2nd Annual Priest/Laurel Canoe Trip

Once upon a Saturday, a group of brave priests and laurels along with four highly trained and extremely fit leaders drove to the land of mesquite and put their floating vessels in the raging river. This particular year the river had doubled in width and had white capped waves here and there, not exactly the calm river they had floated down the year prior.
But this fearless bunch would not be put off by that….in they got and within a minute and a half the first group (who I knew personally)…..tipped and faced sure death in the face, a slight exaggeration but nonetheless super scary! At that point that particular young women leader thought it would have been an excellent idea to bring her wetsuit because the water was a fridged 50 some degrees.
It didn’t take long for the six canoes to hit trouble. About 20 minutes in, the same canoe (that I have very personal connections to) got caught on a beaver dam, mostly because the female leader was trying to convince the overexcited priest to wait for the others……and they tipped……and the canoe started to fill…..and the two were swept away in the darn raging waters.
After minutes of trying to unplug the canoe and get it out of the water, other leaders came to the rescue! In the words of Bob the builder, WE CAN DO IT…… Push and pull and push some more, but the canoe was not moving. Then a wise bishop said “Lets have a prayer” As the five of them stood on the dam, shivering from the cold, the priest offered a prayer for help. No sooner had the prayer ended than the all wise bishop suggested they use one of the other canoes to help pull the submerged one out. Heave, ho, heave, ho…..Who knew that the new beehive young women leader was super strong until she flung herself into the water on one of the tugs and out came the canoe – VICORY! Onward brave souls…….. this one particular new female leader would soon face death in the face herself……
They decided it was best to pull off to the side when certain sketchy areas arose and to try to stay together…….umm but that was a problem because a highly motivated team with the somewhat unfair advantage of three people in their canoe (just joking) had gone ahead without any problems at all. The young women president was worried about them and hoped they were ok.
So as the group stood on the side of the riverbank, the last team came into view. It was the new beehive leader and the highly athletic soon to be priest. “It’s ok, don’t panic” shouted the wise bishop…..”stay the course…..keep your balance” They were drifting left when they needed to be right. In they slammed to what was later described as “the biggest tree in the river”. The female leader was stuck, legs twisteed in the branches and for a couple of seconds, which seemed so much longer, the soon to be priest disappeared. This was the scariest moment of everyones day. All leaders ran into the water…..”Go” yelled the bishop. Then a lifevest bobbed up….he’s ok. PHEW…. They were sure glad they had had that prayer before entering the river!
It seemed like an eternity to figure out how to get everyone back together. With a little work and the lead of the all knowing bishop, the team was on their way again with no alternative because they were at least five miles from the truck with the food……and it had been about four hours since they began their journey!
An answer to prayer came in the form of a random man on some sort of dune buggy who took the battered priest along with the beehive leader to the safety of the highway to find the truck while the rest of the group went on. They soon caught up with the missing three who had been waiting for over an hour on a bank wondering if they had taken a wrong turn somewhere. They too had had some unfortunate events and one of the priests was stuck to his knees in sinking mud. With the help of the trusty bishop and other young men they helped the poor kid out. Will this day ever end…..one tired young women leader thought to herself. But her spirits were soon lifted with the awkward singing of her highly skilled partner, a priest who was now manning the canoe alone because she had lost her ore!
The song ONWARD CHRISTIAN SOLDIERS…..came to mind and thoughts of the pioneers floated around her head. At least today there would be an end in sight. She was sure by now the two who had gotten the ride to the truck had prepped the food and where ready to greet them with arms full of yummy hoagie sandwiches but alas this was not the case because they had been dropped off at the wrong location and were walking along the scorching hot freeway ……
The stranded two had a prayer and unbelievably the stranger who had taken them from the river, turned around when he got to his home, prompted that maybe he had dropped them off at the wrong location…….a true answer to prayer.
So as the little band of brave canoers pulled their canoes out of the water and sat in the sun for a moment, socks chucked, clothes destroyed with mud, pink in the face and shoulders from the sun, the question posed at the beginning of their journey……”how will this adventure parallel life”…….the young women leader pondered and hesitated to share her initial thought.
A more uplifting one quickly came to mind...........that life, though difficult and impossible at times, is doable with prayer, friends & family, a good bishop and some sunscreen.

Enough Already!

Somewhere in my insane mind, I might have thought to outdo myself this year?

Last year, the rebellious side of me left our Christmas tree up until after Valentines Day - what can I say, I live on the edge, but this year.....I think I outdid myself by not blogging until March! In reality my life is a circus and I have no time.....which is why im sitting posting, finally, at 3a.m.

I have so much Ive wanted to write about, not forget and share with you and ive tried to sit down a number of times but just haven't felt it?

So Ive probably gotta go backwards on this one, which doesn't work for my OCD, however the awesome experiences I've had in this last week are what has prompted me to get back to the blogging world and record some great recent memories.

Saturday March 5th - 4a.m. - yep four in the wee hours of a Saturday morning, I drove over to our stake center on Jones/215. I was late - shocker.....I also had the 48 screen printed T-shirts that the youth and leaders were supposed to be wearing as we departed for a TREK TO THE TEMPLE. Well my thoughts were, "they can't leave without me because I have the shirts...."

It was quite a sight to see 50 people all up, at 4a.m., and ready for a 19 mile walk across the Las Vegas valley. The youth of our ward, under inspiration from our truly awesome Bishop Prince, had planned something that seemed for them "almost impossible", something that would "test them physically" but "unite them as a whole" and allow them to "have a spiritual experience." They felt that walking to the temple from our little corner of the valley would provide them with these experiences and boy did it.....

The first 8 or 9 miles didn't seem like a big deal, we visited with each other, walking two by two. I spent most of my time with a young women who tragically lost her Dad last year, she kept my hands warm by looping arms with me and my heart warm by reminiscing about her Dad.

We stopped at the old Mormon fort - our half-way point - and ate breakfast. At each pit stop a teenager had prepared a short spiritual thought, which impressed me so much as they shared their tender testimonies of how "we can do hard things" and push through trials in our lives. Brother Kilgore played the song, "The Climb" before we left the Mormon fort and the words also touched me. Lines like,

"theres a voice inside my head saying, you'll never reach it,"

"my faith is shaking but I gotta keep trying,"

"Aint about how fast I get there, its the climb"

"Keep on moving, keep on climbing, keep the faith, it's all about the climb"

seemed particularly appropriate for this day. And no, I didn't cry at that point.....Trudi!

We had passed "Tent City" by then, which is in downtown and where many homeless people live. The youth were polite and said "good morning" to people as they passed, which I thought was nice of them. As I think back on that portion of the walk, there was a solemnity about being aware of others misfortune, and I guess a gratitude for the things that we have that others don't.

Speaking of gratitude - I was grateful I didn't wear a backpack *laughing to self* because one of the funny moments along the way was when I looked back as we crossed a street, to see our good bishop (who was wearing a backpack - bless his heart!) with three little girls literally hanging off a loop on his pack! It reminded me of times my Mam would say - which I also say to my kids - I feel like im climbing a mountain and you're dragging off me.....

We were probably at mile 13 at that point and these little 11-14 year olds were struggling......it was cute that they recognized the bishops figure as "father of our ward" and someone that would help them along when they need it. He talked today about how he also felt that way, as he struggled initially and maybe tried to push them off.....hahah! But that he had a sense that in their growing testimonies, they knew that he is there to lead and guide them - Wow - i might be feeling some goosebumps - No tears yet!!! Oh you all know me so well........

We made it through some rough parts of town but never once felt fear or anxiety.....I did hear some Latin music at one point and felt right at home, for those of you who don't know, Im part Mexican or Puerto Rican or Brazilian!

Once we neared Nellis - I was so excited and proud that people might finally realize what the heck 50 people were doing all wandering across huge intersections, two by two. Our shirts read, "TREK TO TEMPLE" and on the back the 13th article of our faith which ill paraphrase as "ENDURE ALL THINGS." I knew a lot of people, Mormon or not, would know what TEMPLE we were treking to, because we were about 3 miles away....YEEEEHHHAAWWWW!

A quick pit stop at the library (umm not for books....bathroom break) and a stretch on the grass of a church building as well as re-taping blisters and stretching legs and such, was in order at this final pit stop. The spires of the temple were in sight and a renewed commitment to "make it" was felt without any words. We were almost there.......

One foot in front of the other until a break at Hollywood and Bonanza.....the Temple was ahead - high at the end of Bonanza.....this hill was gonna be the killer. Bishop gathered us around and said we would walk this last part as a tight group - no stragglers dragging behind - we would make it together! He reminded us of the reverence we should have and feel as we approached the Lords house. I swear to you as I sit here typing, I can now feel that spirit that guided us up the last block to the temple.

I looked behind to see one of my sweet girls at the back....literally at a slant because of the grade. Her face was red behind her sunglasses and she was crying. Her feet hurt - they had for a long time. Blisters and fatigue almost had her quitting.......just then someone said, lets let Natalie come to the front and set the pace! Ok - tears then and now...........

As we slowly got closer to the temple, I looked around saw boys walking in their feet because shoes hurt too much, athletes struggling from pulled muscles, Brother McCook - who has no cartilage around his quads and a bad knee, I saw one of the girls moms, who struggled for the last 4 or 5 miles, push through in obvious pain, I saw a 60-something year old male leader push on, I thought of the pioneers and their TREK - oh how did they do it???

Then I thought of our first morning in Las Vegas, when Bishop Hardy picked us up to take us to our new home in Alamo, but stopped first to take us to this very Temple. Needless to say I couldn't even see anymore, through my tears.

The youth began singing "I love to see the Temple" as we approached and saw a member of the temple presidency and his wife there to greet us, tears streaming down their cheeks. They shook each of our hands before we entered the gate to the temple grounds.....it was like walking from one dimension to another when we stepped onto the Temple grounds. The spirit was so strong, and it wasn't just the end of a long, hard journey that caused the overwhelming feeling that abound. It was the peaceful feeling that abides at the temple, it was the sacrifice that was given and the blessings being felt.

The feelings and experiences on that very last leg were worth every mile, every sore muscle or blister and Im so grateful I got to be a part of it. President May and his wife talked to us and thanked the youth for their willingness to stretch themselves and walk to the temple. They asked us to touch the temple but more importantly let the temple touch us and our lives. Many tears were shed as we felt the spirit and strengthened our testimonies. The reminder of how important families are burned in my heart. This is the point of everything.....Families are Forever....literally, eternal....and the temple makes that possible, which i am so very grateful for.