Communication:
Prior to Trek, if you have any questions please don't hesitate to call someone on the Trek Committee. You can find our contact information on the Contact Info page of this website.
While on Trek, the "Trail Bosses" will be in charge of all activities while participating on Trek. We will have radios for general communication while on the trail. Trail bosses, ecclesiastical leaders, company captains, and all medical staff will have a radio. If you need to communicate any emergency or other information please find one of these individuals while on the trail.
Tips & Tricks for Ma's and Pa's:
You will be setting the tone of the Trek Experience for our youth. YOU ARE KEY!!! The success of our collective experience is in your hands. We plead for your help in keeping the experience positive and as spiritual as possible.
Pray for your youth (even if you don't know them by name yet). Before you go on Trek, think about each of them individually. What can you do for them?
Set the example for them. Be positive (even when you are hurting 😁). They will watch you and your family will be a reflection of you and your attitude and testimony. Not all adults are a fan of Trek, but if you pray, the Lord will bless you with a positive experience that you will think of fondly once it is over. The relationships with your family will extend beyond these 4 days.
Candy was a big one when I went. The kids loved all the different varieties of hard candy we had.
Plan for some youth to be unprepared physically. Medical staff will have everything needed to treat blisters and sore muscles, but it means a lot for the kids to be able to come to you for that help.
Sometimes the unexpected can happen. Bring a few extra feminine Hygiene products just in case.
Bring some extra rope and paracord - It always seems to come in handy.
Bring your phone to take pictures of your families. The youth won't have their devices, but the memories are a valuable tool for their future testimonies. Make sure you share the pictures after Trek is over. Caution - Don't be on your devices any more than is needful for the pictures. The youth can't have theirs, so they need to see you set the example.
The missionaries who will be accompanying us will have a "Joke of the Day." You may want to be prepared with some of your own jokes. Why did all the Lamanites Knees always hurt?............................. Because of the Knee fights (Nephites) 😂
Make sure your youth and handcarts have all the necessities i.e. water jugs filled every day, cart in good working order and packed with the heavy bags over the axels, garbage bags attached to the cart. Make sure your kids shoes are tied tight and they wear gloves when pulling it.
Often when we are called as Ma's and Pa's we forget ourselves. Don't forget, you may not be pulling or pushing the handcart as much as your youth, if at all, but you will be tired as well. Get physically fit and prepared for the Trek so you can be healthy for when the kids need your help you can focus on them, not yourself.
Have some fun activities and games prepared in case of family down time. At camp, they are going to gravitate towards their pre-established friend groups. Don't be too strict or rigid. Allow this to happen. The more you can do to connect them together as a "family" the more they will work well together when things are difficult on the trail.
The Trek Committee has not decided how the families will be distinct from each other yet. We may have flags or colored bandanas or a number of other ideas have been discussed. If we have flags, make sure they are mounted 6' above the cart to allow for sufficient height so the kids pushing in the back of the handcart aren't hitting their heads on it.
Water bottle holders on the back of the cart are helpful to keep the water bottles easily accessible for the kids. It is important to keep the kids drinking as much as possible.
Women's Pull
This can be one of the highlights of Trek. We allow all the men to hike ahead and leave the women behind to pull / push a handcart up a steep inline. This is physically demanding and will push your daughters to their limits. This is an opportunity to prove to them that they can do hard things. It will bring them such an overwhelming sense of accomplishment when they get to the top. As tempting as it is for the men to jump in and help or for the young women who reach the top first to return back to help those who have not finished, please allow all the youth to accomplish the difficult task in their own way and at their own pace. This activity is meant to portray the times that women were forced to leave behind their dead husbands, brothers, uncles, and other figures that sacrificed so much for their wives and daughters. There are many stories of how these men gave their food or their clothing, and even their lives to the journey. Many women were left to complete the seemingly impossible journey on their own. We honor, recognize, admire, esteem and revere them for their sacrifices.
Game Ideas:
Wink-um: Pairs of players form a circle with the girls sitting and the guys kneeling behind them (or visa versa). There is one empty spot where there is one person behind but no person in front. This person kneeling winks at one of the sitting people. The person sitting then tries to run to the empty spot, while the person kneeling tries to detain her. If the person escapes there is a new winker, if the person sitting does not escape – the same person winks again. The people kneeling behind must keep their hands down to the sides until the person sitting in front moves. The people behind can not watch the winker, only the head of the person sitting in front of them.
Do You Love Your Neighbor: Players stand in a circle-formation with one person in the middle. The middle person is “IT”. “IT” asks one of the people in the circle, “Do you love your neighbor?” If the player answers yes, the players on each side of him must switch places before “IT” can take their place. If the player answers NO, he must then say whom he does love. He will say something like ” NO, but I love everyone wearing blue.” Then everyone wearing blue must switch places before IT can take their place. The person left without a place is the new IT.
States: Sit players in a circle and have everyone choose a state (or fruit or famous person, etc.), Go around the circle twice, having each person name their state so that the players can memorize them. “IT” stands in the middle with a rolled up newspaper and approaches a player who must name another state (one that belongs to someone in the circle) before IT hits them on the head. It must hurry to the person whose state was named and try to hit them before they can name another state. Whoever is hit on the head before naming another’s state is IT. If a player says their own state or a state not in the group they become IT.
Tangle: Stand in a tight circle. Have everyone put their hands in the middle and instruct them to join hands with someone else. No one should join two hands with the same person. Now, without letting go the group must become untangled.
Person to Person: Everyone has a partner. Players mingle about the area until the leader calls a command. When a command is given the players must find their partner and follow the command. For example, if the leader calls “nose to hand” players must find their partner and touch their partner’s nose with their hand. Any combinations of body parts within reason may be called. The last pair to find their partner and follow the command is eliminated. Play is continued until only one pair remains.
Strength and Fears: Each person in a circle shares one of their greatest fears. When everyone has shared a fear you should go around the circle again and ask every one of his or her greatest strengths.
Champion the Cause: In a circle, one person shares a peak experience that they have had, one that meant a great deal to them for some reason or another. When they have completed sharing their experience, the other members of the family share their observations about that person’s outstanding characteristics. This is continued until everyone has had a chance to be “Championed”.
If I Had A Million Dollars: Ask each member of the family what they would do if they were suddenly given a million dollars. You can ask them where they would go if they could travel, or who they would like to meet, what they would accomplish, who they would help etc.
Ninja: The players stand in a circle and strike a “ninja” pose. Then the person who is ”it” has one move to try and touch another person in the circle. (They may unfreeze for one move to dodge.) Play continues around the circle in a clockwise pattern. If you are touched you are out and the play continues until one person is left.