We experienced many miracles throughout the week. Some were undeniable for everyone to see. Others were the quiet ones that happen in individual lives. One miracle in our life was the simple fact that Steve was able to walk every step of the trek. About a year ago he hurt his ankle. It simple was not getting better and he was very concerned about it. The doctor tried to treat it with medication, but that didn't work. He received a blessing from our boys and that helped some, but he was still concerned. About 6 weeks ago he started seeing a Chiropractor and he helped a lot, but it was still a concern. The leaders told him he would ride in the medical wagon if it got too bad, but of course he didn't want to do that. He got himself a couple of ski polls, had more prayers and took the first step. Each night he would put an ice pack on it and the next morning he would start out again. He usually brought up the rear of our little family, but he walked every step of the way and it wasn't too bad...even over the rough spots. He went up and down hills, over swampy marshes and over lots of dusty, uneven ground; but, he made it. After we got home, then his ankle started hurting, but on the trek it didn't feel too bad. That was one of the quiet miracles although there were many that noticed he made it.
The biggest miracle was the miracle of the storm. It occurred on our second day out. We had trekked hard that day by pulling all the hand carts up a very steep hill with a huge rope. It was tricky and hard work. Then because we took a very long time to do that we had to make up time so we set out making our own trail to cut off a few miles. The ground was very uneven and full of lots of dry, strickery bushes. The girls got scratches on their legs. After we got into camp we just wanted to rest a while so we didn't bother to set up camp yet. Just a few tarps for shade. Before long we heard the bell to gather. We started an activity our leaders had planned. While we were in the middle of the activity, one of the leaders broke in and told us we had about 20 minutes to quickly set up camp and secure everything in site. A big storm was headed directly at us with golfball size hail and winds gusting up to 70 mph. We immediately ran to our campsites to set up. We could see the sky darkening and the wind was picking up. We staked our tents down and gathered anything and everything that was loose and put it in a tent. They rang the bell again for us to gather. This time our leader told us that as they watched the storm on radar on their phones they could see the storm split right in two and move around us. The wind died down and we never so much as felt a drop of rain, let alone any hail. After it passed us it came together again and continued on it destructive way. We heard of roads getting washed away and damage by the hail, but nothing touched us. We could see it all around us. We saw the hand of God watch over His children. It was awesome. With that setting, we continued on with our activity which was the most spiritual activity of the week. We knew our Heavenly Father was with us.
The next day we had to cross a swampy area. The families worked together and came up with a plan to simply bend over the reeds over an area to make a little flat area that the carts could cross on. As several crossed they would add more reeds to fill it up again. It worked pretty slick. The missionary that runs the farm said we were the first group to every figure out a way cross without having to bring in extra stuff to make a bridge of sorts. That was pretty cool. Our activity that night was a blindfolded maze that taught us how to rely on the Holy Ghost to guide us and that He is always just a Prayer away.
The last full day was fairly emotional. We were all tired and drained. After getting a little lost and having to turn around a "mob" showed up to haul away our leader, but not before he issued a mission call to all our brethren. So before we knew it all our men were gone and we still had to get our carts up a steep hill. We gathered as women in our families and prayed and sang songs. We invoked the help of those ancestors we were carrying around our necks, the ones we were rescuing. Then we gathered all our strength and started up the hill. The first bit was a big dip and then a long, steady incline to the top of the hill. We had only 5 girls to each cart. To get over the dip we had a few girls help with both carts. I was on the lead cart and when we hit the dip, I fell. Thankfully the cart did NOT run over me and I was not hurt. I didn't think there was anyway we would be able to get out of the dip so we could continue on up the hill. We grabbed the handle and started pushing. Our ancestors were truly helping us, because it felt like we are on level ground. We pushed it right out with no problems. The boys said we made it up the hill much faster then they ever imagined. We all had spiritual help for that one. That afternoon we made it to Zion. It was lush and green and cool and shady and wonderful!!!!!
