Weekend Outing Encouraged Young Adults To Journey Forward With Faith, Virtue & Confidence

By Shannon Hicks

More than 150 young adults participated in a Mormon Pioneer Trek in Goshen earlier this month, including many from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Newtown. The weekendlong event saw participants ranging from 14 to 18 years of age, along with approximately 50 adult chaperones, spending three days at Mohawk State Park in Goshen. They reenacted travels that their forefathers undertook and lived as their ancestors did. Attendees came from Newtown, Brookfield, Bethel, Danbury and Ridgefield — most of them members of the Newtown church on Saw Mill Road — as well as New Fairfield, New Canaan, Stamford, and even from Duchess and Putnam Counties in New York.

The youth, said Sue Wutzke, a member of the Newtown church and the mother of two of the trek’s participants, prepared for the trek by hearing stories of their forefathers and of those who trekked west during the 19th Century to escape religious persecution, the first of whom arrived in Salt Lake City in 1847.

They were also taught about the Prophet Joseph Smith, the founder of The Church of Jesus Christ, who had a vision that the saints would go to the Rocky Mountains, and of Brigham Young, who prepared his people for the historic trek.

They also heard the story entitled “The Angels of God Were There,” in which an old exhausted pioneer said, “I have looked back many times to see who was pushing my cart, but my eyes saw no one. I knew then that the angels of God were there.”

In planning for and then participating in the event, the young adults expected to gain stronger testimonies of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, learn to appreciate their pioneer heritage, increase their self worth, learn to appreciate their own family more, and learn to love their trek family and gain new friends. The theme of the weekend was “Trek Forward with Faith, Virtue & Confidence.”

To participate in the weekend, the youth dressed and ate as their pioneering ancestors did. One of the few concessions of the weekend was that they were allowed to carry in sleeping bags. They slept in lean-tos that they had constructed, however, and there were no electronics allowed. It was a weekend without laptops, cellphones, and even cameras (aside from a handful of people who were given permission to bring cameras into the village to document the weekend).

Beginning In A Downpour

As many of the participants arrived at the park for the 4 pm start, they were greeted by a torrential downpour that soaked clothing and many supplies, but also broke the heat of the day. Once everyone was accounted for, the “pioneers” were divided into ten different families, averaging 15 people in each. Each family had an appointed Ma and Pa, the married adult chaperones. Gary and Penny Hutchison of Newtown oversaw the weekend; their sons, David and Thomas, were among the pioneers.

Each “family” was given a handcart, and the belongings of each family were piled onto the handcart. Participants had been told to pack a sleeping back and nothing more than what would fit into a five-gallon bucket. When it was time to hit the trail, the men and boys pulled the handcarts and the women and girls pushed the carts.

“We pulled and pushed those handcarts from Friday around 4 pm to Saturday morning around 1 am,” said Tamarra Kemsley. “Between those hours we had short and sparsely placed water breaks, and during the night around 11 we stopped for an extended amount of time for a devotional.”

The devotional was given by a member of Tamarra’s stake (the church’s regional group), and it was told from the first-person point of view of a man who left his family on the plains to answer the call of the US government to fight in the Spanish American War. It turned out, said Tamarra, that the man telling the story was the great-great-grandson of the man whose story was being shared, and the storyteller was carrying his ancestor’s rifle.

After the devotional the trek resumed toward camp, with the group traveling silently.

“During the silent haul,” said Tamarra, “only the women were allowed to push in reflection of the many women who pulled their families across the plains alone because of the war. It was an experience I’ve never had, to see such compassion from men, and such determination in a group of girls ages 14–18.”

Upon reaching camp, the group had a little more food: a roll and chicken broth.

“Hardly enough after all that we did,” said Tamarra. “But that was the point, and that struck a sympathetic chord amongst us kids as we realized slightly what it was like to live off the rations the early pioneers did.”

Saturday’s weather was much calmer than the Friday rainstorm that started the weekend, and the young pioneers spent their time playing games, “simple ones reflecting those of the pioneers,” said Tamarra.

Reenactments

During the day there were reenactments of mob and Indian attacks and plenty of family time with songs, games, dancing, stories and testimonies, according to Mrs Wutzke whose daughters, Lauren and Megan, were among those participating in the weekend.

The day’s events led to an evening hoedown and Family Night. It was during the gathering on Saturday night, when the young adults discussed the trails they blaze as the few members of their church in their respective high schools, that Tamarra came to a realization.

“That night the truthfulness of this, my calling — not to pull a handcart, or to be driven from my home by [actors playing] angry mobs — to stand up for what I believe in, in a place and time where it may not always be popular and never easy, came upon me with greater clarity than I’ve ever experienced.

“I have ancestors who did cross the plains as pioneers, and not only do I feel a strengthened bond with them, but I realize now that I continue to carry the legacy that they started when they joined the church,” she continued. “My challenges are different but real all the same.”

The pioneers did not have a change of clothing for their weekend, nor did they have full bathroom facilities. “Just outhouses infested with more species of bug than a rainforest,” said Tamarra.

Even with such challenges, there was little grumbling, she said.

“There were few complaints, more like poking fun at our situation, and quiet reflection on the reality of what the pioneers faced,” she said.

Megan Whitmore, age 18, was also affected by the events of the weekend.

“I didn’t really think about what it was going to be like before I left on the trek, but I just knew I wanted to go because I figured it would be a good experience,” she said. “As I trekked with my peers, I realized that I had never given enough credit to the early pioneers and what they did for our generation.

“It was hard at times, pulling the handcart over the big rocks and through the mud, getting dirty and tired, but still having to press forward,” she added. “There was no use in complaining, because everyone was in it together and there was no stopping until we reached our final destination. My Ma and Pa, brothers and sisters and I would sing and laugh together to make the journey a little less burdensome.”

After two days at camp, Sunday arrived and with it the final testimony meeting. That meeting ran for three hours and at its conclusion it was time to hitch up the handcarts and return to the real world. Parents and siblings were waiting in a parking lot for the pioneers, and they were waving white handkerchiefs to assimilate the families waiting for their relatives in Salt Lake City many years ago.

“Our families were all waiting, lined up, waving white handkerchiefs,” said Tamarra. “It was a little embarrassing — we hadn’t showered in days and they were dressed like normal people of the 21st Century while we were sweaty and decked in pioneer garb but [it was also] so tender to look out and see family and friends awaiting our arrival.”

Physical struggles aside, the girls finished the weekend with more informed views of their ancestors and a stronger faith in their church.

“It was an enlightening experience,” said Tamarra. “It was also a time of bonding, perhaps because of our struggle together and the coming together of each family that was necessary to survive the trek. Maybe because of the nature and spirit of the weekend. Probably both.

“In the end it was a wonderful time away from iPods, overbooked weekends, stress of finals, and makeup, and a time to bond with each other and our Heavenly Father in the quiet beauty of nature. It was a blast.”