baptized, and we may still have a waptism coming up! The Lord blesses us when we put our lives in his hands. It may be the absolute scariest thing that we've ever done, but it is definitely worth it.
Love,
Steph
sorry there aren't any pics. I forgot my camera cord :)
No comments:
Post a Comment