Youth Conference July 2009

With the realization that I have neglected my blog for so long I have denied myself, family, and friends the recording of what we have been up to. One of these events was Youth Conference in July 2009. Normally Todd and I would not be at Youth Conference with any of our children. July 2009 was different, we had the opportunity to attend because the youth did a Trek. Todd and I went as Aunt and Uncle for one of the organized families "The Bauer Family".

Trek was an awesome experience. Kierstie was the only one of our children able to attend and was assigned to another family. Cozy wanted to go but was not yet fourteen. It was neat to watch Kierstie associate with others from the stake while on Trek which is different than Girls Camp.

The spirit felt while attending Trek was amazing. When we first began our walk we quickly started assending up hills and I thought to myself "what have I gotten myself into" and began to doubt if I would be able to enjoy the experience. I have been out of shape and discouraged with physical activity. I used to climb mountains all the time and have come to realize I am not physically fit for mountain climbing anymore and take it very slow and easy when hiking or other things of the same nature. This was no different, but I could tell very early on that this experience was not going to be easy.

The hardest part of the trek was the womens pull. All the men were called off to war. The women were left to push and pull the carts alone. We later learned that the men could see us the entire time (unlike our ancestors) and wanted so bad to come back down the mountain and assist us.
I didn't make it like I had hoped. I had an asthma attack during the pull up the mountain and had to sit on a rock for awhile. I was crying which isn't easy to do when you can't even breathe. To top it off, I do not, or I should say have never been diagnosed with asthma but the medical staff and guide with us told me this is what was happening to me. After about fifteen minutes or so when I had my breath back and went and helped another handcart finish to the top thus finishing the womens pull. It felt so good to finish and to have the greater testimony that our ancestors had many months traveling over the plains to Utah.

I will be forever greatful of this experience and glad I could share it with Todd, the youth from the stake, and the family we were assigned "Bauer Family".