treking

i went on a practice pioneer trek for ma's and pa's. my ward (single adults) are going in september and i get to be a ma! luckily, september won't be nearly as hot as this past weekend was. we had two girls get a bit of heat stroke. the really cool thing about our ward's trek was that instead of having a women's pull (typical event on trek) we had a men's pull (something our ward probably needs). we pulled handcarts up hill for about 5 miles total. near the end, we were put on silent mode and then the women were pulled off, leaving the men to do two hills on their own. the women would go ahead and pull rocks out of the way or put rocks behind the wheels when they paused. some women just silently said prayers for the men. when we all stopped some women massaged the men or offered them water or jerky. i just focused on being in my place in my space and in my own spiritual state. sometimes i try so hard to do everything and worry about others that i don't just reflect on where i am and what i should be doing. i did some praying and reflecting and mostly was grateful i didn't have to help pull the carts up those hills. i've had the ox cart song stuck in my head all week - "creeaaak creeaaak creeaak creeaak, is their song." it gets annoying to me and those around me. i didn't sleep at all the one night we were out there. my brain wouldn't shut up. i was comfortable and it was a nice night and i was definitely tired, but i couldn't fall asleep. i wrote in my journal around 3:30 and then took a walk around 4:30. it was nice to walk around in the dark in my pajamas and not have anything to worry about. i like nature. i like the spiritual growth and the group unity that comes from doing activities like the trek. i am grateful for good faithful people who are willing to put the time and energy into organizing such events. i'm really grateful that i don't have to go again until september.