By Kylea McMurray
Moapa Valley Progress
Submitted Mar. 5, 2008
Local youth from all over Moapa Valley attended the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS) Youth Conference over the weekend of February 29-March 1. This annual event was open to all youth aged 14 to 18, and is designed to provide a growing experience for youth.
This year’s conference was a Pioneer Trek through an area in the Moapa Valley commonly called the Narrows. The overnight handcart hike through the desert provided an opportunity for the youth to experience a small taste of pioneer life as they worked hard to cook meals, push handcarts and build fires without modern day conveniences.
More than 200 youth participated in the conference. They were soon divided up into handcart “families” of about 10, each presided over by a set of “grandparents,” or adult leaders. These families were then divided into three companies of about 10 handcarts each. Each company has their own set of situations and trials, but all the companies met for meals, and to set up camp.
It was up to each family to build their own fire, cook their own dinners and set up their own sleeping arrangements on Friday night. After cooking on an open fire, all of the youth enjoyed pioneer games and dances before turning in to get some sleep on the cold ground.
The youth rose early in the morning and got back on the trail. The day was filled with huge hills, sandy trails and undergrowth, but the handcart companies pushed on and faced all kinds of terrain. Each company also took some time beside the trail to play pioneer games.
In addition to the natural challenges provided by the trail, the youth were also given “Situation Cards,” that detailed something that had happened to them. Situations like “One of the grandparents in your family was bitten by a rattlesnake and must ride in the handcart,” and “You are running out of food and three of the young men in your family need to leave and go hunt for food,” provided for challenging experiences.
The youth also had to cross a river with their carts, they were required to shoot a target in order to get food for lunch, and they had to take good care of their “babies,” which were small flour filled dolls.
For many of the young women, the hardest part of the trek came on Saturday afternoon. As the entire camp was finishing their meager lunch rations, Tony Terry, dressed in his authentic turn of the century Army Uniform rode into camp. He requested that all of the young men join the Mormon Battalion. The Mormon Battalion was a group of 500 Mormon pioneers who were asked to enlist to help fight in the war with Mexico. All of the young men, and most of the male leaders enlisted and walked away from the camp, leaving all of the handcarts with the young women.
The next part of the trail was one of the most difficult that the youth had faced yet, and it included two steep hills. The girls soon discovered that each family couldn’t make it up the hills on their own without the help of the young men. They had to help each other up the hill, and then come back down to help get more carts up. Many of the girls pushed three and four handcarts up each of the grueling inclines.
Finally, after many challenges, situations and a lot of walking and pushing, the modern day pioneers made it to the end of their trail on Saturday evening. They all met together for the last time to hear closing remarks from their leaders.
“We had four goals on this trek,” said Monte Bledsoe, a member of the LDS Stake Presidency. “We wanted to create an atmosphere where youth could feel the spirit, we wanted to help share the gospel, increase testimony and increase the unity and love among the youth in our Stake.”
Many of the leaders of the stake felt like the conference met those goals.
“This Youth Conference was a success,” said LDS Stake Young Men’s President Corey Dalley. “We really accomplished our goals, and you youth did a great job.”
“It was inspiring to see how valiant these youth were in the face of challenges,” said LDS Stake Young Women’s President Suzy Bennett. “The true pioneer spirit shone through today.”
