Ma and Pa LeBaron

This past weekend Ronnie and I had the opportunity to be a pioneer trek Ma and Pa in our stake. Though it's been in the planning stages for months, we were called the week before the trek and had to scramble (though gladly) to get all of our stuff together. In the end though, it all worked out and we had a fabulous time :)
The trek took place in the Kaibab national forest, where we pulled hand carts loaded with our "luggage" in gunny sacks. We were parents to nine kids, ranging in age from 14 to 18. It sounds a bit crazy, but we came to absolutely love those kids in just three days! They were great!
When we got to the trailhead on Thursday morning, to our dismay, there was still snow on the ground and the car thermostat read 34 degrees! Ah! I hate being cold! Once we started going though, it warmed up quite a bit and I ended up with a sunburn on my nose and neck :( We went nine miles that day and after a little fireside (literally), we settled down for a chilly night under the stars. Well, at about 3 o clock in the morning, one of my daughters shook me from my trans...since I couldn't really get to sleep... She was sleeping in a cloth sleeping bag and it had soaked through from the frost that had settled on it. She said she was passed the point of shivering and had been laying there convulsing for the past hour! Poor girl! So after sitting there for a while, not knowing what the heck to do, we decided to go wake one of the Priesthood leaders and ask to sleep in his truck. We found a brother and eventually woke him up, then we slept in the cab of his truck. Worst night of sleep ever. Period. I'm not trying to complain, just trying to illustrate how COLD it was, that we were silly and only had one blanket each, and that hard leather is REALLY difficult to get comfortable on top of.
Needless to say, as soon as the sun came up, we jumped out of that truck and headed for the fire. After breakfast, we were informed that the brethren were being called off to war and that the women would have to pull the handcarts by themselves, and the Ma's would not be allowed to help. The trail started out easy enough, but soon turned in to a gargantuan, rocky hill. The girls began to struggle and all we (the men and the Ma's) could do was watch and silently encourage them. There were many times when I thought they would lose it and the cart would come crashing down the hill, but they dug in and kept pushing. When other girls made it to the top, they sprinted back down the hill to help their sisters make it. Eventually, the young men were allowed to remove bags from the cart to lighten the load, and that seemed to help. After a mile and half of pure up hill, they reached the top. It was truly an inspiring experience.
Now that I've written an unintentional novel, I'll draw this blog to a close. It was incredible to be a part of this trek, to feel the strength of the youth, and to feel my testimony grow.